Has anyone ever made money with a clone website?

Right on! I learned my lesson.......just curious about others! lol.

I think it depends on what your expectations are. If you expectations are to make millions and millions of dollars than maybe using clone scripts are not the way to go. If you are looking to create a sustainable monthly income, it certainly is doable.

I use a clone site but I focus on a local market that is not saturated as of yet even though there are plenty sites out there like mine. Even if it was, my goal is simply to carve out enough so that I can escape the rat race. I don't need thousands of customers or even millions of dollars in sales to be happy and financially independent. I would be perfectly fine with making enough money to pay my bills and save a little money. For me that would be freedom beyond belief.

If you have patient and persistence clone sites can absolutely be a good source of income. My expectations are just to be financially independent so that I do not have to rely on a monthly income from a job I hate going to everyday. When you think about, a clone site is no different than a blog site, affiliate site or any other site you can think. It's called competition and no matter what you choose to make your online business, there will always be competition.

I think what's really needed is a clear definition of clone site. To me a clone site is a website that is using a similar idea and putting your own spin own it. It doesn't mean that every element of that website is cloned (that would be illegal). I'm thinking Facebook, Myspace and Google + as a good example of cloned sites. They all do the same things and could be considered clone sites. They each have their own spin on how it is done but the bottom line is that they are very similar to what they do and how they do it. Just because they are the big players doesn't mean the term clone can't apply to them. The great news is that the Internet has enough users that most people will at some point sign up to all three. While they maybe in direct competition with each other, they also know there is enough users out there to make money from. Expedia, booking.com, travelocity is another example of what could be considered clones but no one here is putting them down for having the same idea.

As stated in another post, I use a clone site but my goal is not to become the big player. My market is local meaning my site caters to customers in my state only. I play a numbers game..... I live in a small state with a population of only 800,00. If I were to receive just .01 of that traffic monthly, I would be able to retire. There are other sites that do that exact same thing as I do but again, I only need a small percentage to quit working. Competition will always be there no matter whether you come up with an original idea or use some else's idea. That's just how life it and you will never be able to escape it.

There is absolutely no shame in using someone else's idea. This forum is a good example of that. How many forums do you belong too? How many classified sites are out there? If you are not making money from a cloned site, than it is probably something you are doing wrong. So forgive me if I think your statement about not using the original is a little condescending. I bet you have a blog and use affiliate marketing? Hmmmmm......how original of you.

clone a few sites and made big money
niche sites of clone sites
You have to spend money or promote real well