27 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
27 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

What Is The Best Advice You Have For Selling Safely On Flippa?

by Dayne Dylan Banned
23 replies
Hey Warriors,

I know many of you are familiar with Flippa. I was just wondering what you do, as a seller, to make sure that you get legit bids on your auctions? What precautions do you take to make sure buyers are legit?

I've heard of people contacting buyers by phone, having them fax photo ID's and more. Is this advised? Also, at what point would you ask them to do this?

Also, I've read in a lot of places that it is best to keep auctions only to 7 days. What do you think?
#advice #flippa #safely #selling
  • Profile picture of the author AlexF
    Hi,

    Generally speaking if you set your bidding options to "manually approve bids" and then review the bidder profile before accepting his bid - you should be protected enough.

    If it's a high value sale - don't accept bids from newly registered users... You can also take this further and only accept bids from bidders that have previously purchased websites for similar price as the bid they've placed.

    This should usually be enough.

    Hope that helps!

    Alex
    P.S.: what kind of price range are you aiming for? (more specific suggestions are directly related to the price you are aiming for)
    P.P.S: 7 days is the optimal time from my experience as well (based on ~30 sold auctions)
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4941912].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Dayne Dylan
    Banned
    I'm talking about sites worth over $50k or more (with proof of income, traffic, etc.).

    Is 7 days still optimal for something like that?
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4941940].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    I always set the bids to manually approve the bids. Then look at their profile. If they are new with no feedback and their bid is still below the reserve, go ahead and approve the bid, but if it's above the reserve, you might want to contact them and start a conversation before accepting their bid.

    There is no real way to protect yourself from a dishonest buyer ... one who will do a chargeback on Paypal after getting the site, etc.

    What I do is state in the auction that the domain will be held for 60 days (to clear the Paypal dispute time limit) if payment via Paypal is made.

    If it's a high dollar sale, always use escrow.com. It protects both the buyer and seller.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4941943].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Dayne Dylan
      Banned
      Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

      I always set the bids to manually approve the bids. Then look at their profile. If they are new with no feedback and their bid is still below the reserve, go ahead and approve the bid, but if it's above the reserve, you might want to contact them and start a conversation before accepting their bid.

      There is no real way to protect yourself from a dishonest buyer ... one who will do a chargeback on Paypal after getting the site, etc.

      What I do is state in the auction that the domain will be held for 60 days (to clear the Paypal dispute time limit) if payment via Paypal is made.

      If it's a high dollar sale, always use escrow.com. It protects both the buyer and seller.
      Thanks for that info. Good stuff.

      What time frame do you find works well for auctions Suzanne?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4941960].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
        Banned
        Originally Posted by Dayne Dylan View Post

        Thanks for that info. Good stuff.

        What time frame do you find works well for auctions Suzanne?
        No more than 7 days. I usually run a 5-day auction and schedule them NOT to end on the weekend.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4941969].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author Tommy Smith
          Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

          No more than 7 days. I usually run a 5-day auction and schedule them NOT to end on the weekend.
          I agree with no more than 7 days. My first sold site was listed that way and for first timer it's really so fearful. Although my site only sold for $100 I am so happy and proud with my first successful trial.
          Signature
          Wholesale Crystal Beads – The best place to buy
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4945236].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author AlexF
    For sites worth over $50K:

    - Often these kind of sales will actually be done after the listing has ended. So from the beginning you can look at Flippa as a place to advertise (rather than sell). That said, 7 days is no longer the optimal auction time - 30 days will be more suitable.

    - To protect yourself in this case, you can post the listing as a "confidential listing" - this way, no-one will be able to see the URL of your site unless they sign a NDA and you approve them.

    (*) Here is a sample "confidential listing" - https://flippa.com/2658590-wordpress...ar-net-revenue

    Hope that helps!

    Alex
    P.S.: Paypal will no longer be an option here as sale will most likely be done through Escrow.com to protect both buyer and seller.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4941968].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Dayne Dylan
    Banned
    Check out these changes, esp. the final fee change...

    http://flippa.com/blog/upgrade-adjustments-on-flippa/
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4942131].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Dayne Dylan
    Banned
    So am I reading that right? The max cap fee use to be $500, now it is $2000??
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4942170].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Dayne Dylan View Post

      So am I reading that right? The max cap fee use to be $500, now it is $2000??
      Yep ... and of course, like I said, no additional value ... they just want more of your money.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4942185].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author AlexF
      Originally Posted by Dayne Dylan View Post

      So am I reading that right? The max cap fee use to be $500, now it is $2000??
      Yup, that's right... I don't think this will surprise anyone who have been buying/selling on Flippa for a while though These kind of "changes" are right up their alley!

      Alex
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4942197].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Dayne Dylan
    Banned
    They just pulled a Netflix move.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4942212].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Dayne Dylan
    Banned
    By the way, when you have bidders who are close to winning, and before you accept the bids...do you have them review a Contract of Sale BEFORE you accept the bid or is this done after the end of the auction? I'm just a bit confused on this.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4945070].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Dayne Dylan View Post

      By the way, when you have bidders who are close to winning, and before you accept the bids...do you have them review a Contract of Sale BEFORE you accept the bid or is this done after the end of the auction? I'm just a bit confused on this.
      I give them a contract only if they are the winner. If it's a high end sale and you go with escrow.com, you don't have too much to worry about. Escrow handles the whole transaction and provides a lot of security for bother buyer and seller.

      As for the time, some run auctions for longer, up to a month. The thing is ... no one actually bids on auctions until the last two days and if there are any impulse buyers out there, they lose the excitement over a site if the auction is very long. Even if they aren't an impulse buyer, the marketplace is constantly full of new shiny sites and they will get sidetracked.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4945308].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author onegoodman
    Seriously, what is wrong with flippa ?! More high prices, I think it is better go for a broker !!!
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4945326].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Dayne Dylan
    Banned
    Anyone know of a place to get a good and solid Sales of Goods agreement I could use for the selling of websites? The one on Flippa is a PDF which doesn't really help.

    Looking for one that is easy to modify and simple, to the point. Any suggestions?
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4945700].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Dayne Dylan
    Banned
    One other question (sorry for all these questions)...

    What happens if you are set to manually accept bids and you get a lot at the last minute bids on your auction (and it is a high end one), thus leaving you with little time to review the bidder, etc. and the auction may end? Can you accept bids after the auction is over? That way I have more time to research the buyers?

    Flippa also told me that I need to have the potential bidders review a Contract of Sale BEFORE I accept their bid. Do sellers really do this?

    Thanks Warriors!

    P.S. By the way, I managed to work up my own version of a Contract of Sale so ignore my previous post.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4951143].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Dayne Dylan View Post

      One other question (sorry for all these questions)...

      What happens if you are set to manually accept bids and you get a lot at the last minute bids on your auction (and it is a high end one), thus leaving you with little time to review the bidder, etc. and the auction may end? Can you accept bids after the auction is over? That way I have more time to research the buyers?

      Flippa also told me that I need to have the potential bidders review a Contract of Sale BEFORE I accept their bid. Do sellers really do this?
      For a high end sale, yes, you should send them a copy of the contract to review. When a bidder bids in the last 4 hrs of an auction, the auction is automatically extended another 4 hrs, so you have 4 hrs to review bidders.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4951175].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author James Gould
    Dont rely on the reputation of the member.

    They can gain rep by adding a LinkedIn account, Facebook account, etc.

    Look at previous purchases, contact the member directly if they're interested and gauge whether they seem legit or not.

    You can generally tell if somebody is interested by their excitement. If they are willing to share what they're going to do with the site, how much they WANT the site.

    Hope this helps.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4951181].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Dayne Dylan
    Banned
    Do most bigger sales use Escrow, and do the full transaction like this...

    1. Both parties enter escrow.
    2. Buyer funds escrow
    3. Seller moves over all websites and content to buyer.
    4. Buyer releases payment.

    Or should the seller have the buyer release, say, 50% up front, and the rest after everything is moved over?
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4952215].message }}

Trending Topics