The Death Of Site Flipping

Posted on November 15, 2009 by Melvin

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Probably all of you now know the term “Site flipping” as it’s had its growth late last year up to the middle season this year. During it’s growth over a hundred info products teaching people flipping started to come across and it seemed like everyone wanted to get on that bandwagon immediately.

And as of this writing the hype of site flipping has really seemed to plummet. Death of site flipping mania? Probably yes, not in the sense that no one is making good money anymore with flipping websites and blogs. Death in the sense that probably people have realized it’s not really as easy as counting numbers and hence they moved on a completely different thing now.

I don’t know but I think the business model really became saturated (with noobs) when its growth skyrocketed. I mean the ratio on seeing a new startup site get listed on major marketplaces is just astounding, as if the potential buyers are dumbass stupid business people. Obviously what happened was that people created tons of startup sites only to get stucked on their own server after some time. That’s the problem when one doesn’t have an idea of running a website properly.

So that has what happened. It’s funny to think these people are selling startup sites they boast to become ‘profitable’ YET they themselves couldn’t monetize it. I’m not ranting but I just think people need to learn first before jumping into ANY business model.

Too late to profit then from this business model? Naah, the whole point in this article is that people may have somehow realized site flipping is MORE than just installing wordpress on their sites and cranking out cheap dirt articles (and saying its SEO’d!). I am no site flipper myself although I have sold good websites in the past few years and my piece of advice is that, just try to put yourself in the position of your potential buyers. Are you gonna buy the crap out of that site? (be honest!)

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Discussion: 24 Comments

24 comments so far (is that a lot?)

24 Responses... What Say You?

Simon | Teenius

- 15th Nov, 09 10:11am

The site flipping market is definately disappearing.

The reason for this is that the standard formula (Domain + Wordpress + 10 Unique Articles) simply doesn’t work anymore. When there was the surge last year, too many people tried to use that formula, so to compete they had to lower prices. Eventually, the prices become so low that it’s not even worth doing it.

However, site flipping is not dead, you just need to make it so your website is better. Try adding in a product and getting some revenue. My friend Akhil makes thousands by doing this. He creates a product, gets an awesome design and then gets loads of affiliates. Sells loads of copies through the affiliates, then sells. He makes thousands of dollars.

I guess that’s proof that site flipping is still well and truly alive, you just need to be smarter!
Simon | Teenius´s last blog ..10 Questions To Ask Yourself Before Starting A Blog

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Taranfx Reply:
November 17th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
ditto.
Taranfx´s last blog ..What is Windows Azure

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Jason Pereira

- 15th Nov, 09 11:11am

It’s still alive, you just gotta step your game up and destroy all the people doing the same boring shit on the market. Which is easy.

Course, I’m biased as hell, but profits per site I sell are more than they were six to eight months ago… which is always a good thing.

Long time no read of this blog btw.

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Melvin Reply:
November 18th, 2009 at 1:59 am
hey welcome back Jason. That made sense to me. I’m never a site flipper but I think that statement is something that noob flippers must get. I think the problem lies also on the info prods about site flipping because most of them are teaching the wrong mindset (w/c is the quick flipping of startup useless sites).

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Jason Pereira Reply:
November 18th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Yeah a lot of the products are talking about stuff that worked 1-2 (or maybe even 10 ) years ago.

Nice theme, btw. And how the hell did you get 8k subs?
Jason Pereira´s last blog ..I’m Taking This Seriously Now

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Melvin Reply:
November 20th, 2009 at 1:18 am
ey thanks. uhm, i paid every subscribers $0.025 for subscribing? lols! Thats probably the glitch in the plugin I am using I think.

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Taranfx Reply:
November 20th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
hmm. Thts right
Taranfx´s last blog ..Google`s New Design with Caffeine

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John Uy

- 15th Nov, 09 05:11pm

I believe the initial business model of site flipping is still alive and well to those who know how to do it. There are plenty of noobs out there who have no idea what their sites are worth and are willing to let go of them for fairly cheap; these deals are the basis of site flipping.

Start up/cook cutter/turnkey sites are what’s saturating the market and what the noobs and scammers of the online world turned to to make a quick buck.
John Uy´s last blog ..I was Wrong to Doubt you Pacquiao

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Melvin Reply:
November 18th, 2009 at 2:01 am
To be honest everytime I look at a marketplace (Flippa for example), I really get pissed off because of that same boring stuffs I see on it. You’re right tons of cookie-cutter sites are thrown their w/hopes of getting bought.

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Dan Harrison

- 15th Nov, 09 06:11pm

Simon and Jason have a point. The best sites to sell are the sites that are profitable and popular (in as much as they have visitors). So the rubbish sites are dying their death, but there will always be a market for quality websites. Lucky for those who crack their own magic formula.

Dan
Dan Harrison´s last blog ..Optimising Buttons – did you benefit?

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Dana @ Online Knowledge

- 16th Nov, 09 12:11am

It may only need other kind of site flipping.
Dana @ Online Knowledge´s last blog ..WordPress Upgrading: 2.8.6. Version

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Liane YoungBlogger

- 16th Nov, 09 06:11am

It’s more of the death of noobs who promise a lot yet deliver too little. Site flipping really is big. But only to those people who really can handle serious business to serious buyers. Selling a decent membership site for one can single-handedly rake in a lot of money. Better for site flippers to shape up, or get out.
Liane YoungBlogger´s last blog ..Your YoungBlogger is Officially Back! Plus, We’re Now Page Rank 3 and I’m Giving Away Free Backlinks!

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Forest

- 16th Nov, 09 08:11am

I agree selling start up sites is getting harder but like you and others say you just have to up your game.

I took a break for a few months due to noob saturation but I can see they will be gone soon so have jumped back in and am pushing myself to offer more quality for buyers.

I’m going to be working on original products, sites with traffic/revenue and startups to cover all corners of the market.
Forest´s last blog ..Sell Your SIte For More – Great Video Tips

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Ruth - Web Career Girl

- 17th Nov, 09 10:11am

I agree with Forest. You can still sell startup sites, as long as you are offering quality. And I also offer a lot of customer service which I think my buyers really appreciate. But I will also be using different site flipping models like Forest just listed.
Ruth – Web Career Girl´s last blog ..What If You Spent 1 Hour A Day On Just 1 Blog?

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Melvin Reply:
November 18th, 2009 at 2:13 am
Totally right. The problem with most flippers is that they use same strategies to build the same kind of rehashed types of sites w/c just pollutes the marketplace

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Diabetis

- 19th Nov, 09 11:11am

Some flippers think that their buyers are that stupid to even go for that.
Diabetis´s last blog ..Diabetic threat for feet

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Muzi Mohale

- 20th Nov, 09 04:11pm

The problem with blogging overall, once a particular system has been seen to be profitable, everyone duplicates it with the hope of making a killing. I guess being original is scary for most as it’s not a tried and tested way of doing things…in the long run, there is return in site flipping if you’re going to offer value on your site to the buyer.

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fas

- 22nd Nov, 09 02:11pm

Though it is decreasing, there still is some scope left, if you can strike a nice deal though.
fas´s last blog ..New Mercedes E-Class Is A Copy

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Sherwin_828

- 23rd Nov, 09 03:11am

I don’t know why site flipping is such a big deal anyway. If you are skilled enough to raise the value of a domain then you should be making more money than you would make if you flip sites (I’m talking of long term passive earnings here). I don’t know about you guys but I only flip sites that don’t make me money. I don’t do it to make money. I do it to reduce cost and to trim down the sites I handle. Why continue flipping sites when you can make money semi-passively/passively through the sites you own?

I just don’t understand the site flipping business at all and I think a lot of noobs are being scammed into thinking that this is a sustainable long term online business. For me it definitely isn’t because you will stop making money once you stop creating new sites.

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Salah

- 28th Nov, 09 01:11am

Sherwin…really depends on who you are. What if making sites is truly what you do and churning out a high quality well branded original site is a matter of 12 – 20 hours labor. As a veteran web designer I find the potential mind boggling and the little experience I have with creating and “flipping” start-ups has been fantastic. The earnings can even become somewhat passive putting the right pieces in place (I’m not there yet, still grindin’ but its so worth it).

A day old site with absolutely no traffic, earnings, or promotion still has real value if you create a top-notch site and/or product. It can easily be worth $xxx – $x,xxx and yes buyers are willing to pay it on a regular basis. Leave the marketing completely up to the new owner or start a viable marketing blueprint and increase your asking price.

When you provide a quality foundation the success or failure of a start-up business is up to the new owner and is nothing new in the world of commerce. Even if your making 1k a month from a site if you don’t keep up your marketing efforts the site will eventually earn little to nothing anyway.

If the buyer is an IM guru then they can hit the ground running with zero product development time. The noob buyer looking for a free lunch may be disappointed but they can still make money with it, they just gotta hire an IM guru and wait.

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Himanshu

- 29th Nov, 09 12:11pm

I heard about site flipping few months ago and the person who told me explained that how much money anyone can make without doing any hard work, but when I realized the whole process I came to know that how difficult it is to bring traffic on such websites. Its a totally dead concept and I amazed that how people managed to make big money with such concept. All the SEO part is disappeared in website flipping concept. I mean no keywrd, no worthy articles, no regular updates, no traffic surge. How could any concept would work in this scenario.

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Jacob Godwin

- 30th Nov, 09 08:11am

I’ve been running my own website for years and learned design, SEO, and what little marketing I know on my own. I thought I heard of every conceivable scheme available online, but this is the first I’ve heard of “site-flipping.”

When people were getting the unlimited website packages some domain hosts provide, I thought they were doing it for SEO purposes or real genuine business purposes.

But to flip ‘em? Gee whiz…guess I’m glad I missed out on that trend.
Jacob Godwin´s last blog ..Search Engine Rankings

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Blogger Den

- 15th Dec, 09 01:12am

In this economy it’s not surprising how difficult it is to flip websites… I would say it’s more beneficial to just build the website for yourself and make money through direct marketing, affiliate marketing, etc.
Blogger Den´s last blog ..Ultimate Dofollow Social Bookmarking & Link Building List

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