The Future of Dan.com

I've never considered myself a domainer, as I've never had much much of a portfolio.

This means I've never used Dan.

  1. What makes it so good? What specific features make it stand out?
  2. How do they handle UK domain transfers? Is it fully automated other than maybe the requirement of providing some kind of verification code?
  3. Has anybody actually used the brokerage services offered by Dan? What would be your feedback? Is such a service essential?
Regarding commission of 15% per domain sale (minimum), when I think about:
  • payment processing fees
  • escrow service integration costs
  • server and cloud infrastructure costs
  • hosting fees
  • registrar integration fees
  • customer support
  • potential mediation
  • development fees
  • marketing
  • legal costs
  • and probably more that I am missing
15% seems incredibly cheap to me, especially when the majority of domains being sold is going to be relatively small fry.
 
For me Dan.com has some brilliant positives.

Good quick support.
Bot can handle most transfers, most domains transferred under 12 hours.
Payment sometimes same or next day.
They can handle push transfers if the domain is still under the 60 day icann lock. A lot of my sales are as i am outbounding.
 
seemly said:
15% seems incredibly cheap to me, especially when the majority of domains being sold is going to be relatively small fry.
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It is if they are taking responsibility and covering you in the event of a charge back (no idea if they do). Just that alone is worth a few quid in my opinion. Not so much a problem on .uk domains, but I wouldn't like to try and get a .com back after a fraudulent purchase had been discovered.
 
GreyWing said:
It is if they are taking responsibility and covering you in the event of a charge back (no idea if they do). Just that alone is worth a few quid in my opinion. Not so much a problem on .uk domains, but I wouldn't like to try and get a .com back after a fraudulent purchase had been discovered.
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My immediate naive thought was to consider spending the next few months building at least an MVP specifically targeting UK domains, but looking at the required integrations, suspected costs, and customers thinking 15% is expensive, I think I'll give this one a wide birth.
 
seemly said:
I've never considered myself a domainer, as I've never had much much of a portfolio.

This means I've never used Dan.

  1. What makes it so good? What specific features make it stand out?
  2. How do they handle UK domain transfers? Is it fully automated other than maybe the requirement of providing some kind of verification code?
  3. Has anybody actually used the brokerage services offered by Dan? What would be your feedback? Is such a service essential?
Regarding commission of 15% per domain sale (minimum), when I think about:
  • payment processing fees
  • escrow service integration costs
  • server and cloud infrastructure costs
  • hosting fees
  • registrar integration fees
  • customer support
  • potential mediation
  • development fees
  • marketing
  • legal costs
  • and probably more that I am missing
15% seems incredibly cheap to me, especially when the majority of domains being sold is going to be relatively small fry.
Click to expand...
Dan just created a very efficient system with staff who were well trained and quick to help. It's a nice easy to use platform with clean landing pages. Adding domains and pricing them is simple. For .uk transfers all that was required was a simple tag cange to their tag and they took care of it from there, and as Karl said they sent payment usually within 24 hours once it has been changed (no making you wait weeks like some other platforms).

All of this has earned them a very strong score on Trustpilot which helps give buyers confidence in them, these things can help make or break a sale.

Last time I sold through Afteric they didn't have a clue how to transfer a .co.uk domain, I had to walk them through the process... and it all took a very long time, I don't know what I was paying them for tbh! And their trustpilot score is poor..
 
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15% for small value sales is probably fair to be honest.

When I made my comment is was thinking about my own sales history. I don't sell many domains but every now and again I sell a premium domain from my catches that I made many years ago.

My last domain sale would have costed me almost £7k if I had used Dan for example. To me, that is a lot of money to sell a name.

Not the same I know but most high street estate agents charge around 1% to sell a property. But with this example they tend to be dealing with amounts much higher than most domain sales!

I think this is why I see Dan being rather expensive!
 
seemly said:
  1. What makes it so good? What specific features make it stand out?
  2. How do they handle UK domain transfers? Is it fully automated other than maybe the requirement of providing some kind of verification code?
  3. Has anybody actually used the brokerage services offered by Dan? What would be your feedback? Is such a service essential?
Click to expand...

1. I think it's one of those things where it's largely about taking something that already existed and just making it better. It's super easy to use, both for end users and sellers, support staff seem decent and knowledgeable. There are a few niggles (doing deals for .co.uk and .uk pairs requires a bit of intervention) but of all the platforms I've used it's the best by far. Also in terms of exposure, we've sold way more on Dan than we did on Sedo. I'm actually a bit gutted they're merging it with afternic, because I suspect they'll ruin it.

2. For .uk you can just release to their tag and they'll handle the rest. I sold one on Wednesday afternoon via afternic at BIN, had the money in my account on Thursday morning.

3. Never had a need for the brokerage. Half the sales we get are at the BIN price, either through Dan or via the Afternic distribution network, the other half I'm happy to negotiate myself.


One other thing that's really handy about Dan these days, and this is something that changed after the godaddy sale, is that they act as the merchant of record. It means there's no VAT in the UK for the buyer, which is handy if you're doing a direct deal and they're not VAT registered - just import into Dan and pay the 5% escrow fee. You can just add it on to the domain and means the buyer is paying an extra 5% rather than 20%.

I've done this a few times with people.
 
Lee said:
15% for small value sales is probably fair to be honest.

When I made my comment is was thinking about my own sales history. I don't sell many domains but every now and again I sell a premium domain from my catches that I made many years ago.

My last domain sale would have costed me almost £7k if I had used Dan for example. To me, that is a lot of money to sell a name.

Not the same I know but most high street estate agents charge around 1% to sell a property. But with this example they tend to be dealing with amounts much higher than most domain sales!

I think this is why I see Dan being rather expensive!
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That makes more sense.

I guess being able to implement a single fee for everyone is simpler to understand than implementing min/max cap thresholds.

Higher value domain sales keep the system running, but I definitely appreciate where you're coming from.

People selling small-fry domains would probably end up paying more to use the service than they make from selling the domain if it was based on a set fee, but while they are an initial "burden" to the system, they are essential to the ecosystem of domain sales.

I guess that's why I've always wondered why small-fry buyers/sellers seem to be sneered at, and why I've always been 'surprised' at the lack of wanting sale prices to be published, as I've always felt that's the sort of thing that would create more of a draw for investors at all levels to get involved, generating a larger pool of wealth. Clearly I'm no expert in this area, though.
 
Lee said:
most high street estate agents charge around 1% to sell a property.
Click to expand...
They only do the introduction though don't they, essentially generate the lead.

Whereas Dan handle all stages of the transaction.

You then need to pay two lots of conveyancers (one for the house you are selling the other the one you are buying). and pay stamp duty.

And houses have a very high STR, whereas domains have a very low one.

Atom.com is 7.5% for standard listings. If you think of their payment process/escrow & transfer specialists as being the conveyancing element, that feels very fair.

Afternic is 15% if you use their landers. Twice the cost of Atom.
 
RegalDomains said:
They only do the introduction though don't they, essentially generate the lead.

Whereas Dan handle all stages of the transaction.

You then need to pay two lots of conveyancers (one for the house you are selling the other the one you are buying). and pay stamp duty.

And houses have a very high STR, whereas domains have a very low one.

Atom.com is 7.5% for standard listings. If you think of their payment process/escrow & transfer specialists as being the conveyancing element, that feels very fair.

Afternic is 15% if you use their landers. Twice the cost of Atom.
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Do you think they can offer this lower premium because it's not their key offering?

I say it's not their key offering, because having never visited the site before:

  1. It wasn't obvious to me they are a domain marketplace open to the public.
  2. It took me a good while to find out how I could become a seller on the site.
 
seemly said:
Do you think they can offer this lower premium because it's not their key offering?

I say it's not their key offering, because having never visited the site before:

  1. It wasn't obvious to me they are a domain marketplace open to the public.
  2. It took me a good while to find out how I could become a seller on the site.
Click to expand...
The commission for premium listings ranges from 15% to 30% depending on sale price. These would typically be 'brandable' domains.

You have to point those to Atom nameservers. You can list on Afternic but at a 10% premium. They also sync your premiums with Sedo, and can decide whether you want to Sync your standards with premium or handle that yourself.

They make a logo etc for the accepted premium domains.

But you can also point all your other domains to Atom landers, and those have a 7.5% commission. Those are called 'standard listings'. They also show up at the bottom of the results when you search in the marketplace.

You get a free marketplace also, and on that are all your 'standard' and 'premium' listings. Here is the one I'm testing:


Premium domains go to a lander on Atom domain: http://passwordstrength.com

Standard go to a similar looking lander, but you can choose for it to land on your own domain, e.g. http://soccervacations.com goes to my marketplace domain. The phone number at the top though is Atoms, and if they are closing a deal at BIN on my domain over the phone and taking just 7.5% then that represents fantastic value.

You don't actually have to activate the marketplace, alternative portfolio link: https://www.atom.com/domain-portfolio/regal domains/2771260

The Password Strength logo is generated by one of their logo designers after premium acceptance. The Soccer Vacations one is AI generated, you just press a button.

Once you have 10 accepted as premium you can access the wholesale marketplace, and if you buy one accepted as premium it transfers to your account as a premium.

They are essentially building an entire ecosystem, and new features seem to be daily at the minute. Its a steep learning curve, but it frankly shits all over Dan, its quite exciting.
 
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RegalDomains said:
The commission for premium listings ranges from 15% to 30% depending on sale price. These would typically be 'brandable' domains.

You have to point those to Atom nameservers. You can list on Afternic but at a 10% premium. They also sync your premiums with Sedo, and can decide whether you want to Sync your standards with premium or handle that yourself.

They make a logo etc for the accepted premium domains.

But you can also point all your other domains to Atom landers, and those have a 7.5% commission. Those are called 'standard listings'. They also show up at the bottom of the results when you search in the marketplace.

You get a free marketplace also, and on that are all your 'standard' and 'premium' listings. Here is the one I'm testing:


Premium domains go to a lander on Atom domain: http://passwordstrength.com

Standard go to a similar looking lander, but you can choose for it to land on your own domain, e.g. http://soccervacations.com goes to my marketplace domain. The phone number at the top though is Atoms, and if they are closing a deal at BIN on my domain over the phone and taking just 7.5% then that represents fantastic value.

You don't actually have to activate the marketplace, alternative portfolio link: https://www.atom.com/domain-portfolio/regal domains/2771260

The Password Strength logo is generated by one of their logo designers after premium acceptance. The Soccer Vacations one is AI generated, you just press a button.

Once you have 10 accepted as premium you can access the wholesale marketplace, and if you buy one accepted as premium it transfers to your account as a premium.

They are essentially building an entire ecosystem, and new features seem to be daily at the minute. Its a steep learning curve, but it frankly shits all over Dan, its quite exciting.
Click to expand...
Nice overview! Thanks!
 
Over on DomainUi you can park your domains and still point them to the marketplaces where you have them listed or send visitors to your website as you can see here https://cauldrons.co.uk/

I am at the moment investing more into the parking domains side of things to give better features. I know it is nothing special at the moment but hopefully i can add some useful features on it.

PM me if you want to try it.

KR

Paul
 
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paullas said:
Over on DomainUi you can park your domains and still point them to the marketplaces where you have them listed or send visitors to your website as you can see here https://cauldrons.co.uk/

I am at the moment investing more into the parking domains side of things to give better features. I know it is nothing special at the moment but hopefully i can add some useful features on it.

PM me if you want to try it.

KR

Paul
Click to expand...
I might try your affiliate landers next time I acquire domains which come with a bit of traffic.
 
RegalDomains said:
The commission for premium listings ranges from 15% to 30% depending on sale price. These would typically be 'brandable' domains.

You have to point those to Atom nameservers. You can list on Afternic but at a 10% premium. They also sync your premiums with Sedo, and can decide whether you want to Sync your standards with premium or handle that yourself.

They make a logo etc for the accepted premium domains.

But you can also point all your other domains to Atom landers, and those have a 7.5% commission. Those are called 'standard listings'. They also show up at the bottom of the results when you search in the marketplace.

You get a free marketplace also, and on that are all your 'standard' and 'premium' listings. Here is the one I'm testing:


Premium domains go to a lander on Atom domain: http://passwordstrength.com

Standard go to a similar looking lander, but you can choose for it to land on your own domain, e.g. http://soccervacations.com goes to my marketplace domain. The phone number at the top though is Atoms, and if they are closing a deal at BIN on my domain over the phone and taking just 7.5% then that represents fantastic value.

You don't actually have to activate the marketplace, alternative portfolio link: https://www.atom.com/domain-portfolio/regal domains/2771260

The Password Strength logo is generated by one of their logo designers after premium acceptance. The Soccer Vacations one is AI generated, you just press a button.

Once you have 10 accepted as premium you can access the wholesale marketplace, and if you buy one accepted as premium it transfers to your account as a premium.

They are essentially building an entire ecosystem, and new features seem to be daily at the minute. Its a steep learning curve, but it frankly shits all over Dan, its quite exciting.
Click to expand...

How do they decide what domains are premium and those that aren't? Or is you that decides?

Can you list in £?
 
AlistairH said:
How do they decide what domains are premium and those that aren't? Or is you that decides?

Can you list in £?
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They do, you have to have them approved as premium.

10 reviewers decide if its premium or not, or 11 if its 5-5. Sometimes it bypasses this process and gets approved instantly if 3 'expert reviewers' like the domain.

You can submit without a "coin" which takes weeks and weeks. Or with a coin, which takes a few days. A coin is $1.

However I upload all of mine as standard in the hope that their AI identifies a domain as premium potential, if it does then you get the coin refunded if not approved. The AI loves short 2 syllable dot coms.
 
seemly said:
Nice overview! Thanks!
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That's just scratching the surface if I'm honest, there's still stuff I'm learning.

For example, I just paid $7 for a domain on the Wholesale Marketplace (this one https://www.atom.com/name/EnsureSync)

Only, with that domain Atom own the domain and pay for the renewal. There was no transfer to my registrar, only to my Atom account.

I believe there is some sort of system where people can suggest an unregistered domain to Atom, and if Atom like it they will register the domain and the 'creative' who found it for them gets a % if it sells. There is also a means of surrendering domains to Atom, so it might be one of those.

So what I bought for my $7 is the right to that creatives commission, which at current price is $625 net (although I could increase price a fair bit and share would increase accordingly).

The risk I suppose, and the reason the price I paid was 1.11% of expected net, is that Atom could cull a few at renewal time, at which point I've lost $7 (domain expires May 2025), although not sure I'm offered the opportunity at that point to take over the registration.

If they do renew though in May, I've paid $7 for 20 months of the chance of $625+ having had to do none of the hard work trying to find legible handregs.

All this stuff (I'm still learning it) is far beyond anything that anybody has ever offered before, its revolutionary.
 
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ben said:
So how do you get onto the Wholesale Marketplace?
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You need 10 domains approved as premium. Well worth it though, there are currently 20,396 premium approved domains and 12,427 standard listings on the wholesale marketplace.

I sourced most of my initial 10 from Dynadot expiring auctions and then submitted them (as Godaddy expiring prices get insane)
 
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RegalDomains said:
You need 10 domains approved as premium. Well worth it though, there are currently 20,396 premium approved domains and 12,427 standard listings on the wholesale marketplace.

I sourced most of my initial 10 from Dynadot expiring auctions and then submitted them (as Godaddy expiring prices get insane)
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Thanks. I love Dynadot, I think it’s a really genuine brand and their platform is very well thought out. I’ve won a couple of .co auctions on there before and it’s exciting to take part.

I will have to source 10 domains then, will give me something to do 🤣
 
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