Website Flipping Basics

[FifthDimension5]

In my opinion, design isnt that important, you could buy starter websites that have the potential to grow and earn, and redesign them and add content and build backlinks and flip them again.

[loybond]

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

Sounds like a good niche, good PR, good backlinks. Can you do screenshots for an auction of the Adsense income? Never claim income that you can't prove. They're just going to ask for it anyway. Probably would help if you also did some posting and backlinking to restart the traffic. I've sold quite a few sites with those ugly Adsense themes because they get clickthroughs and the Adsense junkies don't mind at all that the site is not gorgeous as long as people are clicking through. If you'd like to pm me the link, I'd be happy to take a look and take a guess at what I would sell it for, but just off the top of my head without knowing how much Adsense and with diminishing traffic, I would say you could list it on Flippa for $350 BIN at least.

It doesn't have all that much income these days, maybe $15-20 a month if that. However, with good CTR, it can scale well; the low Adsense income is only because of limited traffic. I'll pm you the link; thanks for taking the time!

[loybond]

Originally Posted by FifthDimension5

In my opinion, design isnt that important, you could buy starter websites that have the potential to grow and earn, and redesign them and add content and build backlinks and flip them again.

Why buy them when you can just create them from scratch for less?

When you say "build backlinks," do you basically mean sell the website when it has more traffic?

[mattpaul2000]

Loybond

I have just sent you a pm but if your still looking for ideas I have a free web flipping book.

Best Regards

Matt

Originally Posted by loybond

I've been interested in getting into website flipping. I just have a few questions that I was hoping some of you might answer for me.

*Do the sites for sale need to be ranked well?

*Do the sites for sale need to be getting good traffic? If so, what constitutes good traffic?

*Do the sites for sale need backlinks? Are they worth more with backlinks?

*Would I be able to sell a 10-page Wordpress niche site with unique content easily? How much time would it take (roughly, on average etc.)

*How much would the above type of site be worth (assuming 10-20 uniques a day or so)?

*Would you use Sitepoint or something else?

*Have any of you made a profitable business model out of flipping? If so, would you be kind enough to share an intro/tips?

[loybond]

mattpaul2000, I'm planning on putting up two sites today on Sitepoint to see how they fare. However, I like to read and learn as possible, so please do send that ebook my way!

[mattpaul2000]

I sent you pm earlier, I am sure the sites will do well on Sitepont. Have a look at Gene Piementel as well on Warrior who is the man for "Domain Flipping".

I have followed his 10 point action plan out of interest and made over $200. Its recommended.

Best regards

Matt

[loybond]

Thanks to everyone, but especially sbucciarel, I was able to sell my first site in just a day, for $300!

[sbucciarel]

I am so happy for you. Just a few tweaks and instant cash. I thought that site had a lot of potential. Now I know you can do it over and over again.

[Jesse Kemmerer]

Hey Warriors,

I've looked through this thread and learned a lot thus far. I'm incredibly new
to the site flipping scene - actually trying to help a friend get his hands on
some quick money.

I do have a few questions, though:

1) How do you go about actually transferring the site? I'm not the most tech
savvy guy, but I do know the basics of FTP and all that jazz. Can someone
explain this a little better to me?

2) Is it possible to sell, say, a WP blog using one of the free themes given by
the WP site? Or do you typically have to create your own theme?

3) Where are the best places to put your site auction in order to see the
fastest response?

I appreciate any and all answers you guys can give me. Thanks in advance!

All the best,

Jesse Kemmerer
kemmerer.j@gmail.com

[Biggy Fat]

Originally Posted by Jesse Kemmerer

Hey Warriors,

I've looked through this thread and learned a lot thus far. I'm incredibly new
to the site flipping scene - actually trying to help a friend get his hands on
some quick money.

I do have a few questions, though:

1) How do you go about actually transferring the site? I'm not the most tech
savvy guy, but I do know the basics of FTP and all that jazz. Can someone
explain this a little better to me?

See this page: The Way I Transfer My WordPress Blog To Another Host

2) Is it possible to sell, say, a WP blog using one of the free themes given by
the WP site? Or do you typically have to create your own theme?

You can easily sell using free themes. I did it. Just make sure you customize it so that it doesn't look the same as all the other stuff.

3) Where are the best places to put your site auction in order to see the
fastest response?

ATM, the place to sell is at Flippa.com, though many people have complaints about them. Other places you can sell are at SiteDeal.org, eBay, and here at the Warrior Forum website selling section. STAY AWAY FROM DIGITAL POINT. It is the land of the scammers.

I appreciate any and all answers you guys can give me. Thanks in advance!

All the best,

Jesse Kemmerer
kemmerer.j@gmail.com

Questions answered in bold man.

[sbucciarel]

Hey Warriors,

I've looked through this thread and learned a lot thus far. I'm incredibly new
to the site flipping scene - actually trying to help a friend get his hands on
some quick money.

I do have a few questions, though:

1) How do you go about actually transferring the site? I'm not the most tech
savvy guy, but I do know the basics of FTP and all that jazz. Can someone
explain this a little better to me?

I've got instructions for moving blogs at http://domainingdiva.com/installationinstructions.pdf. That's pretty much how I do it except skip the parts of replacing the url with a new url. These instructions also include how to move to a new domain, which you wouldn't be needing.

2) Is it possible to sell, say, a WP blog using one of the free themes given by
the WP site? Or do you typically have to create your own theme?

Anybody can put up a blog with a free theme. Got to do better than that if you want to sell it.

3) Where are the best places to put your site auction in order to see the
fastest response?

Sitedeal.org and Flippa.com are where I list mine.

I appreciate any and all answers you guys can give me. Thanks in advance!

All the best,

Jesse Kemmerer
kemmerer.j@gmail.com

[SMP]

Originally Posted by Craig McPherson

Hey Loybond,

Head over to Michelle Adam's blog. She is a member here. She has a great download called
Quick Cash, all about building and flipping sites.

Thanks for posting this link Craig. I want to start flipping sites, Squidoo lenses, etc and this is the perfect resource.

All the best.

Steve.

[loybond]

Guys, moving a Wordpress site over is the shiznits. Its super easy. Backup your database, upload it to your new hosting, just copy your entire WP installation over (FTP), update the database and username in the wp-config file, and that's it!

I'm planning to try and put up two good sites a day. My first sale was a breeze, let's see how the rest go. I hope people can appreciate the difference I'm bringing - which is properly researched niches that are easy to rank in, combined with decent looks, unique content, and an ebook I wrote myself about how to promote the site and get it to page 1.

Advice to fellow startup flippers > Whenever I didn't know something, I'd Google it, and thankfully, when it comes to Wordpress, design, logos etc. there are a million tutorials for whatever you'd like to do. I can now make nice-looking web 2.0-ish logos in under 2 minutes. Even for the specific theme I'm using, there's a lot of discussion, so just have a look at what is on offer at Flippa, and try to come up with some sort of value proposition for buyers. You can focus on design, traffic or earnings, or all three. I went with sites that look pretty decent, and are already ranked and earning small amounts with Adsense. And people here are wicked helpful so you can just PM them.

sbucciarel, as you know, I think you're the bomb. Perhaps when you get a chance, you can tell me what tools you use to make those affiliate sales pages, because I've never made them before. I'm guessing they don't run on WP. I'm sure everyone here would appreciate that too, since from what I've seen, you're the silent guru (guruette?) of flipping.

[loybond]

Jesse, there's no harm in using free themes, but make sure they "look" premium. Everyone and their neighbour use the Revolution themes, some of which are/were free.

And you gotta customize them so they look unique. IMO, logos really make/break the look, and a ton of people suck at making logos. Google web 2.0 logos photoshop and follow the instructions and that alone will give your blog some uniqueness.

[midasman09]

Why piddle around with;
1) getting a domain
2) setting up a site
3) getting traffic to the site
4) trying to sell the site

...for a few hundred bucks!

Why not appeal to the EGO and get $1500 and more?

Right NOW, Aug 13, 09 at 4:15 Pacific Time... "DenversBestChiropractor.com" is available!
so is..."RenosBestChiropractor.com"...etc

Reason I pick "Chiropractors" is because they WANT to, and can AFFORD to, spend money on "promotion of their practice"!

If YOU were a "Chiropractor" or "Dentist" or "Roofer" or "Plumber"...etc, wouldn't YOU like to have a sign on your truck or your door that says, "...Best.com"?

Of course you would. It's just a matter of;
1) Get the "Best" domain
2) Set up a Sample 1 or 2 page site
3) Call prospects and tell them you've created a site for them that will bring them more business...and send them to your Sample Site. Also mention you are calling OTHER competing businesses and the FIRST ONE who wants the site AND "Ego" domain...gets it!

EGO and competition brings in the big bucks...fast.

Midas Man

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by midasman09

Why piddle around with;
1) getting a domain
2) setting up a site
3) getting traffic to the site
4) trying to sell the site

...for a few hundred bucks!

Why not appeal to the EGO and get $1500 and more?

Right NOW, Aug 13, 09 at 4:15 Pacific Time... "DenversBestChiropractor.com" is available!
so is..."RenosBestChiropractor.com"...etc

Reason I pick "Chiropractors" is because they WANT to, and can AFFORD to, spend money on "promotion of their practice"!

If YOU were a "Chiropractor" or "Dentist" or "Roofer" or "Plumber"...etc, wouldn't YOU like to have a sign on your truck or your door that says, "...Best.com"?

Of course you would. It's just a matter of;
1) Get the "Best" domain
2) Set up a Sample 1 or 2 page site
3) Call prospects and tell them you've created a site for them that will bring them more business...and send them to your Sample Site. Also mention you are calling OTHER competing businesses and the FIRST ONE who wants the site AND "Ego" domain...gets it!

EGO and competition brings in the big bucks...fast.

Midas Man

Ok ... so how many of these have you sold and for how much money?

[Vikuna2009+]

Ok ... so how many of these have you sold and for how much money?



I am STRONGLY considering putting the above sentence on Google Alerts because I would REALLY like to know, lol

...... I'm waiting......


In the offline forums "best" this and that is what they talk a lot about. BTW, is there a way to do some kind of a search to find out how many "best" domain addresses have been sold


P.S. Suzanne, do you ever use bido.com? (Hope I spelled your name right, lol).

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by Vikuna2009+

Ok ... so how many of these have you sold and for how much money?



I am STRONGLY considering putting the above sentence on Google Alerts because I would REALLY like to know, lol

...... I'm waiting......


In the offline forums "best" this and that is what they talk a lot about. BTW, is there a way to do some kind of a search to find out how many "best" domain addresses have been sold


P.S. Suzanne, do you ever use bido.com? (Hope I spelled your name right, lol).

Just checking out bido now. Looks very interesting. Thanks for that link.

As for the "best" domains ... I'm wondering if this approach just appeals to egos without really serving the end user very well. Most of my domains are strong keyword domains that get searches. How many searches are there for best chiropractor Dallas, etc.? If I were searching for a chiropractor, I doubt I would use "best" as the search term ... because they all think they're the best.

When it comes to selling these sites I sell, I really do want the end user to be successful with it. I don't offload junk sites just to get rid of them. Some people would probably gasp at the sites I just deleted from the server and the domains that went with them because they were not performing in any way. Some of the domains I've had for a couple of years. Adios ... I don't want them to become someone else's non-performing sites after getting money from them for the sites.

[Vikuna2009+]

You can subscribe by email to http://www.bido.com They have daily auctions. What gets me is that a domain name, not a website, with 3 letters,
likekzm.com, or the like (made up sample) sells for about two grand!!!

This 3 letter combos sells frequently for around 2-3k and I just can not figure it out, any thoughts?

What about domain 'tasters'? Got ripped off of a domain name last week because the place I used appearantly 'tastes' your domain name if you don't buy it right away. Was told that namesheap.com is a safe place to search for availability and they do not taste.

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by Vikuna2009+

You can subscribe by email to http://www.bido.com They have daily auctions. What gets me is that a domain name, not a website, with 3 letters,
likekzm.com, or the like (made up sample) sells for about two grand!!!

This 3 letter combos sells frequently for around 2-3k and I just can not figure it out, any thoughts?

What about domain 'tasters'? Got ripped off of a domain name last week because the place I used appearantly 'tastes' your domain name if you don't buy it right away. Was told that namesheap.com is a safe place to search for availability and they do not taste.

3 letter domains are rare and cost a fortune to buy. They are what is considered a premium domain name. I see auctions all the time with "premium domain name" listed as a selling point and it's obvious these people have no clue as to what a premium domain name really is. sex.com, cars.com, book.com, couch.com ... single words are premium. Three letter domains are normally premium. mycreditreportonline.com is NOT a premium domain. Don't call your domain names premium if they aren't really premium. If they were premium you could sell the domain alone for many thousands.

There are domain tasters ... they usually buy the right to "taste" a lot of domains without actually purchasing them and then release the ones they don't want after a certain period of time.

What you're talking about is domain sniffing. It is said and probably true that some registrars employ domain sniffing ... that means that while you are selecting a domain, it can mysteriously become unavailable. The registrar has determined that they'd like to give that one a go and has snatched it right out from under you. I use Godaddy a lot and have never had that happen, but I've heard they use that. I've also heard that Namecheap is safe from domain sniffing.

[Vikuna2009+]

Well, they 'sniffed' my up my you know what, lol . If they just would have 'tasted' me, they might have given it back ...

As far as the 3 letter domains goes on bido, it's not a WORD but a letter combination like: kzm, jqr, xrt etc. Selling for 2-3k, go figure.

BTW Suzanne, what is your opinion about bido?

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by Vikuna2009+

Well, they 'sniffed' my up my you know what, lol . If they just would have 'tasted' me, they might have given it back ...

As far as the 3 letter domains goes on bido, it's not a WORD but a letter combination like: kzm, jqr, xrt etc. Selling for 2-3k, go figure.

BTW Suzanne, what is your opinion about bido?

With 3, 4 and often 5 letter domains, it doesn't need to be a word. They are in high demand and hard to get. Just try hand registering one. You'll see a lot of them being offered and bought at namepros.com. Look at ibm .... it means something to the company, so a company with a name like that will pay a fortune for the domain.

Bido looks good but I'm put off by the registration fee for reserve auctions. I have a couple hundred domains listed on Sedo and have purchased domains at namepros.com and I prefer those resources rather than paying upfront for a listing. I don't mind the commission that Sedo takes, once the domain is sold, but I wouldn't want to have to pay for every domain I have listed.

[midasman09]

We add an extra feature to our "Best" sites. A "PostCard" mailing to monthly New Movers to the area.

We tie in 5 or more sites for each area so cost is spread.

And...this lets us charge $149/mo to participants. And, because the domain is NOT specific to the biz that's "renting" it, if a participant wants to drop out, they can, and we replace them.

Some also link to their "regular" sites from the "Best" site they are renting.

Midas Man

[loybond]

Midas Man, are you really under the impression that cold calling local businesses is faster/easier than steps 1-4? Here's the time it takes for me...

1) Keyword research > 5 min-1 hour (depending on how I fare)
2) Getting a domain > 3 minutes and for $4, amazingly, this place updates nameservers within 5 minutes
3) Install WP with Fantastico > 2 minutes
4) Upload theme and get theme running > 1 minute
5) customize theme > 30 minutes to 3 hours
6) Write 10 unique articles > 2 hours, or PLR it > 15-30 minutes
7) set up sale on Flippa > 5-10 minutes
8) wait for it to sell, and work on other sites

A "few hundred" is a pretty good profit for not that much work!

Originally Posted by midasman09

Why piddle around with;
1) getting a domain
2) setting up a site
3) getting traffic to the site
4) trying to sell the site

...for a few hundred bucks!

Why not appeal to the EGO and get $1500 and more?

Right NOW, Aug 13, 09 at 4:15 Pacific Time... "DenversBestChiropractor.com" is available!
so is..."RenosBestChiropractor.com"...etc

Reason I pick "Chiropractors" is because they WANT to, and can AFFORD to, spend money on "promotion of their practice"!

If YOU were a "Chiropractor" or "Dentist" or "Roofer" or "Plumber"...etc, wouldn't YOU like to have a sign on your truck or your door that says, "...Best.com"?

Of course you would. It's just a matter of;
1) Get the "Best" domain
2) Set up a Sample 1 or 2 page site
3) Call prospects and tell them you've created a site for them that will bring them more business...and send them to your Sample Site. Also mention you are calling OTHER competing businesses and the FIRST ONE who wants the site AND "Ego" domain...gets it!

EGO and competition brings in the big bucks...fast.

Midas Man

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by GLoke

Well from what I know the sites do not necessarily need to have traffic to sell.. traffic just adds to its value.. there are many other ways to add value.. like design, niche, backlinks, good SEO etc.

Absolutely true ... you don't need traffic or sales. I sell startups all the time.

As for the offline cold calling technique by Midas Man ... no thanks. I've purchased sites for $50 and immediately listed them on Flippa and sold them for $300. I can create a site in less than a day that will sell for that also. Or I can create a batch of sites and let some age and get traffic and sell them for double that. Or I can run a WSO and other advertising and make a few ebook sales and sell it for triple that or more. I make a good profit with the least amount of hassle and calling or mailing companies to me is a hassle.

[bluegold14]

Originally Posted by loybond

Midas Man, are you really under the impression that cold calling local businesses is faster/easier than steps 1-4? Here's the time it takes for me...

1) Keyword research > 5 min-1 hour (depending on how I fare)
2) Getting a domain > 3 minutes and for $4, amazingly, this place updates nameservers within 5 minutes
3) Install WP with Fantastico > 2 minutes
4) Upload theme and get theme running > 1 minute
5) customize theme > 30 minutes to 3 hours
6) Write 10 unique articles > 2 hours, or PLR it > 15-30 minutes
7) set up sale on Flippa > 5-10 minutes
8) wait for it to sell, and work on other sites

A "few hundred" is a pretty good profit for not that much work!

loybond, that's definitely appealing...why have I been wasting my time with affiliate marketing?!

Now, I've read stories about selling domains/websites and not getting paid. What payment processors do you use to prevent fraud and fraudsters?

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by bluegold14

Now, I've read stories about selling domains/websites and not getting paid. What payment processors do you use to prevent fraud and fraudsters?

I use a DMCA notice. Anyone who steals a site from me, I issue the DMCA to their host. It's only happened once and only from my nichebloggingtreasure.com site rather than from an auction, but the DMCA worked very well ...

I use Paypal and Paypal does not support digital products. One guy paid me $400 for a site and then issued a dispute ... not as described. Of course it was exactly as described since he saw the site before he purchased. I immediately escalated the dispute to a claim and immediately the dispute and claim were closed by Paypal, saying that they do no support digital products. So I kept my money and he kept the site.

I've sold a site for $2,500 and another for about $1500 and the terms of the sale were that I hold the domains for 46 days. Buyers didn't have a problem with that and it probably kept dishonest buyers from even trying to buy the site and then file a dispute.

[LMC]

One method that can be effective is sending them a certificate of purchase via the mail.

Now you have sent something tangible with the digital good.

We send mailing packages with anything over $5,000

[loybond]

Originally Posted by bluegold14

loybond, that's definitely appealing...why have I been wasting my time with affiliate marketing?!

Now, I've read stories about selling domains/websites and not getting paid. What payment processors do you use to prevent fraud and fraudsters?

I've wasted my time with a lot of things that didn't pay, but I haven't done anything in affiliate yet, and according to people, it's the easiest to succeed with. Well, flipping's easier for sure. I think that you just have to offer something of value. With affiliate I've been told that you just need to pick a good product, make a good sales page, write about 20-30 convincing articles and then you should make a few sales now and then. Dunno, but I think I'll be trying that this week. I'll post my success.

I've heard those stories too. I haven't sold many sites yet, so I'm probably not the best person to ask. Suzanne knows a lot, so maybe she can help you out here. On her blog she has a post about this if I remember correctly (DMCA takedown notice).

I just had another $300 sale on Flippa, but the guy who bought is a newbie with no feedback. He hasn't emailed me or PMed me yet, so I am a little scared, so I haven't sent him his welcome package yet.

[Stephen Chua]

I have a question. What do I do with those site that did not sell? Please advise. Thanks!

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by loybond

I just had another $300 sale on Flippa, but the guy who bought is a newbie with no feedback. He hasn't emailed me or PMed me yet, so I am a little scared, so I haven't sent him his welcome package yet.

Don't wait for him to pm you. Pm him with your paypal email address and congratulations on the purchase .. and say as soon as payment is received, we'll discuss the transfer of site and domain. That gets him started.

On all of my auctions that are still live, I use the paypal function that makes them pay before their bid is accepted if they use the BIN. BIN will go directly to paypal if you enter in your payment address. If they abandon the payment, the auction goes back live. The only time I have to contact them and ask for payment is when the auction goes to private after the live auction period ends. I set all of my auctions for 30 days. Why pay such a high Flippa fee only to have it end in 3 or 4 days? Gives good buyers a chance to find the auction also.

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by successh

I have a question. What do I do with those site that did not sell? Please advise. Thanks!

It's difficult to tell without knowing what the site is. It may not be worth anything. Does it have an eye-catching appearance, a custom logo, or traffic, or sales ... something of value. Was it priced too high for this economy and for the true value of the site?

[loybond]

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

Don't wait for him to pm you. Pm him with your paypal email address and congratulations on the purchase .. and say as soon as payment is received, we'll discuss the transfer of site and domain. That gets him started.

On all of my auctions that are still live, I use the paypal function that makes them pay before their bid is accepted if they use the BIN. BIN will go directly to paypal if you enter in your payment address. If they abandon the payment, the auction goes back live. The only time I have to contact them and ask for payment is when the auction goes to private after the live auction period ends. I set all of my auctions for 30 days. Why pay such a high Flippa fee only to have it end in 3 or 4 days? Gives good buyers a chance to find the auction also.

Yesterday, I sent him a PM asking him if he needs anything and if he's decided on a payment type. No reply yet. Should I go ahead and email him then with what you said?

I saw that paypal-BIN feature but didn't use it thinking I'd be giving them more options. I guess I'll use it from now on. Doesn't the listing drop further and further as days go on? I figured there isn't much point, so I set it at 7 days for my last auction.

[RichPargeter]

Hey guys,

I'm really enjoying following this thread but I'm a little confused about the site transfer process.

If you sell a site to someone who doesn't have hosting do they register the 'bought' domain (i.e the one you've just sold them) when they buy the hosting or will they need to register using a different domain name first?

Thanks,

Rich

[sbucciarel]

They can register with the one they are purchasing from you. If I'm installing the site for them, I transfer the domain last, after the site is up and running. I change the nameservers to theirs, but don't push it until I see everything is working well.

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by loybond

Yesterday, I sent him a PM asking him if he needs anything and if he's decided on a payment type. No reply yet. Should I go ahead and email him then with what you said?

I saw that paypal-BIN feature but didn't use it thinking I'd be giving them more options. I guess I'll use it from now on. Doesn't the listing drop further and further as days go on? I figured there isn't much point, so I set it at 7 days for my last auction.

Did this guy pay you?

Yes, the listing drops further, but there are people who put it in their watch list if they are interested plus filters to look for certain kinds of sites, etc. so it continues to get seen. Quite a few of my sites have sold on the last couple of days of a 30-day auction.

[RichPargeter]

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

They can register with the one they are purchasing from you. If I'm installing the site for them, I transfer the domain last, after the site is up and running. I change the nameservers to theirs, but don't push it until I see everything is working well.

Hi sbucciarel, thanks for the reply.

So just to be clear, the process should be:-

1. Sell the site
2. Customers buys hosting using the domain name they have bought
3. I change the nameservers to point to the customers hosting
4. Upload WordPress files etc
5. Check all is working
6. Finally push the domain to the customers domain account

As a side note would you mind if I PM you with the details of the site I am selling to get your opinion on the value I should expect for it.

Thanks again,

Rich

[loybond]

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

Did this guy pay you?

Yes, the listing drops further, but there are people who put it in their watch list if they are interested plus filters to look for certain kinds of sites, etc. so it continues to get seen. Quite a few of my sites have sold on the last couple of days of a 30-day auction.

Yeah, he finally did. Took him 3 days or so, no correspondence the first day. I have a lot of people "watching" and not enough bidding high LOL! From the sites I've put up so far, it seems that informational sites sell fast at BIN, and product-based sites I had (which are actually better in terms of Adsense revenue) aren't so popular.

Right now my problem is finding niches buyers will like on a daily basis. Any advice for this? How do you choose your topics?

[loybond]

Originally Posted by RichPargeter

Hey guys,

I'm really enjoying following this thread but I'm a little confused about the site transfer process.

If you sell a site to someone who doesn't have hosting do they register the 'bought' domain (i.e the one you've just sold them) when they buy the hosting or will they need to register using a different domain name first?

Thanks,

Rich

I make separate accounts for each domain, so I just "give" them the account. I tell them how to update the nameservers and stuff, but so far, I've done everything for the sites that have sold.

[HAdrian1239]

I have a question that may seem like a dumb one... but how exactly do you set it up so you get the hosting referral, or the money from that?

I've sold my first site, about a month ago now, a PR 2 mini site with a some adsense revenue (didn't know about this at the time of sale) and decent traffic, ranking number one on google for 2 months... with bunch of unique content, and some extra files etc for $300.

I should have held out for more, but I needed the $$ Anyway, it's all done now but the buyer was a real time sucker... (knew nothing of their own information, and relied on a technician who conveniently would not respond to either of us) And I am still learning...

So in the future I plan on upgrading to a reseller account... but what is the best way to go about getting your hosting commissions?

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by HAdrian1239

So in the future I plan on upgrading to a reseller account... but what is the best way to go about getting your hosting commissions?

I recommend for all flippers to get real familiar with moving sites from one host to another. If you have reseller hosting, you do not get the commission. You host the site and charge the buyer for the hosting.

Personally, I do not want to be involved with billing people for hosting. I have a reseller acct that I use only for convenience. I've got a cpanel login I can give them right away, but I offer to move the site for them immediately. If they don't want me to move it, they've got a month on my host to move it to theirs ... but most of them want me to move it.

[HAdrian1239]

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

I recommend for all flippers to get real familiar with moving sites from one host to another. If you have reseller hosting, you do not get the commission. You host the site and charge the buyer for the hosting.

Personally, I do not want to be involved with billing people for hosting. I have a reseller acct that I use only for convenience. I've got a cpanel login I can give them right away, but I offer to move the site for them immediately. If they don't want me to move it, they've got a month on my host to move it to theirs ... but most of them want me to move it.

Oh, that makes sense, you set them up a hosting account and move it (if they don't all ready have hosting) or they have access to your info via the reseller acct to move it themselves.

Is that right?

Sorry, I don't mean to sound dense. I had a bad experience with that first buyer and his technician as well as my own, so I will be moving everything and making sure ALL of it is very clear from now on.

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by HAdrian1239

Oh, that makes sense, you set them up a hosting account and move it (if they don't all ready have hosting) or they have access to your info via the reseller acct to move it themselves.

Is that right?

Sorry, I don't mean to sound dense. I had a bad experience with that first buyer and his technician as well as my own, so I will be moving everything and making sure ALL of it is very clear from now on.

The reseller acct is basically to just give them access immediately to the site they just purchased. I usually want to get it moved right away if I'm going to move it. If they need hosting, I just give them my Hostgator affiliate link to earn a commission. I really don't want to be involved in hosting it myself on my reseller acct and billing them.

[SageSound]

FWIW, I think the term "flipping" is not appropriate for what you guys are describing here.

For the most part, what you're doing is some basic keyword research, picking good domain names, setting up a new site from scratch, then selling it to someone for a fair price.

In real estate terms, that's "building a spec home". The builder puts up a home on a lot that has no buyer in the queue. When the home is finished, it's sold by the developer. They make a bigger margin on it than if it was pre-sold, mainly b/c the sales price tends to rise while it's being built, although most of the costs have already been incurred.

And spec homes are cheaper than fully custom homes b/c the builder doesn't need to spend much time with finnicky buyers. They just tell their interior designer to pick out a nice complement of features and upgrades, and go with it.

OTOH, if you do happen to buy a crappy looking site, fix it up, then resell it, that IS a "flip". But most of the comments here seem to indicate that's the exception rather than the norm.

The funny thing is, I don't understand why people seem to think that nobody would be interested in buying well-designed spec web sites.

If you wanted to have a nice web site created for you, you'd have to find someone to make it. Then you'd spend a bunch of time discussing details like the niche, keywords, domain name options, hosting options, and all kinds of other things that most people find little more than distractions. And for the privledge of wasting tons of time on these tangential details, you get to pay a premium!

But, if you just cruise around some of these sites where people are selling brand spanking new sites they built on 'spec', you get the best of both worlds. You get a unique, custom-built site (hopefully), at a price way lower than what it would cost you to have something similar done under contract. And the best thing is ... you can move in tomorrow!

Quickie sites full of PLR and popular templates are a dime a dozen. They take 10 minutes to set up, and anybody who's been cruising the sales forums for any length of time can recognize them in 10 seconds.

I know someone who builds custom Joomla sites on spec and sells them for $400. But she says that the average buyer pays her another $1200 to add additional plugins and features to the site immediately AFTER the sale! Her sites look like DYNAMITE, and she could probably sell them easily at $1000 each. But, at $400, she sells them in less than 24 hours. And her net is often between $1500 and $2000 after she spends a couple more hours adding mods.

Anyway, I think that referring to this work as "flipped" sites is really disengenuous. You guys are building brand new custom sites from scratch and selling them at what might seem like a high price -- but it's in fact WAY LESS than what you'd have to charge a client who asked specifically for that site to be built. Personally, don't think I'd charge any less than $500, and maybe more. Seriously! There's a healthy market for this kind of thing!

Keep up the great work!

-David

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by SageSound

FWIW, I think the term "flipping" is not appropriate for what you guys are describing here.
-David

That's true ... most of the sites I sell actually are flips though. I normally buy them and start selling the product/ebook/videos and once I get some revenue established, I sell them. But I do still build sites from scratch to sell to fill in if I'm letting a bunch of flips age before selling. Both are profitable models, but like you said, people can spot the quickie popular template sites a mile off and are sick of seeing them. They went like hot cakes on Flippa for a month or so and then the sales dropped off drastically. Well built sites with a unique design in a good niche still sell fine, even if PLR is used for articles.

[sahanull]

i just advertise in gumtree for my website design service and it keeps me going.

[E. Fire]

Originally Posted by Sheryl Polomka

I'm not sure what my sites offer above and beyond the others. I sell on Ebay and I know some sellers on Ebay offer terrible sites that just look awful. I just try to offer nice looking sites and I seem to do ok with that. Easy Yoga Basics this is one I just sold yesterday for $97 at my BIN price, that might give you an idea on the type of site I offer.

When you sell sites on Ebay, does PayPal hold payment until the user leaves feedback? On "hard goods" - items that have to be shipped - PayPal holds payment for Ebay items until they are verified delivered or the user leaves feedback.

I'm somewhat established on Ebay so I am thinking about giving Ebay a try instead of listing more sites on Flippa. I joined Flippa last month and listed two sites there that didn't sell. So I built some new sites that are much better - with all unique content - but with the new trust system put in place last week, the most I can get is a +3 until I can get at least 4 pieces of feedback. It has me wondering as to whether it's possible for new sellers to have much success there anymore and I can't keep shelling out listing fees to find out.

Thanks.

[Bondddd]

Hi, can I pay off advertising on this page?
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