My journey with BrandBucket (and why I'm leaving them)

[BrandVenue]

I have joined BB in the beginning of 2016. Started with only a less than 15 names just to give it a try. Within a couple months I sold one domain (May 2016 to be exact). After that sale I took BrandBucket seriously and listed 250+ names over the years, mostly hand registered domains. That was the time when BB acceptance rate was only around 20%. So I had to submit 100 domains to get 20 of them approved. Unlike now that was the time when submitting unregistered domains wasn't allowed.

For almost a year I had no sale so I sold some of my hand registered domains to other BB sellers here at Namepros. Mostly because I was not getting my 2nd sale, renewals were coming due, I wasn't sure what my next move would be if I didn't have another sale.

My 2nd sale came exactly 1 year after my first sale. After my 2nd sale I have been regularly selling one domain every month or two on BB. With each of these sale I came to realize the importance of quality over quantity. Because on BrandBucket I was only selling the names I bought from auctions. But my portfolio was filled with so many hand registered names. I wasn't so lucky to sell a single hand registered domain there.

For this reason I had changed my strategy. With the profits of each sale I bought domains from auctions. I sold off nearly all my hand registered domains from my BB portfolio to other BB sellers, kept only a few which I really like and filled my portfolio with domains bought from auctions.

Currently I have 138 domains and 70%-80% of those are domains bought for XX, XXX and XXXX figures from auctions. I have stopped hand registering domains long time ago.

Total sold : 8 domains
Total Revenue: $26K (average $3.2K)
Total Net proceeds: $18.3K (average $2.2K)

My dashboard says 3.82% sell through rate, with being top 13% of sellers.

I consider myself pretty successful on BB. But despite that I have decided to leave BB. Why?

Over my journey I have watched BB inventory grow from 20K+ domains to 50K+ domains. But quality of the names did not grow with the same pace. Nowadays BB accepts every kind of domains which would have never been accepted in 2015/16.

At first it was good to repeat last letter of a domain like Domainn , then they started to accept repeated letters anywhere on the word like and .

Even though at this point I thought they wouldn't approve repeating first letter of a domain, but after seeing it's clear that in upcoming days we will see more of this kind first letter repeated domains.

I knew BB only publish pronounceable 4 letter domains but ?

I thought removing one vowel like Tunnl (I've sold this one on BB) instead of Tunnel was good but removing 3 vowel?

And the last one which I saw today is

in the description it says - A clever spelling of "outsourced". The domain is Out/Soursd, S not C. if it was OutSourcd I'd understand why BB accepted it - they removed the last vowel of correct spelling OutSourced but why would they accept or publish a domain like Out/Soursd?

After seeing this name I have said myself enough is enough. I can't have my domains, most of which were bought from auctions for substantial amount of money compete with these kind of names. One thing is clear BB is ignoring quality issue, they now believe in quantity over quality which is against my point of view. So I've decided to leave BrandBucket.

When they were getting good number of sales they would highlight that in their newsletters, but they've stopped publishing any kind of sale related info which suggests their sale rate also dropping.

I did not have any intention to go against any other BB sellers (especially those whose domains I've mentioned here). I only blame BB for their decision to move to quantity over quality strategy. I am not saying these domains I've mentioned here won't sell, they might sell. But BB has proved that we may see more unpronounceable 4 letter domains (even CHIPS too) in future, we may see more first letter repeated domains in future, we may also see more domains like in future.

All these suggests BB inventory will grow rapidly in the future and my small portfolio of domains will be like a small water drop of a ocean, chances of selling a name there through buyer using search option doesn't look bright anymore.

I've sent them 30 days notice to remove my names. It's been a good journey.

 

[karmaco]

I think your math is probably correct you will have to add 4 times the amount you originally had to get to a B. I currently have 17 names 1 removed and I am at a B.

 

[Keith DeBoer]

Some of those are compound words which wouldn't meet BB criteria (in my experience they don't accept mutations of compound words like backorderr, backordr etc) but others are interesting. Thanks!

 

[BrandChimp]

My own landers. Why? The search is a rigged system on BB, and I keep all the money for myself

Well, I do have names that can sell on their own but I also have some great made up words that I believe will be hard to sell outside of a brandable marketplace.

 

[farouk20]

@stub i am hoping someone can run a non-biased review of the top 3(bb,bp,br) basically namerific is dead so need.

Where is grill?

Drops mic..

 

[Name Trader]

@stub i am hoping someone can run a non-biased review of the top 3(bb,bp,br) basically namerific is dead so need.

Where is grill?

Drops mic..

I'm kinda curious why you say Namerific is dead? But not BR?

 

[farouk20]

@stub i have friends on Br selling names..while namerific seems like a graveyard. Right now we are talking about serious people and namerific isnt on that list . BB, BP, BR

So thats how i see it.

 

[BrandChimp]

Just take a look at alexa ranking. Numbers don’t lie. Bb BR are close BP is growing

 

[Ogunyinka Francis]

Am thinking of listing my domains on brandbucket.

 

[Name Trader]

Alexa Ranking doesn't mean very much. Unfortunately. It's skewed to those people who have Alexa in the browser. Which I would suggest, is highly limited.

 

[Name Trader]

Am thinking of listing my domains on brandbucket.

Why?

 

[Ogunyinka Francis]

New experience, flippa is just a waste of time, if you don't have money for upgrades.

 

[Name Trader]

New experience, flippa is just a waste of time, if you don't have money for upgrades.

I meant why BB and not Namerific, BrandRoot, or Brandpa?

 

[Ogunyinka Francis]

bb is the leader in selling brandables domain name.

 

[Ogunyinka Francis]

It sounds like your mind is already made up For the same reason people flock to GoDaddy for Registrations and Hosting.

For new purchase I always use godaddy, but for hosting I use bluehost.

 

[DOHAN]

@stub i have friends on Br selling names..while namerific seems like a graveyard. Right now we are talking about serious people and namerific isnt on that list . BB, BP, BR

So thats how i see it.

How is Namerific a "graveyard?" They keep accepting new names and are pretty fast at filtering the good from the bad. Just visit the site to see each one they add each day. They also show which ones they've recently sold. If there's one that I personally find to be a graveyard, it's Brandroot. Brandroot does not even let you create an account right now. I read in another thread that they have a waiting list of several months before sellers get notified of their account status. Like, lol. As if they're the only game in town. If they're "too busy" to accept your domains, try their competitors. Namerific will let you know whether or not they accept your domains. Aside from brandBucket and Namerific, Brandpa is also active in accepting sellers and their domains. Here's my thorough review of the Big 3: nametaster.com (check the blog). yes, my site is still a draft until I get something better...

 

[DOHAN]

How is Namerific a "graveyard?" They keep accepting new names and are pretty fast at filtering the good from the bad. Just visit the site to see each one they add each day. They also show which ones they've recently sold. If there's one that I personally find to be a graveyard, it's Brandroot. Brandroot does not even let you create an account right now. I read in another thread that they have a waiting list of several months before sellers get notified of their account status. Like, lol. As if they're the only game in town. If they're "too busy" to accept your domains, try their competitors. Namerific will let you know whether or not they accept your domains. Aside from brandBucket and Namerific, Brandpa is also active in accepting sellers and their domains. Here's my thorough review of the Big 3: nametaster.com (check the blog). yes, my site is still a draft until I get something better...

@farouk20 I'll copy you in since you were also part of that thread and I feel like @Namerific deserves a more positive review.

 

[Name Trader]

How is Namerific a "graveyard?" They keep accepting new names and are pretty fast at filtering the good from the bad. Just visit the site to see each one they add each day. They also show which ones they've recently sold. If there's one that I personally find to be a graveyard, it's Brandroot. Brandroot does not even let you create an account right now. I read in another thread that they have a waiting list of several months before sellers get notified of their account status. Like, lol. As if they're the only game in town. If they're "too busy" to accept your domains, try their competitors. Namerific will let you know whether or not they accept your domains. Aside from brandBucket and Namerific, Brandpa is also active in accepting sellers and their domains. Here's my thorough review of the Big 3: nametaster.com (check the blog). yes, my site is still a draft until I get something better...

You were quoting me.But it wasn't me that said that. I think it was @Ogunyinka Francis

 

[DOHAN]

You were quoting me.But it wasn't me that said that. I think it was @Ogunyinka Francis

My bad, thanks.

 

[JimJammy]

@stub Good standing is a lot easier if you are on the Growth Progam. From the FAQs.

Q: I’ve heard about accounts needing to be in “Good Standing” to have access to certain benefits and features. What does that mean?
A: Our active and committed sellers do two things successfully: 1) publish their domains that are submitted and approved, and 2) keep their domains at BrandBucket. The last two circles on the dashboard reflect these statistics. You need to have an A or B score in BOTH of these circles to be in “Good Standing”.

Here's mine. Note how the first metric (listing accepted names) is disabled because I'm on the growth program. I think you'd have to remove a lot of names to fall to a C in the last metric, check your dashboard.

 

[Name Trader]

If you give them 30 days notice, your account stays open and you have the ability to come back, if you add your names again your score will return to what it was.

If you don't give them 30 days notice they close your account.

It ain't that simple. It's a complicated calculation. If I understood it correctly, I'd have to add between 4-5 TIMES more than my original domains I deleted. I'd hope @Keith DeBoer would provide a simple calculation which I could understand.

 

[Name Trader]

I cancel all my names at BB within 30 days notice as well
now having a "in good standing" wich is no good no more

after me asking what to do about it
they told me I have to relist all my names with them

that alone is reason enough to kick them where it hurts

I have not done anything against any of their rules
didn't know leaving is not allowed

my blood boils when I think of it

Hi Frank,

I'm sorry to hear you have befallen the same bs as me.

But I would also like to add that their website search results are also screwed up to the point that they 'aint fair. They favor their big customers over better search results available from their smaller customers.

 

[JimJammy]

It ain't that simple. It's a complicated calculation. If I understood it correctly, I'd have to add between 4-5 TIMES more than my original domains I deleted. I'd hope @Keith DeBoer would provide a simple calculation which I could understand.

A complicated calculation? LOL. It's clearly just a percentage. I'm sure @Keith DeBoer will provide that simple calculation for you.

@frank-germany Brandroot bans people that leave. Brandpa bans people that leave.

I don't want either of you back, you've both wasted BB's time and resources, that means you've wasted my time and resources, and every other BB sellers time and resources. Time and resources that could have been spent on our names. My blood boils when I think about BB allowing you back.

Brandbucket are being massively generous allowing you to return, if you relist your names you are back in good standing, if you don't then you have to work your way back into good standing. And you are whining about this? Unbelievable!

 

[frank-germany]

So let me get this straight... You added your names to BB, they spent countless hours writing your descriptions, paying a logo designer to create a logo for you (if the logo designer chose that option) and then promoting those names in social media and other outlets on your behalf... and then you removed your names.

1) did they spend countless hours of describing my name????
- I work quicker I'd like to say at least -

I myself wasted hundreds of hours to find domains
that are suitable to BB and
spend thousands of dollars to register them
countless hours to submit them into that 1 domain per copy and paste system
only to get disapproved

don't want know where you live.
but you sound very sarcastic to me

2) did they actually pay a logo designer?
guess no
as far as I know they are paid when the domain sells with the help of their logo

3) they promote the names?????
my domains traffic promotes w/o me getting paid their other domain names


in the end they earn 30%

you are kidding aren't you?

 

[Furquan]

I don't know why ppl are here doing countless post about Brandbucket which they decided to leave.

C'mon guys, You chooses to leave a place and now you are arguing with people who has good ROI & that's said they are not even favourite.

 

[Furquan]

All brandable marketplace has some Good things & Some Bad things. Its up to us to choose our best brand-able domain marketplace. Some likes BB because its do well for them, other hate them because its won't sell there names.