So I completed my first sale on BrandBucket, still haven’t been paid yet but I will get to that.
I purchased a 29 domain portfolio of BB published names back on May 24, 2016. These were listed as a bulk listing on Namepros. I did not like or care about all 29 names, I figured I could keep the names I liked and sell the others on Namepros for more than what my average price per domain was on the bulk purchase.
The domain I really liked was the one that sold, Inteleca.com. This name was the best of the bunch in my opinion, although I have had others express their preference for some others in the portfolio.
I paid $1,500 for the portfolio, if I am to be honest, I immediately regretted that decision. With a cost average of $51.72 per domain, I did figure I could sell names I did not care for by auction on Namepros. I sold Phiona.com which went for more than double my cost average. I sold Pinqo.com for more than my cost average as well. Boomus.com went for 20% below that price, I sold a couple others in the $55 range.
Right around my purchase on Namepros the wholesale price started coming down for BB published names on Namepros.
It was once easy to sell for $80 to $100 but with so many NetFirms/Domain.com $1.99 registration specials, the market got flooded as many new investors with average to below average names were happy to get $13 for a BB approved (Not published) domain.
So onto the sale of Inteleca.com, it came about from nothing BrandBucket did, the buyer actually contacted me first.
I received an email and the buyer said he did a whois search and wanted to know if I owned the domain. I replied Yes. Another email followed up from the potential buyer that he was thinking of rebranding his company and of the few names being considered, the Inteleca name is one of the best. He asked if they do end up wanting to rebrand, are you negotiable on your asking price?
The person went on that the price listed on Inteleca.com was 66% above budget.
I did not reply to the second email, not that I was not going to, I wanted to think about my reply.
For me I was considering the following:
It is my favorite name from the portfolio buy and I do like it.
I have no problems holding this name, where many I want out as fast as they come in.
What would my counter offer be ?
The first thing I did was contact BrandBucket and tell them to start the 30 day clock on Inteleca.com, I was removing it from the platform. I should have done this immediately and that laziness cost me money, as I will explain.
This took place on October 27. So now on Halloween I get an email from BrandBucket.
Hi Raymond,
We have a prospective buyer for Inteleca.com! However they are seeking a discounted price. While we believe the price to be fair the name has been listed for some time and this may be a good way to move it. Please let me know if you authorize any or none of the discounts below:
They were asking for a 10% discount.
So I got the buyer wanting a discount, BrandBucket now in the picture asking for a discount, and I am thinking, I stated the clock on removal.
So I am thinking about contacting BrandBucket and telling the rep, Christine, if I give a discount please ask Margot if she would like to pick that up ? Because I know who the buyer is, I have started the 30 days, and the sale is not coming about from any effort on BrandBucket’s part. The buyer did a whois lookup and emailed me.
Now I try to keep things amicable always, unless I feel someone is saying, I want to screw with you, then that’s another story.
So after deciding that holding up a buyer for 26 days might make them have second thoughts about a purchase, I tell Christine that I will accept the 10% discount.
She replies back with, Wanted to see if you authorize a 15% discount ? This would be the absolute final negotiation, please let me know!
My response was short, “Absolutely not!”
She replied back that was fine, and if I would still ok the 10% ?
I gave my word on the 10% so I am not going to back out of my word.
On November 4, I get an email that the domain sold.
There were a couple glitches with the transfer process, as this person wanted to transfer away, I asked Christine why they didn’t do escrow like Sedo ? Take a push of the name and then deal with their client, she said they do offer that, she said the buyer was insistent on transferring and not opening an account at Uniregistry.
Ok I get that.
Apparently there has been a glitch, when I look at Inteleca.com on Domain Tools, the reg date is in 2014. When you look on other whois sites, including ICANN, it says 1970.
Christine did a good job working with the buyer and the transfer finally went through.
She did say to me someone will contact you to request payment, and that was Friday morning, no one has contacted me and I guess the weekend is throwing things off.
So me being lazy and not removing Inteleca.com from BrandBucket in June, cost me $1,000. That is not open to interpretation from any BB loyalist, that’s a fact, the buyer did a whois search, emailed me and then once getting a reply to the first email but not the second, they chose to purchase on BrandBucket as that’s where the domain was pointed.
I would probably have gone $473 less in a direct deal and they would have saved a bit of cash.
This story underlines some of the conflicted thought you may have when listing on BrandBucket. Inteleca was a name I knew I never needed BrandBucket for, some of these misspelled repetitive names like Gopherr.com or Cuurvy.com maybe BrandBucket is the best route or the only route.
So my first deal with BrandBucket is done, hope you enjoyed the story, if it bored you I apologize.