Flippa - is it worth buying an established website?
I came across Flippa.com the other day. I was browsing some of the sites for sale when I came a cross several travel sites. Automated sites with data feeds from affiliate (pay per lead) search boxes. I am looking at these sites which are selling for around the $150 mark and I am asking myself; Are they too good to be true?
Website for sale - example
The guys who are selling these duplicated sites are claiming they pay out thousands per month - assuming you have the traffic coming in. My question is this. Why sell them so cheap if they supposedly make so much money?? Why not keep them for yourself??
Flippa also made me question the practicality of buying an existing website. Google changes its algorithm all the time. That being said how can you be sure the website you are buying is not riddled with bad backlinks and bad karma from previous misguided SEO tactics?
Had anyone ever used Flippa??
If so please let me know and pass on any pot holes to avoid.
Philip xx
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Hello Phil,
A few bucks for a site because the name happens to ring well to your purpose -- no big deal really, but...
Veronica is very correct -- you need to do research into the links and history of any web site before you buy it. If they have a lot of bad links or are blacklisted with Google for any of a number of infractions - it can take a lot of work and time to restore the quality of the site, and there are no guarantees you would ever get it back into good graces with Google -- and essentially what you are usually wanting (and paying for with an old domain) is exactly that the back link history and site authority or ranking they have achieved over time. Older sites have some better authority by virtue of how much longer they have been around as opposed to another site that is ranking for the same keywords -- but more weight is given to actual page site authority and then the actual page authority of the relevant keywords you are looking at at the point in time.
A well known software vendor (longtailpro) has recently started another venture where they find and research the history of previously owned or expired domains before releasing them -- check out http://www.domainjawa.com/
I did not look at the site you mentioned but Veronica says it may have basic starter or copied or PLR content on it -- if so it may already be penalized -- definitely that content would have to be taken off ASAP and replaced with unique and appropriate to the site content.
Hope that might be helpful, Mike
All very good points. Will have a wee think about it. Appreciate you taking time to write back. =)
What you are buying in your example is the design. The site has no traffic, I would guess the content is taken directly from other sites meaning no unique content... What you get is the design... At this point the site is not making any money. Never ever buy a site on potential... It is easy to say that it can make this or that but always base the value on the site on numbers and site history.
I have bought and sold sites on Flippa. It really comes down to doing your research you have to ask the seller questions... make sure you know what the owner has done to the site, ask about backlinks...
Let me know if you have any questions.
Veronica
Veronica what if the site is a travel/ vacation, does it require any action since it is auto updated.
I was looking at one of those, problem is how to get it ranked in Google? No idea myself. I think it is a case of "you get what you pay for" Like justincooke says just below this post is the higher the price the less likely a scam is happening.
I am glad I came across your post. I am just getting started in the flipping domain and website world myself, using keywords is the KEY in Jaaxy. Waiting for websites to rank in google. Sell on flippa! If they do rank, I am just not sure how to place value on the domain and website I have created. Sorry, have questions myself. I will keep in touch, come back here and let you know how it works out.
Hi , Just my two cents worth. The question is not only what the website is worth, but what will it take to get your traffic.The site may be worth it, but if you do not have traffic coming in to it, what is it worth? How much will it cost to get the traffic? The travel industry is filled with some heavy hitters with big budgets for advertising. Are you willing to pay for visitors?. I'm not saying that this company does it, but there are some that have paid for traffic, to increase numbers for a better asking price.
Interesting, I've just come across Flippa and asking myself the same questions. I guess there is a risk involved, but you'll never know if you don't try. Learn on your mistakes. :) But I'm also interested in buying domains and then selling them. Well, maybe this will answer some of your questions.
https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/training/flipping-out-the-site-flipping-wabinar
I have never heard of Flippa, but of course I'm only two months into this whole "webmaster" path. But like you I'm skeptical of anything that costs so little and promises huge payout. Sounds kind of like a "get-rich-quick" scam. (Ha ha) I wonder if there is a way to see how much traffic & revenue this site actually receives.
They do offer Google analytic stats etc but I do not believe it. Lol! Tempting though! Like you said - too good to be true.
have not heard of flippa and always go with if something seems to good to be true then it usually is, hope you get some more feed back to help you decide
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Navigating website purchases can be a bit of a minefield. You have to get really, really good at due diligence. This will usually require you to know your way around a WP website, have experience with different monetization methods, etc.
An interesting note - your signal to noise ratio gets significantly better as you move UP the value chain. Above $10K and you'll have less scams to go through. The stakes are higher, but you'll spend less time weeding through the crap too, FWIW.