Brandable Names (.uk ccTLD only)?

aZooZa · Mar 22, 2019

Well, I admit I was quite disparaging about the concept of selling domains with logos in this thread:

https://www.acorndomains.co.uk/threads/what-to-do-with-this-brandable-names-idea.157789/

Hardly surprising reading through it that it developed into a comedy, but nevertheless, perhaps there's some mileage in this model - purely for .uk ccTLD domains.

Some .com players:

BrandBucket https://www.brandbucket.com/
Brandpa https://brandpa.com/
BrandableNames.com https://brandablenames.com/

Then I got to thinking about it a little more, and remembered the exact domain in my portfolio; owned it for ages: BrandableNames (co.uk). The above three resellers don't deal in anything but .com - so is there a niche for UK domains?

Rather than turn this post into a behemoth treatise, I was wondering what Acorn members might think in principle.

1. No lofty sale prices - perhaps £30 - £200.

2. Ideal for moving stuff that doesn't stand a chance of making the £50 on DL. I see good candidates for this every day in DL's "Hidden Gems".

3. Have to be a little picky in the quality - no obvious silliness.

4. Logos would be simple to do by us.

5. Charging model? No idea. Subscription/Commission/PAYG?

6. Marketed using affiliates, AdWords and SocMed.

7. In-house free escrow.

I see many folk here who I know have large and sticky portfolios - maybe this could be for you?

Short and sweet, I know. All comments below and PMs gratefully received!

Cheers

Dale

Pierre Barnard · Mar 22, 2019

Great question/idea Dale! A brandable marketplace for UK names. I would definitely be interested.

ian · Mar 22, 2019

Charge on the basis of a sale, this way, you'll ensure domains are vetted and of a suitable quality for you to put the time in to creating a logo. Minimum term (so sellers don't pull them days after you've put the effort in, otherwise penalty clause). Be careful of trademarks / similar logos (could be a minefield). Good luck.

fuzzer · Mar 22, 2019

Interesting idea Dale. Personally I think a simple logo done right can really help sell a domain. If you’re selling a car, you clean it - if a house, you do it up a bit. Why not use a simple method to help show off a good domain.

If you’re going through all the effort to offer landing pages with logo and inbuilt escrow - why limit yourself to lower value domains? You could open it up and have tiered/featured domains on homepage e.g. premium and lower value brandables.

Adam H · Mar 22, 2019

I've done a similar thing with a handful of my domains ( obviously just for mine rather than reseller platform ) https://www.thinkbrands.co.uk . I like the concept but I don't think it encourages any purchases, especially on a new platform where the user will have likely landed on the site via direct type in so any landing page would do the same