Atom / Atom.com - Marketplace (formerly Squadhelp)

[JudgeMind]

Hey Folks,

I've just started using squadhelp.com to list some of my brandable. So far I have 76 domains listed, there is no fee to list. I've had some decent action so far in the way of interested buyers but no sales as of yet. I've only been with them for 1 week now.

A bit of a summary review of SquadHelp:

PROS

• No Listing fee
• No Logo design fee
• Ability to submit your names to end users holding naming contests
• Ability to chat directly or send a message directly to end users.
• Stats of your marketplace domains are shown in the marketplace dashboard.
• Their customer service and support has been great, 24hr a day chat.
• Ability to increase or decrease the list price of your domains or to show a discount. You can decrease or increase the price yourself by $200. If you want to lower more, you can contact support.
• End users can shortlist your domains before they make a decision on which they want to purchase. The number of shortlists is shown in you marketplace dashboard.
• When you submit your names you get to set the price you wish to get. Because their commissions are high I recommend listing at a higher price to offset the commission costs.
• Their landing pages are fairly basic but they work. Because the marketplace is fairly new, I'm sure we will see style improvements in the future.
• One thing I really like is they accept multiple extensions. I have listed .co and .io along with .com
• Each seller gets a direct link to their marketplace portfolio, HERES MY PORTFOLIO. It is handy if your trying to p[promote your portfolio through social media.
• I like that their marketplace doesn't have tens of thousands domain listings like BB. They are fairly strict on the domains they accept to list and so this helps keep the number of domains in the marketplace down and gets your listings more exposure.

CONS

• Their commissions are very high, depending on the domain name they are usually between 30% and 35%. However, there are no listing fees, no logo design fees, so in the end their commission is very similar to brand buckets.
• Their logos are not top quality, in fact I requested to have some of my logos remade.
• I think they have a big backlog of logos to design, the wait time for logo design has been around 1 week, but your names are still listed while the logos are being designed.
• After your names are accepted you need to agree to their commission rate, at this point you also need to apply your own keywords, descriptions etc. I found this was very time consuming.

 

[NameWell]

squadhelp indicated to me that the boost is compareable to a superboost. They also said that these special boosts last 30 days opposed to the standard 7 days for a superboost.

Yes, I really like these special boosts. Once my premium domain name was sold the next day after it received a special boost!

In addition to the current policy, I would like to propose an expansion. When a premium domain name is shortlisted in a contest and is selected for audience testing it should also get a special boost in case the CH decided to choose another name as a winning one. While browsing a marketplace a customer might view a name just out of curiosity or because they liked the logo or for some other reason. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but in the contest, only six names can be selected for audience testing. So if a CH chose a name for audience testing it's very likely that they were seriously considering that name. Therefore I believe that is a great validation that the domain is resonating well with the customers of SH and it deserves a special boost.

What do you guys think? @GrantP what do you think?

 

[tiletalk]

deleted

 

[gblasting]

I'm just amazed that people routinely lists name with $4,000 retail price at $1,900 on SH wholesale market. Even with the most liquid SH type of names, the juice is not worth the squeeze.

On BB slack channel, people at least have tempered expectations.

 

[tiletalk]

I'm just amazed that people routinely lists name with $4,000 retail price at $1,900 on SH wholesale market. Even with the most liquid SH type of names, the juice is not worth the squeeze.

On BB slack channel, people at least have tempered expectations.

The market determines the price. Listing is just listing... if the 4000 names are visible to us and not instantly taken off the sellers hand then may be it is an optimistic price

 

[gblasting]

The market determines the price. Listing is just listing... if the 4000 names are visible to us and not instantly taken off the sellers hand then may be it is an optimistic price

I agree. The main goal of a wholesale market is to liquidate names i.e. almost "instantly taken off the sellers hand" because an investor sees that there's still some bone left on the meat. If you have to list a name at wholesale for 2 years, then maybe you should just leave it in the retail market.

To each his own.

 

[tiletalk]

Is there any way to tell how many of the experts favoured your domain? I can only see like "9 Expert Reviews Completed"

 

[kaposzta]

I'm not sure if this topic ever came up, but don't you find it a bit annoying to pay for domain classification service one by one? Every time I want to use this service, I need to pay $1 or $2 via Paypal, instead of topping up a wallet or something in advance (like Squadhelp coins). Why is it good for Squadhelp? I'm not sure about the exact numbers, but Paypal fee is about one third of every $1 payment.

 

[tiletalk]

I'm not sure if this topic ever came up, but don't you find it a bit annoying to pay for domain classification service one by one? Every time I want to use this service, I need to pay $1 or $2 via Paypal, instead of topping up a wallet or something in advance (like Squadhelp coins). Why is it good for Squadhelp? I'm not sure about the exact numbers, but Paypal fee is about one third of every $1 payment.

I was going to raise this issue actually!

 

[tiletalk]

In addition, I have a problem where someone I believe has submitted a domain name I assume as unregistered but I have since registered the domain and it won't let me submit for premium listing as it has been accepted and the domain is now live on the marketplace.

I wonder how many other domains are like this? I am actively chasing for this domain to be added to my portfolio.

 

[Ntmt]

i feel that as the portfolio got larger, squadhelp did not promote the portfolio as much and started trying to rely on type in and backlink traffic.

It seemed that as my portfolio got larger, i was actually selling less names (%). I'm certain there are multiple variables affecting this, but bottom line is, when i look at stats now compared to stats from a year ago, things have changed.

I have different picture with 580 premium names in my portfolio:

 

[Wali Dahot]

I have noticed if you add .co.uk to your WLM, the system treats them as .co and wont let you add them.
Here is the error message when adding freighttech .co.uk and same error happens when adding another .co.uk while no problems adding .co's.
"
Unfortunately your point balance is below the 100 points required to list a domain in marketplace. You should be able to use this feature when you have accumulated more than 100 points. Unfortunately domain is not available, you cannot list this domain in marketplace.
Sell FreightTech .co in Marketplace "

 

[Ostrados]

The saturation kicked in at SH very fast, my traffic (number of views) is less that 1 year ago although my domains doubled. STR reduced overtime significantly. SH changed their advertising strategy since April 2020 and now they are focusing on higher valued domains, it is good for them for sure in terms of ROI, but will negatively affect the majority of sellers, I am not sure if selling at SH will stay viable or profitable at the end of this year.

 

[kaposzta]

The saturation kicked in at SH very fast, my traffic (number of views) is less that 1 year ago although my domains doubled. STR reduced overtime significantly. SH changed their advertising strategy since April 2020 and now they are focusing on higher valued domains, it is good for them for sure in terms of ROI, but will negatively affect the majority of sellers, I am not sure if selling at SH will stay viable or profitable at the end of this year.

That's bad news for the average seller, like me... It seems there are only a few way out:
1) Submit (and get approved) more domains (your ROI will drop, but based on my calculations, a business model based solely on handregged brandable .coms with 1% STR is still profitable)
2) Leave SH and find new venues (Alter is promising, BB is still okay, but I think SH is king)
3) Leave brandable domains altogether (not a good idea, as this is the only type of domain that needs the less investment (in case of handregs), it can be scaled up indefinitely (well, sort of), and offers the best ROI <-- my opinion)

At the moment, I choose the first option, and I'm 10x-ing my efforts to build a large (500+ names) brandable portfolio.

 

[Ostrados]

That's bad news for the average seller, like me... It seems there are only a few way out:
1) Submit (and get approved) more domains (your ROI will drop, but based on my calculations, a business model based solely on handregged brandable .coms with 1% STR is still profitable)
2) Leave SH and find new venues (Alter is promising, BB is still okay, but I think SH is king)
3) Leave brandable domains altogether (not a good idea, as this is the only type of domain that needs the less investment (in case of handregs), it can be scaled up indefinitely (well, sort of), and offers the best ROI <-- my opinion)

At the moment, I choose the first option, and I'm 10x-ing my efforts to build a large (500+ names) brandable portfolio.

If you reach 1% STR then no point in using SH, you can switch to Afternic lander and get similar STR. I am not sure if SquadHelp team are aware about that fact!

 

[kaposzta]

If you reach 1% STR then no point in using SH, you can switch to Afternic lander and get similar STR. I am not sure if SquadHelp team are aware about that fact!

My annualized STR is over 5%, as I sold 1 domain per year out of ~30 domains there, so SH is doing a good job (or was doing a good job if my STR keeps going down ). My point was that a brandable domain portfolio can be profitable even with a 1% STR.

Afternic is awesome for a lot of kind of domains, but I think a brandable marketplace has a lot of advantages over a generic marketplace. You get a nice logo, the landing page is organized, buyer can search and browse domains, prices are similar to each other (so buyer won't see very cheap prices which would make them think they are making a bad deal with a more expensive domain), competition is somewhat limited, etc. Afternic is just a huge silo, where the domains are poured into, while a brandable marketplace is rather an elegant boutique.

 

[JudgeMind]

Happy new year everyone and best of luck to all of you in 2021 with your sales at squadhelp!

December 2020 Squadhelp sales report

Premium sales
Bevaria.com - $1450
ForeverNest.com - $1899 - Afternic sold SH premium
PropertyFX.com - $1999

WLM sale
CoThinker.com - $1199

Squadhelp Stats (as of 1-05-2021)
606 premium listings

2020 sales review

Total premium sold - 24
Total WLM sold - 9
Sold on payment plan - 8
Total contests won - 2
Total contests entries - 426

 

[kaposzta]

Happy new year everyone and best of luck to all of you in 2021 with your sales at squadhelp!

December 2020 Squadhelp sales report

Premium sales
Bevaria.com - $1450
ForeverNest.com - $1899 - Afternic sold
PropertyFX.com - $1999

WLM sale
CoThinker.com - $1199

Squadhelp Stats (as of 1-05-2021)
606 premium listings
Show attachment 178290

2020 sales review

Total premium sold - 24
Total WLM sold - 9
Sold on payment plan - 8
Total contests won - 2
Total contests entries - 426

Congrats! Thank you for sharing your results, it is very inspiring.
I've noticed you submitted your names to a lot of contests. Do you think it is a crucial activity on Squadhelp? I've participated in a few dozen contests, but without much success, and I'm not sure it's worth doing this activity (especially if at least 2000 domains are submitted for each contest...).

 

[JudgeMind]

Congrats! Thank you for sharing your results, it is very inspiring.
I've noticed you submitted your names to a lot of contests. Do you think it is a crucial activity on Squadhelp? I've participated in a few dozen contests, but without much success, and I'm not sure it's worth doing this activity (especially if at least 2000 domains are submitted for each contest...).

as you will see i only won two contests from submitting to 426 so i dont think its crucial by any means. I do think that its a good way to market your names, i feel that its a good way to get your names in front of future potential buyers. If they don't buy the name for this contest, they may come back to buy the name at a later date.

 

[NameWell]

as you will see i only won two contests from submitting to 426 so i dont think its crucial by any means. I do think that its a good way to market your names, i feel that its a good way to get your names in front of future potential buyers. If they don't buy the name for this contest, they may come back to buy the name at a later date.

I would like to add to this:

1) "Also, if the names get likes or shortlists within a contest, your Marketplace ranking can also be boosted." (source: https://helpdesk.squadhelp.com/en/a...sell-through-rate-of-your-marketplace-domains)

2) And if the CH ends up buying a different premium name after viewing your name you could get a special boost that significantly improves the ranking of the name.

3) The last part is purely my personal opinion, but it feels like if contest holders (paying customers) are viewing our premium names and are inquiring about them it matters more in terms of ranking improvement than when random visitors do that. But I might be wrong about this.

I personally think it is not very likely to sell a premium name through a contest (even though that does happen from time to time) mostly because it is competing against hndreds and thousands of creative unregistered domain names, but it is a way to improve the popularity/ranking of your names and to test how end users are reacting to your names (CH's sometimes leave feedback in the comments).

In roughly three years I have won two contests with my premium names. Both times CH's decided not to purchase the name. Up until now I often can't submit those two names to contests (I get an error message saying "this name has won a contest on Squadhelp before" or smth like that). It's quite annoying I should say.

 

[JudgeMind]

I personally think it is not very likely to sell a premium name through a contest

i should add that all instances where i won a contest at sh the CH did not purchase the name, just chose it as the winning submission.

 

[freety85]

@JudgeMind, great stats, congrats on your success
@kaposzta thanks for bringing this question up.
@NameWell appreciate your feedback, very informative

I would definitely leave the option open when other creatives can submit your names to contests, I sold a name this way last year.
If you have time to submit your names to contests would not hurt either, but it is very rare CH end up buying the suggested premium names. I wonder how the recent relationship SH built/building with venture capitals/branding agencies work out. It would be awesome if they could put our names in front of the right decision makers who at the beginning of the selection process would be able to indicate: "we have a 1500- 3500 USD budget for a specific name"

 

[Ostrados]

as you will see i only won two contests from submitting to 426 so i dont think its crucial by any means. I do think that its a good way to market your names, i feel that its a good way to get your names in front of future potential buyers. If they don't buy the name for this contest, they may come back to buy the name at a later date.

When I participate in contests my percentile rank decreases, thats why I stopped submitting my premium names in contests.

Do you think your percentile rank is important for your premium names ranking?

 

[NameWell]

When I participate in contests my percentile rank decreases, thats why I stopped submitting my premium names in contests.

Do you think your percentile rank is important for your premium names ranking?

Yes, I also noticed that if I submit more premium names my percentile rank goes down because CH's tend to rate them "no, thank you" more often. Sometimes they first rate them "love it" or "like it", then I see the "Heads up! The CH viewed your premium name" notification and then the name is downgraded to "no, thank you". As if the CH liked the name until they learned it costs $2000 ;D So submitting your premium names to contests has both, advantages and disadvantages. Despite that I still like to have an option to put my most relevant premium names in front of CH's.

 

[tiletalk]

Some of the logos I have been receiving are shocking like. Text too small. Logo too big. Instructions not read and no thoughts.

 

[Lil85]

Some of the logos I have been receiving are shocking like. Text too small. Logo too big. Instructions not read and no thoughts.

I voted for a domain of mine couple of times. And they keep revising the logo. If u are not happy, just vote or