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Quick Buy It Now Bid On Flippa - Accept It Or No?

by Brenden Clerget
18 replies
So I need some input from people that use Flippa often...

I listed a site for sale earlier today. The site's made quite a bit of cash, it's a nice package, worth the price. I'm running what I think is a pretty good deal on it.

I started it at $2,497 and a buy it now of $5,000. About five hours after the auction started I got a buy it now bid from a user on there, who's account is only two weeks old, has never asked a question or bid on an auction, and didn't even ask me a question before he placed it. He just bid.

I'm not going to accept it right away, I PM'd him for more information to see how serious he is. The last thing I want to do is just pay another listing fee for it.

I guess my question is, has anybody ever received a bid this quickly on a website from someone with barely any reputation and had the transaction end up being successful?

I mean $5,000 would be nice to just have, especially four hours into the auction but what's everybody else's experience with the people on there?
#accept #bid #buy #flippa #quick
  • Profile picture of the author jazbo
    Personally I would take the money and run. You can always relist it if he does not pay up.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Tell him you'll use escrow.com only and he pays half the fee for escrow. That'll take care of any bad intentions. Also, if he does win the auction and fails to follow through, you get to relist free and don't have to pay the success fee.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brenden Clerget
    I see, can I initiate the escrow service immediately after I accept the bid?
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
      Banned
      Originally Posted by DrivenForMillions View Post

      I see, can I initiate the escrow service immediately after I accept the bid?
      Did you list escrow as one of your accepted payment methods? If not, just pm the guy and tell him that due to his lack of feedback on previous transactions, you'll only accept his bid if he uses escrow.com and pays for half the fee.

      That will weed out any scam artists. I had this happen with a very similar transaction and he just disappeared and was banned because he did not complete the transaction. Proceed with caution. Escrow will protect you.

      Normally, if someone is going to spend $5,000 on a site, they like to ask at least one question. That doesn't mean that it doesn't ever happen this way, but you do need protection for such a large purchase and a valuable domain.
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      • Profile picture of the author Brenden Clerget
        Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

        Did you list escrow as one of your accepted payment methods? If not, just pm the guy and tell him that due to his lack of feedback on previous transactions, you'll only accept his bid if he uses escrow.com and pays for half the fee.

        That will weed out any scam artists. I had this happen with a very similar transaction and he just disappeared and was banned because he did not complete the transaction. Proceed with caution. Escrow will protect you.

        Normally, if someone is going to spend $5,000 on a site, they like to ask at least one question. That doesn't mean that it doesn't ever happen this way, but you do need protection for such a large purchase and a valuable domain.
        Yeah that's what I was thinking. I was stoked to see that someone had bid, but I have already got 200+ views and some watchers as well. I mean, either way it's going to sell, that isn't my worry.

        I sent him a message a couple hours ago before I posted this asking for a little bit more information and let him know that I want to use escrow exclusively. I'll give him 12-24 hours or so and if he doesn't respond, I'll just decline his bid.
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  • Profile picture of the author HostTip.com
    You better think twice, and watch as carefully as you can about this...

    It is a lot of money
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  • Profile picture of the author JustinDupre
    Yeah, time will tell if he is serious or not. I think the escrow method that Suzanne mentioned to you earlier is probably your best way to go atm. It's always good to be extra careful with that much money and a nice domain. Good luck and I hope everything go through!
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  • Profile picture of the author jimpossible2k
    I'm also curious about this (although I've never used Flippa personally).
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  • Profile picture of the author Brenden Clerget
    Yeah I haven't gotten a message back from him. I'll keep you guys updated on this, as I heard this is an issue on there, people just messing around for no reason and CPA scammers with background check CPA offers.
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  • Profile picture of the author pugsy
    i hope it works out for you, keep us posted.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brenden Clerget
    Long story short, the guy wouldn't respond to my PM, so I cancelled his bid so that nobody else was deterred from following the auction.

    Got 8 watchers with 5 days left still, kind of stoked to watch the bidding war starts when someone breaks the stale mate...
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
      Banned
      Originally Posted by DrivenForMillions View Post

      Long story short, the guy wouldn't respond to my PM, so I cancelled his bid so that nobody else was deterred from following the auction.

      Got 8 watchers with 5 days left still, kind of stoked to watch the bidding war starts when someone breaks the stale mate...
      Sounds like absolutely the best thing to do. If he wouldn't respond to your pm, he wasn't a real buyer and the whole thing would have been one super headache.
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  • Profile picture of the author chewster
    I've been using Flippa lately as a buyer and i can tell you I always ask questions especially before using the BIN. I've used escrow in every transaction and it has worked out well. I'm glad you waited and proceeded with caution.

    I am currently picking up a few quality sites, PM me with the listing if you would so I can check out the listing.

    I've noticed the bidding usually heats up during the last 48hrs so it should be fun to watch!!

    Chewster
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  • Profile picture of the author Biggy Fat
    I personally will not accept quick BIN bids unless the buyer looks extremely trustworthy. If I see that he has no feedback and whatnot, I usually decline it.

    Quick tip for Flippa sellers - NEVER tick the box that says "Require the buyer to pay via PayPal". You won't be able to reject a BIN bid that way, and you open up the floodgates to scammers.
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    • Profile picture of the author Brenden Clerget
      Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

      Sounds like absolutely the best thing to do. If he wouldn't respond to your pm, he wasn't a real buyer and the whole thing would have been one super headache.
      Yeah that's what I figured. On top of that because he didn't say anything when I cancelled his bid, probably leads me to believe I didn't miss out on anything.

      Originally Posted by chewster View Post

      I've been using Flippa lately as a buyer and i can tell you I always ask questions especially before using the BIN. I've used escrow in every transaction and it has worked out well. I'm glad you waited and proceeded with caution.

      I am currently picking up a few quality sites, PM me with the listing if you would so I can check out the listing.

      I've noticed the bidding usually heats up during the last 48hrs so it should be fun to watch!!

      Chewster
      Yeah I'll do that now Chewster.

      That's what I noticed to, it'll make it all worth while when someone finally picks up the entire package

      Originally Posted by Biggy Fat View Post

      I personally will not accept quick BIN bids unless the buyer looks extremely trustworthy. If I see that he has no feedback and whatnot, I usually decline it.

      Quick tip for Flippa sellers - NEVER tick the box that says "Require the buyer to pay via PayPal". You won't be able to reject a BIN bid that way, and you open up the floodgates to scammers.
      Yeah for sure. I didn't do that and I took paypal off as a payment option all together. I don't even want to battle with their physical products vs electronic goods policy if someone does a chargeback.
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  • Profile picture of the author BJ-CardCounter
    What is/was the website you were/are selling?
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  • Profile picture of the author Justin Says
    Just wanted to pop in, even though the question isn't really needing an answer anymore (was like a year ago).

    But I personally joined Flippa about 2 days ago (I've been watching for months) because I wanted to bid on a specific auction.

    I placed a $2,000 bid without questioning the guy as he had a lot of information and it seems to all hold up.

    So my theory. It's very possible it was a real bid, but still there are jerks out there that would probably not pay. I personally would.

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    • Profile picture of the author octavyo
      Maybe the bidder is serious about buying it maybe not. To be safe don`t accept paypal payment directly. There are a few "disputers" on flippa and as soon as they pay you and you transfer the website to him they will open a paypal dispute and get their money back in most of the cases. I have personally speak with Paypal staff about this and explain them this exact situation. They said me that for a website or any digital goods I can`t prove that i `ve sent it to the buyer (no tracking number) so in most cases the dispute will end in favour of the "buyer".

      I have also seen a quick fix to this situation which i haven`t tried yet but i think it would be ok. If you still want to get paid via paypal directly after the payment is made ask the buyer his address and then send him a cd with the website files. This way you would have a tracking number and in case it will open a dispute you will win.

      The other option is to work with escrow.

      Hope this helps you !
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