May drop $65,000 on this, can you help me make a decision?

by LMC
28 replies
Hey Guys,

I've been browsing flippa the past week or so picking up some properties, but this one keeps catching my eye. It's starting bid is $65k:

https://flippa.com/2619053-world-s-l...-4-000-a-month

The site is earning approximately $3,500 per month, his starting bid price is 18 times his monthly profit. Which I feel in this market is a little high. However, the site is very well put together and a good amount of man hours went into this.

I know I can at least bring this income to $5k per month from Organic traffic and SERP positioning, but to take it to that next level....I will really need some Media Buys and Social Sites, maybe contests, etc

I come to you to see if anyone has any ideas outside the normal element to really double the monthly on this one. If I can turn this site into $7k per month, I'll see my investment back in 9 months, which is perfectly fine, (that is if it sells at $65k).

I feel no one will bid and he will list it a bit lower, but my max is 65
------------------------------

So if you bought this site, what would you do to increase revenues?
#$65 #decision #drop #make
  • Profile picture of the author LegitIncomes
    Originally Posted by LMC View Post

    Hey Guys,

    I've been browsing flippa the past week or so picking up some properties, but this one keeps catching my eye. It's starting bid is $65k:

    https://flippa.com/2619053-world-s-l...-4-000-a-month

    The site is earning approximately $3,500 per month, his starting bid price is 18 times his monthly profit. Which I feel in this market is a little high. However, the site is very well put together and a good amount of man hours went into this.

    I know I can at least bring this income to $5k per month from Organic traffic and SERP positioning, but to take it to that next level....I will really need some Media Buys and Social Sites, maybe contests, etc

    I come to you to see if anyone has any ideas outside the normal element to really double the monthly on this one. If I can turn this site into $7k per month, I'll see my investment back in 9 months, which is perfectly fine, (that is if it sells at $65k).

    I feel no one will bid and he will list it lower, so I'm assuming the $65k as that is also all I'm willing to go.

    ------------------------------

    So if you bought this site, what would you do?
    Well, this doesn't address doubling the income, but as far as getting the site. I'd offer him $50,000 cash, explain why it's really only worth that (without insulting him), and let him know how $50,000 cash now is better than MAYBE a few thousand more months down the road. I think on a site with that high of a minimum bid, there's almost always room for negotiation...don't settle for the $65,000 price.
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    • Profile picture of the author Johnny Optimo
      I don't think it's worth more than 30k, I'd be careful with this one.. a nice site though for sure
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  • Profile picture of the author LMC
    Jeremy,

    I agree it's not worth $65k, which is just the starting bid, I would love to pay $40 for the quality of the site.

    I guess I'll have to see how this auction turns up... or for one of you to give me a golden idea.
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  • Profile picture of the author PPC-Coach
    Tempting, nicely designed and could probably make a mint just by building a list with that thing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Cash37
    Id buy it then take it to investors and swing for a home run.
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    • Profile picture of the author Neil M
      Originally Posted by Cash37 View Post

      Id buy it then take it to investors and swing for a home run.
      I like that idea!
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  • Profile picture of the author Dash Evra
    The idea of search engine for shoes seem to have a lot of potential if the right monetization methods are implanted. I'd go for it if I were you.

    Assuming you don't do anything more to monetize it and you hold the same traffic level, worst case scenario, you make your money back in less than two years and have a new source of profit...
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    • Profile picture of the author LocoDice
      Have you considered negotiating an earn out? i.e. 40k upfront cash and then a % of revenue for 12-24 months. Just an idea.
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    • Profile picture of the author Martin Luxton
      LMC,

      Just my impressions.

      1. The site is in beta - what teething problems does it still have?

      2. It's quite slow to load and some redirects are painfully slow (how many punters will abandon because of this?)

      3. One of the sites it's an affiliate for (through CJ) is shoebuy.com. I like the look of shoebuy.com more than shoecartel.com (it also loads faster). If I were a customer, I'd be more likely to bookmark and return to shoebuy.com than shoecartel.com.

      4. What is the return rate like and how much does it impact the profitability of the business? This article suggests returns in the shoe business can be quite a headache.

      Shoe Fit Guide | Sierra Trading Post


      Martin
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  • Profile picture of the author superdevo
    Hoping I'll have enough money at some point for this to be an issue in my future....
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  • Profile picture of the author Always-A-Warrior
    Despite its stats, I don't see any reason to drop $65k on this shoe site.

    I'd build a mobile site and double my money in a month or two but not on shoes. Go where the mass will go and keep a step ahead. Why go for thousands when you can go for millions.
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  • Profile picture of the author derekwong28
    $65000 is the starting bid but

    "Public Auction has not yet reached the reserve price"

    He is not willing to take $65000 for it.

    In any case, I would leave it alone considering there is little unique content and it is at complete mercy of Google.
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  • Profile picture of the author freeman84
    nice template design... but i cant bear to part with $65k for this... just my opinion though.
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  • Profile picture of the author SamKane
    Buy it then go on Shark Tank or Dragons Den.
    Even if you don't get an offer from an investor.
    The free commercial on network television would
    be worth thousands alone.
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  • Profile picture of the author derekwong28
    The seller just joined Flippa, there is no previous transaction feedback. He claims 2500 visitors a day and the CJ stats this year is around 1700 a day. This is unusually high. I use both Zappos and Shoebuy and I cannot getting nowhere near the clickthrough rate as claimed for that site. I use product datafeeds as well for these merchants. Also note that even if CJ lists the correct site name, other sites can use exactly the same product codes and their sales be counted under that name. If you must go ahead, I would request a long escrow inspection date.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fraggler
    Check out the SEMRush data for the site (Full report, not the free one). The site was heavily penalised in December and it hasn't recovered. The amount of search traffic SEMRush is reporting does not match the numbers of 3,500/day. I would get a list of the keywords he is using for traffic before putting in an offer. SEMRush isn't perfect but the trends are usually close from my experience. It is only reporting 23 keywords in the search results for starters. Back in August 2008 it was reported as having over 6000 keywords in the results.
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  • Profile picture of the author HigherPrThanGod
    These kinds of buys can be really dangerous. That's why I just bought it! Just kidding. I would make the guy PROVE the daily, weekly (recent) Google traffic and go from there. That's probably the most/more important part.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nail Yener
    I have no experience in buying or selling websites but it is hard to believe that this site gets 2000-3000 daily traffic and $4000 monthly revenue but again this can be proved. By proof, I don't mean simple screenshots, I wouldn't buy a website unless I see its traffic and earning stats in real time video etc. And for such a great investment, I wouldn't buy it unless I meet the seller in person. Also I wouldn't buy a website if it mainly relies on Google for traffic. He has this very dangerous statement on his auction copy:

    "All traffic is organic from top search engine rankings."

    And in my book, this is one definition of a crappy website. If a website gets only search engine traffic, it means that it is not a good site and people don't bookmark it or share it. If, one day Google thinks that your site is not worth to be ranked high and sends it to the end of the search results, then you can say goodbye to your $65k.
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  • Profile picture of the author temp_12000
    Hi,

    first of all, I'm not an expert, so, just my opinion.

    1) check the site, see the "reviews" posted by "users". I see a bunch of spin comments, some comments even have the spin syntax error, something like:
    Posted By: Traplopen3

    I have never gotten this brand of [Descriptive Style} before but I will definitely get them charles by CHARLES DAVID Womens Hip again.

    2) go to yahoo, check the backlinks, I checked 2 random ones, they are blog comments spam.

    3) and, it has adchoices banner at the bottom. did you ever see a serious ecommerce site put adsense on it?

    in my eyes, this site could be generated, not built. but I could be 100% wrong.

    BTW, the seller's id makes me think of link building guys,

    you make your own decision. I will not do it even I can afford it,

    good luck
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  • Profile picture of the author EvcRo
    I wont buy it, hes probably selling because he cant get past a monthly income wall and also its 100% dependant on Google, tomorrow it could be worth nothing. No great content, no great technology.
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  • Profile picture of the author darrin_kuykendall
    The best way to get the quickest return as well as increase overall income is rebranding and an operational strategy.

    Rebranding: Give it the GoDaddy touch. Use a brand ambassador who can actually promote & speak to the products online. You not only give the products some push marketing, but also, you are able to utilize tons of social media in a legit way, vs. just using graphics & PPC.

    Operations: This is traditional ecommerce. Bring it to the next level by adding a daily deals style element to it. The brands are already recognized (ie: Footlocker).

    So combining a brand ambassador with the daily deal concepts, you could not only increase revenue, but also, increase brand loyalty and increase overall value.
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    • Profile picture of the author lovelydai
      A year and a half just to get your money back? That's without the tax on the income. remember your initial investment if it was made in the UK is only writedownable at 20% in year one.

      Believe me I've spent $100k on a business - which is why I'm trying to build one for nothing now!

      The ratio is too high and you're setting yourself too big a target unless you're confident you can double the income from the site.

      All the best

      Dave
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  • Profile picture of the author ZaneZenMaster
    Notice there's 0 bids?
    Wait till the site's bidding comes close to ending and if it's still at 0 bids, contact him and try to negotiate it down to around 20k - 40k..
    it's not worth 65k worse, 125k.
    If he doesn't want to take your negotiated offer of 50k </= then it's his loss..
    However it is a pretty neat looking site and with a little better marketing it's monthly income can be pushed up a bit..

    So if possible, see if he's up for negotiating with ya' n' Good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    What really bothers me about this auction is the seller has only +2 rating with 0 feedback from previous customers and will not accept escrow. I consider escrow to be the safest method of buying and selling a high priced site and question why a seller would not accept it.
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    • Profile picture of the author Toby Couchman
      Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

      What really bothers me about this auction is the seller has only +2 rating with 0 feedback from previous customers and will not accept escrow. I consider escrow to be the safest method of buying and selling a high priced site and question why a seller would not accept it.
      First off I think 65k is way to much for this site and secondly given the information in the quote above I would stay away from this.

      Just my 2c
      MB
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  • Profile picture of the author LMC
    Hey Guys,

    This is what I love about this community. I might of made a big mistake on this one, i think I'm going to pass...

    Good info everyone!
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    • Profile picture of the author BloggingPro
      Originally Posted by LMC View Post

      Hey Guys,

      This is what I love about this community. I might of made a big mistake on this one, i think I'm going to pass...

      Good info everyone!
      I think your making a good decision. It definitely has a bull**** vibe to the listing. Maybe its just me.

      The site IS sexy though. I'm sitting here thinking why didn't I think of that!
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