Bought an e-commerce site on Flippa.. starting to get cold feet

9 years ago

Hi jetsetter,

Yes, it's both possible, and a frequent occurrance.

I've bought & sold many, many sites over the years, through Flippa, brokers, and private individual sales.

I'd be happy to take a look and give you a pretty educated opinion, just PM me.

Mike

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iAmNameLess

9 years ago

I think you probably overpaid, but other than that if you have big plans for it, no reason to get cold feet. At least you're buying it from someone who has done this before... that's a plus.

Go with your instincts though...

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kendido

9 years ago

I think the traffic is probably overblown. I checked with free Semrush and no data as far as USA traffic is concerned. Compete.com could give no data as well. Maybe the traffic claimed is non-Us traffic. Even Google Trend gave no data. Next time you should do more due diligence. But the site could be improved, an thereby become profitable.

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jetsetter883

9 years ago

Thanks everyone for your replies

Originally Posted by kendido

I think the traffic is probably overblown. I checked with free Semrush and no data as far as USA traffic is concerned. Compete.com could give no data as well. Maybe the traffic claimed is non-Us traffic. Even Google Trend gave no data. Next time you should do more due diligence. But the site could be improved, an thereby become profitable.

I checked with SEMRush as well and as far as i know they don't track many long tail keyterms, which I think this site mostly generates traffic from. Same with Compete. One site that I did see traction on was Spyfu.

Originally Posted by MikeMallin

Hi jetsetter,

Yes, it's both possible, and a frequent occurrance.

I've bought & sold many, many sites over the years, through Flippa, brokers, and private individual sales.

I'd be happy to take a look and give you a pretty educated opinion, just PM me.

Mike

Thanks Mike, much appreciated! Would you like the logins to the site itself? What were your thoughts on the screenshots and screencast provided by the seller in the listing? I'm hoping these aren't fake, but maybe I'm just being paranoid.

Thanks

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jezter6

9 years ago

neat name, bad site.

backlinks include links from escort sites, not something I would want my site associated with.

it's really not a "survival gear" site so much as it's junk pretty swords and stuff. people into survival gear might collect these for display, but the amount of actual usable gear on the site is pretty far between and generally knock off brand stuff.

Thanks
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jetsetter883

9 years ago

Originally Posted by jezter6

neat name, bad site.

backlinks include links from escort sites, not something I would want my site associated with.

it's really not a "survival gear" site so much as it's junk pretty swords and stuff. people into survival gear might collect these for display, but the amount of actual usable gear on the site is pretty far between and generally knock off brand stuff.

Hi there,

Yes, one of the main reasons I purchased the site was for it's excellent brandability.

And you're absolutely right, there's a lot of crap on there. The first thing I plan on doing is drastically trimming the product selection and evolving it into a legit survival gear site over time. Thoughts?

Edit: I also plan on killing that horrible design.

Thanks

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Brad Gosse

9 years ago

So you bought a business and now you have buyers remorse so you're considering a fraudulent paypal dispute?

You may want to re-think who's scamming who

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jetsetter883

9 years ago

Originally Posted by Brad Gosse

So you bought a business and now you have buyers remorse so you're considering a fraudulent paypal dispute?

You may want to re-think who's scamming who

Couldn't you have found something better to do than waste your time on providing unhelpful input in my thread? I think if you just spent nearly $3k on a website and then read up on all of the Flippa scams out there you might have some concerns as well.

Also, consider looking up what buyer's remorse is. This is when you purchase something and decide that you no longer want it. I am still very interested in the site and have communicated this to the seller. I simply started this thread to see if anyone could spot any signs of a scam in the listing. Please feel free to contribute on that topic.

Thanks
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Brad Gosse

9 years ago

Originally Posted by jetsetter883

Couldn't you have found something better to do than waste your time on providing unhelpful input in my thread? I think if you just spent nearly $3k on a website and then read up on all of the Flippa scams out there you might have some concerns as well.

Also, consider looking up what buyer's remorse is. This is when you purchase something and decide that you no longer want it. I am still very interested in the site and have communicated this to the seller. I simply started this thread to see if anyone could spot any signs of a scam in the listing. Please feel free to contribute on that topic.

Buyer's remorse is the sense of regret after having made a purchase. It is frequently associated with the purchase of an expensive item such as a car or house. It may stem from fear of making the wrong choice, guilt over extravagance, or a suspicion of having been overly influenced by the seller.

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AdamJ85

9 years ago

I'll prefix my comments with this:

- I know nothing about the survival / outdoors market
- I've never bought a site on Flippa

BUT...

I get the impression that you:

- don't especially like the site content ("needs to be trimmed down")
- don't particularly like the design
- are buying this for the "brandability"

Do of course correct me if I'm wrong. But, if that is the case, then I think you've probably overpaid.

I did a domain search for the first domain that popped into my head (bearing in mind that, as I say, I don't claim to know much about this market) and grizzlysurvivor.com is available for £6.99.

That seems similarly "brandable" to me.

And you could install a premium Wordpress theme on that domain for $50 to $100 or so.

Then add your own content or pay to have content created using the $2,800 you've saved.

By buying this site on Flippa you're potentially getting a head start on traffic and revenue (I can't comment on how genuine those stats are likely to be as, as I say, I've never bought on Flippa) but personally, I'd have saved the money and put the effort - and money saved - into starting my own site from scratch.

Thanks
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jetsetter883

9 years ago

Originally Posted by AdamJ85

I'll prefix my comments with this:

- I know nothing about the survival / outdoors market
- I've never bought a site on Flippa

BUT...

I get the impression that you:

- don't especially like the site content ("needs to be trimmed down")
- don't particularly like the design
- are buying this for the "brandability"

Do of course correct me if I'm wrong. But, if that is the case, then I think you've probably overpaid.

I did a domain search for the first domain that popped into my head (bearing in mind that, as I say, I don't claim to know much about this market) and grizzlysurvivor.com is available for £6.99.

That seems similarly "brandable" to me.

And you could install a premium Wordpress theme on that domain for $50 to $100 or so.

Then add your own content or pay to have content created using the $2,800 you've saved.

By buying this site on Flippa you're potentially getting a head start on traffic and revenue (I can't comment on how genuine those stats are likely to be as, as I say, I've never bought on Flippa) but personally, I'd have saved the money and put the effort - and money saved - into starting my own site from scratch.

Hi,

The impressions you have are correct. I bought this site for it's potential. Given the fact that its making a passive few hundred per month, it seemed like a good deal even if I don't touch it all. Since I plan on giving it a redesign and adding some authoritative content, etc I figure I can possibly double this and recoup my investment in 6 months or less. I was also attracted to the fact that he had already established a relationship with a dropshipper.

Thanks

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oda

9 years ago

Mate here's my 2 cents,

You were never gonna get what you wanted on this thread.
IE someone to tell you that you scored a bargain and your dreams of internet riches have been achieved.

At sometime you saw some potential in this site, you created an idea in your mind and then you probably visualized the results and how cool it is to own a successful ecommerce site.

You saw the price and decided that it was fair or you would never have bought it.

I don't think you have buyers remorse, you have the typical nervousness associated with making a sizeable investment in something. Now your questioning yourself and wondering if you can really do this after all. Its natural to be nervous, its actually a good thing.

My advice is forget what you paid it is now irrelevant.

What you need to do is focus on the site, put your plans into action and attack this project with 100% focus KNOWING that this will work.

Tap back into that feeling you had just before you bought the thing, remember the excitement and positive feelings you had.

Well use that feeling to make your business work.

Don't listen to the doubters and the complainers.

LISTEN TO YOURSELF

Take action

Best wishes mate

Oda

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seeqer

9 years ago

If those stats for the traffic are real, you have a head start.

Traffic is super important.

All you need is to make it more beautiful and answer the visitors need and monetize it. If you already have traffic, just keep giving that traffic a reason to return and talk about the website.

Use various social media to help you in promoting even more your new website. Focus on the potential.

If google has ranked in a good way the website for long tail keyword, it is already a plus. It is already exposure.

In 2016, if you are not satisfied, you can always sell the website for more.

Improve the website. Monetize it or find a way to sell it.

If no one buy your stuff, since you have traffic, you can sell ad space.

Traffic is everything. Without traffic you have no chance at selling or collecting lead.

You already have that (if the traffic is genuine).

As I said, you can always sell it back for more if you make it better. If it is brandability in your eyes, it will have brandability in the eyes of others.

See this as an opportunity to learn and make money.

It is possible you just have cold feet.

Thanks

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jetsetter883

9 years ago

Thanks guys. I appreciate all of the feedback. The next thing I have to figure out is the best way to trim the product selection without being overly narrow or broad, to hone in on a niche without all of the miscellaneous products getting in the way. The site has too many novelty/costume items which imparts a cheapness to the site, to say nothing of the design. I don't think any niche enjoys buying from such sites. If anyone has any input on narrowing things down to what might be an ideal balance, please do chime in!

Thanks
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domainscience 9 years ago

You may want to check out commerce pulse dot com

He started a survival knife drop ship and I don't think he was too pleased with it.

Good luck
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travlinguy

9 years ago

Originally Posted by jetsetter883

I just recently purchased this site on Flippa based upon the brandability of the domain and the traffic/revenue statistics that were being reported.

Okay, let's cut to the chase. What kind of reporting are you talking about? It's easy to fake traffic stats. But that's far from being the main issue here.

I really, really, really hope you got audited financials for the revenue and not some silly screenshots. Audited financials come from CPAs who put their own asses (and license) on the line.

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Thomas Smale

9 years ago

Originally Posted by travlinguy

Okay, let's cut to the chase. What kind of reporting are you talking about? It's easy to fake traffic stats. But that's far from being the main issue here.

I really, really, really hope you got audited financials for the revenue and not some silly screenshots. Audited financials come from CPAs who put their own asses (and license) on the line.

[THIS SITE IS A SCAM - READ IN FULL]

Who is going to provide audited financials for a site making a few hundred a month? That would be a ridiculous request and would never get done. It's very rare to see audited financials in the <$1m range. I am assuming you have never bought a site before, so stop giving stupid advice that could cause issues for the OP (or the seller of the site if it is indeed legitimate).

For a site of this size, a live screenshare is generally enough - it's difficult to ever 100% verify accuracy of financials so it's also a case of following your gut based on your conversations with the seller throughout the process.

@ OP - my gut feeling with this one is the organic traffic looks suspicious. According to SEMrush it doesn't rank for any keywords at all yet gets organic traffic from Google.com and a number of localised search engines too (it's rare to see that range of local Google sites), over 80% of referrers are Google URLs: https://flippa.com/auctions/3425805/...ts/1027541.pdf. I look at a lot of sites each day and do a lot of due diligence and that's extremely rare to see.

If you look at the revenue verification video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKM9...ature=youtu.be

Pause it 30 seconds in. Check out the total transactions on November 8th ($12.90) vs. $29.74 in Paypal on the same date (see below for more)

Go to the corresponding Paypal screenshots provided (on the Flippa listing): https://flippa.com/auctions/3425805/...ts/1029037.png & https://flippa.com/auctions/3425805/...ts/1029036.png

The dates there are the 8th and shows $14.87 x 2 (looks like both ordered the same product, too, which I would say is suspicious or possibly a duplicate screenshot). Therefore, the video does not match the Paypal statements. Can't think of any legitimate reasons why that might be, so it's likely photoshopped.

Same goes for a few other dates I checked e.g. https://flippa.com/auctions/3425805/...ts/1029038.png is for $158.96 does not match the video.

Even if you take into account that some payments may have been delayed a day either way - doesn't seem like these match up at all.

I would tread VERY carefully as my gut feeling is this is a scam (unless the seller has a good explanation, which I doubt).

Thanks
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travlinguy

9 years ago

Originally Posted by Thomas Smale

Who is going to provide audited financials for a site making a few hundred a month? That would be a ridiculous request and would never get done. It's very rare to see audited financials in the <$1m range. I am assuming you have never bought a site before, so stop giving stupid advice that could cause issues for the OP (or the seller of the site if it is indeed legitimate).

Hmmm... I suggest that getting real proof of the claims of a $3000 sale (of anything online) is smart and you call it stupid. Duh. It's very rare to see audited financials in the < $1M range? Says who? You? Pretty funny.

It's called due diligence, not a ridiculous request. I'm assuming you've never heard of it. Audited financials are no big deal, especially if the income is small. A CPA can knock that out in 10 minutes and would charge $100 for his trouble.

Looking back, had the OP actually asked for some proof of financials other than a freaking screenshot (unbelievable), he wouldn't be second guessing himself.

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Thomas Smale

9 years ago

Originally Posted by travlinguy

Hmmm... I suggest that getting real proof of the claims of a $3000 sale (of anything online) is smart and you call it stupid. Duh. It's very rare to see audited financials in the < $1M range? Says who? You? Pretty funny.

It's called due diligence, not a ridiculous request. I'm assuming you've never heard of it. Audited financials are no big deal, especially if the income is small. A CPA can knock that out in 10 minutes and would charge $100 for his trouble.

Looking back, had the OP actually asked for some proof of financials other than a freaking screenshot (unbelievable), he wouldn't be second guessing himself.

I said that I assume you have never bought a site [with audited financials] as this is not what happens in reality. If a buyer through my brokerage (or any other reputable broker I know) asked for "audited" financials they would not get them with an explanation why (see below).

Accountants may audit financials for an entity (such as a LLC), but not for a single website. It's the same reason asking for tax returns for a website sale is pointless (tax returns are more commonly supplied) - there's no way to 100% verify the income for the entity itself (LLC, Inc, etc.) came from the website that is being sold (especially if it's only a few thousand dollars). I have seen "audited" financials once on a $700k sale, but the account would not (and could not legally) warrant the income was derived from the website being sold, only the entity so it was largely pointless.

I've sold around $10m in sites this year for clients (you can see a list on the sold tab here: Buy a Website - Websites for Sale - FE International Website Brokers), so I am not just randomly giving out unqualified advice on a forum (like many others). I do this on a daily basis for a living and have done for years. To clarify, I am NOT saying that you should not request "real" proof, just that expecting audited financials is not going to happen.

If you look through my post you'll see I've just proven to the OP that the site is a [likely] scam - exactly what due diligence is.

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travlinguy

9 years ago

Originally Posted by Thomas Smale

I said that I assume you have never bought a site [with audited financials] as this is not what happens in reality. If a buyer through my brokerage (or any other reputable broker I know) asked for "audited" financials they would not get them with an explanation why (see below).

Accountants may audit financials for an entity (such as a LLC), but not for a single website. It's the same reason asking for tax returns for a website sale is pointless (tax returns are more commonly supplied) - there's no way to 100% verify the income for the entity itself (LLC, Inc, etc.) came from the website that is being sold (especially if it's only a few thousand dollars). I have seen "audited" financials once on a $700k sale, but the account would not (and could not legally) warrant the income was derived from the website being sold, only the entity so it was largely pointless.

I've sold around $10m in sites this year for clients (you can see a list on the sold tab here: Buy a Website - Websites for Sale - FE International Website Brokers), so I am not just randomly giving out unqualified advice on a forum (like many others). I do this on a daily basis for a living and have done for years. To clarify, I am NOT saying that you should not request "real" proof, just that expecting audited financials is not going to happen.

If you look through my post you'll see I've just proven to the OP that the site is a [likely] scam - exactly what due diligence is.

Okay. I understand everything you're saying. In a venue like Flippa it's "usual and customary" to look at someone's live account as proof of income. But I don't care what's usual and customary. If I'm going to spend $3000 for a site I want to be sure of the income claims. As you well know, it's still possible to fake a live viewing.

And because you've never seen a seller agree to an audit doesn't mean it never happens. Most often you can avoid issues with this by simply saying something like this. "I'm new to all of this. I've read I should get proof of earnings. If I paid for my accountant to look over your records would you be willing to allow that?"

Coming up with a question like this doesn't necessarily mean you're going to follow through. You're looking for the seller to flinch just for a second. But if they're willing to agree to it, it's likely they're okay. And again, it is very possible, though not very likely to have it done.

I'm not challenging you. I believe you know what you're talking about. But to assume that "no one ever" does a certain thing because it's not part of your experience is, in my opinion, not very wise. And to call someone else's advice stupid because it doesn't align with your experience is also not very wise. There are always exceptions.

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thriftgirl62 9 years ago

Hey Travelinguy! I think "audited financials" in this case means getting a 3rd party to verify everything so the buyer can made an informed decision. CPA's always put a disclaimer next to their signature that lets him off the hook just in case he was given false information so the buck gets passed right back to the buyer.

Then it's either listen to your spouse/parents or get a broker and a lawyer involved. Taking a chance on NO, getting into an argument and paying to hear what you don't want to hear? Who does that? From now on, we ALL do!!

This post is from October 2012: Flippa finally realises that their "Verified Traffic" is nonsense

FYI: eXTReMe Tracking dot com is supposed to be the best for tracking visitors.

The attached reports should be enough to show the seller, the bank AND the great Brad Grosse why your feet aren't just cold. They're frozen solid and that's why you won't be able to feel anything but scammed and any excuse will be enough to keep you away from that site. Knowing it wasn't your fault won't help either.

But I could be wrong. You had big enough balls to post the sordid details here of all places. Now that takes courage to admit mistakes, get bawled out and take it standing up like a man. Everyone of us has done the same thing probably more than once but most people choose to hide it just like cats bury their crap.

If you decide to keep the site, the pictures are supposed to be sized like thumbnails. There are no title tags, meta tags or page descriptions and WP is so easily hacked. That's probably why there are so many updates. Isn't 4.2 out already? I don't use WP very much but I think updating it to the latest version is recommended for a reason.

I did some keyword research you will find both interesting and surprising. I just have to upload it and you'll see all the keywords, monthly searches, CPC, competition along with what your competitors are ranking for according to SEMRush. Some rank really well and others just rank for their domain name. You'll know what to keep by looking over those reports. I'll PM you when I get it uploaded.

Grainger dot com is another wholesale supplier that will dropship to your customers. They have such a huge selection of everything, you should be able to find some items that nobody else carries in that niche.

If you decided NOT to keep the site, I can make you one similar to the ones shown below. I can make whatever you want. I just can't design it so you'll have to do that part. Just let me know and that goes for anyone who needs a website - FREE if you can do your own design work. Ignore the 80/20 Split in my signature - that's for something else.

Tool Supplies
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Jason Lavis

9 years ago

I think that the only relevant issue here is whether you were misled or lied to.

It doesn't look like it. 12 months of quality traffic verified by Flippa, plenty of pages in Google, PayPal screenshots, good moz rank and so on.

It is not easy to pick a niche, research, get decent traffic and earn revenue for a new site. If you are weighing up the opportunity cost of creating this site from scratch you might have a bargain. (Depending on your hourly rate for your day job).

If you have a strong sense that you have been misled, you could request a screen share tour of the sellers PayPal and dropship account to put your mind at rest. 50% profit margin for dropshipping is a little high.

Probably better, and more gentlemanly to stick to the deal, and in the future look properly before you leap.
Good luck

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Tsnyder

9 years ago

WOW! Someone thought a site that made 300 bucks in
a whole year was worth nearly three grand?

I need to get into the site flipping business...

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alexnob

9 years ago

Originally Posted by jetsetter883

Hey guys,

I just recently purchased this site on Flippa based upon the brandability of the domain and the traffic/revenue statistics that were being reported. I think it's a great niche and my initial strategy is to give it a redesign and develop an awesome content section to attract Google rankings.

https://flippa.com/3425805-survival-...-making-338-mo

The seller has been mostly responsive in transferring everything over to me albeit a bit slow but the more I think about it the more I'm starting to get concerned. I am wondering if it is possible to falsify the numbers that the seller is claiming and if so what is the way to tell? The site is ranking for a few long tail keyterms which I guess is good.

I'm wondering if anyone familiar with this stuff could take a look at the listing and let me know your thoughts, and/or if there any specific questions I should ask the seller to help determine if I've possibly been scammed.

I have another 14 days to dispute the sale with Paypal and perhaps I'm just being paranoid, but I just know that there are a lot of scams on Flippa. Except for the design, the site seems to have a lot of promise.

Your thoughts are much appreciated. Thanks!

This website made money with dropshiping model that I think you should have some basic knowledge of it if you want to maintain or leverage this site.
Check on Semrush to see what keywords this site is ranking for (but from my exp, for e-commerce sites, it is very difficult to rank keywords on SERP). Additionally, the dropshipping model doesn't need to get traffic from Google (there're other traffic channels that work well)
And finally, do research carefully before you purchase anything, because once you decided to buy, it's immoral to charge your money back (unless sellers claimed the "guarantee money back" on their sale page) for any reasons.
Good luck!

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aire

9 years ago

You paid $2,900 ?

1. You over paid.
2. Didn't do your research.
3. Didn't look up domain on SEM rush.

Yes all numbers can be faked EASILY.

Overall- This was NOT a wise investment- $2.9 could have gotten you a MUCH BETTER site with digital asset such as SAAS or Plugin -etc. which you can milk.

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derekwong28

9 years ago

The soundest way to buy a >$1000 is to use escrow where the seller has an option to reject the site for any reason during the inspection period. Having said that, I think his figures are credible. He is only claiming 1700 monthly unique visitors for a site with over 2000 pages indexed in Google. However, I would like to know a bit more about his drop-ship supplier and the actual margins.

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elmo033057

9 years ago

If I were going to purchase a site like that I'd want to know how they were marketing and driving traffic to it. I think I'd even be so bold as to ask to see the logs backing that up.

Who knows? At the very least they'd show ya how to drive traffic to a site like that and where to market it at. That way if you didn't purchase it, you could cheaply build your own site and drive traffic to it.

Just a thought.

ELMO

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jetsetter883

9 years ago

Hi all,

I have Analytics to the site. Please let me know if there is anything in particular that I should be looking at. I noticed a lot of Direct traffic which seemed a little suspicious.

Thanks
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Gijsbertus

9 years ago

Originally Posted by jetsetter883

Hi all,

I have Analytics to the site. Please let me know if there is anything in particular that I should be looking at. I noticed a lot of Direct traffic which seemed a little suspicious.

What about the bounce rates?

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Jamie Thompson

9 years ago

It does need a redesign, but from what I am seeing at least produces ome trafic already. The traffic IS exaggerated a bit from sources that do not actually give stats for traffic that are real visitors. Either way, it is always a gamble buying sites like this and this one at least seems somewhat legitimate.

Before you go filing a dispute..why don't you ask the guy for a refund first if you go that route and transfer it back to him so he can sell it again?

Thanks
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jetsetter883

9 years ago

Originally Posted by Jamie Thompson

It does need a redesign, but from what I am seeing at least produces ome trafic already. The traffic IS exaggerated a bit from sources that do not actually give stats for traffic that are real visitors. Either way, it is always a gamble buying sites like this and this one at least seems somewhat legitimate.

Before you go filing a dispute..why don't you ask the guy for a refund first if you go that route and transfer it back to him so he can sell it again?

Thanks for your feedback Jamie. You're right, some of the stats seem inflated but I don't think it's accurate to dismiss the site as entirely worthless (not that you were, but others were). It does get traffic and some orders.

Are you advising that I return the site? Sorry if I misinterpreted.

Thanks
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Kay King

9 years ago

You've had two threads duplicated on this with replies coming in for a week - and you haven't made up your mind? I don't know how long you researched or considered before buying the site....but you've been thinking about cancelling now for at least a week. Make a decision and go with it and stop second guessing yourself.

Seriously - ignoring all of the "what about this and that" - can you verify this site is earning $350/month profit? If so, you paid exactly what the in-the-know folks here tell people to charge for a website.

The traffic may be puffed up - but the income is critical. I like the domain and think with better design and some work it could be a very profitable site.

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jetsetter883

9 years ago

Originally Posted by Kay King

You've had two threads duplicated on this with replies coming in for a week - and you haven't made up your mind? I don't know how long you researched or considered before buying the site....but you've been thinking about cancelling now for at least a week. Make a decision and go with it and stop second guessing yourself.

Seriously - ignoring all of the "what about this and that" - can you verify this site is earning $350/month profit? If so, you paid exactly what the in-the-know folks here tell people to charge for a website.

The traffic may be puffed up - but the income is critical. I like the domain and think with better design and some work it could be a very profitable site.

Sorry if it bothers you, but I value the opinions of people on this site who have done this before. Ironically I really only started to second guess myself after reading some of those opinions, but the consensus seems to be that I somewhat overpaid but that I wasn't necessarily scammed.

I'd really like to keep the site obviously and will likely end up doing that. I like the name too and crazy as it sounds it's one of the reasons I'm more likely to keep the site. Brand building means A LOT nowadays and I'd argue it's half the battle of success.

The learning experience also means a lot to me. Even if I "fail", it's an invaluable learning experience at the end of the day which I can apply to other ventures.

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Thomas Smale

9 years ago

The site is a scam. I've already shown you in my answer here: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post9782413

There is nothing to second guess here. The orders/screenshots do not match up, the income is fake. It's a scam. Get your money back and move on.

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jetsetter883

9 years ago

Thanks Thomas for your input. And I agree.

As you know, the seller sent me the below message. It sounds just as shady as the site. I'm wondering what others think. $100 transfer fee? $600 Flippa fee?

"Since the sale is final and we are not required to reverse the sale we will need to keep $100 from you for the charge that we paid GoDaddy for transferring the site files to you.

Also, I will check to see the process for reversing this via Flippa to see if Flippa will refund the auction fees of around $600, otherwise you will have to pay these fees."

Thanks
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Clintin

9 years ago

Originally Posted by jetsetter883

Thanks Thomas for your input. And I agree.

As you know, the seller sent me the below message. It sounds just as shady as the site. I'm wondering what others think. $100 transfer fee? $600 Flippa fee?

"Since the sale is final and we are not required to reverse the sale we will need to keep $100 from you for the charge that we paid GoDaddy for transferring the site files to you.

Also, I will check to see the process for reversing this via Flippa to see if Flippa will refund the auction fees of around $600, otherwise you will have to pay these fees."

Well if Flippa won't refund the success fees then you as the buyer should pay for that. You bought the website and you should had known there would be success fees from flippa, you can't ask for a full refund after the seller has already transferred the site, paid transfer fees(which I'm not sure about) and flippa fees.

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Thomas Smale

9 years ago

Originally Posted by Clintin

Well if Flippa won't refund the success fees then you as the buyer should pay for that. You bought the website and you should had known there would be success fees from flippa, you can't ask for a full refund after the seller has already transferred the site, paid transfer fees(which I'm not sure about) and flippa fees.

Why not? It's a scam. The seller should count themselves lucky they aren't getting sued.

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Clintin 9 years ago

Originally Posted by Thomas Smale

Why not? It's a scam. The seller should count themselves lucky they aren't getting sued.

Yeah I see what you mean. I'm not saying its a scam or not but the buyer needs to do research and get as much information as possible. Looking at the site, the listing, videos and images the seller added to the auction sends off some red flags to anyone that's probably why the OP made the thread. At the end of all this someone will be taking a loss.
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WarTiger

9 years ago

Buddy I think you paid too much for something like this, $2900??? You could build one like this very cheep and promote it, drive traffic to it... with $2900 you can build 10000 x better site, drive a lots of traffic to the site and you will still have money to go on vacation :-)

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Bought an e-commerce site on Flippa.. starting to get cold feet

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