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

 

[cocaseco]

I doubt anyone is making $100,000 salary working at BrandBucket.

IN LA as a professional, who works for less than that? Seriously that may seem like a lot in some places, but that's not even enough income to buy a house within an hour commute of their office. I would expect Michael, as a director, and Margo as the owner, both do. But of course we will never know.

And yes the number of domains owned internally is an important factor that greatly changes the model. Having effectively no COGS is the tipping point.

 

[cocaseco]

And that ties into one of the possible outcomes I see - that more small boutique marketplaces start to crop up as larger portfolio owners switch to a self-sale model.

Exactly. There seem to be more and more every day. I saw brandkart.com for sale yesterday and it has a potential. We should start a list of the smaller sites (in a different thread of course).

 

[Brandworthy]

I would imagine most of the sales up til this year were coming from Boxador.

I suspect most of the sales over past 12 months have come from Michael rather than Boxador, but Boxador likely also a top seller I imagine.

 

[equity78]

IN LA as a professional, who works for less than that? Seriously that may seem like a lot in some places, but that's not even enough income to buy a house within an hour commute of their office. I would expect Michael, as a director, and Margo as the owner, both do. But of course we will never know.

And yes the number of domains owned internally is an important factor that greatly changes the model. Having effectively no COGS is the tipping point.

I am not saying it seems a lot, or I disagree with you on the cost of living. I am saying that they probably run the business in a more telecommuter type way. Michael doesn't live in LA right, he lives in Nebraska I think.

 

[cocaseco]

Yep, that's possible and that's what i had assumed. Until recently when I heard some things that made me think they had an actual office. I think Julia is in Europe and last I checked their address was a UPS store mailbox. So it probably is.

 

[hookbox]

Yep, that's possible and that's what i had assumed. Until recently when I heard some things that made me think they had an actual office. I think Julia is in Europe and last I checked their address was a UPS store mailbox. So it probably is.

All of the Boxador companies work out of the Boxaplex in California.

http://www.boxaplex.com

 

[Paul]

Split into a separate thread: WHOIS emails from [email protected]

 

[London555]

2% turnover rate at an average of $2000/sale is a number that a domain seller any size portfolio would be happy with. The issue with brandables is that chances of end user buyer reaching out of their own are less - so there is limited exposure other than listing sites. That is just the nature of brandables. I still see lot of additions to BB and lot of them registered within past few months, actually weeks and many within days - that really dilutes the market in a way. If people think that they can just hand register the names today and hope to sell them at $1000 profit within few months - it is more of a wishful thinking in my opinion.

Sellers are creating competition among themselves without creating additional channels of sales. The dynamics for brandables marketplace will probably shift towards bigger portfolios because the occasional sales will let them stay, especially taking into consideration the investment they have done, while smaller portfolios with limited budget and resilience will probably opt out.

I think the bigger question is, have the norms and trends of domain industry changed? Is age no longer a relevant factor (when I say age, I do not mean 'per-se' but on the lines of quality)? Is there more of a trend towards these 'brandables'? Is brandability becoming a big factor now? When it was not? And people do not realize that is not the name that is brandable, but the underlying technology that is brandable. Good to have a marketable name at best - that is the scope of a domain name.

Excellent post-your last two lines are exactly correct-with Amazon as the prime example.

 

[pjb1978]

Something similar has probably been posted before, but I thought I'd chime in on my experience with BrandBucket, and why I will never consider using them.

I signed up for BrandBucket a while ago, and submitted a handful of names. Most were refused, but one was accepted. I was presented the option to pay the $10 listing fee, which I tried to do. My payment was declined, as paying them using a Canadian credit card is problematic. Got an email a couple of days later from a guy named Khalan asking if he could assist with payment, and offering to let me send paypal instead of using my Canadian credit card. After receiving this email I took the opportunity to read their terms and conditions, and sent an email to Khalan with a few questions.

I have 2 issues with their terms and conditions. The minor one is the exclusivity clause. If you list your domain at BrandBucket, you are forbidden from listing it anywhere else. No big deal.

My second issue is that if you request to have your name removed from the website, they will wait 30 from the date of your request to actually remove the name. I ran the following scenario by Khalan:

I list a name at BrandBucket. Sometime in the future an end-user who has never even heard of BrandBucket does a whois check and sends me an email expressing interest in buying my name. I sell the name to the end-user, and request that it is removed from BrandBucket. 2 weeks later (within their 30 day removal freeze) somebody clicks on the name on the BrandBucket site in order to purchase it. Since I sold the name to the BrandBucket oblivious end-user two weeks ago, I no longer have the name and obviously am unable to complete the BrandBucket transaction. What happens then?

Short answer, my account is flagged and removed. He did say that in that particular case I would be able to contact BrandBucket and negotiate a lower commission fee. For what? BrandBucket didn't help me with this sale (end-user found me through whois), so why should I pay them commission? Why would I have to pay them anything?

His exact reply is as follows (copy & paste):

The 30 day rule was implemented quite some time ago to prevent external sales which are prohibited for the duration of the BrandBucket listing. Though we would be happy to assist you in securely selling and transferring a domain at a discounted rate to a potential buyer, we require 30 days of advanced notice before a name can be sold or listed externally. We run a constant check to ensure that names have not changed hands, and pull offending names from the market to prevent the purchase of an unavailable name. However, if we discover that a domain has been sold externally without notice, the user's account would be flagged (as you mentioned) and likely terminated by our team.

My recommendation for anybody looking to sell on BrandBucket is to make 100% sure you are willing to turn down any offers from end-users who find you via whois, or be prepared to pony up some of the funds from the sale to BrandBucket. To me, this is bad business. You can't expect to hold your hand out and collect funds for something you had no part in. If the name sells on your platform, yes, you are entitled to commission. If your platform had nothing to do with the sale, I'm not paying you commission.

I've requested that Khalan remove my account, as I won't be using BrandBucket. I am happy to say that he did comply, and my account has been removed.

Seller, beware. Make sure you read their terms and conditions. If you agree with their terms, list away. If you do not agree, list your name on another marketplace that doesn't have these ridiculous terms.

 

[AndrewRice]

@pjb1978

BB spends quite a bit of money on marketing and advertising for their marketplace. There are buyers who will find the name through through the BrandBucket marketplace and then attempt to buy the name on a discount through Whois information. From BrandBucket's perspective, their marketing and advertising dollars were used to find the buyer, so they should receive a commission on any sale. It would be bad business for BrandBucket to market these domains for free.

 

[London555]

@pjb1978

BB spends quite a bit of money on marketing and advertising for their marketplace. There are buyers who will find the name through through the BrandBucket marketplace and then attempt to buy the name on a discount through Whois information. From BrandBucket's perspective, their marketing and advertising dollars were used to find the buyer, so they should receive a commission on any sale. It would be bad business for BrandBucket to market these domains for free.

Hi Andrew-then why shouldn't sellers be able to take the costs of any "rejects" submitted to BB right off the top of the sale (due to it being the sellers cost of doing business) and then pay the 30% on the balance. It really should work both ways. Thank you.

 

[Dominic Belley]

I don't understand all the fuss again about the terms.
It is not a secret to anybody, it is there, black on white clean and clear. We all know it.
If it represents a problem then simply avoid BB. There are a lot of other marketplaces out there.
Why complain and complain and complain on how a private entity is running his business.

 

[London555]

I don't understand all the fuss again about the terms.
It is not a secret to anybody, it is there, black on white clean and clear. We all know it.
If it represents a problem then simply avoid BB. There are a lot of other marketplaces out there.
Why complain and complain and complain on how a private entity is running his business.

Although I like your post Dominic, when someone posts here that they "know of two sellers with a combined 600 names with zero sales in the last eight months" I think sellers need to question the quality of their investments with BrandBucket. It's really no different than asking your wealth manager where your money is going-even though you have many alternatives in that arena also.

 

[Brandworthy]

I think sellers need to question the quality of their investments with BrandBucket.

In all fairness, absolutely no one is compelled in any way to list their names at BrandBucket. It's up to each seller to decide if BB is right for their names, and thankfully there's fairly open discussion here that should help sellers determine if the ROI is good enough for them. I still think BB do a good job of their core business, but it's always wise to appraise alternative channels.

 

[Dominic Belley]

Although I like your post Dominic, when someone posts here that they "know of two sellers with a combined 600 names with zero sales in the last eight months" I think sellers need to question the quality of their investments with BrandBucket. It's really no different than asking your wealth manager where your money is going-even though you have many alternatives in that arena also.

I understand, but we know that publishing on BB is like a 30-day contract. You can quit at anytime you want, but only after a 30-day notice.

If you rent a car for a 3-4 years contract .. or you have a cellphone plan for 3 years. You cannot break that contract without consequences. There are fees to pay if you do.

BB is no different. Either the buyer (acquired from WHOIS) goes to BB and you negociate a lower commission with BB, either the buyer waits 30-days and buy it from you after.

 

[London555]

I understand, but we know that publishing on BB is like a 30-day contract. You can quit at anytime you want, but only after a 30-day notice.

If you rent a car for a 3-4 years contract .. or you have a cellphone plan for 3 years. You cannot break that contract without consequences. There are fees to pay if you do.

BB is no different. Either the buyer (acquired from WHOIS) goes to BB and you negociate a lower commission with BB, either the buyer waits 30-days and buy it from you after.

Dominic-here's what-in my opinion-it comes down to with BB-with 20,000 names it's now a lottery ticket for the average seller and that's fine-but the question iv'e asked more than once here and I'm done asking because they simply won't answer-as is their right as a private company-is What is the sales ratio to listed names now with 20K names on BB? Is it the same say 6% ( my number not theirs) as it was when there were just 1500-2000 names there ( the number the founder was quoted as saying was ideal for a CEO to look at in an evening) with 10X that amount of names now that's the one figure I think sellers are really entitled to if they are to keep making investments for BB-and make no mistake about it-you the seller is making an investment for BB not the other way around.

 

[Dominic Belley]

Ok, but BB providing the sellers with stats is a completely different topic.
What I was talking about is related to the complaints about the terms.

 

[Shimmy]

Dominic-here's what-in my opinion-it comes down to with BB-with 20,000 names it's now a lottery ticket for the average seller and that's fine-but the question iv'e asked more than once here and I'm done asking because they simply won't answer-as is their right as a private company-is What is the sales ratio to listed names now with 20K names on BB? Is it the same say 6% ( my number not theirs) as it was when there were just 1500-2000 names there ( the number the founder was quoted as saying was ideal for a CEO to look at in an evening) with 10X that amount of names now that's the one figure I think sellers are really entitled to if they are to keep making investments for BB-and make no mistake about it-you the seller is making an investment for BB not the other way around.

I 100% agree with what you just said. I think BB did a recruitment masterpiece with their Ambassador Program/Krell Video. And that people did invest i their types of names. And deserve to know the current sales ratio. However I don't see the correlation with 30-day notice. 30-day notice doesn't seem unreasonable.

 

[London555]

Ok, but BB providing the sellers with stats is a completely different topic.
What I was talking about is related to the complaints about the terms.

I really don't have any complaints about the terms-they're a private company-they make the terms whatever they please. Last time I looked no one had a gun to anyone's head to make them give BB names-as you very correctly stated above.

 

[cocaseco]

Good points @pjb

@pjb1978

BB spends quite a bit of money on marketing and advertising for their marketplace. There are buyers who will find the name through through the BrandBucket marketplace and then attempt to buy the name on a discount through Whois information. From BrandBucket's perspective, their marketing and advertising dollars were used to find the buyer, so they should receive a commission on any sale. It would be bad business for BrandBucket to market these domains for free.

IN general I am in agreement with what you are saying. But what if their marketing and advertising dollars weren't used? What if I found the buyer at Starbucks one morning as we talked about what each other did? I recognize that BB had some costs, as did the designer. But in this case, charging a small fee to cover those costs would be a more tolerable situation. BB doesn't deserve the commission if they didn't find the buyer and did nothing to facilitate a deal right?