Site Flippers-Help!

[Mike Linley]

Hey Guys and Gals, I have a site that I am thinking about putting up on Flippa but have never sold a site before...if anyone has any experience selling on Flippa and can lend a helping hand I would greatly appreciate it...thanks!

[Lawyer007]

I have actually never heard of Flippa, but I will ask some of my friends who have experience in selling sites and get back to you!

[GoGetta]

Hi Mike,

What is it that you need to know?

GoGetta

[nitin22]

Flippa is a good marketplace for serious buyers and sellers. Digitalpoint Marketplace is kind of easy in terms of understanding, but it lacks serious buyers. You may start with digitalpoint and once u gain some confidence move on to flippa.

[Mike Linley]

Hey GoGetta,

Maybe I should just let an experienced site flipper sell my site for me and take a cut?...10%...what do you think?..I could list the site but I am afraid it wont sell for very much...I am not the best copywriter so that seems to be my main problem.

[Mike Linley]

LOL..Nitin...I am not looking to get into site flipping at all..just need to sell one site is all...and I do know the best place to sell if FLippa not DP...but thanks for your insight anyways.

[GoGetta]

Flippa has buyers that will pay big money for the right site whereas Digital Point doesn't in my experience!

If you want some advice PM me your site and Ill try and help, although Ima be offline for about 10 hours, so if it needs listing now, I can't help! If you can wait until tomorrow, send me a PM with all the details and what you want to know and Ill give you a hand!

GoGetta

[newton]

Forget Digitalpoint, unless you want to sell sites for less then $50.

Flippa is a good place but don't forget about the Sites for sale section here on the Warrior Forum.

If your site is getting traffic and making any money at all, you won't have any issues selling on flippa, no matter how bad your copywriting might be.

Tony

[sbucciarel]

Flippa is your best bet if you want to make any money at all for your site.
Here's a listing of mine that was won recently. Feel free to copy the ad and edit it for your auction. It'll show you the basic information people expect to see.

Site for Sale: Volcanic Niche Twitter Dating Site for Single Twits! — Flippa

[Mike Linley]

Thanks everyone for the replies...the only reason I am selling it because I really need the money for some bills otherwise I would keep it and keep building it up..I have about 30 unique articles and a unique salesletter and product...but not a whole lot of traffic coming to it because I havent had time to promote it..its just been sitting there for months..I have had it since the spring..I might as well let you guys take a look at it and tell me what you think...I have no idea how much I can get for it but I am hoping for atleast a few hundred. Unique Natural Cures - Herbal Remedies, Natural Remedy, Home Remedies

[ivana]

sbucciarel was very helpful with me as I am new to this.

give them lots of stats, details on traffic and earnings.

get the terms set out in terms of traffic as my friend has a problem with guy wanting to get all articles and the articles on ezine cannot be transfered

I put a reserve on my listing. The problem was. that I got bids for 1 dollar etc. I did not accept not knowing that I should have and my reserve would have protected me.

[ladyjane]

I've sold quite a few sites on Flippa with good success. I've never used Digital Point, but have heard it's not really worth the effort. Neither, in my experience, is eBay. I've sold maybe 3 sites on eBay, and none of them brought anything close to what I get for similar sites on Flippa. I've always been able to sell a site on Flippa for a minimum of $100, and often more than that.

I find that the more original articles you have on the site, the better price you'll get. People will pay for original content, even if there isn't much traffic or revenue from the site. Of course, sites with traffic and revenue to even better. I've sold brand new sites with original content for several hundred dollars on Flippa, as well as seasoned sites (meaning a few months old) with a little bit of traffic and revenue for slightly more than the brand new sites. It's all a matter of quality of the product you're selling, the demand for the niche you're selling in, and the persuasiveness of your sales listing. If you don't have a lot of traffic or revenue, for example, really pump up the moneymaking potential of the site, draw attention to the original content, etc. It will make a big difference.

If I were you, I'd stick to Flippa. They're great over there, and you can really do well with a quality site, even if it's brand new.

[Matt Gannon]

Hmm i was wondering the same, and how exactly do you give them a site after the bid is up?

[Mike Linley]

Thanks Lady Jane, great advice and tips.

@Matt I believe and someone correct me if I am wrong but you would backup all your site's files and then transfer (send) them the files and then push the domain to their host...and that is hopefully it..probably easier said than done but I guess you can hire some techy for 10 or 20 bucks to do it for you to make life easier on yourself...good luck

[ladyjane]

You're precisely correct. You back up the site's files, zip them, and email them to the buyer. Then you push the domain to them. Easy as can be!

[Matt Gannon]

Well I found this tutorial on how to backup using cpanel cPanel Tutorial - How to create a backup of your site? Thanks for the info, I do have a site that I would like to flip, the niche isn't for me!

[CDarklock]

I'd really love to see someone create a guide to the unsexy part of website flipping.

You know, the part where before you ever even have a site, you set it up so the domain is easy to transfer and the site itself is easy to deliver.

And the part where you actually negotiate the details of what comes with the site, like if you have Web 2.0 properties that send traffic to it, or you've been driving traffic with PPC.

And the part where you actually hand the site over, and get your money, and what you still owe the buyer once the money changes hands.

The world is full of guides that tell you how to make a site that you can sell and that people will want to buy and how to generate the interest of buyers with your stats and your sales pitch. That stuff gets people all fired up. But what about all the rest? The nuts and bolts? The down-and-dirty reality that you need to transfer the site - not just a zip file and a domain registration?

I'd really like to see a product about that.

And if sbucciarel wrote it, I might hurt myself running to the "buy now" button. Not that she's likely to ever involve herself in something unsexy.

[Matt Gannon]

Originally Posted by CDarklock

I'd really love to see someone create a guide to the unsexy part of website flipping.

You know, the part where before you ever even have a site, you set it up so the domain is easy to transfer and the site itself is easy to deliver.

And the part where you actually negotiate the details of what comes with the site, like if you have Web 2.0 properties that send traffic to it, or you've been driving traffic with PPC.

And the part where you actually hand the site over, and get your money, and what you still owe the buyer once the money changes hands.

The world is full of guides that tell you how to make a site that you can sell and that people will want to buy and how to generate the interest of buyers with your stats and your sales pitch. That stuff gets people all fired up. But what about all the rest? The nuts and bolts? The down-and-dirty reality that you need to transfer the site - not just a zip file and a domain registration?

I'd really like to see a product about that.

And if sbucciarel wrote it, I might hurt myself running to the "buy now" button. Not that she's likely to ever involve herself in something unsexy.

I second that motion, I would also like to see this type of product!

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by CDarklock

I'd really love to see someone create a guide to the unsexy part of website flipping.

You know, the part where before you ever even have a site, you set it up so the domain is easy to transfer and the site itself is easy to deliver.

And the part where you actually negotiate the details of what comes with the site, like if you have Web 2.0 properties that send traffic to it, or you've been driving traffic with PPC.

And the part where you actually hand the site over, and get your money, and what you still owe the buyer once the money changes hands.

The world is full of guides that tell you how to make a site that you can sell and that people will want to buy and how to generate the interest of buyers with your stats and your sales pitch. That stuff gets people all fired up. But what about all the rest? The nuts and bolts? The down-and-dirty reality that you need to transfer the site - not just a zip file and a domain registration?

I'd really like to see a product about that.

And if sbucciarel wrote it, I might hurt myself running to the "buy now" button. Not that she's likely to ever involve herself in something unsexy.

For me there wouldn't be much to write about. It's just not that complex. I sell my sites on Flippa and payment is required in advance of transferring files, usually through a BIN. My listing normally lists everything that is included in the sale, including any web 2.0 properties like a Twitter acct that goes with the site or a Squidoo lense. I make my listings very detailed so there's no confusion about what they're getting. I include plenty of screenshots of traffic stats, referring urls, keywords and search phrases, income, etc. I don't use PPC ever so it's not a factor, but I have seen listings that included the keywords they were using for PPC and the ads they use.

Handing the site over is a piece of cake for me. As soon as they've paid, I install it on their server and push the domain to them. That takes only the technical knowledge required to transfer a site and that is included in my ebook.

What do I owe them after the money is transferred. Provided I've transferred everything that is listed in the listing and have installed the site and pushed the domain, what I owe them is to be available to answer questions, particularly from newbies, like how do I change the ads, how do I do this ... and that ... and this ... and that.

For a high ticket website that has good revenue, I use Escrow.com and sales contract. The contract spells out everything that goes with the website and Escrow is supposed to protect both the buyer and seller.

Interestingly enough, I read a thread yesterday where Escrow.com did not do a good job of protecting the seller. The payment had been transferred to Escrow.com and there was a contract. All the files and domain had been transferred to the buyer. Everything that was in the contract had been fulfilled.

Then the buyer decided that they also wanted the seller's entire EZine Articles account since several articles in the account were driving traffic to the site. EZA would not allow a transfer of just those articles, so the buyer decided to put a hold on the payment because he wanted the whole EZA acct, which was not in the contract. I recommended that the seller amend the contract to include a statement that the articles would remain intact unless EZA deleted them and the resource links would also remain intact. Not good enough for the buyer. He insisted on the EZA account.

The seller called Escrow and they told him that if there were any arguments, payment could be held up indefinitely, even though the seller had completed all contractual obligations and the buyer already had the site.

I looked up this particular buyer and he has done this before on Flippa, according to his feedback. I was very disappointed to see that Escrow did not release the payment after the seller completed his obligations.

[Alex Williams]

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

Interestingly enough, I read a thread yesterday where Escrow.com did not do a good job of protecting the seller. The payment had been transferred to Escrow.com and there was a contract. All the files and domain had been transferred to the buyer. Everything that was in the contract had been fulfilled.

Then the buyer decided that they also wanted the seller's entire EZine Articles account since several articles in the account were driving traffic to the site. EZA would not allow a transfer of just those articles, so the buyer decided to put a hold on the payment because he wanted the whole EZA acct, which was not in the contract. I recommended that the seller amend the contract to include a statement that the articles would remain intact unless EZA deleted them and the resource links would also remain intact. Not good enough for the buyer. He insisted on the EZA account.

The seller called Escrow and they told him that if there were any arguments, payment could be held up indefinitely, even though the seller had completed all contractual obligations and the buyer already had the site.

I looked up this particular buyer and he has done this before on Flippa, according to his feedback. I was very disappointed to see that Escrow did not release the payment after the seller completed his obligations.

Yup, that`s my case! Sbucciarel - really you saw the feedback like this on Flippa? I wish I would`ve done this before signing the contract!

So Mike, just be careful with what exactly you include in your offer.

[StrikeProfit]

I have sold quiet a few sites on Flippa.

From my experience, it's better then any other marketplaces, in terms of successfully selling it.

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by Alex Williams

Yup, that`s my case! Sbucciarel - really you saw the feedback like this on Flippa? I wish I would`ve done this before signing the contract!

So Mike, just be careful with what exactly you include in your offer.

Yeah ... looked him up and there was a feedback that stated that the buyer could not come to terms after he had already hit the BIN for the auction. It appears that this is this guy's MO. He buys a site and then adds things into the sale that aren't included in the sale and basically does what he did to you ... bullies sellers into getting more or paying less than the agreement. The guy who left the feedback for him just canceled the sale ...

[Matt Gannon]

That's the nice thing about Flippa though right, you have to accept or reject the bids, so you can look at their feedback beforehand right.

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by Matt Gannon

That's the nice thing about Flippa though right, you have to accept or reject the bids, so you can look at their feedback beforehand right.

Well yes ... and no

In this particular case, the one person who left feedback that the deal had fallen through after purchase because of a disagreement on the sale, left neutral feedback and that's all he said. If I didn't know about this case, I could have read it differently.

In addition, I was scammed by two people on Flippa who had all positive feedback and there was one prolific Flippa scammer who had over 200 positive feedbacks. He purchased $30 PLR minisites and sold them for over $100 each claiming that they were unique. Problem is, newbies who did not do due diligence purchased not ever knowing they'd been scammed. Experienced buyers did not purchase from him, so feedback on Flippa can be very misleading.

[Alex Williams]

Agree. Although I have many websites, and feel pretty experienced at managing them, and all the marketing thing, that was my first website sale.

Seems like you now have to be an expert at every single thing you do, otherwise you`ll get ripped off.