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

 

[Embrand]

*No Van YM*
I am hearing this name first time. May be it is because I did not do any startup! Anyhow, best of luck to Brandbucket team. Their success is our success too.

Strangely, just last month Novanym changed its legal name to Aeleus Limited, according to the UK's Companies House.

 

[silentg]

Is Brand Bucket listing names on any other marketplaces?

Like Sedo, Atom, or Spaceship

— ARIYAS (@domainretail) August 22, 2025

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Disallowing Afternic listings for BrandBucket inventory was a great decision for our business. Since March, transactions are up 15%, and revenue is up 25-30%. Before the policy was announced, we tested with various portfolios, and the results were the same.We can speculate why:​

1) Quality names priced over $1500 make the cheap alternative TLDs that registrars promote very attractive.

2) Two different public prices for the same name causes buyer paralysis; however, due to Afternic's anti-competitive commission structure, price uplifts are necessary.

3) Once a buyer understands that the marketplace is the exclusive source, they trust the marketplace more, and stick around longer.Whatever the reason, saying no to Afternic works for BrandBucket, our sellers, and our buyers.

I understand not everyone has the financial flexibility or courage to experiment for a month or two without Afternic. If you do, use your domains that are on a marketplace that is built for discovery (since registrars offer no discovery, and do not promote aftermarket names.)

 

[Cody H]

Is Brand Bucket listing names on any other marketplaces?

Like Sedo, Atom, or Spaceship

— ARIYAS (@domainretail) August 22, 2025

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Show attachment 281493

So if I’m understanding correctly
1. They’re completely contradicting themselves

2. Yeah, of course it’s helping YOUR business. What about your customer’s businesses that allow you to exist?

Someone please let me know if I’m misunderstanding something here

 

[NameGroove]

So if I’m understanding correctly
1. They’re completely contradicting themselves

2. Yeah, of course it’s helping YOUR business. What about your customer’s businesses that allow you to exist?

Someone please let me know if I’m misunderstanding something here

Nope, you are understanding it perfectly

It makes sense this move helps BrandBucket’s business. After all, the change forced some buyers who previously purchased through Afternic to transact directly with BrandBucket.

But as you wrote to me previously, “many [buyers] are mandated corporately to only purchase through…

— Name Groove (@Name__Groove) August 23, 2025

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[silentg]

Here's why Brand Bucket left Afternic:
"Our decision was driven by Afternic’s insistence that the price shown on a domain’s landing page needs to be the same as the Afternic list price."
BrandBucket pulls out of Afternic – DomainGang

 

[URL Stream]

Just received this email:​

​

Hi ....,

I’m excited to share something with you today. After months of hard work and collaboration, we’ve launched the BrandBucket Academy Podcast, now live on our YouTube channel. Our latest episode, How to Succeed as a Domain Investor (Without Quitting Your Day Job), is not one to be missed!

This project was born from you, our community. Over the years, you have inspired us with your questions, your feedback, and your dedication to the craft of domain investing. We saw an opportunity to take those conversations further, to create something lasting that could serve both the entrepreneurs searching for the perfect name and the investors evaluating strategies for growth.

Our team has invested many hours into shaping these videos. We focused on making them useful, thoughtful, and approachable. But the truth is, their success depends on you. Your participation, watching, sharing, and engaging will help ensure this becomes a valuable resource not only for our community but also for the broader world of entrepreneurs and investors who are looking for guidance.

I invite you to watch, share with a colleague or friend, and let us know what you think. Your feedback will shape what comes next, and your voices will keep us grounded in what truly matters. Together, we can build a resource that benefits our entire community.

Thank you for being part of this journey with us.
Margot Bushnaq
Founder, BrandBucket

 

[NameGroove]

Here's why Brand Bucket left Afternic:
"Our decision was driven by Afternic’s insistence that the price shown on a domain’s landing page needs to be the same as the Afternic list price."
BrandBucket pulls out of Afternic – DomainGang

Yes, that's her "claim". It's just a straw man though. Atom lists at Afternic at +10%. Thousands of sellers list their names at Afternic at +%. BB just wanted an excuse to increase BB sales. But understand that while BB lifted their sales with this decision, this does not mean they lifted seller sales.

Sales rose 15% for BrandBucket. However some sellers reported getting between 20-40% of their sales on Afternic, when cross listings were allowed. Which means, while BB recaptured some of the lost sales, if the seller stats are commonplace, many sellers ultimately lost sales.

— Name Groove (@Name__Groove) August 25, 2025

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[silentg]

Sellers don't follow the rules but Afternic does have a policy:

Additionally, the Buy Now Price specified for any listing on Afternic must be equal to the price listed on any for sale lander used by Seller.

Afternic Reseller partners spend significant money and resources to get eyes on premium domains. Pricing discrepancies create confusion and an overall negative experience for buyers. 🧵1/3 https://t.co/vvf3LGKWFi

— Afternic (@afternic) February 2, 2023

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https://domainnamewire.com/2023/02/...omainers-with-pricing-discrepancies-comments/

 

[silentg]

Raise your hand if you’ve had your entire Afternic account deleted because you uplifted prices.

I’ll go first ✋

— Margot Bushnaq (@margotb) August 25, 2025

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[NameGroove]

Sellers don't follow the rules but Afternic does have a policy:

Afternic Reseller partners spend significant money and resources to get eyes on premium domains. Pricing discrepancies create confusion and an overall negative experience for buyers. 🧵1/3 https://t.co/vvf3LGKWFi

— Afternic (@afternic) February 2, 2023

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https://domainnamewire.com/2023/02/...omainers-with-pricing-discrepancies-comments/

Yes, they have it. No, they don't enforce it

 

[NameGroove]

Raise your hand if you’ve had your entire Afternic account deleted because you uplifted prices.

I’ll go first ✋

— Margot Bushnaq (@margotb) August 25, 2025

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No one raised their hand. Why? My guess... cause this has never happened to anyone. Maybe I'm wrong and someone here will raise their hand.

But it's commonplace among domain sellers to charge more on Afternic than other venues. I have never heard of anyone who was removed due to it. I could be wrong... but until I see some others raise their hand saying their accts were deleted, I remain skeptical of that claim.

 

[Acroplex]

I've zero listing experience with BB. But I applaud their willingness to refuse to lay down and take it from big bully GD. This game has been played for years. Feel free to use or not use BB, or Atom, or Sedo etc. The entire domain industry does not rely on the GD ecosystem. The faster you leave it behind, the better. That's what I've experienced personally.

That being said, I've personal knowledge of how badly GD bitched against Richard/Namecheap for daring to drop their commission. He's basically telling 80% of the story, the rest is actions that'd become a political scandal, if this were about politics.

Bushnaq is basically telling her own story for raising prices. I've no knowledge of that but you see the end result: Afternic threatened, once again, to drop them. Better pull the plug on one's own terms I guess.

 

[Embrand]

No updates on BrandBucket's social media for more than two months

 

[NameGroove]

No updates on BrandBucket's social media for more than two months

16k+ followers and gets almost no engagement. I spoke to BB about it - and the owner defended it saying the firm they've hired to run it is doing a good job. I guess you have to defend your investment

Personally, I'd fire that firm immediately and find someone who knows what they're doing in regards to Social Media. But hey, that's just me.

 

[Embrand]

16k+ followers and gets almost no engagement. I spoke to BB about it - and the owner defended it saying the firm they've hired to run it is doing a good job. I guess you have to defend your investment

Personally, I'd fire that firm immediately and find someone who knows what they're doing in regards to Social Media. But hey, that's just me.

I love many things about BrandBucket, but their "secrecy" and unwillingness to share more insights with sellers is driving me crazy

 

[NameGroove]

I love many things about BrandBucket, but their "secrecy" and unwillingness to share more insights with sellers is driving me crazy

I also give the owner a lot of credit, she created a niche, built it up over the years, and gained trust among both investors and startups.

However, what once worked does not always work. BB seems unable to pivot or expand properly as the space grows. This is no specific knock on the founder. Many successful entrepreneurs have unique skillsets and oftentimes when companies hit a certain size, VCs & PE firms will install new management that can bring the entity to the next phase. The skillset required for Phase 2 differs dramatically from Phase 1. Those companies that identify and accept this fact succeed. Those that don't often flounder, or worse. I truly hope BrandBucket is able to navigate the next phase of their growth successfully. Competition is good for the industry. Fingers crossed.

 

[NameGroove]

a small sale at BB this week

BrandBucket is running a 5% off domain sale through Nov 21 using code FOUNDER.

If you need a name for your company or project, this week would be a good time to buy.#brandbucket @brandbucket #domains #startups #founder #namemycompany #branding pic.twitter.com/gpjqIZbnAN

— Name Groove (@Name__Groove) November 16, 2025

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[Embrand]

a small sale at BB this week

BrandBucket is running a 5% off domain sale through Nov 21 using code FOUNDER.

If you need a name for your company or project, this week would be a good time to buy.#brandbucket @brandbucket #domains #startups #founder #namemycompany #branding pic.twitter.com/gpjqIZbnAN

— Name Groove (@Name__Groove) November 16, 2025

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But not even posted on their own X account?

 

[Future Sensors]

But not even posted on their own X account?

By design, such codes are community‑specific to enable accurate tracking. Once they leak into general circulation, the code's measurability erodes.

 

[Embrand]

By design, such codes are community‑specific to enable accurate tracking. Once they leak into general circulation, the code's measurability erodes.

Interesting. So no coincidence at all.