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.