- Impact
- 964
Hey!
I’m a brandable domainer. I have been at it for years and I have amassed a sizeable portfolio. I am successful. I also love what I do. ”Brandable domainer” to me means that I value names based on their gravitas as a prospective brand. The quality of the name is not derived from past or current usage or readily quantifiable stats, but from a human evaluation of it’s overall applicabilities in form and function.
The question that has been silently fraying my sanity is to what extent this success is derived from my work and to what extent it is related to the connection to buyer crowds that frequent the brandable marketplaces I use. It is a question I have seen posed many times in different forms. The brandable marketplaces themselves mostly dodge it.
I am sure that the boutique modus gets frequent buyers that are captivated by their descriptions and logos. The creative representation of a brand prospect creates a boost of appeal that could mean the difference between sale or not. So the occasional sale is most likely secured on those merits. Browsing or searching the well known site and finding a match that conceptually connects to the venture...
But it is not the occasional sale that suffers the 30%+ commission structure. It is all of them.
Afternic for example charges 20% flat. That is also a lot, but they do offer a connection to an amazing buyer pool through their network. They also do not demand exclusivity. With say Afternic, Sedo, etcetera, You can still have a sweet and individualized lander with a more forgiving commission somewhere else, if you want a logo and a description it might cost you $10 per name. This time as a clean investment that is 100% towards your own success.
Here are the bulletpoints for my decision.
I think a strategy to tackle this has been to actively recruit more premium names from older portfolios. But the holders of those are not even remotely as ”loyal” as the non-premium type variety, as they are not invested in the marketplace. Sometimes noob loyalty is even promoted by 1% outlaw biker vernacular!
I think that the inability to cater to the portfolio holders that have passed the initial stage of actually selling a couple of names and are in a steady growth mode is something to consider. That is where focus should be. It is regretfully not.
I hope for a fruitful discussion that could fast-track an evolution that builds on two very underestimated facts. The important end user buyers of aftermarket domains are businesses. Businesses want business names. Those two facts in turn pose two critical questions. What is a business name? (I’m definitely not talking about ”JohnsAutoRepairLouisiana”), and how should marketplaces connect fledgling businesses with these names?
It is safe to say that this process today is undeveloped, fragmented, convoluted and inefficient on both buyer and seller end. You can simplify transactions all day long, but if you don’t simplify the process of finding a prospect domain in the first place, you will not have a bigger pie.
A bigger pie should be a priority for any industry.
I invite all leading brandable marketplaces (and every domain sales platform worth the name) to comment on these sentiments. I will interpret no input as a bit offensive as your partnership with me has been lucrative. I would also interpret it as the unability to grab a marketing opportunity. (Abide by NP:s rules though).
2020!
@DAN.COM @Joe Styler @margotb @Jowita Emberton @GrantP @Rob Monster @DomainAgents @Uniregistry
(To the inevitable questions about my sales numbers I will only say that I have made hundreds of end user type sales and that yearly sales are in the 6 digits and growing. My portfolio size is 5k. I currently do not actively list new acquisitions with brandable marketplaces.)
I’m a brandable domainer. I have been at it for years and I have amassed a sizeable portfolio. I am successful. I also love what I do. ”Brandable domainer” to me means that I value names based on their gravitas as a prospective brand. The quality of the name is not derived from past or current usage or readily quantifiable stats, but from a human evaluation of it’s overall applicabilities in form and function.
The question that has been silently fraying my sanity is to what extent this success is derived from my work and to what extent it is related to the connection to buyer crowds that frequent the brandable marketplaces I use. It is a question I have seen posed many times in different forms. The brandable marketplaces themselves mostly dodge it.
I am sure that the boutique modus gets frequent buyers that are captivated by their descriptions and logos. The creative representation of a brand prospect creates a boost of appeal that could mean the difference between sale or not. So the occasional sale is most likely secured on those merits. Browsing or searching the well known site and finding a match that conceptually connects to the venture...
But it is not the occasional sale that suffers the 30%+ commission structure. It is all of them.
Afternic for example charges 20% flat. That is also a lot, but they do offer a connection to an amazing buyer pool through their network. They also do not demand exclusivity. With say Afternic, Sedo, etcetera, You can still have a sweet and individualized lander with a more forgiving commission somewhere else, if you want a logo and a description it might cost you $10 per name. This time as a clean investment that is 100% towards your own success.
Here are the bulletpoints for my decision.
- Name selection. You are not subject to a review process other than your own. For good or for bad.
- Pricing. You don’t need to consider ”accepting” a price that feels wrong.
- Information. You are investing in knowledge about your buyers considerations and in their future business needs.
- Exclusivity. You are free to work with a plethora of sales services.
- Ease of management. You are in charge. You are less likely to not respond in time or to ignore - yourself.
- Learning. You can use the information you harvest to evolve.
- Commissions. Even though you may miss out on the occasional brandable marketplace sale, your commission percentages will be lower.
- Marketing. You would not be setting a marketing budget aside when you pay 30% commissions. You would actually expect that percentage to pay for serious marketing.
I think a strategy to tackle this has been to actively recruit more premium names from older portfolios. But the holders of those are not even remotely as ”loyal” as the non-premium type variety, as they are not invested in the marketplace. Sometimes noob loyalty is even promoted by 1% outlaw biker vernacular!
I think that the inability to cater to the portfolio holders that have passed the initial stage of actually selling a couple of names and are in a steady growth mode is something to consider. That is where focus should be. It is regretfully not.
I hope for a fruitful discussion that could fast-track an evolution that builds on two very underestimated facts. The important end user buyers of aftermarket domains are businesses. Businesses want business names. Those two facts in turn pose two critical questions. What is a business name? (I’m definitely not talking about ”JohnsAutoRepairLouisiana”), and how should marketplaces connect fledgling businesses with these names?
It is safe to say that this process today is undeveloped, fragmented, convoluted and inefficient on both buyer and seller end. You can simplify transactions all day long, but if you don’t simplify the process of finding a prospect domain in the first place, you will not have a bigger pie.
A bigger pie should be a priority for any industry.
I invite all leading brandable marketplaces (and every domain sales platform worth the name) to comment on these sentiments. I will interpret no input as a bit offensive as your partnership with me has been lucrative. I would also interpret it as the unability to grab a marketing opportunity. (Abide by NP:s rules though).
2020!
@DAN.COM @Joe Styler @margotb @Jowita Emberton @GrantP @Rob Monster @DomainAgents @Uniregistry
(To the inevitable questions about my sales numbers I will only say that I have made hundreds of end user type sales and that yearly sales are in the 6 digits and growing. My portfolio size is 5k. I currently do not actively list new acquisitions with brandable marketplaces.)
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