Would You Buy a Site on Flippa? Or, Have you Ever Bought a Site There & Made a Profit?

38 replies
Hey Warriors!

My question is simple, have you ever bought a site on flippa and made a profit out of it?

I've been contemplating this for sometime and I see really good sites on sale there but am concerned because recently I've heard really horror stories about sellers faking the stats on their sites just to get some bidders and the buyers end up losing out big time.

Anyone? Have you successfully bought something that made you some profit on flippa?
#bought #buy #flippa #made #profit #site
  • Profile picture of the author idk007
    3 years ago I bought a site on flippa, didnt know what I was doing and lost $2k selling it for $3k. Learned a lot since. Do your research.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeff Lenney
    I bought one on there a few years ago for $80, spent 2 hours tweaking it and building a better forum - sold it 3 days later for $800 - that's rare I imagine, but still...it felt nice.
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  • Profile picture of the author onegoodman
    I do watch flippa from time to time. I never bought a website in there, however, i think some website totally worth it, while other are just waste of time.

    I don't know what is criteria they using in flippa to provide the information, but if i am interested in a website I do my research about it to find out if it really worth it or not.
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  • Profile picture of the author pacesetter007
    I sell startup sites on Flippa.com every time and the problem I see with Flippa.com is sellers making extravagant promises on things that can't deliver, and more so, ignorant buyers reading the auction copy and buying false promises and fate hope of making millions the following day.

    The fact is, know what you are buying and stay by it. Are you buying a startup site or an established site? Ask questions, do your due diligence and pay attention to seller flippa sales page...really important. Never hurry to buy any site without exact knowing how it fits you and your portfolio.

    More than that, after all due diligence has been satisfied and you are clear, I still believe you have to follow your heart. This sounds rather less important by somehow, some deals look right but you keep sensing something fishy about it, if such happens, back off! There are tens or hundreds of other sites that fits your criteria.

    Finally, every so often, people make money buying and selling website. It boils down to how you see the world. Are you looking through a looking glass or seeing reality???

    Tim
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  • Profile picture of the author swilliams09
    I watch flippa as well. I was looking at a video site someone was selling and they claimed to have made 10k (I think) in revenue from the site, and yet the site sold for only around 250 or so. Yaaaah. No one in their right mind would sell an earner for less than a fraction of what it brings in. YOu just have to really be aware of what you are buying on there. I feel sorry for the poor sod who is out of 250, I doubt he'll make money with it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nick Bykov
    Banned
    Buying sites on Flippa is risky business, unless you know very well what you are doing. Your best bet is to build and grow your own "cash cow" website.
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  • Profile picture of the author EconomicalDomains
    I have bought and sold several sites at Flippa. I have been burned several times by sellers, but have also sold a couple sites for decent profits. Definitely do your research and only buy from a buyer that has a lot of positive feedback and reviews.
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  • Profile picture of the author colinph970
    I have bought a number and made good profits on them all. The best in terms of ROI was one that cost the princely sum of $61 which I tweaked slightly and it then made me over $500 in Adsense over the next 8 months. Calc the ROI and you will see what I mean!
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  • Profile picture of the author maxmed
    Flippa is a big marketplace and you always find good websites but you should verify everything (traffic proof / income proof / rank ...)
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    When Flippa was on Sitepoint, I used to be able to find some real gems that only needed to be cleaned up in design. Bought them cheap and sold them at higher price. That hasn't happened again since Flippa became Flippa. There's just so much junk there and so many scammers who are misrepresenting traffic and revenue that it hasn't been worth the risk to me any longer.

    Reading all the headlines there ... Instant Profit ... Guaranteed Money Maker .... Make $2,737 Per Month (and they're selling it for $147) ...

    You get the picture. Those are all startups that make zero money and have zero traffic. I'll pass on buying Flippa sites.
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  • Profile picture of the author azsno
    Flippa has a "Pro Website Buyer’s Guide Available Free to Flippa Users" here:

    Pro Website Buyer

    You'll need to be a registered user to download...

    ~AzSno...
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  • Profile picture of the author gotti3636
    I buy a lot of established websites that do between $5-$50/day and almost all of them have been profitable (the odd one fails but that happens and there is not much you can do about it). They were bought as long term investments

    Just make sure you do your research and ensure that the money will keep coming once they sell you the website.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    I want to buy Warrior Forum's ncmedia's site(s) on Flippa now.

    https://flippa.com/2624257-clickbank...ns-35-cb-sites
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  • Profile picture of the author Chri5123
    You can make profits building start up websites and then repackaging them - I have done that a few times.

    However, yes as others have stated you really need to do your homework and the key is to KNOW what you are buying, sounds obvious but can save a lot of problems down the line...

    Chris
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  • Profile picture of the author celente
    I have bought 3 sites off there, and they do well.

    Here is a few tips though.

    1) try not to buy the sites that are under $1000 they are sometimes scamms.

    2) Look for real proof and analytics, if they cant provide real data or video of the site making real money. RUN

    3) See if you can do a deal with them. Most of my sites were purchased by messaging the user and offering them a deal privately. I did not know how powerful this was until recently, so you could try this. It works well for me.
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    • Profile picture of the author Dean Shainin
      Originally Posted by celente View Post

      I have bought 3 sites off there, and they do well.

      Here is a few tips though.

      1) try not to buy the sites that are under $1000 they are sometimes scamms.

      2) Look for real proof and analytics, if they cant provide real data or video of the site making real money. RUN

      3) See if you can do a deal with them. Most of my sites were purchased by messaging the user and offering them a deal privately. I did not know how powerful this was until recently, so you could try this. It works well for me.
      Just beware of messaging them an offer while the auction is going because one can get banned by Flippa for doing so from what I've read.

      Dean
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  • I've bought and sold various sites recently. I've been selling information products for a while and this was my first try at selling a site (after hearing about it alot)..

    So what happened?

    We'll...

    I decided to create a sales letter type offer.

    And it worked like a champ!

    Not only that but I linked people to my site where they could buy the software immediately versus buying the site on flippa.

    I ended up with over 300 flippa views, 50 clicks to my site, 14 opt-ins, 10 chats, and over $2500 in revenue for a site that sold for $300.

    It was worth the $19 price point =D
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  • Profile picture of the author Anthony W
    Do your research very carefully! I bought one and got ripped off. Seller guaranteed 1K a week in profits which was complete B.S.

    If you think the deal is too good to be true, it probably is.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lucas Adamski
    You need to do a lot of own research to check out if the site is really that good. Many site owners sell their websites because they are losing traffic/sales or somethings goes wrong. Now its your job to filter the real deals
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  • Profile picture of the author Simu :P
    Originally Posted by smartdoctor View Post

    Hey Warriors!

    My question is simple, have you ever bought a site on flippa and made a profit out of it?

    I've been contemplating this for sometime and I see really good sites on sale there but am concerned because recently I've heard really horror stories about sellers faking the stats on their sites just to get some bidders and the buyers end up losing out big time.

    Anyone? Have you successfully bought something that made you some profit on flippa?
    Hey Smart Doctor!

    Well, my business is setting up websites, ranking them high and then selling on Flippa.

    In my experience from selling, ready-made websites which already have content in them, and also ranked quite high on Google, sell like cupcakes!

    And the buyers don't do any work, just sit and relax because there is frankly nothing to do.

    I've sold over 20 websites on Flippa, each that made me $5k yearly for ~$5k!

    Some people believe that if they buy the website, they can make tweaks and improve it. Thus, making them money.

    And such websites can be a goldmine. I bought 2-3 websites, for ~$70, because I saw that they were a nice domain name, and I could rank for them.

    So I invested my time, ranked them well, added some fresh hot content, and sold it for $3k in about a month.

    Not bad for 1-2 hours, eh?

    Just my 2 cents ... Flippa can be a goldmine, if you find the "pure" gold.

    Thanks
    Simu
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  • Profile picture of the author Toby.T
    I wish I sold one of my sites on Flippa.. the mailing list still increases at 10-15 a day without anywork advertising for six months. I think I may have missed the boat on this one.
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  • Profile picture of the author sloanjim
    Every time I look there i just see scam stats and people trying to rip others off. NOW iam sure it's not all like that but my guess is most are. Yeah i know........
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  • Profile picture of the author cryst
    really flippa is best but u need to do some research before u buy something from flippa...
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  • Profile picture of the author Claire Sharp
    A friend of mine bought a site at Flippa for about a year now. At the start, there was a struggle in getting a profit in it. But then she managed it well and until now she earn more than she expected.
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  • Profile picture of the author visimedia
    I will only sell a website when it actually makes profit.
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  • Profile picture of the author JCorp
    Yes, you can buy a site on flippa and do well. Make sure that you trust the seller. One thing that I look for is videos on the description page with audio. As much as possible, I want to watch a video description with voice. Also, check their trust ratings. See if they have a Facebook attached. See how many friends they have. If they only have 1 or 2 friends, then that means they just put up that account. See if you can skype them. And if your feeling is good, the price is right, then jump on it!
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  • Profile picture of the author BarryWheeler
    Research as to what you're buying and who you're dealing with is key for success there.

    It's a little risky for those making claims they can't back up. Without some solid evidence of how a site is doing be very careful. It could be like eating a plate of beans and wondering which one made you fart!

    Due diligence as with any acquisition is key.
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  • Profile picture of the author adrenalinfeed
    I could concider selling something on flippa. But buying? No way.
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    • Profile picture of the author force5
      I bought a site on Flippa just to see what the process was and the biggest problem I had was that I didn't really have the time to do the work needed.

      I kept putting it off as I had more interesting projects to work on. Then suddenly it was renewal time and I realized the site had lost its rankings and no income so I just let it expire.

      So if you buy a site make sure you are committed to it and put in the effort that is needed to make it work.

      Paul Forcey
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  • Profile picture of the author Elsoft
    I bought my website from Flippa.Im happy with it so far.Its going well.I see lot of crap,but its a great place for buying/selling established sites.I dont really see any other site offering such a wide platform for website flippers.
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  • Profile picture of the author smartdoctor
    Wow, I love most of the suggestions right here!
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  • Profile picture of the author blillard
    I would never buy a site on flippa that I intend to sell on flippa due to fact that many buyers can just cross check the site just sold and see what you paid for the site. Many buyers hate it when see they whats going on know how much your making from them off the flip.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brent Miller
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author Flipfilter
      Wouldn't even consider buying 99% of the sites on Flippa. More often than not, if people are turning legitimate profits which are going to last, they won't sell their site for less than they would have made otherwise. Very rarely will you come across someone who just needs a quick cash influx for another business, or someone who just doesn't want to put the work in anymore, etc.
      That's not entirely true.

      There's lots of reason why someone would legitimately sell their site (trading up, change of direction, pooling funds, loss of passion, diversification, opportunity) but it depends on what time frame you're talking about.

      Some people start a site in a niche they have no interest or passion about or just plain hate after a few months (..like male genital grooming ), and if someone will give them 7 - 8x monthly net then why not sell, especially if it isn't their livelihood or main project. Every site requires some amount of work to maintain it, and some people would rather not do the work and not have to worry about losing the income in exchange for a chunk of that future reward right now.

      About two years ago it was realistic to go to Flippa and scout for sites that we're significantly underpriced and you would almost always find something, but the game changed; more people meant more competition and in an auction this means higher prices.

      There are great sites on Flippa
      - not the majority, but a lot, and when people say it's all crap they're either looking at the bargain basement or refuse to accept the valuation put on the better sites. Now, if you want to buy a good business expect to pay about going rate (at least 10x monthly net), but providing you know what to do and you hang onto it for a while, it will always pay off.
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  • Profile picture of the author chrisyates
    Originally Posted by smartdoctor View Post

    Hey Warriors!

    My question is simple, have you ever bought a site on flippa and made a profit out of it?

    I've been contemplating this for sometime and I see really good sites on sale there but am concerned because recently I've heard really horror stories about sellers faking the stats on their sites just to get some bidders and the buyers end up losing out big time.

    Anyone? Have you successfully bought something that made you some profit on flippa?
    Seems like you're getting a lot of people telling you not to buy. I see no reason not to buy on Flippa if you have first educated yourself on how to do it right.

    Here's one example of a deal I did.
    1.) Bought a site for around $6,000 on Flippa
    2.) Held it for about 6 months and it kicked off a good $600/month each month with about 10 minutes of work every other day.
    3.) Turned around and sold it to a private buyer for $8,000.

    Hope that helps give you the confidence that you can do this!
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  • Profile picture of the author NoBSGuy
    Scam artists are typically there where money rolls. Flippa is such a place. Therefore, you should always request more details before considering buying a site there. A honest seller won`t hide traffic stats from you if he sells a site with 100k uniques/month. Also, be extremely cautious about forged earnings reports. Professional scammers know their handwork well.
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  • Profile picture of the author phil9
    one seller on flippa claims to make $48/month profit. He mentions the reserve price to be $1800 (3x multiple of annual revenue). My question is:

    is it worth buying at that amount? (I think a site which will breaks even after 1 to 3 years is not worth it considering it makes only $48 and I would only modest linkbuilding to maintain ranking.

    I would appreciate everyone's ideas on this.
    Thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author King Louie
    It's better to build and promote your own sites. I notice that most sites sold on Flippa are autoblogs or poorly-made sites.
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  • Profile picture of the author SeasideMarketer
    Flippa is for selling sites...if I was buying a site I'd go into the trenches...and scout for sites in the Google search results
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