Tag: "flippa"
Dirt.com owner releases website teaser
Five months after purchasing the domain name dirt.com for $100,000 at Go Daddy auctions in Sept. 2010, the buyer who goes by the handle yessman on Flippa, has released a teaser trailer for the website.
Although the owner had put the domain name up for auction on Flippa with a $3,000,0000 reserve price so that as he says could “travel and focus on Foundation and Charity Work”, a website was unveiled days later that hinted at a celebrity gossip site.
The domain name is still up for sale at Flippa and yet, construction of the website is still underway.
I’ve received a number of tips from readers about Dirt.com. One rumor was that NewsCorp might purchase or partner with Dirt.com. Another reader tipped me off that Dirt.com had staff at Sundance trying to get access badges.
Whatever the case, it’s clear that Dirt.com is using a variety of channels for marketing and has big plans for their celebrity gossip website.
Octopus.com, one of the oldest registered .com domains, goes up for sale on Flippa for just $20,000
Octopus.com, #46 in the top 100 list of oldest registered .com domains, has just been listed for sale at Flippa.
According to The Next Web’s list of the hundred oldest domain names, Octopus.com was registered on November 17, 1986, the same day as Adobe.com, Amd.com, Das.com, Data-io.com, Portal.com, and Teltone.com.
The auction, which has an oddly low reserve price of only $20,000, ends March 5, 2011.
Flippa has placed a minor warning on the listing because the seller has provided estimates for the claimed financials. Flippa says, “Estimates can hide many issues, such as fluctuating revenues and inconsistent profitability”.
According to Whois records, the registration is privacy marked.
Registrar: DOTSTER
Domain Name: OCTOPUS.COM
Created on: 17-NOV-86
Expires on: 15-OCT-11
Last Updated on: 30-JAN-11
Why is the owner selling?
According the description on Flippa, “We have purchased this site not so long ago for the value of its domain name alone to start major project. We haven’t been able to proceed with our project and so have recently decided to sell this site. The revenue was never of any concern to us since we bought this site for the value of the domain name. We haven’t actually changed anything since we bought it and we think that the previous owners have also not optimized it for revenue at all. However, it does make some little money in Adsense worth $1200 for the last 12 months”.
Readers, does the reserve price seem low to you?
Updated: Octopus.com isn’t the only notable domain to go up for sale this week. As one reader who goes by “Gnanes” pointed out in the comments, Registrar.com has also been put up for auction, with a reserve price of $3MM or buy-it-now of $14MM.
Two-letter .com domain AY.com receives $100,000 bid on Flippa in no-reserve auction
A couple weeks ago, domain blogger Mike Berkens over at The Domains wrote about the auction of the two-letter .com domain AY.com at Flippa, after the owner issued a press release announcing the sale.
The auction followed the buzz created by news of Facebook purchasing the domain FB.com for $8.5 million.
Today, the seller of AY.com has issued another slightly different press release, in which he notes that the domain has received 1 bid, for $100,000 in the no-reserve auction which ends 17 days from now, that is, unless the domain sells for the buy-it-now price of $2 million.
Here’s a look at the new press release.
(US NEWS SOURCE) January 31, 2011 – This month, an extremely rare LL.com domain name is up for auction on Flippa.com. The domain name, “AY.com” has a current bid of $100,000, and many domain appraisers feels it’s worth a lot more.
“It could be worth over $1 million if the right entities became interested,” said one domain name appraiser in an email reply. “The value on a domain name as rare as AY.com is based solely on what someone is willing to pay for it.”
So far, one bid has been placed on the LL.com (Letter – Letter .com) internet property for $100,000. The current owner, who purchased AY.com over 2 years ago has set no reserve on the auction.
The auction which can be seen at: https://flippa.com/auctions/120091/AY-com—Rare-Premium-2-Letter-Pronounceable-LL-com-Domain-Name is set to end on the night of February 17th, and will sell to the highest bidder, no matter what the price may be.
There are only 676 possible LL.com possible combinations on the internet for domain names, so this makes 2-letter domains like AY.com extremely rare. So far, according to the current owner, the auction has received over 2,400 views and has been added to 13 different users’ watch lists.
How much will the final sale price be?
“I have no idea,” said Eddie Krassenstein, the current owner. “I feel it is extremely valuable, so we will let the market decide.”
The owner of AY.com is heavily marketing the domain name, taking out a number of press releases and even changing the homepage of AY.com to plug the auction over at Flippa.
When AY.com sells at Flippa, it could be the company’s biggest sale in 2011. And it could be the site’s all-time top sale to date. While 2010 had a number of six-figure sales for the marketplace, S9.com at $400,000 was the biggest reported sale, confirmed by Flippa.
Flippa releases its 2010 Year in Review
Some are skeptical about the sales numbers and auctions over at Flippa, but even the most doubtful have to be impressed with the site’s success in 2010. Despite a number of failed auctions reported as ”Won” like Fiverr clone Zeerk.com, Flippa has some pretty good stats to show for the past 12 months.
Flippa, which launched in June 2009, released its year in review Tuesday and the site is growing fast.
How did things look in 2010?
Over 150,000 bids placed. $21MM worth of websites and domain names sold. 2 million unique visitors. 1.6 million logins.
Philip Ferreira the President of WebCorp, was one of the site’s biggest users selling off a number of online properties including Debate.org which sold to Juggle.com.
And the company is trying to battle shill bidding and other problems that regularly plague online auction sites.
“…the team suspended or banned over 2,300 user accounts in 2010, primarily for registering duplicate accounts, shill bidding or not following through on a won auction transaction – the types of users the rest of the Flippa community won’t miss.”, writes Andrew Knibbe on the Flippa blog.
Six-figure sales, a bright spot for Flippa
But not all was bad for one of the top marketplaces for buying and selling websites and domains. The company was involved in a number of high profile six-figure sales, including the sales of: s9.com, retweet.com, list-of-companies.org, debate.org, and blogtopsites.com. The company issued a press release after selling Retweet.com for $250,000 - but it was the sale of s9.com that set a new sales record at Flippa, selling for $400K.
Other high points in 2010 include the sales of Audioo.com, Qwitter.com, Song.ly, and Facemash.com for $30,201.
As Andrew points out, “The precedent set by these terrific websites in 2010 is already looking to continue through 2011 with exciting listings of the likes of Links.com, ay.com, songbright, dirt.com and twaud.io.”
The listing of Dirt.com, could turn out to be a news maker if a deal is struck with NewsCorp, but according to a number of tips I’ve received by readers, the listing of Dirt.com for $3 million is nothing more than a publicity stunt for the website’s eventual launch which is rumored to have people at Sundance 2011.
Read Flippa’s recap of 2010.
No luck for Zeerk: Fiverr clone just won’t sell for much on Flippa after owner paid $52,000 in 2010
Fiverr.com, the internet site that lets people sell gigs for $5, has led to a number of clones in its short time online. Several scripts have also been created for webmasters to clone the popular business model. But as far as the clone sites that have been springing up on line in recent months, Fiverr.com still remains the model to beat in the micro-gig space, much like GroupOn has become the 800 pound gorilla in the group buying space.
One clone site in particular, Zeerk.com, has been plagued with bad luck since its original owner successfully sold the site on Flippa for $52,500 back in early November.
Since transferring to its new owner in November, Zeerk.com has been listed twice more on Flippa, both ending in failed auctions. The most recent auction ended just over a week ago on January 13 after the listing failed to meet its reserve price. The highest bid came in at $19,000, far below its original purchase price of $52K.
A week before that, Flippa reported the site had sold for $74,999, in what was already known to be another failed auction at Flippa, after a disgruntled Flippa user made a bid for $1 less than buy-it-now price.
These failed auctions are good examples of what high dollar sales reported at Flippa, don’t actually pan out. Even the alleged sale of Free-counter.com for $61,000 reported by domain blogger Morgan Linton, left his readers skeptical, given that the Flippa seller claims to make $8,000 a month in profit.
Zeerk.com: Why won’t it sell?
I’m no expert on this issue, but a quick glance at the comment threads on past listings reveals what Flippa users think about the auctions.
Why pay $50,000 or more for a website, when you can pay a couple hundred bucks (or less) for a clone script and get your own Fiverr-like site up in no time?
Agriya, a web development company that produces a variety of clone scripts, appears to have developed one of the more popular Fiverr clone scripts that is used by several sites - including GigBucks.com which apparently sold on Flippa back in August for $5,500.
Others on Flippa, seem suspicious as to why the Zeerk.com owner is selling the site so fast, as the seller (who goes by TheGreatFX on Flippa) claims to have no time and to be leaving the country in which they live.
“Why are you selling the website within 2 months that sounds very fishy. Coming to USA does not make a big reason for selling it in 2 months timeframe”, writes Flippa user Negotiator.
While some suspect the site is plagued with problems and more question the site’s revenue and traffic claims.
Whatever happens with Zeerk.com on Flippa, I’m going to watch to see whether it goes up for sale again. Despite Zeerk running into a string of problems, the micro-gig space looks to have a lot of potential.
Could Dirt.com really sell for $5,000,000 on Flippa? Rumor is NewsCorp is interested
It sounds like a pretty wild rumor, and for now that’s all it is.
A reader tipped me off that the owner of Dirt.com, who put the name up for auction on the internet site Flippa for $3MM, might be entertaining a deal with NewsCorp – who is considering selling off its social networking site MySpace.
The story of Dirt.com started back in September 2010, when the domain name sold on GoDaddy for $100,000.
For months, the owner displayed a “Coming Soon” page, until December when the name went up for auction on Flippa. Despite the big payment and obvious construction of a website, the owner decided to auction the property, because in his own words: “I recently sold my Company and have decided to take a hiatus for thirty-six months to travel and focus on Foundation and Charity Work.”
Less than a week after listing the name over at Flippa, a website was unveiled.
Whether the owner was creating buzz for the pre-launch of Dirt.com or whether he truly was headed off to do charity and fundraising (as I wondered back in December), whatever the case is now it seems he has definite plans for a website and charity work – that is, if the domain name doesn’t sell for $5,000,000 – 50 times its purchase price.
Yesterday, Yessman (the owner’s Flippa username) posted a message on the sales page that gave more details.
Since so many people are watching this domain sale on Flippa, and there has been so much speculation and rumor on the internet in various forums and Blogs regarding the sale, it may make some sense to lay out a few discussion points about the domain, the site, and the sale at this time.
1. As mentioned in the description, I am an Internet Entrepreneur. I have just sold my Company and the reason that I wish to sell the dirt.com domain name is that I am planning on taking a hiatus for thirty-six months to travel and focus on my Foundation and Charity Work.
2. Thankfully, I have no financial need to sell Dirt.com at this time. However, due to the recent interest in Dirt.com from buyers throughout the world, it would have been foolish for me not to test the waters in selling the domain name versus building the business I had planned for it. This is why I have placed the domain up for sale on Flippa. Any good business person would look at all available options, and that is exactly what I am doing here.
3.. The business that I have planned for Dirt.com is to build the World’s Largest Celebrity Gossip and Entertainment Site. If I do not sell the domain, I will proceed to build the site out as I continue my Charity Work. I will also donate a portion of the dirt.com advertising proceeds to the ASPCA, The Humane Society, and PETA.
4. I am willing to sell the domain now as there is an opportunity cost in building out the World’s Largest of anything. If I do not get a buyer now, I will proceed to build out the Site, and sell it down the road after it is has reached the metrics in my business plan. I will continue to do my charity and foundation work, but will obviously have to spend time, energy, and effort, building out Dirt.
5. At that time, the value of the site with be more than the 5 Million asking price today…Substantially More. There currently is a site up where the domain exists. Already, people in Hollywood are talking about Dirt.com, and we haven’t even gotten busy yet! Weather i sell it now for the 5 Million asking price, or sell it later for much, much more, is simply a matter of what is called “Opportunity Cost”. Any serious Entrepreneur following this sale will understand the concept.
6. It has been reported throughout the web that the new owner of Dirt.com (me) purchased the domain for $100,000 just a few months ago.
Is the site worth 50 times the purchase price (if the reports are true)?
The answer is best served with a question…
…Name a more brand-able domain name available in the world right now…especially in the Entertainment Space (Which happens to be a Multi-Billion Dollar Space)…YOU CAN”T
If the rumor of NewsCorp partnering or buying Dirt.com becomes reality, it would be interesting to find out whether its listing on Flippa had anything to do with it.
It would be even more interesting to see the final sale price.
Have a story tip? Submit it here.
Something fishy about the “Most Active” auction on Flippa bidding at $830,000?
A number of users are voicing their opinion and displeasure on what is the “Most Active” auction currently over at Flippa. The bidding price, which has topped $800,000 for a website that claims to make thousands monthly by selling iPads and iPhones - is just another indication that some Flippa users are clearly irritated with the listing.
In addition to what appears to be artificial bidding by upset Flippa users, many have left comments on the listing.
What’s the issue?
What’s at issue here are some of the claims made by the seller, which include an Alexa Rank of 2,097 and over 500,000 unique visitors per month.
The site being put up for auction is affordableelectronicsandmore.yolasite.com, which is hosted on Yola, a popular website builder and hosting service that was started in 2007. Yolasite.com, is the website with the Alexa rank of 2,097, not the sub-domain as one reader commented: “…yolasite.com has an alexa ranking of 2,097, not your site”.
The traffic and Alexa ranking claims are just the tip of the iceberg.
Users chimed in with a laundry list of issues in the comments section which include: how could someone buy iPads for $200 for resale, how come there is no checkout on the site, why is the seller’s eBay user id is new with zero feedback? And on and on.
As one user writes to the seller in the comments: “Well so far you have a bunch of shill bidders, who aren’t going to pay you $10 let alone a quarter of a million dollars. The sad part of this is, that these sales just make a poor impression on Flippa than anything.”
Flippa isn’t perfect, but it could probably improve its system when it comes to certain types of listings.
In March 2010, Flippa was credited with selling Retweet.com at public auction for $250,000 – it’s biggest sale at the time, since the site launched in 2009.
Is this listing for affordableelectronicsandmore.yolasite.com, really legit?
Whatever this listing is, it’s certainly upsetting several Flippa users.
UPDATE: Since this story went online earlier this morning, the auction listing has now been removed.
Juggle.com acquires Debate.org from WebCorp owner Philip Ferreira
Juggle.com, the company that builds and creates websites focused on engaging users with quality content, acquired the website Debate.org from WebCorp owner Philip Ferreira. As reported here, a few weeks ago, Debate.org sold on Flippa for $130,000.
Juggle
Juggle CEO Stephanie Leffler and President Ryan Noble, founded the company in 2008 after selling their ecommerce platform MonsterCommerce, to Network Solutions in 2006. According the company’s info page: “In the last year, Ryan Noble and Stephanie Leffler’s leadership has helped Juggle.com surge from 400,000 monthly unique visitors to 1.7 million. Their dedication to publishing has grown the site from a mere 150,000 pages of information to 8.3 million and counting. The company has even grown beyond the flagship site, adding on MonsterMarketplace.com and ScalableWorkforce.com in the last year.”
Juggle updated its own home page and Debate.org. The Debate.org About page now reads: “Debate.org was acquired by Juggle LLC in the winter of 2010. Juggle builds and creates websites heavily focused on engaging users with quality content, organized information and useful features. Moving forward, Juggle will focus on improving the site by expanding the debate platform to allow multiple debate formats, enhance usability and design, and improving member profiles and features.”
Juggle already runs its own online debates, covering a variety of topics like politics and religion, on debates.juggle.com.
WebCorp Auctions
Philip Ferreira the President of WebCorp who sold Debate.org to Juggle, has been using Flippa in an attempt to sell off several of his company’s assets in order to focus on DORK.com (a social gaming web site with over 1,000,000 games played). Auctions have included: Debate.org, Dontvote.org, Swap.net, NewCars.org, and others.
The public auction for Swap.net, a proprietary swapping classified Website like CraigsList ended at $8,000 – failing to meet its reserve price in early December. Dontvote.org sold for $2,100. The auction for Newcars.org ended on November 25, but failed to meet its reserve price. The auction ended with 4 bids, with the high bid coming in at $20,000.
Philip Ferreira recently listed some not-so-premium names up for sale including a group of dating names: DateFree.net, DateFree.org, DateFree.us, and DateFree.biz. Bidding at $11, the lot of names already reached their reserve price. In addition to the dating names, Philip listed TheWimp.com which is already bidding above its reserve at $65.
Domain seller may lose big at Flippa looking for a fast sale
A domain seller at Flippa may lose big on the auction of the domain name Italian.net. Advertised as a “Premium Domain – Fast Sale – 326,000,000 Results”, the owner looks to have acquired the name via Sedo in June 2008 for $15,682.00. However, the way the auction is going (which closes in an hour), the high bid is only $5,000 – and it’s already over its reserve price.
As with most auction houses, Flippa’s guidelines on bids and offers are clearcut. According to Flippa: “accepted bids that meet or exceed the auction’s reserve price are legally binding for the buyer and seller, and enter the running to win the auction.”
If the name sells at $5,000, the auction is resulting in a quick sale for the seller, and a bargain price for the buyer. The seller appears credible, so one lucky winner may get a domain name that is roughly valued at $69,000 by Valuate.com, the free domain appraisal service by Cybertonic.
Here’s a look at the listing description:
You’re bidding on a premium domain that was registered in 1996 and hasn’t been dropped since. Nothing has been done with the domain and it is currently offline. When it was online just displaying a parked page, it managed to get a page rank of PR4. There are many possible things to rank the domain for, or you can just hold on to it for real estate value. Some possible idea :
Learn.Italian.net
Cook.Italian.net
Travel.Italian.netThe search “italian” on Google yields 360,000,000 results. I need to sell the domain quickly so it’s priced extremely under value.
The auction closes at midday, unless of course additional bids come in, which could cause the auction to be extended for hours or even days. In the last four hours of an auction on Flippa, the end time of that auction is extended by four hours if a higher bid is received.
Final sale price: $6,400
Dirt.com owner who put domain up for sale for $3MM on Flippa, unveils web site
In a previous blog post, I reported about the auction of Dirt.com on Flippa for $3MM. The listing seemed to be fueled by the owner’s desire to travel and focus on charity work, after reportedly selling his company.
According to the listing description by the seller Yessman: “I recently sold my Company and have decided to take a hiatus for thirty-six months to travel and focus on Foundation and Charity Work. The recent interest in Dirt.com from buyers throughout the world has peaked my interest in selling the domain versus building the business I had planned for it.”
Dirt.com site unveiled
The Dirt.com site was recently a “Coming Soon” page that hinted at a celebrity gossip web site, similar to TheDirty.com (a popular celebrity gossip blog with visitors in the hundreds of thousands).
In the last few days though since the listing on Flippa and my story here, the owner has unveiled a web site on Dirt.com (screen shot above). The site looks, and sounds somewhat similar to CelebrityGossip.com (a property owned by domain development company: First Beat Media). Only instead of dirt being dished every 5 minutes as it is on CelebrityGossip.com, it’ll be served up every 15 minutes on the Dirt site.
Unrealistic Sales Expectations?
The domain Dirt.com was purchased for $100,000 at GoDaddy auctions in September, and the owner is trying to flip it with a buy-it-now price of $5,000,000.
I’m not sure if the owner has unrealistic expectations with the multi million dollar price tag, but according to the discussion thread on Flippa, he even argues that Dirt.com is more valuable than Loans.com (a domain name that sold in 2000 for $3 million).
Whether the owner is creating buzz for the pre-launch of Dirt.com or whether he truly is headed off to do charity and fundraising, from the angle of a domain investor, it would definitely be amazing to see the name sell for anything in the high six figure or low 7-figure range.
The auction for Dirt.com ends in three months.
