SquadHelp is Oversaturated and a Waste of Time

[GoKaizen]

I've stopped adding domains or submitting to SquadHelp as it's completely not worth the time anymore.

The market is oversaturated so my STR has tanked.

When I do get offers the sales team over there is crap. They have no incentive to push buyers.

If you aren't willing to come down they just shower the buyer with other domains.

I've thought of using BrandBucket but don't see a lot of people talking about it anymore.

For brandables I will stick to Dan/Afternic now.

 

[Gary Scot]

Yep. I'll be removing my domains from BB. I've had no luck with them at all.
This year, very slow at SH

 

[phaethon]

My last 3K sale was a Squadhelp rejected name. Not a brandable in terms that it does make perfect sense

 

[GoKaizen]

Nice!

My last 3K sale was a Squadhelp rejected name. Not a brandable in terms that it does make perfect sense

 

[karmaco]

I agree on the highly bloated market. I feel like they expanded way too quickly, accept many subpar names, commission is too high (same with BB) pricing is below market in many cases and just plain old lost their way/goal/mission.

Are they a luxury mart or a bargain basement mart? Those two ideas should have been kept separate with distinct sites and names.

Its like they are just trying to compete with the likes of a HugeDomains model of quantity over quality on the main SH site.

All the advertising in the world isn’t going to sell an average or below average name faster. Especially if it can’t be found.

I respect the innovation and adaptability/openness to change but the focus should be on selling the names allready listed and tightening up premium listing standards thus slowing growth.

Thats one thing BB is better at— they don’t accept too many garbage names. The names are held to a higher standard to get on the site and the overall quality is better for the average priced domain.

 

[GoKaizen]

Yes they should limit.

I agree on the highly bloated market. I feel like they expanded way too quickly, accept many subpar names, commission is too high (same with BB) pricing is below market in many cases and just plain old lost their way/goal/mission.

They want to be everything.

Are they a luxury mart or a bargain basement mart? Those two ideas should have been kept separate with distinct sites and names.

Its like they are just trying to compete with the likes of a HugeDomains model of quantity over quality on the main SH site.

Exactly!

All the advertising in the world isn’t going to sell an average or below average name faster. Especially if it can’t be found.

Agreed!

I respect the innovation and adaptability/openness to change but the focus should be on selling the names allready listed and tightening up premium listing standards thus slowing growth.

I would move to BrandBucket but they are slow.

Thats one thing BB is better at— they don’t accept too many garbage names. The names are held to a higher standard to get on the site and the overall quality is better for the average priced domain.

 

[Arslan Nawaz]

Hi, I am building portfolio on SH. Planning to have 500+ on SH. What you people suggest. Can sales be increased on SH by increasing quantity on domain on SH? Another thing is when we go with SH listing auto done for sedo and we can also allowed to list on afternic.

 

[singhhooda]

Hi, I am building portfolio on SH. Planning to have 500+ on SH. What you people suggest. Can sales be increased on SH by increasing quantity on domain on SH? Another thing is when we go with SH listing auto done for sedo and we can also allowed to list on afternic.

1. Quantity of the quality names is the key
2. Yes. I use SH coin to submit the name. If we use coin, we can list the name at Afternic.

I've started building portfolio from March 2023. I've around 170 SH premium names & till now have sold 1 name.

 

[Arslan Nawaz]

Thats great. Your STR is good.
Would you tell me please that Is your portfolio contain hand registered only or you are buying from SH whole sale too?

 

[singhhooda]

Thats great. Your STR is good.
Would you tell me please that Is your portfolio contain hand registered only or you are buying from SH whole sale too?

Portfolio is a mix of all types of purchases - Hand Reg, Wholesale, Auction, etc. Feel free to PM me if you've any other queries.

 

[aZooZa]

Thats great. Your STR is good.
Would you tell me please that Is your portfolio contain hand registered only or you are buying from SH whole sale too?

STR is good? 1 name out of 170 since March last year?

https://www.namepros.com/threads/squadhelp-marketplace.1120686/post-9088583

 

[okaydomains]

STR is good? 1 name out of 170 since March last year?

https://www.namepros.com/threads/squadhelp-marketplace.1120686/post-9088583

He said he grew it to 170 names from March - Dec 31. ChatGPT says that puts his STR at 1.18%.

https://chat.openai.com/share/217742e9-e51a-4788-b603-d0711aa8053b

1.18% isn't outstanding but its not terrible either.

 

[ArielT]

I think the the reason is a decrease in sales due to many people are in cryptos/tranding in general

 

[Alf_W]

Most my sales just with Dan/AN or Sedo.
I have taken most off BB and SH. I too think they are becoming less relevant.

 

[Sperry8]

I'm finding BB to still be good. I sold 2 names last year (portfolio was only 16 names) for ~$3k each. 2020-2022 was dead however, hopefully that was the lean COVID years. I'm going to submit another 10-20 names in a few months.

 

[okaydomains]

Agree, BB is solid. Not earth shattering, but they regularly sell names for me.

SH on the other hand continues to be dead. I'm going to wait and see what happens with their rebranding and hope that gives their platform a shot in the arm. But if their STR doesn't improve after that, I don't see the logic in investing further in that platform.

 

[Sperry8]

Agree, BB is solid. Not earth shattering, but they regularly sell names for me.

SH on the other hand continues to be dead. I'm going to wait and see what happens with their rebranding and hope that gives their platform a shot in the arm. But if their STR doesn't improve after that, I don't see the logic in investing further in that platform.

Interesting to know. I just submitted my first 20 names to them so we shall see how that goes. I did it with coins so at least I can list on Afternic as well in case SH is truly dead.

 

[Nuno Casimiro]

I will leave Squadhelp soon, with 590 domains. Only 0,5% STR
In 4 years only 6 sales.

Most of my revenue had from wholesale sales!

They have favorite sellers

It would be better if i listened @Recons.Com 2 years before

 

[Sperry8]

According to whois.domaintools.com SquadHelp has 363,992 names using it's nameservers. I assume that means that's how many names it now is marketing (perhaps some people pointed but never listed). This is >2x the # of names pointing to BrandBucket. Either way that is some number. Oversaturated is right. I just listed ~50 names with them. We shall see if I can get through the clutter and get some sales. I highly doubt it now that I see how many names they list. Seems they accept anything and everything.

 

[okaydomains]

According to whois.domaintools.com SquadHelp has 363,992 names using it's nameservers.

That also includes domains using their White Label Marketplace, so its less than that. I'm trying to find the latest number (its on their dashboard somewhere) but last I remember it was above 250k and climbing quickly.

This is >2x the # of names pointing to BrandBucket.

Yes, in my observations BB stays just under 150k, and it actually goes down sometimes. That number comes from their dashboard so it should be accurate, but as they have no WLMs its a decent bet that a domain pointed to BB nameservers is probably for sale there.

Seems they accept anything and everything.

Maybe not *everything*, but its certainly looser than I initially realized. Another commenter in this thread pointed out that SH has almost 400 names with "Qode" in them, which is shocking. I'd be surprised if they can sell even one of those.

One thing you could try is to submitting unregistered names to SH (if they are accepted, SH pays the reg fees and you only get to keep ~25%). When they are paying the fees they get 100x pickier (understandably). But that would probably be a better way to train yourself on what actually sells in their marketplace vs submitting your own names.

At the end of the day its up to you to choose the names that will sell, of course. But I used to think that as I was getting better at getting names accepted to SH I was getting better at choosing names that will sell there. I no longer feel that way.

 

[Sperry8]

That also includes domains using their White Label Marketplace, so its less than that. I'm trying to find the latest number (its on their dashboard somewhere) but last I remember it was above 250k and climbing quickly.


Yes, in my observations BB stays just under 150k, and it actually goes down sometimes. That number comes from their dashboard so it should be accurate, but as they have no WLMs its a decent bet that a domain pointed to BB nameservers is probably for sale there.


Maybe not *everything*, but its certainly looser than I initially realized. Another commenter in this thread pointed out that SH has almost 400 names with "Qode" in them, which is shocking. I'd be surprised if they can sell even one of those.

One thing you could try is to submitting unregistered names to SH (if they are accepted, SH pays the reg fees and you only get to keep ~25%). When they are paying the fees they get 100x pickier (understandably). But that would probably be a better way to train yourself on what actually sells in their marketplace vs submitting your own names.

At the end of the day its up to you to choose the names that will sell, of course. But I used to think that as I was getting better at getting names accepted to SH I was getting better at choosing names that will sell there. I no longer feel that way.

Very interesting idea re submitting unregistered names to SH. Where/how do I submit these? I added an unregistered name to my Standard Listings and it gives an error "need to verify". So obv that is not the path. How do I add these? There are some names on the fence about - would be a good test to list them as unregistered with a lower commission (assuming I can get them accepted).

As for my registered names, I'm not having trouble getting them approved with SH (which is actually my concern). I'm at an almost 60% approval rate (33 submitted; 19 names accepted, 7 pending). Meanwhile over at BrandBucket, I submitted 40 names - and only 2 were accepted (5% approval rate vs 60%!). At BB it cost me $20 per name to get them listed and they priced them very low. In fact, I'm appealing the price of one of those names. We shall see if they care to raise the price.

To your point, here I think I'm doing a great job getting names into SH - but the reality is, I may only be getting names in - and may never get any names out (aka sold).

btw - I noticed on my approval rate screenshot they show how many Premium listings they have: 246,820. That's still ~65% higher than BrandBucket with the WhiteLabel and Standard removed. So to make that work - they better have 65% more traffic/leads (or much better quality, which at a glance does not seem the case).

 

[okaydomains]

Very interesting idea re submitting unregistered names to SH. Where/how do I submit these? I added an unregistered name to my Standard Listings and it gives an error "need to verify". So obv that is not the path. How do I add these? There are some names on the fence about - would be a good test to list them as unregistered with a lower commission (assuming I can get them accepted).

Here's a link

You can also find this page by going to the Premium Listings page and then using the Add Domains dropdown to select it. This option is not available from the Add Domains menu on the main Dashboard page.

It costs a few SH points to submit unregistered names. You can get SH points by successfully submitting premium names or by rating logos around their website.

In my experience its very, very hard to get them to accept an unregistered name. But I do think that training yourself to identify names SH is willing to register on your behalf is probably a good way to train for what sells in their marketplace generally, and its not costing you anything.

Let me know what your experience with it is!

As for my registered names, I'm not having trouble getting them approved with SH (which is actually my concern). I'm at an almost 60% approval rate (33 submitted; 19 names accepted, 7 pending).

Very similar percentage to mine (I have a bit over 800 names with SH). I'm not sure who is dragging down the site average to 7% - they must receive some really crappy submissions! Everyone I have talked to here has an approval rate around 50% (or better).

Meanwhile over at BrandBucket, I submitted 40 names - and only 2 were accepted (5% approval rate vs 60%!). At BB it cost me $20 per name to get them listed and they priced them very low. In fact, I'm appealing the price of one of those names. We shall see if they care to raise the price.

Similar - BB accepts about 20% of what I submit. I find its hard to get them to price names above $2-3k for hand reg quality names, but they will do it for great names (I have a decent number priced around $20k).

Interestingly, I used to submit everything to SH first and then submit the rejects to BB (I did it this way because SH approval was so much faster). I have switched this up, and I give BB the first choice now. Its made almost no difference in my acceptance rate on either marketplace.

So each marketplace definitely has their own taste, and one might be a better fit for you.