BrandPa.com Experience (Brandable Domain Marketplace)

[Chris Hydrick]

BrandPa.com has announced their presence on NamePros...

Hi there! I'm sorry your experience with BB wasn't pleasant :/ If you'd like to try our marketplace please don't hesitate to do so We're new in the domaining industry but very eager to learn! Let me know what you think or if you have any questions This is us: https://brandpa.com/ (or if you'd like to read about the sellers' rules visit this page: https://brandpa.com/start-selling)

Look forward to hearing from you!

Granted, the above post is from the BrandBucket experience thread, and will likely be deleted for being off topic / wrong thread, it was the first time I heard of them. The founder, @Jowita Emberton, had introduced herself in an earlier thread:

Hi guys! NamePros is a great website to get invaluable information about the domaining industry. As a reader, I'm here pretty much every day. As a writer, I'm starting today

I'm the founder of Brandpa (brandpa.com), a domain name marketplace similar to BB, BR or Namerific. We use AI and human knowledge to create and judge the names’ value according to how easy to pronounce and catchy they are.

I'm here to learn, get to know you and your recent experiences with other brandable name marketplaces We're still developing the business so any insight on our site (brandpa.com) or anything you're missing from other marketplaces will be very useful

Thanks!

I'm creating this thread to discuss their marketplace, and for those who have experiences with them.

Here's what I know so far:

The founder, @Jowita Emberton, runs two other online businesses according to her LinkedIn page.

Delighten.co.uk - Web / brand design firm.

Weddination.com - Polish wedding services

According to her LinkedIn, she has been operating BrandPa since August 2016. Though, the last cached Archive.org screenshot is a server error on October 4, 2016 HERE

BrandPa.com (2006) is registered to Oliver Emberton, founder and managing director of SilkTide.com.

Currently, there are 562 domains published / listed on BrandPa. It appears most domains listed are handregged by the owners. Not 100% on this; I will run a check when my program is working again.

After reviewing their listings, I found two errors.

The domain regged is MonoRaptor.com, but the text reads ManoRaptor.com

The domain regged is UnknownVenues.com, but the text reads UnknownVenus.com

At first look:

Pros

• No Listing Fee
• FREE Logos
• Domain Owner sets price ($1,000+)
• Forwards all offers for sellers consideration
• Brandpa is a pretty memorable / catchy brandable domain.
• Select 'On-Sale' marketing section

Cons

• Low Alexa Ranking (4,557,819)

• New site. Assuming low organic traffic, and low type-in traffic due to quality and quantity of inventory.
• Piggy-back branding off BrandBucket in site footer see below

• Reviews are all from .co.uk domains, yet BrandPa doesn't sell any .co.uk domains. A quick glance at other domains owned by the reviewers and I wasn't able to verify any brandable .com's with history tracing back to BrandPa.

Personal thoughts: I respect that they "allow the seller to submit more domain names" by not charging a listing fee. To me this shows they are willing to work for your exclusivity. Should they gain popularity, I wonder if they'll sustain this business model and/or if their logo / listing quality will decrease over time when resources are spread across the masses.

@Jowita Emberton = Feel free to comment / fill in any of the blanks.

 

[Dannyboy15]

I believe it goes to 2 people for assessment. If it passes the first person it then goes to another who has another look over it. If they both agree and like it it then goes to designing logos and publish.

 

[Isac]

I believe it goes to 2 people for assessment. If it passes the first person it then goes to another who has another look over it. If they both agree and like it it then goes to designing logos and publish.

Second person never likes it

 

[golan]

Seems i'm late to this party. I just started submitting my names. What i really really like very much so far - are the logos. Really well done, and fit the names. Unlike at BB, their logos are almost all ugly, like drawn by kids in kindergarten.

 

[MitchH]

Woot! My first domain was approved! 1 approved and 6 rejections so far. In line with their average.

 

[Oliver Emberton]

I see they have a 2 step review process. If you make it to step 2, are your chances greater for approval or is that just the standard process? Thanks.

All domains go through two stages:

1. The domain is appraised
2. A senior appraiser reviews the appraisal

We've introduced this so we can hire new staff to appraise domains (step 1), while ensuring we don't slip in quality (step 2).

 

[DNWon]

What i really really like very much so far - are the logos.

The logo's are so much better now! If you are including the logo design with the domain name, the logo should be fairly decent in my opinion. Although most end users will probably opt to design their own logo, it's nice when the logo's are professionally designed instead of say..., just Word Art!
Keep up the great work Brandpa!

 

[Recons.Com]

All domains go through two stages:

1. The domain is appraised
2. A senior appraiser reviews the appraisal

We've introduced this so we can hire new staff to appraise domains (step 1), while ensuring we don't slip in quality (step 2).

Interesting logic. Just wondering, if you believe the hired staff can be wrong and let a non-quality name slip in, what ensures that they actually don't stop a great name before it gets in front of you?

 

[kaposzta]

Interesting logic. Just wondering, if you believe the hired staff can be wrong and let a non-quality name slip in, what ensures that they actually don't stop a great name before it gets in front of you?

I'm really just guessing here, but I think the first approver checks if there's a copyright issue, or it contains numbers or too many syllables, etc.

 

[Dannyboy15]

Im leaving the domaining world and looking at taking offers of my brandpa names. Im not going to break rules so wont list them here or on any thread. Please private message me if you interested. Unfortunetly im not in the slack channel so will have to do through here.
Cheers danny

 

[Recons.Com]

I'm really just guessing here, but I think the first approver checks if there's a copyright issue, or it contains numbers or too many syllables, etc.

Nice theory )

I haven't seen rejection with "copyright" formulation with over 150 submissions ) Numbers thing is automated I think or can be automated. Max 12 letters is automated, syllables could as well, probably. No need to hire extra staff for this )

 

[BrandCougar]

I agree there might be a few good names that are missed, however, as site owners Jowita & Oliver can't do everything and keep pace with sales requests/operations/logistics/etc.

So, the 2 tier approach provides them the ability to delegate (pre-review) the bulk and provide their metrics summary report to management for a final review/acceptance. From my understanding, the 1st Stage is not a decision process, but is a data gathering and research role that then provides a summary report / recommendation for management to review and make Accept/Reject decisions during the 2nd State. This is no different than in any business where an underling does research and quantifies, and then a manager makes an efficient decision without having to do all the research legwork.

To me, this is a good use of leveraging resources to maintain quality standards, yet at the same time not go crazy as humans trying to be a Super Hero (having their thumb on every minute step in their business processes).

Yes, the domain process is a critical step, but so is sales, maintaining a functional site, managing cash flow, and responding to supplier (seller) questions timely.

As a growing business there needs to be balance. Without leveraging other resources their business will stagnate.

I agree that the process is tight, but I see this as a prudent step towards maintaining site & business operational stability.

 

[kaposzta]

Nice theory )

I haven't seen rejection with "copyright" formulation with over 150 submissions ) Numbers thing is automated I think or can be automated. Max 12 letters is automated, syllables could as well, probably. No need to hire extra staff for this )

Yes, you're right, most of these can be automated with 2 minutes of programming... Then I don't know

 

[Recons.Com]

I agree there might be a few good names that are missed, however, as site owners Jowita & Oliver can't do everything and keep pace with sales requests/operations/logistics/etc.

So, the 2 tier approach provides them the ability to delegate (pre-review) the bulk and provide their metrics summary report to management for a final review/acceptance. From my understanding, the 1st Stage is not a decision process, but is a data gathering and research role that then provides a summary report / recommendation for management to review and make Accept/Reject decisions during the 2nd State. This is no different than in any business where an underling does research and quantifies, and then a manager makes an efficient decision without having to do all the research legwork.

To me, this is a good use of leveraging resources to maintain quality standards, yet at the same time not go crazy as humans trying to be a Super Hero (having their thumb on every minute step in their business processes).

Yes, the domain process is a critical step, but so is sales, maintaining a functional site, managing cash flow, and responding to supplier (seller) questions timely.

As a growing business there needs to be balance. Without leveraging other resources their business will stagnate.

I agree that the process is tight, but I see this as a prudent step towards maintaining site & business operational stability.

I wasn't criticizing ) Just curious for purely academic reasons )

 

[BrandCougar]

@Recons.Com

My apologies.

I was trying to offer my thoughts on the value of the new process and why I am pleased to see they are taking proactive step towards delegating certain task - freeing up some of their time (bandwidth) while maintaining their thumb on the overall decision making.

My bad if the post came off in a different tone. (apologize if it did)

 

[Recons.Com]

@Recons.Com

My apologies.

I was trying to offer my thoughts on the value of the new process and why I am pleased to see they are taking proactive step towards delegating certain task - freeing up some of their time (bandwidth) while maintaining their thumb on the overall decision making.

My bad if the post came off in a different tone. (apologize if it did)

It did not ) no need to apologize )

 

[Oliver Emberton]

I should clarify – all domains are seen by at least two people, at least one of whom is senior.

The first person uses an appraisal tool we've developed in-house to classify the domain and gather relevant information (comparable sales, search volume, etc). They then make a call on whether they think we should accept, at what price, what are likely uses, etc.

The second person is more senior, and reviews these decisions. Most of the time they'll agree, but if they don't, our system automatically passes feedback to the first person so they can learn.

It's working pretty well so far. The aim is to allow us to reduce the bottleneck of time required by more senior staff, without losing control of quality. As our new staff get more experienced, they should become senior appraisers themselves.

 

[Oliver Emberton]

Numbers thing is automated I think or can be automated. Max 12 letters is automated, syllables could as well, probably

We automatically stop submissions based on length, TLD and a few other criteria. Try to submit google.com, for instance

Syllables are automatically analysed, but we don't reject based on them. Computers struggle to count syllables in names like "seo.com", which to a human is three syllables (S–E–O), but to a machine looks like one "seeeooh".

Also some great names have a lot of syllables. communication.com is a steal at $248k!

 

[Neal Grayson]

We automatically stop submissions based on length, TLD and a few other criteria. Try to submit google.com, for instance

Syllables are automatically analysed, but we don't reject based on them. Computers struggle to count syllables in names like "seo.com", which to a human is three syllables (S–E–O), but to a machine looks like one "seeeooh".

Also some great names have a lot of syllables. communication.com is a steal at $248k!

Hi, I’m curious as to if you will allow .io or other extensions to be submitted in the future. Thanks

 

[golan]

I only started submitting my domains to Brandpa the last week, and i can tell you i probably never had such great experience with any vendor/service/supplier etc... I so much like the way of how they communicate with you. And how they are choosing the names and how greatly they explain to you the reasons of rejections. Really, it's just a joy. And about quality of their logos i already mentioned here. And they already accepted 3 of my domains.

 

[MitchH]

I only started submitting my domains to Brandpa the last week, and i can tell you i probably never had such great experience with any vendor/service/supplier etc... I so much like the way of how they communicate with you. And how they are choosing the names and how greatly they explain to you the reasons of rejections. Really, it's just a joy. And about quality of their logos i already mentioned here. And they already accepted 3 of my domains.

That's great! How many have you had rejected? Can you share your listings with us?

 

[MitchH]

My first accepted domain is now "HOT" on BrandPa!

Nappler.com

 

[endahpertiwi]

My first accepted domain is now "HOT" on BrandPa!


homedecker.com

 

[imadoer]

So far 13 listed ..0 sales 2 names underway...i was planning on getting to 50 names but i think im going to stop at 17 until i make a sale. i think that should at least get me one sale this year since there average is 168 days to sell a domain. A couple domains where favorited and couple domains where hot for a few days. Only one logo that i really don't like. I will report back if i make a sale or in a few months

 

[kaposzta]

So far 13 listed ..0 sales 2 names underway...i was planning on getting to 50 names but i think im going to stop at 17 until i make a sale. i think that should at least get me one sale this year since there average is 168 days to sell a domain. A couple domains where favorited and couple domains where hot for a few days. Only one logo that i really don't like. I will report back if i make a sale or in a few months

I think you can add a few names occasionally, just to improve your chance to sell

 

[golan]

How many have you had rejected?

For 3 accepted, 42 rejected.