Neither one is true. None of the owners of Brand Bucket, Namerific, or BrandRoot have any branding or naming experience so who makes them the judge or jury. They just have a site that sells brandable names. Namerific is owned by Zane Gocha who is a nice guy but I remember when he was listing names at Brand Stack now known as Brand Crowd. He is a regular guy like you and I who has no formal training in Naming so just because a name was accepted or not accepted at Namerific means nothing. It's just his choice in taste. Same goes for Margot Bushnaq who owns Brand Bucket. This site got started because she was naming some of her own companies and had left over names that people liked so she started her own site. I don't know much about Michael Rader from Brand Root but from looking at the names on his site he has no formal training either but seems like a really nice guy.
When you're in the field long enough you start to get a better idea about what works and what doesn't. This is more valuable than any training. You also have a keener eye on what names are starting up around since you're dedicated full-time+ to the business, as I am. I have also read and studied numerous books about branding and naming, which has allowed me to write about the subject extensively. That's not to say we may accept and list some iffy names, but these names even serve a purpose (at Brandroot) believe it or not. Without a few of the bad ones, how will the good ones shine and attract a buyer? That said, I would never intentionally accept a bad name from an
outside individual but this has been part of my tactic since I started, listing a few bad ones of my own. For a similar reason I purchased high value 4-letter names (likely not to sell for some time), to help increase the overall value perception of the site.
"Oh I can't afford this name, but oh... this name is nice and more in my price range. It's also a lot better than this ugly one sitting next to it so I better it get it quick." (probably shouldn't be shouting out strategy, but just making the point that when you're actually behind such a specialized business you develop a lot more reason and tactic. There's much more than picking and choosing. Almost every month I let about 10-20 names expire from my portfolio. Some names truly are bad and should not be allowed to waste money. Doubaj, Sunlid etc.... probably on my drop list. lol
And thank you, I am a nice guy... for the most part.
Also, your policy of exclusivity is making things more difficult. I am not saying it is not right. From your point of view, you would feel cheated if you had design logo and list and we sell it somewhere else. But from a domain seller's point of view, it is making sales more difficult. For example, I had an offer for a domain listed at your site for around $2500. The buyer offered me $500, which will be a huge profit for me. But I had to let go because of your exclusivity.
I agree, exclusivity is a touchy subject. At Brandroot, we will require it too. It definitely didn't make me happy at BrandBucket but it's just one of those things that needs to be or you're just wasting time and money listing and designing names. However, at Brandroot, when a name gets sold outside our site we realize there's little we can do to prevent it and would hate for the owner to miss out on a sale (like your situation), so we are asking that sellers at least send payment for the agreed logo amount award, since the logo designer is really what concerns us most. The logo is really what makes this business model work and we don't want to starve the designers.
what you found that attractive in BB to pay for the listings and be bound by exclusivity limitations? compare sales volumes (brandables or whatever filter like 5L, 6L, etc you prefer) to the above listed marketplaces and feel the diff... as for me i got regular and steady influx of offers/requests from established venues vs a couple from Namerific for the last couple of months (~15 names there, going to delist all because of high commissions, huge amount of low quality inventory and random pricing)
A lot of end-buyers don't know anything about SEDO and other marketplaces. They are terribly unattractive and very difficult and time-consuming to search through the trash. It's not for the business man looking for a nice, quick name for their new idea. What do these types of people do? They don't go to SEDO, they search Google for phrases like "cool business names." or "creative business name" (and so many others) where they will find at the top, BB, Brandroot etc.... not SEDO or Afternic. We are attracting a very different buyer, and all to your advantage. It's really hard to compare the two.
We're not selling domains (well we are) but it's not the domain name marketplace, its a business name marketplace. Some customers surprisingly do not know exactly what a domain is and it has to be explained to them. You would never find this person at a GoDaddy auction.
