Alter.com Marketplace

[Deven Patel]

Hi all,

I wanted to introduce a new premium domain marketplace we just launched called Alter. I would love to hear your thoughts! As the world’s largest community of domainers, your feedback would be invaluable.

Let me introduce myself. Although I’m new to NamePros, I’ve been around the block. I’ve been buying and selling domains for my own startup ideas for over 20 years. As a serial entrepreneur, I founded a number of startups across various industries like marketing, web hosting, social networking, blogging, and SaaS. This experience has helped me understand how indispensable a brand name is to a business.

Most new entrepreneurs don’t think twice about their company name. Our goal is to change that! A brand name literally has the power to make or break their business. This is more true today than ever before now that there are countless alternatives to every product or service imaginable. Sure, every business may have their own world-changing differentiator but from the outside they all look the same at which point the main differentiator ends up becoming their brand name. In a world full of distractions, we no longer have the attention span to thoroughly research what we buy so we rely on our emotions. This is why large businesses like Apple and Amazon spend billions on their “brand” alone because they understand that customer perception is everything.

Anyway, I noticed that most marketplaces that exist today are focused more on the seller rather than the buyer. Our goal is to reverse the equation and prioritize buyers because I think they are the key to success in any industry. The domain industry is no exception. Without buyers, there’s no money. This is why we’ve made it our mission to help entrepreneurs succeed!

And what’s with the 30-35% commission rate most of these marketplaces are charging? Unless they’re doing more work than a human broker, I don’t think anything over the industry average of 15-20% is warranted. We’re changing that. Alter has one of the lowest rates in the industry, an all-inclusive 10% commission fee when a name sells. There are no other fees or restrictions.

What do you think? Are we on the right track or barking up the wrong tree?

Deven

This was a promoted post.​

 

[Reyginus]

I saw red flags when I started seeing sales around $100 and below for someone who wants to buy alter. It was confusing and still is. Next red flag, agreed on a date to release a statement on the acquisition, yet nothing. With what we've seen so far, what are we supposed to expect if F.E eventually takes over? Not a good sign.

 

[Liberty Wolf]

“Boy, that escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand fast.”

 

[FranckJ]

So this is the world we are living in: you people are giving credits to @Deven Patel when he started public accusations, without any single proof posted. And why did he? Because HIS own customers are complaining about the way HE is managing HIS business before the deal is closed.
Amazing behavior from all of you

 

[HandmadeLife]

We all know now that @F.E. is fake !

I wish you a happy holiday, but lying is a big mistake, so don't manipulate anyone's feelings

 

[sellian]

I am seeing more red flags than a Chinese communist parade.

Should I delist all my domains from Alter now?

 

[FranckJ]

Wow, unexpected.
Let me know how to delete my account from this sick "community"

 

[Future Sensors]

Wow, unexpected.
Let me know how to delete my account from this sick "community"

You only became extremely active during the last few days, defending your friend. Hope you enjoyed your stay.

 

[sellian]

Wow, unexpected.
Let me know how to delete my account from this sick "community"

You'll be missed

 

[FranckJ]

You only became extremely active during the last few days, defending your friend. Hope you enjoyed your stay.

Not at all.
Now I understand why I wasn't active here.

 

[sellian]

You'll be missed

People are not getting it. It was obviously sarcasm

 

[chenzen]

What a drama! Pathetic response from @F.E.
@Deven should really pursue a legal action against him.

 

[F.E.]

Doesn't need to, I'm sending "invitations" by the end of this week.

 

[Hui Siew Choong]

Sorry , have not been following the development, Alter.com is one of my best selling platform for solidmetal.com , Insuran.com , ... very unfortunate incidents

 

[HandmadeLife]

Please buy alter for less than that half amount.

----------------------

@F.E. said on Twitter after changing his profile picture

The biggest lie: I am a crypto millionaire. Let's make @theWhaleAlert on fire.

Most mentioned non-profit organization that accepts bitcoin as a donation will receive 42.69 BTC. The second most chosen will receive the same amount in ETH.

May 26th. Month after g-father's funeral

 

[Bob Hawkes]

This drama does no one any good.
I sincerely hope emotions will take a step back and things will move forward.
The Alter marketplace offers some features none of the competitors have, and as a fresh build worked smoothly.
I hope it will continue.
Bob

 

[HandmadeLife]

The one who is less responsive this week !!!! @F.E. write on Twitter

( I know very well that he is happy to talk about him and mention his name even if in a negative way, like completely fake)

-------


I've made a decision: alter.com will be a porn site once we're done in court.

Money is in porn industry, and all I need is money (as you may see here).

 

[F.E.]

You seem to be non-native English, considering you don't understand the difference between weekEND and week

https://twitter.com/x/status/1517431206417158150

I don't blame you though, I'm non-native as well and using Grammarly.

EDIT: I just talked about myself for 1000x time, lol

 

[HandmadeLife]

You seem to be non-native English, considering you don't understand the difference between weekEND and week

https://twitter.com/x/status/1517431206417158150

I don't blame you though, I'm non-native as well and using Grammarly.

EDIT: I just talked about myself for 1000x time, lol

I hope you live in peace

 

[Liberty Wolf]

Is there any news on the future of Alter?

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Is there any news on the future of Alter?

I don't know of anything formal that has been released.

My understanding is that the time period in the sales agreement has now past.

The marketplace continues to operate, I presume by original owner, with lease-to-own options disabled for all domain names. They are not accepting new sellers or new names by existing sellers at this time. Existing listings can still be edited, basic logos updated, descriptions and prices changed, etc. Domain names can be deleted from the site, although once you delete a name you will not be able to add it again.

I really hope something positive develops soon so the marketplace will continue to operate.

Bob

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Perhaps while we wait to see what develops, it might be a good time to develop a list of what we think is worthwhile about Alter as it stands, and what might need further tweaking. I realize both lists could be long, but maybe concentrate on the most important.

Things I like:

1. I like the presentation of names in the landers. They restrict you to short descriptions, but do give a chance to do a short pitch plus itemize some possible use sectors.
2. I think logos are used well in presentation, and the quality of the logos professionally designed were very good, at least compared to other marketplace logos. I like you could add your own, and even the options with free basic logos were good, especially in this era of minimalistic logos.
3. The site seems to do a good job of getting noticed on Google. For example if I place some domain names on Alter, and on another marketplace, and then Google "EXAMPLE domain" with just the SLD not full domain, but include word domain, it comes very high in Google search for Alter.
4. The basic TM search feature is user friendly and helpful.
5. Allowed BIN, make offer or various lease-to-own options, all user set.
6. I really like the analytics provided. Without doing any extra customization I can see how each domain name does in terms of both direct type-in and views via the Alter marketplace. I can set it to different time periods, thereby doing research if trying changes.
7. Has many features of a brandable place with commission levels of a general purpose marketplace.
8. Site provided phone number and other contact options for dealing with queries.
9. Sales were smoothly processed and payouts were very fast.
10. Many people hate appraisals, but at least if you use one the Alter appraisal is fast, free, and the 6-dimension presentation is helpful.
11. Overall good advice re importance and choosing a name, attractively presented.
12. As a fresh build, the site felt professional and responsive. Some of the legacy marketplaces suffer from decades long gradual evolution, in my opinion..

Things I think need work still, despite efforts to improve so far:

1. I don't think search yet is all that is needed. I don't see the logic of names it shows up for many searches I do. This may be due to the seller choices for categories, or simply search not great.
2. While I understand the move away from a collated collection, I think the varying quality of some names hurts the marketplace. I am not sure what a fair and economical way to address this, but I think that some form of approval of names is needed.
3. It would really help the marketplace to entice a few more stellar assets to the marketplace, and have them show on the home page. I mean great single word .com, .io and .xyz names.
4. I realize this would take some work, but I think cross-agreements with some naming services, web hosting providers, trademark services, branding/marketing experts could help both.
5. I think the appraisal system needs to recognize strength in .xyz and not view it just as same level as other new gTLDs.
6. I wonder if a cloud-based set of experienced naming/domaining people could, for a reasonable fee, help those seeking a name get down to a list of options from Alter. Idea would be the end user would fill a simple form saying something like what the sector is, their preferences re type of name and TLD choices, price range, etc. and then someone who has proven that they have good skills in names and know Alter well would go through and propose 5 names or something that are currently listed. I don't think the fee needs to be much (maybe $20 base and a 1% return from seller should a name get sold from the list to this buyer) but this could make the job so much easier for end user and make up for the weak search to some degree. Some of the features of SH contests, but a fast, small, set of great choices delivered within 24 hr.
7. I don't know details of the advertising spend so far, but if I owned the site I would concentrate on spending promoting Alter, rather than particular names for sale. In the long run this helps sellers more I think, and a better ROI.
8. The basic and professional or user logo presentation for names should somehow include the TLD as well as the SLD.
9. It is a minor thing, but I would take out the requirement to use 'name' in the description, and I would allow alphanumeric in descriptions e.g. saying 3D or web3 is currently impossible.
10. I would encourage buyers to permit announcement of their sales, and do that in a way that Alter had a news feed that is essentially a short announcement of new name for companies. I would keep price privacy as an option, but encourage buyers to let Alter make their new name known to the world. And along the way that would help Alters and sellers too.

I hope that Alter will continue, and some of these ideas will be implemented.

Bob

 

[Bob Hawkes]

It appears that (some?) names at Alter no longer have working HTTPS?

i.e. if you enter https://EXAMPLE.com for a name at Alter Google Chrome will give an security warning.
If you force it to http://EXAMPLE.com it is fine.

Since once visited, and then user return, I think many browsers default to https, it is problematic.

The name itself as directed, that is https://alter.com/names/EXAMPLE.com works fine.

I think it was an issue in early days and promptly fixed. I may not be explaining this well – perhaps @Future Sensors may wish to comment.

If there is any update on future of Alter @Deven Patel I know many would be anxious to know. But also understand that legal or contractual things may make it impossible to release anything now.

-Bob

 

[Future Sensors]

It appears that (some?) names at Alter no longer have working HTTPS?

i.e. if you enter https://EXAMPLE.com for a name at Alter Google Chrome will give an security warning.
If you force it to http://EXAMPLE.com it is fine.

Since once visited, and then user return, I think many browsers default to https, it is problematic.

The name itself as directed, that is https://alter.com/names/EXAMPLE.com works fine.

I think it was an issue in early days and promptly fixed. I may not be explaining this well – perhaps @Future Sensors may wish to comment.

If there is any update on future of Alter @Deven Patel I know many would be anxious to know. But also understand that legal or contractual things may make it impossible to release anything now.

-Bob

My best guess is that there are config problems with Server Name Indication (SNI) and/or the generation of TLS certs for all client domains. Atm, all client domains that are visited directly by means of https:// eventually produce the exact same fallback certificate with a validity of 10 years. This single fallback certificate is not valid for the individual client domains indeed. In the past, each domain had its own, separate, valid, TLS certificate.

The bigger picture seems to be that Alter is in limbo, after the official email announcement that the platform was going to shut down, and all client domains would be removed on April 2nd. After that, some hope and some fireworks followed, but it was never officially announced that the platform would continue its activities. Yes, it has become a complicated story and I empathize with Deven, but that does not mean that customers have no right to be informed. In any case, I have moved my domains elsewhere, but I retain full confidence in, and have great respect for Deven as a person.

 

[November]

Is that a big problem, can google penalize the domains, because the https error?

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Is that a big problem, can google penalize the domains, because the https error?

No I don’t think a long term issue, but it means someone going to lander would see Chrome warning and probably not go to lander.