“The good, the bad and the ugly” An opportunity for readers to discuss what they like and don’t like about a particular company in the domain space.
Each post will deal with just one company, readers are encouraged to share their positive and negative experiences. Suggestions for improvement are also encouraged.
One of the goals of the column is that company representatives will see how their customers think of them. This can lead to a conversation on fixing problems.
What is not allowed:
- Personal attacks on individuals at the chosen company
- Promoting a competitor
- Posting domains for sale
The company in the spotlight today is BrandBucket
Founded: 2007
Months ago they were more accepting of names. Now the accepted rate is almost non-existent. I have had 50 names with them for one year and not one sale yet. They won’t disclose stats on your names or share what sold and for how much. Be better if they did this.
It was so hard to get domain approval & listed that we started our own network, I feel many people are moving to this route.
Maybe you haven’t found the secret “sauce”. I can easily find names they like at the right price. I have also sold 5 names with them this year with less than 300 published names.
I have now 323 listed names and counting.
Pro: they have some repeat buyers.
Con: Over-saturation made them not for 30% commission, not even close. Buyer has to go through 45,000 other domains to find your domain that you can’t even list anywhere else. How is that worth 30% anymore?
I doubt that all 45k names fit all business categories. Most of the time you will easily find a name you like within 5 minutes of browsing.
GOOD: the best place in my opinion to list/sell any kind of made-up brandable names. Easy verification and sales process, fast payments, responsive customer service..
BAD: high commission rates, aggressive exclusivity requirements, lack of seller listing features, lackluster logos, inconsistent approval process.
UGLY: Massive conflict of interest with their GM managing company and simultaneously listing his own domains and competing against his own sellers. Complete lack of transparency for sellers in regards to traffic, inquiries, analytics, buyers, etc etc. If they ever revealed the truth about what % of sales were just direct navigation vs actual inbound marketing or outbound sales done by BB, my guess most sellers would cancel their listings.
⬆️ This right here is it. Smh, I can’t even add to it. ⬆️
Robert, you’ve expressed the points very well. Don’t think I can add to these. The UGLY issue of conflict of interest certainly pervades most forum discussions I’ve seen about BrandBucket. It doesn’t matter if in fact there is no conflict, it’s the perception of conflict that matters.
Still the best place to sell brandables, in my opinion. Their general commission rate of 30 percent does seem a lot, but now they have just lowered it to 15-20 percent for high-value names.
I agree with Robert that it is impossible to tell how much of their sales are direct navigation, and the GM being the main seller (8,000 names) is not a great thing. With almost 50,000 names, it is losing its exclusivity, and buyers will have a hard time finding your name unless BrandBucket aggresively promotes it.
Pros: They’ve had some very good sales.
Cons: They reject what I think are excellent brandable domains, i.e. AllSuperstar.com, Americamera.com, Customerica.com, Electronation.com, Lawya.com, Pleasureful.com, Statusfaction.com, Superstarlet.com, Toyica.com, Travelica.com and Voodeo.com, which we submitted. They only domain of ours which they approved was Fatha.com, which I don’t like nearly as much.
You might want to do another post, Raymond or Michael, about the difference between a good brandable domain and a bad one. It would be interesting to hear your take on the matter and see the comments.
I like Voodeo! not sure about the others.
Frankly, as their customers why are putting up with the lack of any information on stats, sales etc and the conflict of interest? We paid them on top of all the other madness. Enough!
Pros: They have a smooth and very professional operation. Everything from notifications, helpdesk, private seller chat, sales desk and seller dashboard is top notch. Name submissions are approved within 72 hours and usually published less than a week after that. Their logo quality used to be spotty and some were pretty low quality but they’ve now got that under control and quality is very steady, in my opinion. They are the most well known among startups and entrepreneurs. They sell more domains that any other brandable marketplace. They also now accept submissions ($1 each) for names that sellers don’t yet own. This takes the pinch out of regging a name and then having it rejected.
Cons: Although commissions for names above $50k have been reduced to 15% to 20%, most of us are listing names at well below that level. While BB is not the only brandable marketplace charging a 30% commission, 30% remains the highest commission rate charged by anyone in the domain industry. Same for the exclusive listing requirement. It helps BB guarantee availability to its customers but it would be nice if our names could be listed other places too.
Neutral: The inventory is very big. This theoretically creates an opportunity for one stop shopping and increased sales but it’s also nerve racking for sellers with invented or made up names as they are hard to optimize in a search result. Traffic stats for listed names would be nice but I’m not aware of any other marketplace that provides that service. Same for conflict of interest. Owner/manager portfolios form the core of all three of the original brandable marketplace. It seems to come with the territory. It doesn’t concern me but I can see how it might be a worry for others.
Disclaimer: These are my own personal feelings and comments but I am a BB seller and one of its Brand Ambassadors. I receive publishing credits in exchange for writing for their blog and answering questions in forums etc.