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.

 

[frank-germany]

do the math

what did BB earn ( some $6 K or so )
what did I spend ?
850 .com domains submitted ( some $8K or so plus some xxx to xxxx USD domains )
-3 of the 4 domains sold were not handregged-

why should your blood boil @JimJammy ???
I made BB a lot of money to pay you -whateverfor-

 

[JimJammy]

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?

1) If you spend hours finding domains that you 'think' are suitable for BB and they rejected them, then you are wrong, they are not suitable for BB. It's not their fault you haven't figured out what types of names they list.

2) Yes they do. Some logo designers choose to get paid up front.

3) The advertise on Adwords, they promote all of the names on social media, they've just completed a big promotion with a company that deals with startups, they've not long returned from NamesCon and TechDayLA... the list goes on.

Go to GoDaddy and pay 20% for no promotion. Or better yet, get your own landing pages and pay 0% commission on 0 sales because if you can't sell them on BBs landing page I'm not sure how you think you are going to sell them on your own landing pages.

As I've already explained, you've wasted my time and resources and other sellers time and resources by listing your names on BB, then removing them. BB could have spent time and money promoting our names instead of yours. If you can't understand that, then I can't help you.

 

[frank-germany]

Go to GoDaddy and pay 20% for no promotion. Or better yet, get your own landing pages and pay 0% commission on 0 sales because if you can't sell them on BBs landing page I'm not sure how you think you are going to sell them on your own landing pages.

afternic has sold more brandable names for me with much lower commission
w/o relying on my traffic which I did not give them
then BB sending my domain traffic

my own landing pages are selling well
much more then both BB and afternic

how dare you telling me such BS ?

 

[frank-germany]

As I've already explained, you've wasted my time and resources and other sellers time and resources by listing your names on BB, then removing them. BB could have spent time and money promoting our names instead of yours. If you can't understand that, then I can't help you.

how exactly did I waiste your time ?
I don't even know you

how exactly could I possibly waste somebodys time in using their system in a way that it is designed for???

I did not "waste" their time
but they spend time me using their system in order to make them money
which they did not create for me but for their personal wealth

 

[frank-germany]

As I've already explained, you've wasted my time and resources and other sellers time and resources by listing your names on BB, then removing them. BB could have spent time and money promoting our names instead of yours. If you can't understand that, then I can't help you.

how could I possibly waste other sellers time?

 

[frank-germany]

@JimJammy
maybe you could do something usefull and tell me which domains I forgot to remove

 

[JimJammy]

afternic has sold more brandable names for me with much lower commission
w/o relying on my traffic which I did not give them
then BB sending my domain traffic

Wahay, that's fantastic! So why do you want to be with BB then?!

@JimJammy
maybe you could do something usefull and tell me which domains I forgot to remove]

I'm not your babysitter, ask BB if there is something you don't understand about their system.

 

[frank-germany]

Wahay, that's fantastic! Then why do you want to be with BB then?!

I'm not your babysitter, ask BB if there is something you don't understand about their system.

you forgot to answer:

1) how exactly did I waste your time

2) how exactly did I waste other sellers time?

 

[frank-germany]

don't worry guys
there is no fear:

 

[JimJammy]

you forgot to answer:

1) how exactly did I waste your time

2) how exactly did I waste other sellers time?

I didn't forget to answer, you obviously don't understand:

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.

As I've already explained, you've wasted my time and resources and other sellers time and resources by listing your names on BB, then removing them. BB could have spent time and money promoting our names instead of yours. If you can't understand that, then I can't help you.

 

[frank-germany]

I didn't forget to answer, you obviously don't understand:

they are not promoting my domains prior to yours
as I have removed them

think twice

if they ever promoted my names at all

 

[JimJammy]

don't worry guys
there is no fear:

Show attachment 97845

Exactly, you are not being penalized. Other marketplaces ban you, BB doesn't. You still have an account at BB and you can still list names with them.

 

[JimJammy]

they are not promoting my domains prior to yours
as I have removed them

think twice

if they ever promoted my names at all

When you listed your names with BB, they spent time on a description and logo, they paid logo designers (for those that chose that option) and they promoted your names. You then removed your names. The time and money spent on you, could have been spent on me and other sellers. Do you understand now? I can't make it any clearer than that.

 

[frank-germany]

When you listed your names with BB, they spent time on a description and logo, they paid logo designers (for those that chose that option) and they promoted your names. You then removed your names. The time and money spent on you, could have been spent on me and other sellers. Do you understand now? I can't make it any clearer than that.

1) I paid them $10 USD for that
I doubt they lost money here

2) plus $6K USD in commission


I made them money to promote your stuff
do you pay me a commission?

 

[frank-germany]

Oh, Its look like you got what you where searching.

 

[JimJammy]

1) I paid them $10 USD for that
I doubt they lost money here

2) plus $6K USD in commission


I made them money to promote your stuff
do you pay me a commission?

And they made you $12,500, a nice chunk of change

 

[frank-germany]

You paid them because you wanted to sell your names via there platform. You agreed there TOS before the Signup. But unfortunately you didn't got the result which you expected and then you left them. End of Story

you should read all previous posts

 

[frank-germany]

And they made you $12,500, a nice chunk of change

3 of the 4 sales were 4L.com
I didn't get them for handreg

and I submitted 850 .com domains = 8500 USD
so I am not so enthusiastic as you think

 

[anantj]

3) The advertise on Adwords, they promote all of the names on social media, they've just completed a big promotion with a company that deals with startups, they've not long returned from NamesCon and TechDayLA... the list goes on.

Can you prove they promote/advertise individual names (from non BB/Boxador affiliate sellers) and not the brandbucket brand itself?

 

[JimJammy]

Can you prove they promote/advertise individual names (from non BB/Boxador affiliate sellers) and not the brandbucket brand itself?

 

[JimJammy]

None of them are through the channels you mentioned.

NMC is not a advertising channel where BB actually advertises seller domains. That's a red herring.

The bb_domains twitter account is an auto posted list of domains from their RSS feed (https://feeds.feedburner.com/brandbucket ) so no active promotion by BrandBucket themselves.

On Mark Levine's tweet, please show how a retweet extolling BB is promoting a sellers name?

On Keith's quora post, this is what I found out about the domains he listed:

ultavia.com - owned by Keith
travesto.com - owned by Keith
JetHeaven.com - owned by Keith
SentryTravel.com - Owned by Keith
Scootico.com - Owned by Keith

Keith (on behalf of BB as their ambassador) is not promoting BB seller names except his own. No offence Keith, this is not wrong and I'm not judging. Just stating facts here.

@JimJammy: I respect you and what you've achieved with BB. It is very impression and envious (for me) but your entire previous comment is HIGHLY misleading about BB promoting their seller's names. I have, personally, never come across any form of promotion by BB for their seller's names.

This is very different from promoting/advertising the BB brand which they of course rightly should and is expected.

NMC is for potential domain purchasers to request a domain name. This was set up by Brandbucket, paid for by Brandbucket and maintained by Brandbucket. Brandbucket and NMC is promoted in Adwords and other paid media forms. We as sellers can promote our names there and BB staff members also promote our names there. They offer the best names that match the request, no matter who they belong to.

The fact that their social media posts are automated doesn't mean they are not promoting your names! They still had to pay to set up that system and they pay to promote their social media.

I was pointing out that BB had a second Twitter account with that post.

Agreed on the Quora post.

Other than the above, they spend thousands targeting startup companies and marketing agencies to come to BrandBucket the company, where your names are listed, and a large promotional push was discussed in BBs forum recently (details of things like this they would rather not be discussed outside of BB I understand).

 

[Name Trader]

In case anyone is interested…………

Also, I have asked BB about the biased search allegations and they say that any such bias, if it exists, is unintended and they do not give preference in their search results to specific sellers. They ask that if anyone finds any instances of skewed search results that they contact BB ([email protected]) so they can remedy the situation for that specific search which came about as an unintended consequence of their search algorithms.

Was it you, @Grilled who did this testing earlier this year?

 

[Man D]

Why don't you try Brandcart?
No charges for logo creation
No listing fee
2 weeks domain listing time (half compare to competitors)
Low commissions

 

[headsupp]

Stub, I appreciate your feelings and views. Every market place has its good and bad points. Domainers should choose the marketplace(s) that best suit their needs. In some cases that means using multiple marketplaces and/or landing pages via Efty etc.

BB does require exclusivity for their listings just like BrandRoot and Brandpa. However, any seller can remove a domain(s) from BB by giving 30 days notice.

Brandroot does not require exclusivity. You are allowed to list on Afternic and other marketplaces, which he confirmed to me via an email. Wouldn't be fair if the owner, Michael, would be allowed special treatment. You can see his domains listed on Afternic. Take Otho.com or Trive.com as examples. Now, only if the traffic was better.

 

[canswift]

Brandroot does not require exclusivity. You are allowed to list on Afternic and other marketplaces

This is not my understanding at all. I believe that Brandroot, like other brandable marketplaces, does indeed require domains to be listed exclusively. This would only seem to be prudent, as a domain could sell at an Afternic BIN price, right out from under that brandable marketplace at any time, even in mid customer negotiations. Not a scenario any marketplace wants.