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Do your due diligence when buying on Flippa!

by SailorRob
8 replies
I just wanted to share this with all of you to point out how important it is to properly research before bidding on a site on flippa.

I was considering purchasing an SEO reseller site recently, and found an auction on flippa that looked really good. The numbers were there, proof was in place, the seller had 100% positive feedback, and he answered all questions quickly and to my satisfaction. It all looked great so far.

When there were a few days left on the auction, and I hadn't seen any red flags at all, I was nearly ready to pull the trigger. For one final check I looked through the seller's past auctions and picked out another high dollar auction like the one I was about to bid on. I ran a whois on the domain, contacted the new owner, and asked if he was happy with his purchase. Here is his reply:

Hello,

Two words, Stay away.

At first everything was going fine, he was communicating good, answering all my questions in detail etc. The income was slowly getting there. Although he was determined to remain a middle man between me and the supplier with was a bit dodgy as well.

Everything was fine for about 3-4 months. And then nothing. He simply stopped replying. Stopped providing reports for customers orders. Stopped everything.

Disappointing seeing as though he is still selling on Flippa and therefore has been reading all of my e-mails and knows what he is doing.

I am not happy that this has happened but it has taught me a great lesson. Unfortunately one that cost a bit of money to learn.

Hope this helps..

Best Regards,

XXXXXXX XXXXXXX


I sure am glad I dodged that bullet! I posted it here so that everyone can learn from it. Do your due diligence before buying on flippa!!!

(oh and hey, I'd really like to call that seller out in this forum. Is it kosher to name him?)
#buying #diligence #due #flippa
  • Profile picture of the author GMD
    Banned
    Unfortunately, you can't "call him out" on the forum. Stay away from doing anything like that. Your post was great and a nice read!

    It's enough that you told you story and I'm sure a few more buyers will do some extra work thanks to your post!
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  • Profile picture of the author ecommercevisibility
    You are right. Due diligence is a must before you bid. But to be honest it is not so easy as you already pointed out.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Originally Posted by SailorRob View Post

    (oh and hey, I'd really like to call that seller out in this forum. Is it kosher to name him?)
    No, it is not. Read Rule #1 of the forum rules. Might as well read the others while you are there.
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  • Profile picture of the author MaxNiche
    Doing a proper research is a must when you invest a lot of money,Not only on flippa ,but every other places in the internet.
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    (Upgraded Version 2.0 12-12-2012) AUTHORITY MEGA NICHE SITES- GUARANTEED $500+ MONTHLY INCOME
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  • Profile picture of the author eve2
    I did my due diligence when buying my first Flippa site, but never thought to contact a previous buyer to get a "review" of the seller. Thank you for that. I can't believe that of all the research I did, I didn't do that!
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  • Profile picture of the author Lloyd Buchinski
    It took awhile to understand what the buyer meant by this.

    At first everything was going fine, he was communicating good, answering all my questions in detail etc. The income was slowly getting there. Although he was determined to remain a middle man between me and the supplier with was a bit dodgy as well.

    Everything was fine for about 3-4 months. And then nothing. He simply stopped replying. Stopped providing reports for customers orders. Stopped everything.
    It seems that the seller wouldn't reveal who he was outsourcing the reselling to? If the auction isn't over yet, it might be worth a question while he is still in the mood to answer them. If he is counting on no one thinking of asking about that, the question might get advanced avoidance treatment.

    I don't use flippa, but wouldn't that be the best place to leave feedback? You will have traffic targeted right to that auction.

    Plus it might be a good idea to get the first buyer to leave feedback too.

    The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it. Einstein
    Between the 2 of you it might even be something that could be escalated to flippa. If he is leaving out a detail like this, it would at least be good for the sake of any other buyers, to have it mentioned in the comments.
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    Do something spectacular; be fulfilled. Then you can be your own hero. Prem Rawat

    The KimW WSO

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  • Profile picture of the author RyanLow
    A seller may have 100% positive testimonials for the last few months or even a year and yet could turn out to be a scammer as well. That was what happened to me when I went to Flippa to pick up profitable sites to buy. Honestly, it is really tough to decipher who are the genuine sellers.
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  • Profile picture of the author imfusa
    At least did the buyer that, purchased that site recovered his money. Because i understood that for the first 3-4 months he was ok with the reports.
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    internet marketing | seo services | check pagerank | web directory
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