Update to Marketplace

No, I am not wanting SquadHelp to reconsider how they value names in general. I specifically said earlier on that in case, after approval, one feels a domain is worth so much more ( and not by a couple of hundred dollars ). Some names, you must agree, have the ability to appreciate in value really fast, after the approval…and thus my question…what happens then? @rareworthy was able to actually articulate my question better than I …and not in my case alone or in specific, but case scenario

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@Soni

When you submit a domain for consideration in the Marketplace, we will send you an offer which contains the listing price and the commission percentage.

If you accept this offer, choosing to list your domain in the Squadhelp Marketplace, you will be required to sell the domain at that price. If you believe that the offer in undervaluing your domain, you should not accept the offer and you should not list your domain with us.

If your domain is priced above $5000 and you have data or a reason to believe that we have undervalued your domain in our initial offer, we are open to considering your valuation. Unfortunately, we are not able to do the same with domains valued under $5000.

We also reserve the right to discount domains by up to $200, and you have the ability to adjust your price up or down by a few hundred dollars at any time.

At this point our pricing is based on a number of factors, and we continue to revise our pricing as we get a better understanding of demand.

I must say that I’m personally very pleased by the new submission process. Had a lot of names approved for fair commissions since yesterday. I’m not really into registering domains at the moment since I’ve been in the opposite process of decreasing the size of my portfolio in the past year in order to focus on high end names- so I don’t know how the new process works when the creative is open to register the domain and offers a minimum commission- but the part where SH registers the domain is working great, at least for me. So definitely a positive change, as far as I’m concerned. Great job, SH.

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@chasity2ku Based upon the feedback we heard from the community, we believe our changes address the core issues:

  • Ability for creatives to specify their own commission percentages that they are comfortable with
  • Ability for creatives to get their names approved as “creative registered domains” with a much higher commission even prior to paying for domain registration.

If you are more interested in registering your own names and less interested in SH registering your names, we suggest you choose the highest commission rate for SH registered option so that it would be much less likely for SH to approve them as SH registered domain. If your name is a strong fit and your commission expectations for creative owned option are acceptable to us, it will likely be approved as creative owned domain. There is still a possibility that your name might get approved as SH registered domain, but since you selected the highest commission rate, it will only be approved at that level.

We have made significant changes in the marketplace submission and approval process recently - and at this point we do not anticipate making any further changes for the foreseeable future.

Grant, is there any chance or currently any way that we can re-submit names we already own that were previously rejected under the new system?

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Oh, I would love to do that too! I don’t think it would be a ton of such domains to significantly increase the workload for SH. And in case the volume would turn out larger that expected, you could always set a limit per person, like 5 re-submissions a week or 5 a month. Also, it’s likely that the quality of such domains would be better than average. When you think about it, if a creative believed in a particular domain name so much they decided to register it, it’s likely that it has at least some potential and that could be a factor to give it a second chance :slight_smile: I see this as a win-win situation for SH and for creatives.

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@Commulinks @EliCreative - We will not be taking resubmissions at this time.

OK, thanks for answering. I understand.

Thank you @grant. It’s all clear :slight_smile:

From time to time my entries are reviewed by SH and suggested by them for marketplace. Few days ago I had 7 or 8 pre-approved, and while it was happening I went to “pending” page and it was full of my previously rejected domains, over 20 of them, so I believe that they go from creative to creative and review previous submissions.
EDIT: As SH is constantly improving, I believe they will use some kind of statistics in the future (ratings/contests ratio) to determine if domain should be registered or not. At least that’s what I would do :slight_smile:

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@AvramChe Thank you, yes they do review. However, if a name is already registered, they most likely would not choose it. I don’t know what they see when they do these reviews but it’s unlikely they look to see if the creative owns it. They have a lot to do. Also, if the creative hasn’t listed it s “my owned domain” then they would have no way of knowing.

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I was actually talking about contest submitted, unregistered domains. I don’t purchase domains, gave it a shot some time ago, and it seems I just don’t know how to purchase the right ones :slight_smile:

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Thank you. I was talking about names I submitted from contests that were rejected in the marketplace but I purchased them afterward. I use them in contests as “my owned” domains.

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Thank you for the reply and for the submission suggestion. I see what you’re saying but my concern is that your rejection is final and if I set the SH owned expectation high soley to increase the chances of approval for me to register, and then I get denied on both, I can’t then turn around and say, well since I can’t get approval for me to register at the lowest commission rate (for example) I’ll now tell you what I’d actually accept for SH owned rates. It’s a done deal. None of that seems like a good approach to me.

I’m very apprehensive of this new way and think it’s more of a guessing game than it was before. I have a certain commission amount that I think is fair but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t go lower. What I mean is the typical commission rate offered for SH owned domains previously was too low for my liking but I still would accept it because I didn’t have any other options of listing on SH and I am not a domainer that is comfortable buying and selling elsewhere so I’d take what you’d offer if approved even though I thought it was too low.

But now I have to either pick a commission that I think is fair, which is higher than I was typically offered in the past, and most likely be rejected or just select the lower commission even though I think it’s too low in hopes of getting approved because if I ask for what I deem fair and you reject, there’s no settling for a lower amount, it’s a done deal.

I understand you’ve just made a drastic change and have no intentions of making another but in my opinion this change is not fixing the problem. SH will most likely still approve and deny based on the same commission rates as usual, which in no way solves the problem we’ve been complaining about, it just makes it harder for the creatives to see it clearly.

I honestly don’t expect to see an increase in creative owned domains accepted or an increase of SH owned commissions rates. So what did we solve? If SH intended on giving higher rates on SH owned domains I think they would’ve done just that upfront, and if they intended to let us have free reign to register domains that are good enough for SH to register they would’ve done just that as well.

I feel a bit like we’ve just gotten the run around. Offered the same rates and opportunities wrapped up in a pretty new package. This in no way guarantees we’ll get higher rates or freedom to register approved domains ourselves. But oh well, I know I’m just beating a dead horse at this point.

I still love and respect you SH. Just don’t see the point of the new way :unamused:

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@Chasity2ku SH’s owned commission rates for creatives have gone up after the change for me and other creatives I’m aware of so that’s definitely not a run around. Regarding owned domains- I don’t know because I don’t opt for that option at this point.

Either way, I have to repeat what I said some months ago regarding these unregistered domains- falling in love with them isn’t helpful. There are tons of great domains out there that can be bought. If SH rejects something- it would be best to forget about it and move on to the next one without thoughts or laments about what would have been. Or just register it yourself if you’re sure it’s amazing. With the new structure- you have the option to try to get a higher commission but you don’t have to. If you think it’s worthy of a high commission, SH like the name and can accept it- they will. If you want to increase the likelihood it’ll be accepted- aim for lower commissions.

Creatives need to understand that domains that are available in 2018, after hundreds of millions of registrations, are usually available for a reason. Most were never registered. Some were and went through the expiration process without being bought by an investor even though a lot of eyes are scanning those drop lists. It doesn’t mean that these ideas aren’t good and can’t be used by businesses. On the contrary. There are tons of unregistered domains with potential to be the next big company because creativity has no limit. But chances for any single specific domain is very low no matter how clever the idea seems to the creative. The fact that they believe in it or fall in love with it- means absolutely nothing regarding the future of that domain and whether a business owner might ever think of the idea or see it someday listed somewhere and decide to pay for it or not. In the grand scheme of things, these domains are peanuts. When dealing with these types of domains- only if you can set aside your feelings, your disappointment of rejections, understand the amount of domains, registered and unregistered, that exist as options for brands, you can thrive. It’s tough to do but your job as a creative is not to come up with an idea or ideas. It’s to become a factory of ideas. So that’s my advice to you and other creatives.

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I totally get what you’re saying and appreciate your insight as I know you have a good amount of experience. I don’t really get hung up anymore on if SH approves or denies my domains. I mean sometimes I scratch my head at certain things they deny or approve but my point above had nothing to do with the quality of my submissions. I bought a few domains awhile back and tried to fiddle with them elsewhere when SH didn’t accept them but it’s just not for me. Those domains are literally sitting stagnant. I don’t even think I’ve used them in any SH contests because I don’t get a chance to participate much. So I have no interest in buying them unless SH does. My gripe is that I don’t want to shoot for the commission I think is fair and potentially get rejected and have no way to get it listed after that. If the new way is permanent then I’d like for them to at least counter offer instead of flat out rejection if they would’ve approved at a lower amount. I’ll settle for a lower amount if that’s my only option but I don’t get an option the way it is now. On the other side of the coin, I don’t want to settle right off the bat because I’m worried they won’t accept the commission I’d like to receive.

What I personally wanted was for them to raise the average SH owned commission OR allow us to register ourselves if a domain was approved. Not both, one or the other. What I got is far worse than what it was (for me) and I would honestly rather it go back to the old way, or at least give a counter offer if applicable. I wouldn’t feel good about being denied a domain because I asked for 40% if they would’ve approved it for 30%. But that doesn’t mean I want to just shoot low either.

I don’t know if I’m explaining it in a way that you will fully get what I’m saying but I think I’ve rambled enough lol. In a nut shell, what I’m trying to say is, it’s not that I’m bothered if they reject a domain, I’m bothered that I can’t ask for what I think is fair and have the option to go lower if they disagree. I don’t like that I don’t have the option to settle, unless it’s from the get go.

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I guess I misunderstood you, because to me it seemed like you have a problem with the rejection part and not knowing what would have been had you chosen a different commission.

I get what you’re saying but with SH’s registered domains they have the default option set as “let Squadhelp decide” so you can just let them decide so it’d be the same as before. Regarding the owned domains part- I think you’re overthinking it. SH can’t start negotiating on every domain. Just choose a price. Choose a commission you’re cool with and that’s it. You’d be getting most of the money anyway (with the current options- the least amount you could get is 60% of $1399=$839). If SH likes the domain and the commission leaves them reasonable profit- IMO they’ll take it since the financial burden is on you anyway. If it doesn’t work for them and they reject it- no big deal. Move on to the next one and perhaps try a different strategy. If SH doesn’t want to register it and they reject your offer to register it too- the domain probably isn’t a good fit for the marketplace.

But maybe they could add a “let Squadhelp decide” option to the creative owned possibility too- in order for people not to worry about what would have beens.

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Oh wow! I haven’t submitted one since the change and only looked at the options once to see the set up and I completely forgot there was an option for SH to decide. I guess I was so focused on the new features I let that slip my mind. That honestly makes all the difference to me. In regard to the creative owned option, I would like to have the same option there as well. But knowing that if they don’t accept my creative owned commission expectations I still have the chance to get it approved with the SH owned option (with rate chosen by them) is cool. I won’t feel like I completely ruined my chances by going too high.

Thank you for pointing this out! It really does make me feel better about the change :slightly_smiling_face: I can move on and let it go now. Let the horse RIP lol

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@grant I want to apologize for feeling like we were getting the run around. While this change isn’t exactly what I had in mind @moretal has brought something to my attention that has allowed me to view the new change in a different way. I see now that you’ve simply offered more options, which is in no way a bad thing.

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This is a note of encouragement to my fellow creatives. Please take it that way, because it really is not about bragging. I just sold a name in the marketplace that I just renewed last month. That’s why I am telling you this on this thread. I am really happy about it, especially because I held onto it. It was worth it to do it and it really gave me a boost/confirmation to believe in my names and YOURS.

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