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What do you make of this Flippa auction?

by AdamCBR
9 replies
I've never used Flippa before and only just found out about it on this site. However it seems interesting. What I'm curious to know about though is the legitamacy of some of the adverts?

I came across this auction: http://bit.ly/hkHAX6

Now, he's looking for nearly $10k to buy the site. He claims that he gets 12,000 uniques a month. However what I find really surprising is that for 12,000 uniques, nobody seems to comment on any of the posts.

He says he has 2,000+ followers on Facebook, which he seems to. But again, nobody ever 'likes' his facebook posts - except one guy, which I suspect could be him. That could suggest that the fans are ones he's bought.

He says he has nearly 10,000 twitter followers, but at the same time he's following over 10,000 people, which again would suggest that they are bought.

Also, despite the 12,000 uniques and thousands of twitter and facebook followers, he hasn't made one dollar of revenue or profit but claims it has million dollar potential.

To me it all just seems a bit dodgy. I had no intention of buying it, but it does make me question the quality of adversts on Flippa as a result.

Thoughts??? Does it seem as dodgy to you as it does to me?
#auction #flippa #make
  • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
    It sounds to me as if you have done what would be considered the necessary "due diligence" - the background research needed before considering purchasing a site.

    You've pointed out some obvious ways of inflating figures - for example buying twitter/FB followers.

    Hopefully you will have given some other folk a few pointers about what to look for.

    I don't flip or buy sites, but I don't doubt for a moment that there are chancers on there hoping for over inflated prices from unsuspecting buyers.

    Edit: I obviously have way too much time on my hands today (laid up with flu), so I looked at the site. I'd add these points:

    1. No revenue or income is claimed
    2. The site claims 10k subscribers - including Twitter and FB. 8.k T and 1.5k FB leaves just 500 subscribers on their newsletter list.

    As far as I can tell he is claiming that he is selling 170 unique articles worth around $40 per article To support this he refers you to constant content. In reality he probably paid around $1 - $5 per article.

    ......... and one of those articles includes this memorable phrase " Glad-handing disingenuous interaction is easily detected,"

    I seriously need to take more headache pills and stop taking up valuable WF board space.
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  • Profile picture of the author imfusa
    I don't think at all that the site can be sold with 10.000 $. First of all it has PR 0, second, the traffic rank is above 100.000, actually right now it is 397.00. More than 500 $ i won't pay for that website.
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    • Profile picture of the author micromike
      think of it as buying a car; you have to use the same detective methods and BS detector (grin)
      they're trying to sell, and they want to make more, rather than less. You're trying to buy, and pay less, rather than more. If you can't compromise, then the deal won't get done.
      far as ten grand? nope
      and any site that has "million dollar opportunity" means HE couldn't create that million dollars with it... or he wouldn't be selling it for ten grand.
      sounds like you've done your homework... and its not flippa's responsibility to keep you from doing something stupid. It says right on the front page, its a sales site...and if you're gonna read anything on there, its going to be a sales pitch. Nothing shady there.. as clear as a "quicksand ahead" sign.
      good luck, and the site flipping thing improves with time, as folks get to know you. Then the real deals, as you swap back and forth with other marketers, start to surface
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  • Profile picture of the author Casper C
    Yep, it definitely seems dodgy. It's cheap and easy to buy that amount of traffic and Facebook followers etc. I think they're practically drones most of the time, i.e. not real people. That would make that Flippa listing a scam, of which there have been many of on that site. Flippa really need to pay more attention to this.
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  • Profile picture of the author AdamCBR
    I actually think the other site is better designed. Had a quick look. Still only has 6000 followers on twitter (doesnt seem like its been added to) and just 500+ facebook fans.

    Can't believe someone actually paid 18k for it. Sheesh!!
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  • Profile picture of the author GeorgR.
    While the design is "ok" (to some extent) i don't see any indication whatsoever that this site is "well established".

    To be honest, the blog looks like a "premium autoblog" and there is something missing, but i cant put my finger on it. Needs more interactivity, forum etc.

    Edit: 12k uniques is not that great. It's 400 daily. A little better than my micro niche sites...but worth $10k? Dont think so.
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  • Profile picture of the author theimdude
    Originally Posted by AdamCBR View Post

    I've never used Flippa before and only just found out about it on this site. However it seems interesting. What I'm curious to know about though is the legitamacy of some of the adverts?

    I came across this auction: http://bit.ly/hkHAX6

    Now, he's looking for nearly $10k to buy the site. He claims that he gets 12,000 uniques a month. However what I find really surprising is that for 12,000 uniques, nobody seems to comment on any of the posts.

    He says he has 2,000+ followers on Facebook, which he seems to. But again, nobody ever 'likes' his facebook posts - except one guy, which I suspect could be him. That could suggest that the fans are ones he's bought.

    He says he has nearly 10,000 twitter followers, but at the same time he's following over 10,000 people, which again would suggest that they are bought.

    Also, despite the 12,000 uniques and thousands of twitter and facebook followers, he hasn't made one dollar of revenue or profit but claims it has million dollar potential.

    To me it all just seems a bit dodgy. I had no intention of buying it, but it does make me question the quality of adversts on Flippa as a result.

    Thoughts??? Does it seem as dodgy to you as it does to me?
    Coming a little bit in defense for this poor fellow selling the site;

    He is not trying to sell the site for 10K (he would sell it if you prepared to pay that) as the bids are at $600 currently

    All his stats is doable as they not that high

    I have seen WSO here how to build sites "new with no traffic" and sell for good $$$ on flippa. Does that make it a scam?

    So the dude worked a bit to get those followers etc. and now he is a scam. Somewhere I read that news letter subscribers are worth +- $1 each and somebody mentioned 500 so the site must be worth at least $500
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    He is trying to duplicate the success of another auction for a men's site that sold for $17,000 with no profit.

    https://flippa.com/90266-Premier-Men...Dont-Miss-This
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