BrandBucket Experience

[xtremex]

hello

I am new to BrandBucket. Before getting my hands on this

I wish to experience about brandbucket from my fellow members


Thanks

 

[oldtimer]

Are you now going to add an extra "0" to those 4?

I wish I could

But I believe you can only adjust the price by +/- 20%

 

[Blake]

Went ahead and submitted 8 names ...will report back on how things go with the service...excluding all details not allowed to be shared etc.

Blake

 

[ibidu]

I wish I could

But I believe you can only adjust the price by +/- 20%

Since you like zeros, just add 0%

 

[margotb]

Hello Margot, After hearing so many success stories about BrandBucket I decided to send in 20 domains for consideration, I was wondering how long does it usually take to know which ones have been approved. Thanks

Hi Oldtimer! We _shoot_ for having a response to your submissions within a few days. The long response times in the past have been due to intentional pausing of processing while we upgraded our systems. Other factors that can push responses out a bit longer are the number of domains submitted (usually 300+ a week, but recently more like 500), and of course my personal schedule, since I oversee most of the approvals -- sometimes a sick child takes priority, that's just life.

Fortunately, in all other areas of BrandBucket operations outside of domain approvals I have a ton of help. Our customer service and inquiry response times are phenomenal, and our escrow team is on top of things 7 days a week.

I hope that helps answer your question! I know you've already gotten a response to your submitted domains, but I wanted to answer you anyway for next time...

 

[Ulriikkasmith]

I guess a fluctuation of a little more 5% would have been better. It'd really help.

 

[margotb]

Margot first off welcome, secondly I would like to hear the reason for exclusivity ? This will certainly lower the amount of domains on your site (which is not necessarily a negative) because many want as much exposure as possible. I mean you have a nice boutique but certainly do not have the reach of a Go Daddy as far as getting eyeballs, so is it all about the logo and visual appeal to the buyer ?

Thanks for the welcome. The primary reason for exclusivity is to reassure the buyer. We've lost several sales (lost meaning the buyer didn't buy the domain at all, not just from us) because after doing some research on a name they like, they find it listed for sale in several places, and with various prices, so they lose trust in us as a seller and can't figure out who has the authority to sell the name.

I'd have to argue with you about the number of "eyeballs". We get close to 4000 visitors a day, most of which hit the front page, and many who continue on to view several pages and categories. I highly doubt that a non-keyword name on GoDaddy would even get 4000 views in a year. I did a search on GoDaddy for 5-letter, .com, no dashes or digits, and lost count of how many pages there were. I'm sure Sedo would be even worse.

So that brings me to the second reason for exclusivity -- we've invested a lot to bring those 4000 visitors, and we are continuing to invest, so having a person see your name for the first time on our site, and then leave to buy it elsewhere is not good for business.

Every broker out there has an exclusivity clause. If the broker sends an email newsletter, it's usually a 30 or 60 day exclusivity from the time of the email (meaning your name isn't getting the exposure after that first day). On BrandBucket, you get exposure every day. You can remove your name at any time, which then starts our 30-day countdown, and after that 30 days you can list it anywhere else you like. Plus you can always come back...whenever.

---------- Post added at 11:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:04 PM ----------

Brandbucket didn't bother to reply at all (one test name was submitted by me).

What was the username you submitted the test under? I'm sure you got a reply, as every submission gets a reply. The first submission I see from 'voodootv' is on 5/28.

 

[equity78]

Thanks for the reply, I still will take Go Daddy with the eyeballs, certainly every listing on BrandBucket is not getting 4000 eyeballs so that applies to BrandBucket the same as Go Daddy. But more people go to Go Daddy and they may look for the name there in the registry path and see the name listed as premium listings, since you are also 30 % along with Go Daddy Premium which no disrespect imo is just too high, we all have to make a living and I have brokered well over six figures in domains but could not see charging anyone 30 %.

The 30 day countdown seems a bit much, I can see 10 but 30 seems a bit too long, I would imagine you use 30 to justify the time for the logo ?

Thanks for the replies, I also did a blog post on Hybrid Domainer that has some comments and you can reply if you like. http://www.hybriddomainer.com/2013/...ir-founder-joins-namepros-to-explain-why.html

 

[sids70]

Overall, I like BB but I can't seem to justify pricing of 100 dollars for some logos. Fivers can beat some of logo designs at any day. If price is charged from 100-300, the logo designer has to put in some better works.

thanks,

Sid

 

[GiftedDomains]

Thanks for the reply, I still will take Go Daddy with the eyeballs, certainly every listing on BrandBucket is not getting 4000 eyeballs so that applies to BrandBucket the same as Go Daddy. But more people go to Go Daddy and they may look for the name there in the registry path and see the name listed as premium listings, since you are also 30 % along with Go Daddy Premium which no disrespect imo is just too high, we all have to make a living and I have brokered well over six figures in domains but could not see charging anyone 30 %.

More people go to godaddy, sedo, afternic, etc. but ....how many see your "brandable" domain listed at Godaddy? Just check the "views" and you get the answer. Millions of domains are listed at Godaddy, Sedo, Afternic and out of the millions, only few brandable names sell each week for more than 4 figures. Now i counted the number of domains listed at Brandbucket (around 1500 to 2000 maybe) and the number of sold domains listed (around 500 and i am sure not all sold names are listed).

Now do the math and you get your answer.

Seriously seams like most people don't know how difficult it is to find endusers for YOUR brandable name, and only your name! Since people could simply use one of those "brand name generator" services out there and come up with a similar name in minutes. You have to find something which is not so easily exchangable, visually appealing, pass the radio test, be unique, etc. etc. etc... and then you have to find someone who would want exactly that domain!

I am not a Brandbucket "fanboy" or something, but i have few years experience with brandable domain names and i can tell you that it is totally different than keyword domains. A totally different story. And to be honest, i am astonished how many names Brandbucket sold compared to the number of domains accepted there. And all of them 4 Figures and up! The only conclusion for me is that they do a lot of marketing, have a lot of connections and contacts to startups, entrepeneurs, etc. and during the years they are active, gained a lot of trust and a good customer base with RETURNING customers (now thats even more difficult with brandable names, since most just buy one name and thats it).

It is more than understandable that you would want to protect that. I would.
To be honest, i was wondering why they didn't have the exclusivity clauses all the time already.
They are more like brokers than a simple marketplace IMO. Simply because of the marketing efforts and because of the a.m. numbers.
Remember, there is a huge difference between passive marketing and active marketing.

My personal opinion: huge market places like SEDO will die soon. too much crap listed there and its a mess. Endusers HATE that.
Plus they don't do any proactive marketing. Just sitting on their fat ass and waiting for comission.
The future will belong to those who find "Niches" and focus on that niche and PROACTIVELY market domains to endusers in that niche.
Not only with brandable names, you could also do that with specific type of keyword domains, like Geo names or whatever.

 

[lincolndsp]

Gifted, you are talking as if bbucket has no crapnames, it is also a motherload of domains normal person won't remember after a few hours from visiting the site on it. brandables != pigeonshit domains
i can only see BB as a filter of foodgates of crap because of the manual moderation, no rocket science.

 

[godolphin]

Gifted, you are talking as if bbucket has no crapnames, it is also a motherload of domains normal person won't remember after a few hours from visiting the site on it. brandables != pigeonshit domains
i can only see BB as a filter of foodgates of crap because of the manual moderation, no rocket science.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder (buyer)!

 

[GiftedDomains]

Gifted, you are talking as if bbucket has no crapnames, it is also a motherload of domains normal person won't remember after a few hours from visiting the site on it. brandables != pigeonshit domains
i can only see BB as a filter of foodgates of crap because of the manual moderation, no rocket science.

Well, radical statements such as

"brandables = pigeonshit domains"

is often heard from domainers who only own keyword domain names with inflated prices which are slowly decreasing in value.

If brandable names are pigeonshit, then i can tell you that sometimes those pigeons seam to poop 24 Karat gold!

On the other hand, i like both type of domains, keyword domains (if they are good) and brandable domains (if they are good).
Both have their markets and past sales prove it.

And regarding "memorability", I am not sure which one of these is going to be remembered better after few hours :

1) CheapOfficeFurnitureInCanada.org
2) Furnitura.ca

Hmm...

 

[lincolndsp]

!=
means 'not equal to'
do not be so radical =)

 

[equity78]

Good post Gifted my point was I don't know how many people see my listing on Brand Bucket as I am not sure how many pages deep someone may go with their search.

I do agree that Niche marketing is the way to go for these sales venues I was saying that years ago and the boutique site over the "everything site" will be more desirable, especially for brandables.

 

[oldtimer]

I agree with Gifted that Brandable domains are totally different from Keyword Domains and the fact that Margot has created a niche market for brandables and is targeting startups and existing businesses directly is a very smart move. I don’t see any problem with using BrandBucket for my brandable domains and other venues (I mainly use Godaddy and Sedo) for my keyword domains.

PS: if a high level of marketing is done to sell a domain I believe that 30 to 60 day exclusivity clause is reasonable for any of the sales venues. The commission also depends on the level and intensity of the marketing that is done to sell the domains, 10% for passive marketing and 20 to 30% for aggressive marketing doesn’t seem unfair to me (Although personally I wish it was 25% ).

IMO

 

[equity78]

If the niche is viable like it seems it is, then competition may bring commission rates down old timer. If others can match the level of sales that's doable, if not and Brand Bucket is far and away the best then they will keep pricing power.

 

[oldtimer]

If the niche is viable like it seems it is, then competition may bring commission rates down old timer. If others can match the level of sales that's doable, if not and Brand Bucket is far and away the best then they will keep pricing power.

It all comes down to the pulling power of your domain, If you are lucky enough to own a category defining domain that brings in the buyer by itself then you might find it unnecessary to pay big commissions to someone else, but if like most of us you own ordinary keyword domains or brandables that don’t get too much eyeballs on their own (no matter how attractive they are) then you might be willing to pay the higher commissions if the chances of selling your domains are improved by listing it at a certain venue. IMO

 

[equity78]

I was not talking about the power of the domain in the post you quoted, you said you would like to see 25 % I said if this niche continues to grow then it will bring more competition with other boutique brandable sales sites. If they can produce results then it could bring more competitive commission rates.

The other point is of course people will pay any commission for what in most cases is a reg fee domain withouth the perfect one off buyer. I agree people will pay whatever commission if a site can get those domains sold.

 

[lincolndsp]

most cases is a reg fee domain

- that is what BB is about
high- value brandables (think evora.com like) will shun BB with its current policies (in most cases)

 

[GiftedDomains]

Sorry i have to disagree again.

With brandables, there is no such a thing as "high value brandables" or "reg fee" names.
Nobody can say which one is a "high value name" and which one is a "reg fee" name.
Unless we talk about 4 letter names or actual word names, which then are not only brandable names, but have extra value amoung the domainers.
Brandable names are VERY subjective. What you consider "high value brandable" might be crap or reg fee or whatever for me. And what i consider a nice brandable might be junk to others (as we regurarly experience also at brandbucket, they reject many names from which we think are nice and should be included, but Margot obviously has a different opinion and rejects them, then again we see names there which we don't like, but a startup would love to have ,,,etc....etc....you get my point? it is very subjective and after all the decisions made at brandbucket are taste and subjective decision of Margot based on her own experience, nothing else)

But even if you talk about pronounceable 4 Letter names, the reseller prices or even enduser prices i see at sedo, forums, etc. are much lower than the pricing at brandbucket (even after deducting the 30%). So i would not say that the owners of such names shun BB.
Of course if you have such names, you will think twice before accepting an exclusive agreement.

 

[lincolndsp]

^^ that's easier than you can imagine - if for example a brandable gets real type-ins (not just from you) - it rises several tiers above those that do not as it is validated by other people. great minds think alike -> they are valid brandables without owners dillusion.
and those you cannot handregister in a life-time, prepare to fork out $xxx-$xxxx at nj , sn for those ones that drop

 

[GiftedDomains]

I think you can completely forget things like "type in" for these type of domains.
Its all about marketing, presentation, exposure, etc.
Many people browse the lists of places like BB and chose one name they didn't even think about before.
You can't rely on things like "hopefully someone will have the same idea and type in my domain and buy it".
The brandable names i sold had maybe 10 to 20 type ins per month, some of them almost zero type in traffic. I also never look at traffic when i personally want to buy a brandable domain from auctions or other places.

I don't think you can apply the same rules from keyword names to these type of names.
Of course traffic could be a bonus, but definately not crucial when deciding what to buy or determining the potential of a brandable name.

IMO

 

[tradingdavid]

More people go to godaddy, sedo, afternic, etc. but ....how many see your "brandable" domain listed at Godaddy? Just check the "views" and you get the answer. Millions of domains are listed at Godaddy, Sedo, Afternic and out of the millions, only few brandable names sell each week for more than 4 figures. Now i counted the number of domains listed at Brandbucket (around 1500 to 2000 maybe) and the number of sold domains listed (around 500 and i am sure not all sold names are listed).

Now do the math and you get your answer.

Seriously seams like most people don't know how difficult it is to find endusers for YOUR brandable name, and only your name! Since people could simply use one of those "brand name generator" services out there and come up with a similar name in minutes. You have to find something which is not so easily exchangable, visually appealing, pass the radio test, be unique, etc. etc. etc... and then you have to find someone who would want exactly that domain!

I am not a Brandbucket "fanboy" or something, but i have few years experience with brandable domain names and i can tell you that it is totally different than keyword domains. A totally different story. And to be honest, i am astonished how many names Brandbucket sold compared to the number of domains accepted there. And all of them 4 Figures and up! The only conclusion for me is that they do a lot of marketing, have a lot of connections and contacts to startups, entrepeneurs, etc. and during the years they are active, gained a lot of trust and a good customer base with RETURNING customers (now thats even more difficult with brandable names, since most just buy one name and thats it).

It is more than understandable that you would want to protect that. I would.
To be honest, i was wondering why they didn't have the exclusivity clauses all the time already.
They are more like brokers than a simple marketplace IMO. Simply because of the marketing efforts and because of the a.m. numbers.
Remember, there is a huge difference between passive marketing and active marketing.

My personal opinion: huge market places like SEDO will die soon. too much crap listed there and its a mess. Endusers HATE that.
Plus they don't do any proactive marketing. Just sitting on their fat ass and waiting for comission.
The future will belong to those who find "Niches" and focus on that niche and PROACTIVELY market domains to endusers in that niche.
Not only with brandable names, you could also do that with specific type of keyword domains, like Geo names or whatever.

No Brandable domains are horrible. Everyone needs to stay away. They'll lose lots of money!

Seriously why try to convince people they should be the competition.:imho:

 

[oldtimer]

Again I agree with Gifted that Brandables are not that much about traffic, but more about how attractive and memorable they are, the traffic is created later on after the buyer starts promoting their brand. A newly registered brandable domain can be on equal footing with what some might consider to be high value brandables as long as that new domain is pleasing to the eyes and ears and is priced reasonably enough. IMO

 

[BullS]

Again I agree with Gifted that Brandables are not that much about traffic, but more about how attractive and memorable they are, the traffic is created later on after the buyer starts promoting their brand.. IMO

totally agree

example, I have karmabrand and this brandkarma is wanting my domain so is the owners of karmabrands/karmaloop

it is all about branding.!!

BrandBucket should use karmabrand dot com :hehe::hehe: