Flippin’ Fridays: 7 Ways To Ruin Your Reputation As A Website Flipper
Fri, Sep 5, 2008
I’ll cut right to the chase on this one. I’m all for making a fast buck, but not if it means taking advantage of someone. So many people approach website flipping like it’s a cheap thrill instead of a business deal, forgetting that there’s a real person on the other end of that transaction.
I spend a solid amount of time on SitePoint and other marketplaces daily, and I watch sellers closely. Doing this not only allows me to gain knowledge on how to be a better seller, but also helps me to become a savvy buyer.
This regular research has also made me painfully aware of the tactics sellers are using when they’re trying to flip their websites for more money than they’re worth. I’m not talking about having a great sales page that points out the site’s potential and adds a little excitement to a sale. I mean the blatant lies and deception.
If you think that marketing means convincing someone that a lump of coal is worth a brick of gold, then nobody has ever explained to you what a scammer is.
7 Ways To Ruin Your Reputation
Sell Junk
It’s true that “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure“. However, I’m talking about selling something you know doesn’t really hold any value. In your sales copy, claim that it’s a deal of a lifetime in hopes that you catch an unsuspecting buyer that is unaware of how to detect a bogus deal.
Here’s just a couple examples of what I’m talking about:
- Boast that your site is number one in Google for it’s keyword “Bicky Bong Chinese Soup Kitchen”, but just forget to mention that it’s irrelevant because there’s a total of 0 daily searches for that phrase.
- Sell a website that is monetized with a PLR eBook! Just forget to mention that it’s a PLR eBook that was written by a third grader and has been circulating heavily in it’s niche since 2003″.
Hide Details
What they don’t know won’t hurt…your sale.
Is most of your traffic coming from a bunch of other sites that you own? If so, you probably plan on taking those links down after the sale and replacing them, leaving the new buyer with no traffic, right? Don’t say anything about where the traffic is coming from and maybe they won’t ask. Say that you “don’t have referral url stats” . Tell them Google Analytics was broken when you tried to get the info for them.
Did you pay for advertising that can be hidden? Oh great, another easy way to have buyer’s traffic die afterwards and for you to gain a bad rep quickly.
Any expenses that you can hide will both raise the sale price, and help to ruin your reputation. Did you pay for stuff that you can forget to mention? Bandwidth? Content? You get the idea.
Fake Sales
Buyers will often gauge the value of a website by the revenue it has made. Do you have a way to fake the sales? Maybe you have 30 payments that came to you via PayPal from your Mom last month and you can say was ebook sales from the website that you’re selling? You have to black out the info in the screenshot for privacy anyway.
Ok, this next tip is serious stuff and should only be attempted by the advanced website flippers who want to ruin their reputation in record time. Are you ready?
I’ve seen sellers use the same revenue stats screenshots for multiple site sales! Not only does this make you more money on your sales, but you ruin your reputation faster than anyone else, because there’s no possible way you could have a valid explanation for that!
Delete Comments
Let’s say you’re guilty of one or more of the rep-killers on this list, and a savvy SitePoint member spots something and questions you on your sales thread. Most sellers in this situation will simply delete the comment, preferring to prolong this game that they play. However, if you are looking for a shortcut to a bad reputation, simply reply to the comment with something like “Oh damn! You caught me!”.
Resell The Same Site 37 Times
Keep slapping the same content and template on a new domain so you can resell that puppy over and over without doing any work. This one won’t ruin your reputation as a website flipper if you’re honest about what you’re doing. So, if someone asks, just ignore them, delete their comments, or say you that you have no idea what they’re talking about and that someone must have stolen your content.
Steal Ideas
I’m not talking about niches here. Those won’t get you into the trouble you’re looking for, because nobody really owns a niche. If you want to ruin your rep quick, steal stuff from other websites or even other sellers if you can. Download their graphics, content, sales copy, etc. and use them on your own flips.
Shill Bids And Extra Accounts
Have your friends boost your sales by always making bids on your auctions. Once you get caught, open a new account. This way, you can actually ruin your reputation as a website flipper over and over again.
Write a killer sales page, but don’t go to these lengths for an extra buck. Be sure to bookmark this and use it as a checklist when you’re looking for a site to buy.
If you actually spend some time following sales, you will see a lot of this stuff. Do you have any examples that I’ve missed?
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Cheers!
Jay
Tags: website flipping
September 5th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Consider this stumbled!
I am aware of a number of dodgy practices on sitepoint but you have given me more infor to arm myself against the growing number of scammers on sitepoint. The more quality articles like this the more chance we have of using a reputable, scam free platform to do business.
Like you say Jay….a quick buck is a quick buck, but to some people this is business!!!!
September 5th, 2008 at 10:06 am
It really is not so cut and dry like some make it out to be. It’s a business, and needs to be looked at that way.
Would you not do research when buying or selling a house, a car, your toothbrush, etc? Yes, we all do. Why? Because we want to make sure we get a good deal, we get a good item, etc.
It’s not different in blog and site sales. Do diligence, learn the field, and stay informed. There will always be those who will do their best, to reel you into a bad deal, and sometimes we will be smart enough to recognize this, and sometimes (the bad guys are just smarter), but get educated.
Great FF.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:07 am
This is a great post Jay.
I used to frequent SitePoint quite a bit a few months back, but now that I have a few sites to work on I don’t find myself with as much time to visit the forums and to watch the MarketPlace. I still get over there every now and then just to see if there are any good deals available.
But I do remember some of the auctions that people would post up trying to sell their blogs or sites. They would do everything that you listed here trying to scam people out of their money and make a quick sale.
One thing that you missed that I have noticed on a few auctions is the seller tries to throw out a “projected revenue”. They make a few sales when their site first starts and so they automatically think that the site will make those sales. Depending on the sales this can really add up as most people are looking for around 10-12 times the monthly revenue for their sites.
Now, it is possible that the site will continue to keep making sales but without a proven track record, this is just another tactic to get people to pay more then what the site is worth.
Jarrets last blog post..Is YOUR Blog Worth MY Time?
September 5th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
I’m just starting to absorb site flipping info as a possible means of income - my hurdle currently is my coding knowledge.. don’t get me wrong, I can take a high quality free WP theme and change any code needed regarding the functionality or aesthetic. But I’ve never built a site from scratch and don’t know If I’d be able to.
Anyways, Jarret made a good point - you can’t really project the monthly income of a site after the first month or so.. As well, you can’t really project the income from one person to the next. If the guy who created the site busts his ass everyday getting backlinks, doing keyword research etc.. and the person who buys the site wants to sit back and write 1 post a week and that’s it - I’m pretty sure the income will fluctuate.
Elijahs last blog post..How The Rich Stay Rich: An Internet Marketing Reality Check
September 5th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
When I started building my blog from the ground up it took some getting used to WP and all the coding behind it and figuring out where everything goes.
However, if you say that you are able to manipulate and change a current theme you shouldn’t have too much trouble creating your own. I would suggest you start out with a default WP install and use either of the default themes. Cut them down to just the bare code that is needed and work your way from there.
Or you can use the bare code as a template and work your way up. That is how I started with my blog’s theme. The hardest thing was of course getting the theme to show up in all browsers how it is supposed to look and I know that WP uses a Transitional DOCTYPE instead of strict.
September 5th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Whew! I’m safe!
Great post Jay.
Sly from SlyVisions dot Coms last blog post..Quick Links - September 4, 2008
September 5th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Great post Jay
The “reselling the same site 30 times” point is perhaps the most valid today. You can see some major SitePoint users list at least 5 auctions daily and the only difference between the sites is the … domain name
What’s more, they claim it’s “100 % UNIQUE” in the sales copy.
September 5th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
@Nota Bene: Glad I could point out a few more things for you to arm yourself with. Unfortunately, there’ll always be scammers to combat, but this kind of info can at least decrease the chances of getting “wounded in the battlefield”.
@Missy: Exactly! You almost have to do “more” research, because you don’t have an inspector to hire for your website purchase….wait a second…uh oh, I just thought of another biz idea!
LOL@ researching your toothbrush.
@Jarret: Great additon by pointing out the projected revenue. That happens often as well. I don’t have a probelem with it if it’s presented without outrageous claims. I can undertsand listing what the potential could be for the buyer continuing to work hard on the site, as long as the seller’s not claiming it to be a “guarantee”, especially if there’s only been a few sproadic sales within a few weeks. Like you said, a proven track record of “consistent sales” over many months is different
@Elijah: You don’t need to build a site from scratch to flip it (if I understand you correctly and that’s what you meant). People create/flip websites using WP themes daily. For example, you could take the theme you use now, and start a blog about Jazz vinyl. You already are knowlegdable, so you’d have a ton of unique content in no time. You could sell that site whenever you wanted like it is. However, you’ll get more for it if you wait for stats to increase (traffic, revenue, etc), so you might choose to keep it until you feel you can get a price that’s worth your time.
@Sly: We knew you’re good buddy! You’re sly, but not a scammer!
@Girish: Yeah, that’s the stuff I’m talking about. Why would you blatantly lie about something being 100% unique. That’s just being a complete A-hole. Karma will get ‘em!
Cheers guys!
Jay
Jays last blog post..Flippin’ Fridays: 7 Ways To Ruin Your Reputation As A Website Flipper
September 6th, 2008 at 3:40 am
Jay,
Great tips…but wish I would have read them before I posted my first site flip. Oh well, I guess I will have to work off the one strike I have according to your site.
My ebook is a PLR ebook and I had no idea that it could have been on the market for so long. Oh well, I guess we live and learn. I wasn’t being dishonest, I just didn’t know.
Anyway, I just posted the site tonight, so I have officially been to second base because I have one bid already for $80. Hope it goes up, but you can check it on my site on monday as I will be posting and following it for my 8 readers….still need to get feedburner set up.
In fact, got to go and set that up now.
Rap with you soon, Jay!
Freddies last blog post..Friday Link Love & What I am Reading Around the Net
September 6th, 2008 at 4:09 am
@Freddie: You might have misinterpreted what I said because of the sarcasm. I took a peek at your auction. If I were a buyer, I’d assume that it’s a PLR book from reading your sales page, and you didn’t “claim it to be UNIQUE” which many sellers do. I was commenting more on how a seller will “know it’s junk”, but claim it to be something else. Your auction’s fine dude, and good luck with your first flip!
A quick tip that might help boost your sales price a little:
Make potential buyers feel more secure about bidding by verifying site access (you just have to upload a text file that SitePoint gives you - less than 5 minutes), and verify your telephone number (less than 5 minutes). A total of less than 10 minutes could earn you a few extra bucks.
Cheers!
Jay
September 6th, 2008 at 6:50 am
Great post again. Thanks for the big tip. After our little contest over at site flip u I have taken a few weeks off, but I am ready to crank it back up again. I will be taking these to heart.
Also thanks for the link love.
September 6th, 2008 at 8:32 am
Great points.
I used to sell plr-content websites without any traffic or revenue at Dp for semi-big bucks. Didn’t advertise that it’s plr too much. =P
Not doing anything like that anymore, I think it’s a bit evil.
BlackhatWays last blog post..Flipping Websites: You Need Something Unique!
September 6th, 2008 at 10:16 am
@ Jay
Thanks for the words of encouragement. And yes, I got verified by phone and website.
I will keep you posted.
Freddies last blog post..Friday Link Love & What I am Reading Around the Net
September 6th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
You know for some reason SitePoint scares me. I have saw so much BS for sale there, I am not sure I would EVER make a purchase there. Is SitePoint the best place to sell blogs at?
Several years ago when I sold my site-estates, I did so on eBay. I sold every large network I owned and got a pretty penny in the process. I am going to assume eBay is not the place to sell any longer?
Home Business Mom Taras last blog post..Affiliate Program Rundown
September 7th, 2008 at 12:50 am
@Coach, Good to see you back! You’re still in Taiwan?
@BlackhatWay: lol….welcome back from the dark side. You don’t have to change your name to WhitehatWay though.
@Freddie: Cool. I hope you make a few bucks buddy
Cheers guys!
Jay
Jays last blog post..Flippin’ Fridays: 7 Ways To Ruin Your Reputation As A Website Flipper
September 7th, 2008 at 7:43 am
Jay,
You are not going to believe this. My first flip sold for $350 bucks!!!! I am really trippin’ because it was so easy to do. I will give all the juicy details in a blog post on Thursday, but I was took excited and ran over here to tell you the good news.
Dude, it was only up for 20 hours and someone took the BIN price and ran with it. I have 6 bids in less than 20 hours and a ton of private email messages…like 20 total, so there was some great interest.
Thanks for the motivation and be sure to check out the post as I share what I learned in the process.
Peace Jay!
Freddies last blog post..Friday Link Love & What I am Reading Around the Net
September 7th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
@Freddie: Actually, I do believe it buddy! Good job! LOL, it’s fun to see you excited like that. Cool beans! I’ll check out your post when it’s up.
Cheers!
Jay
September 10th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
I swear, I see some of these guys reposting on Sitepoint like there’s no tomorrow… and each time, they lower their costs too…
Jay
Jays last blog post..Introducing the “Elite Ninja Flipping Unit” to the Site Flipping World
September 10th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
@Jay: Yeah, there’s funny posts on DP from sellers as well. Someone will try and sell a site and get no response. So, they keep bumping the thread, and lowering the price each time. Looks funny when you see 12 posts all from the seller but none from anyone else. lol
September 10th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Jay - LOL! I hope I don’t end up like that! So hey, how many sites do you flip? I would love to collaborate one of these days if you down for it.
Jay
Jays last blog post..Site Flipping Blog Revealed!