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Flippa Auction Hijackers

by Joey Babbs
25 replies
I use Flippa sometimes to flip websites and I am getting tired of what I call "auction hijackers"....here are 2 things you must do if you want the 4-5 figure sales...

Auction hijackers...are people who come to your auction and either post bad comments because they do not understand the business model, or they bid extremely high on auctions and never pay, which results in a high "sellers fee" being posted to your flippa account.

For anyone new to flippa these are a couple things you need to look out for...auction hijackers can really screw with your flipping business....

One thing that really bothers me is the fact that Flippa allows anyone to post comments on the auction pages....and if you delete it you look like you are trying to hide something...Auction owners should be able to moderate comments before they are posted

So what can you do?

1. Well first of all, even though its a pain in the #$@ you have to screen all bids first....

2. if someone tries to hijack your comments you need to explain in detail why you deleted their comment...this will build back trust....the key to selling on flippa is TRUST...
#auction #flippa #hijackers
  • Profile picture of the author BinaryQwest
    I hate having to accept bids especially at the early stages of the auction when people want to bid ridiculously low amounts. But at least you do have the option of accepting / rejecting it.
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    • Profile picture of the author steve m
      Originally Posted by BinaryQwest View Post

      I hate having to accept bids especially at the early stages of the auction when people want to bid ridiculously low amounts. But at least you do have the option of accepting / rejecting it.

      Why would you not accept the low ball offers? get in as many bids as you can, try and get it on the most active page. I always view the most active sites section, is where the most wanted sites are...

      When selling on flippa it's where you want to be, just because you have accepted a $10 bid does not mean it will sell for that.

      You can have a reserve and still accept a bid below the reserve price.

      If a site is quality and I knew it to be quality I always start a $1 no reserve, if it's good it will go for the money it's worth.
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  • Profile picture of the author Starfusion
    Also if you look more closely at the new bidders, that start the early bidding off in a website auction, they seem to be all registered within a day of them bidding. This to me sets off alarm bells instantly.

    But... they are a good way of producing more bids which gives you more chance to hit the "most active page"

    Obviously "screening" the high valued bids, is more important.
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    • Profile picture of the author Joey Babbs
      Originally Posted by Innow View Post

      Also if you look more closely at the new bidders, that start the early bidding off in a website auction, they seem to be all registered within a day of them bidding. This to me sets off alarm bells instantly.

      But... they are a good way of producing more bids which gives you more chance to hit the "most active page"

      Obviously "screening" the high valued bids, is more important.
      This happened to me recently...its like people build a new account and then bid rediculously high on your auction....I wonder what the motive is behind this....
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      • Profile picture of the author Starfusion
        Originally Posted by freddyfortunes View Post

        This happened to me recently...its like people build a new account and then bid rediculously high on your auction....I wonder what the motive is behind this....

        But there is also members that create a "Buyer account" and then a "seller account" but what i reckon these sort of accounts are for - Manipulating the most active part of flippa.

        If a seller has a $10k site for sale and trying to get a quick sale, my way of thinking these accounts are in someway bidding on there own auctions to get into that most active part of flippa.

        I've forget what the term is called but something similar started on ebay "bidding on your own auctions to increase the price"

        Which is a huge problem for auction sites.
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        • Profile picture of the author Amber Jalink
          Isn't it "illegal"? (against flippa's policies) to be doing this?

          I was about to put up about 12 domains for sale there.

          I thought if people bid and win, flippa demands that they pay?

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          • Profile picture of the author GMD
            Banned
            Originally Posted by dimeco View Post

            Isn't it "illegal"? (against flippa's policies) to be doing this?

            I was about to put up about 12 domains for sale there.

            I thought if people bid and win, flippa demands that they pay?

            Amber

            And yes, of course it's against Flippa's policies. But what can they really do? The buyer files a dispute and if the bidder can't provide a valid reason for not paying, that bidder gets a suspension (and then the bidder just opens up a new account). At least in this case the seller doesn't have to pay the "success fee".
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            • Profile picture of the author Joey Babbs
              It still doesnt answer the question as to why people are building a new account and then bidding rediculously high on my auction...
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              • Profile picture of the author Starfusion
                Originally Posted by freddyfortunes View Post

                It still doesnt answer the question as to why people are building a new account and then bidding rediculously high on my auction...
                The only person who can answer that, would be the person who has created the new account and then made those such bids.

                Before accepting a bid, take the time to actually send them a message on the lines of

                " Hey,

                Thank you for your bid, although due to many unpaid bidders that have won auctions, I'd like to take the time to screen my bids to prevent this happening. If you have the time to message me back, i would be very greatfull.

                Obviously those not interested, would never reply back.

                But... it's just something to go along with, maybe not in those words but an idea.
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              • Profile picture of the author vegasheat
                Originally Posted by freddyfortunes View Post

                It still doesnt answer the question as to why people are building a new account and then bidding rediculously high on my auction...
                This has happened to me on more than one occasion and I think that they were either: a competing flippa seller or just a noob without a clue.

                One time I had a guy that kept outbidding the next highest bidder in large increments (fast) and finally won the auction. I knew it was suspect (didn't look right) but nothing I could do since I already set it to "automatically accept all bids" and you can't change it once the auction starts. Anyway, he/she didn't pay and it was a pain in the arse - I ended up selling to the third highest bidder for $300 less than the winning bid.

                To me it's still better to leave it as "no reserve" and "accept all bids" since I think the positives (chance to hit "most active" page, draws more attention/views to the listing, etc.) outweigh the negatives and is worth the gamble.

                Just my 2 pennies.
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                • Profile picture of the author ShawnSells
                  Originally Posted by vegasheat View Post

                  T

                  To me it's still better to leave it as "no reserve" and "accept all bids" since I think the positives (chance to hit "most active" page, draws more attention/views to the listing, etc.) outweigh the negatives and is worth the gamble.

                  Just my 2 pennies.
                  In my experience, it does seem to be worth it to hit the "most active" page, since you're more likely to get more bids. Having a reserve reduces your views and bids, imo.
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              • Profile picture of the author sitehero
                Originally Posted by freddyfortunes View Post

                It still doesnt answer the question as to why people are building a new account and then bidding rediculously high on my auction...

                Its a blackhat auction tactic. Basically they will bid on their own items to get into the most active sections and if your auction is floating around the same price as theirs, they will submit a huge bid to seperate your listing away from theirs. Its a nasty, manipulative little trick but then arn't most blackhat tactics nasty and manipulative.
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        • Profile picture of the author GMD
          Banned
          Originally Posted by Innow View Post

          But there is also members that create a "Buyer account" and then a "seller account" but what i reckon these sort of accounts are for - Manipulating the most active part of flippa.

          If a seller has a $10k site for sale and trying to get a quick sale, my way of thinking these accounts are in someway bidding on there own auctions to get into that most active part of flippa.

          I've forget what the term is called but something similar started on ebay "bidding on your own auctions to increase the price"

          Which is a huge problem for auction sites.
          It's called "shill bidding".

          And it happens quite often on Flippa, too! Good point!
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          • Profile picture of the author Starfusion
            Originally Posted by usuallyclueless View Post

            It's called "shill bidding".

            And it happens quite often on Flippa, too! Good point!
            Thats the one! I just couldn't remember the name.
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  • Profile picture of the author GMD
    Banned
    You bring up some valid points! However, points that pretty much anybody who's ever used or even just browsed Flippa on a regular basis knows. In fact, sometimes I browse just to read the troll comments because they're so amusing.

    But I disagree on deleting the comments. No matter how much you explain, people will always view your comments on why you deleted the post with suspicion. It's always better to leave the troll comment in and then destroy the comment with a comment of your own that's patient, logical, explains the situation and then goes on to bring out information that draws people's attention back towards the auction.

    I've even seen some sellers that delete comments, leave a bogus comment as to why they deleted it, only to have Flippa restore the troll's post because even though they were saying "bad" things about the aution, Flippa's policy is to ALLOW such comments if they are questions/comments that will help people make a more informed decision about the potential purchase.

    If somebody writes: "this website sucks don't buy it" that would be a comment that could be deleted and Flippa wouldn't restore it.

    If somebody writes: "there's a problem with this whole auction because a. b. c., etc" that information should stay on the post and it would be up to the website owner to disprove that comment and let the public see the troll for who he/she really is.

    As for the bidders that don't pay? For real: screen all bids and as unfair as it sounds, stay away from new profiles, or bidders with no sales under their belts. Let another seller take the chance with them, not you!
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    • Profile picture of the author Joey Babbs
      Originally Posted by usuallyclueless View Post

      But I disagree on deleting the comments. No matter how much you explain, people will always view your comments on why you deleted the post with suspicion. It's always better to leave the troll comment in and then destroy the comment with a comment of your own that's patient, logical, explains the situation and then goes on to bring out information that draws people's attention back towards the auction.
      This is a valid point....I will definitely incorporate this into future sales
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  • Profile picture of the author Starfusion
    What i have noticed with flippa is the new members who join are not screened that well, if they had some sort of way of verifying each account "Just by simply using a credit or debit card in the account holders name" would be enough to give that much more security for buyers and sellers.

    At this moment in time, it's too easy to create a anonymous account!
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  • Profile picture of the author Amoore9900
    Thanks for the post I'm getting ready to list a number of sites on flippa, and I have never sold a site on flippa before.
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  • Profile picture of the author colinph970
    my experience is that it is best to post a low reserve (like $1) or even no reserve. Once bids start then they tend to keep coming and its possible that you could even get it on the most popular list.
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  • Profile picture of the author stevenjacobs
    Banned
    yeah, the thing i hate the most is when they bid outargous amount then never pay. This has happened mutiply times to me.
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  • Profile picture of the author JeffHylands
    I have an auction on the most active page right now with like 14 bids it currently at 4,250 hoping it gets above 6,000. Still two days left we will see, whats your view on watchers? I have over 40 watchers on my listing so far is that more than usual?
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    • Profile picture of the author vegasheat
      Originally Posted by JeffHylands View Post

      I have an auction on the most active page right now with like 14 bids it currently at 4,250 hoping it gets above 6,000. Still two days left we will see, whats your view on watchers? I have over 40 watchers on my listing so far is that more than usual?
      I am starting to believe that the number of watchers mean little to nothing. I have had like 3 watchers on the final day and my auction sold for 10X (what the high bid was 24 hours earlier).

      One of my last auctions had 18 watchers on the last day and only two bids (on the last day) in small increments.

      Makes no sense at all really - sometimes I'll get a big first or second bid and then only 1 more bid the entire auction duration. Perplexing to say the least.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    I see no reason at all to allow un-moderated comments on Flippa. I've seen too many trolls posting to attempt to destroy an auction, most likely from competitors or just your regular, average jackmonkeys.

    Flippa has a report button to report auctions that you think are a scam. They charge you a lot of money to list your ad on their site and then provide the vehicle to allow anyone with a computer to destroy your auction.

    You can report comments, but by the time Flippa, on Australian time, gets around to removing it, the damage has been done, and you may as well have just taken a wad of cash and flushed it down the toilet. Anyone can pm you if they have a legitimate question.
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  • Profile picture of the author jharr53301
    OMG I'm getting ready to list my first site and reading all this makes me so nervous!
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    • Profile picture of the author djleon1
      I hate freakin auction trolls on flippa!! I am selling a site that has no revenue but some traffic and somehow I have some person posting all sorts of esoteric questions about the site such as "can I explain the breakdown of visitors by web browser". I can tell the person is just being a douche and has no interest in bidding but is just enjoying trashing my auction.
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