Domain investor marketplace will charge monthly fee instead of commissions.
Domain Name Wholesale Exchange (DNWE), a marketplace for domainer-to-domainer wholesale transactions, is changing its business model.
The platform is scrapping commissions in favor of a subscription model. Users will pay a $14.99 per month (or $149 per year) fee to use the system, with early bird pricing of $9.99 per month (or $99 per year). The new model will begin on January 10.
Sellers will no longer pay a 12% commissions on sales. Buyers will pay DAN.com’s 5% escrow and transaction fee when they buy domains.
DNWE is also introducing a non-curated section that will allow users to list domains for sale without passing DNWE’s litmus test for quality/price.
Additional features in the works include customizable email notifications for buyers (e.g., new one word listings, crypto names, aged names, etc.), CSV exports, a purchased/sold section, data improvements and a make offer system.
Josh Reason, who launched the platform last year, told Domain Name Wire that the platform did $60,000 in volume with 61 domains last month. (One of those was an expensive three-character domain, so the typical transaction price is lower.)
Running the math, that would generate a net $4,200 to the platform during the month. I expect the platform will initially generate less on a monthly recurring revenue basis.
Still, the new model will allow the platform to generate stable revenue without worrying about people trying to cut DNWE out of the process to save on commissions.
It’s a somewhat unique model for sales platforms. Efty was the first sales platform I’m aware of that offered its service on a subscription model rather than commission.
“By offering a zero commission solution, we expect DNWE to see an increase in high-end inventory as a result of the huge savings on commission fees,” Reason said. “With our qualified pool of buyers and seamless buying experience through our partnership with DAN.com, I believe there is no better place to sell your domains.”
Leo Golan says
Such a great news, can’t wait for January 10 when it all starts. Non curated section, here we come!
James A says
Bad move. I, and I suspect many would agree, already have too many subscription services, many of which like DNWE don’t make sense as a subscription! Every other marketplace online uses a commission model and with good reason. I can only assume this is a cash grab because they aren’t processing enough sales. It makes no sense otherwise.