Domain marketplace aims to disrupt with single-priced .com domains

In domaining news this month, have you heard of the newest domain marketplace aimed at providing competitively priced brandable domains?

If not, then allow me the opportunity to introduce the husband and wife domain duo, Brian and Meghan Berke.

The talented duo are full-time domain investors, brokers, and consultants aiming to inspire creativity and affordability for new and existing businesses in search of a quality .com domain to represent their idea or venture.

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Recently launching BrandAftermarket.com, Brian and Meghan also juggle parenting a soon-to-be four-year-old daughter while operating DomainAgency.com, a domain brokerage and consultancy firm that works with domain companies and investors worldwide.

Brian and I recently had a chance to speak, getting to know one another as well as Brian sharing a bit of insight about their various life experiences, domaining, and their newest endeavor, BrandAftermarket.com.

KC: Kicking off this interview Brian, what’s one fact about yourself that most people would consider odd?

BB: Some may consider the fact that I left working in the entertainment industry to pursue a career in the domain industry as being an odd choice.

Back in the early-mid 2000s I performed on shows in LA with comics like Chelsea Handler, Andy Samberg and Zach Galifianakis.

Ultimately, I wanted to control my own destiny and work from anywhere in the world without having to leave my family to make money on the road. Domains gave me that freedom.

KC: How did domain names capture your interest in your overall quest for freedom?

BB: I always was attracted to domains as a form of Internet real estate ever since I registered my name BrianBerke.com back in 1999; but, it wasn’t until 2005 that I caught the bug.

My background in the TV Industry got me curious about .TV domains. I could see where online video and the internet were going to be the future of TV. I discovered that a lot of great keywords were available in .TV that were gone in other extensions.

In addition to buying .TV domains, I began buying .com domains related to emerging trends and technology. Fortunately, I was able to start flipping domains early on and I was hooked.

KC: What has changed about the domain industry since first getting involved?

BB: Since I started buying domains in 2005, domain parking has gotten crushed, causing many to drop huge parts of their portfolios to reduce holding costs.

Another radical change has been the proliferation of all the new gTLDs. People have more options than ever to create an online identity.

KC: How does your life experience lend an edge to BrandAftermarket.com becoming a success?

BB: I’ve always been about taking on new challenges. From breaking into the entertainment industry to becoming a professional domainer, following my passion is what makes the daily grind worthwhile.

What excites me most about BrandAftermarket.com, is giving others the opportunity to pursue and realize their dreams, as I have mine.

KC: Why and how was BrandAftermarket.com conceptualized around a $299 price point for .com domains?

BB: The BrandAftermarket.com inspiration and the price point were synergistic. I had been building my own portfolio of brandable domains for years via registrations, drops and auctions.

I saw comparable domains to mine, in terms of keywords and age going for $1,500-$2,500. I realized that large segments of entrepreneurs were being priced out of the brandable market.

I perused and tested various data points and felt at $299 we could do more volume and make quality brandable .coms available to anyone looking to build a brand on a budget.

KC: How does BrandAftermarket serve a target audience that’s different or the same as BrandRoot, BrandBucket, Efty, and other domain marketplaces?

BB: In that we are all in the brandable domain space, we share some of the same target audience.

Another similarity is that we all offer brandables in the standard categories like Tech, Design, App and Marketing.

But, BrandAftermarket.com also attracts audiences that can’t afford $1,500 or more for a quality brandable .com domain name. We eliminate price guessing and negotiation haggling, replacing it all with affordable universal pricing of $299 per .com domain.

Another difference that separates us from the competition is that we also specialize in some niche areas, including VR/360, Cryptocurrency and Weed.

KC: Do you allow external relationships to list and sale domains, or are listed domains strictly owned by BrandAftermarket?

BB: Currently we are not accepting submissions but that will change next month.

Since launching BrandAftermarket.com, we have been asked to consider listing other people’s domains and this we will entertain soon.

And it’s worth nothing that BrandAftermarket.com will not charge a listing fee, but simply a straight sales commission.

KC: What 3 domain considerations would you recommend brands in search of a relevant domain to launch or upgrade their brand consider?

BB: The 3 main factors to consider when buying a brandable domain are:

• .COM is still king. Yes, you can be successful using a non .com but owning .com still has a huge built in advantage, especially if you don’t have a big marketing budget.
• Your Budget – this will help to narrow down what type of options are realistic for you, One word .coms, two word .coms, one word alternative tlds, etc.
• Who is your target audience? Understanding your target audience will better enable you to decide what type of domain best suits your message. For example, would a keyword domain or an invented domain be more likely to appeal to your target audience.

KC: Not including the BrandAftermarket.com portfolio, What types of domains do you personally invest in (I.e., brandable, generic, geo, numeric, IDN, etc.)?

BB: For over twelve years, I have actively invested in pretty much all areas of the domain space from, geo domains, longtail keywords, numeric domains, and now mostly brandable .com domains.

KC: With twelve years of domain investing experience, what’s the worst domain you’ve purchased?

BB: Since I first began hand registering domains for investment in 2005, there have been many clunkers.

But, the worst one has got to be the one my wife used to tease me about registering back around 2009, BeddingForHorses.com.

At the time I was marketing domains to potential end users based on search volume and I was impressed with the search numbers. Needless to say that domain never sold and was dropped.

KC: My last question for you. If offered an opportunity to sit and discuss domains with anyone, who would you choose and why?

BB: I would select Elon Musk and talk to him about his original purchase of X.com, his recent re-acquisition of the domain.

I’d enjoy engaging him in thoughts about domains in general as they relate to how we communicate now and will communicate in the future.

KC: Anything else you would like to share?

BB: I’m excited to announce that we are sponsoring a special contest at the upcoming MERGE! conference in Orlando between Oct 14-18 2017.

Ten winners will get a free, brandable domain from BrandAftermarket.com and get to pitch their dream project to start-up mentors and investors at the inaugural MERGE! Conference.

Read about MERGE! Contest Details 

And that’s all the time we have for now…

I’d like to thank Brian and Meghan for allowing us the opportunity to interview them personally and professionally.

I wish you both success in your domain marketplace endeavor, BrandAftermarket.com, and DomainAgency.com

In closing, please do take a moment to visit BrandAftermarket.com as well as register for the upcoming Merge.Show (I’ll be in attendance!) and BrandAftermarket.com’s “The Domain Challenge”.

For now, let us know your thoughts about BrandAftermarket.com, and whether or not you’re likely to purchase or have made a purchase using their services.

Oh and before I forget, Brian and Meghan have been generous in offering a first-time Domainer offer exclusive to the Kickstart Commerce community.