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So you THOUGHT Flippa was shady?

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Sorry in advance, Kevin. Should have had your people leave me alone.

Flippa has been the subject of much controversy over the last 6 months. Speculative talk has ranged from shill bidding to bloated sales reports. Most of the accusations are pure garbage but the company is sketchy as hell.

While you might be thinking that I’m bitter because I haven’t any luck there, you should know that I moved $75,000 of domains in 6 months. At one point, I was the first to go to bat for them all because I try to show some loyalty when someone is taking care of me.

However, I recently had my Super Seller status revoked “due to comments made towards other users.” In fact, this is due to my response to the auction where an individual claimed to have an offer on a 3 day old domain of 10,000 bitcoins — that’s $2,500,000. Apparently, calling out a scammer is grounds for retaliation from the business.

I suppose this is because Flippa values net revenue more than customer satisfaction.

Now that you know my motivation I will move on and share a little bit of insider information.

If you’re paying full price for listing fees and upgrades you have been scammed.

They have gone on the defensive in the past by saying that they “subsidize” upgrades for their top sellers. Subsidize is a cute word for giveaway.

I received somewhere between $3,000 to $5,000 in “subsidies” — as a private seller — over 6 months. At one point, I received $2,000 in credits at one time.

Now I won’t lie, sometimes I had to pay for listings. When I did, I still got hooked up. For every upgrade or listing I purchased I received 2 free.

So when I paid, which was rare, I paid 1/3 of what you’ve been paying. I’m sure you now see why some people make a killing off their platform while others have lost hundreds of dollars per listing.

Oh you thought Editor’s choice was for good domains? Nah. It has been a filter for friends of Flippa.

When I sold on Flippa’s platform, I was given Editor’s Choice for nearly all of my domains. Why? Because I asked.

I know some of you noticed that only 3-5 people showed up when visiting that page. Some might not care but others might understand the value of this.

Domains at Flippa sell for much more when given the Editor’s Choice designation.

Oh so you suspect shilling? I’ve known many users who have shilled their way to a profit. It doesn’t benefit Flippa to eliminate shilling. High sales mean higher success fees.

Simple as that.

Straight up scamming? Yep.

I’ve reported verifiable scams to customer support and I didn’t hear back until after the auction closed. They stated that it was now the buyer’s responsibility to report the sale if something fishy occurred.

Hmmmm.

Would the buyer receive a refund? No. Would the seller be suspended? Yes. Would Flippa still profit? Damn right.

At the end of the day, you can choose to use their platform of boycott them.

I will choose the latter.

P.S.

Have you been curious about what Flippa has been doing?

They are working on adding small business to their platform.

Yeah. Dump money into selling physical business without verifying any of their claims.

That should work. Everyone is honest. Right?
 
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Sorry in advance, Kevin. Should have had your people leave me alone.

Flippa has been the subject of much controversy over the last 6 months. Speculative talk has ranged from shill bidding to bloated sales reports. Most of the accusations are pure garbage but the company is sketchy as hell.

While you might be thinking that I’m bitter because I haven’t any luck there, you should know that I moved $75,000 of domains in 6 months. At one point, I was the first to go to bat for them all because I try to show some loyalty when someone is taking care of me.

However, I recently had my Super Seller status revoked “due to comments made towards other users.” In fact, this is due to my response to the auction where an individual claimed to have an offer on a 3 day old domain of 10,000 bitcoins — that’s $2,500,000. Apparently, calling out a scammer is grounds for retaliation from the business.

I suppose this is because Flippa values net revenue more than customer satisfaction.

Now that you know my motivation I will move on and share a little bit of insider information.

If you’re paying full price for listing fees and upgrades you have been scammed.

They have gone on the defensive in the past by saying that they “subsidize” upgrades for their top sellers. Subsidize is a cute word for giveaway.

I received somewhere between $3,000 to $5,000 in “subsidies” — as a private seller — over 6 months. At one point, I received $2,000 in credits at one time.

Now I won’t lie, sometimes I had to pay for listings. When I did, I still got hooked up. For every upgrade or listing I purchased I received 2 free.

So when I paid, which was rare, I paid 1/3 of what you’ve been paying. I’m sure you now see why some people make a killing off their platform while others have lost hundreds of dollars per listing.

Oh you thought Editor’s choice was for good domains? Nah. It has been a filter for friends of Flippa.

When I sold on Flippa’s platform, I was given Editor’s Choice for nearly all of my domains. Why? Because I asked.

I know some of you noticed that only 3-5 people showed up when visiting that page. Some might not care but others might understand the value of this.

Domains at Flippa sell for much more when given the Editor’s Choice designation.

Oh so you suspect shilling? I’ve known many users who have shilled their way to a profit. It doesn’t benefit Flippa to eliminate shilling. High sales mean higher success fees.

Simple as that.

Straight up scamming? Yep.

I’ve reported verifiable scams to customer support and I didn’t hear back until after the auction closed. They stated that it was now the buyer’s responsibility to report the sale if something fishy occurred.

Hmmmm.

Would the buyer receive a refund? No. Would the seller be suspended? Yes. Would Flippa still profit? Damn right.

At the end of the day, you can choose to use their platform of boycott them.

I will choose the latter.

P.S.

Have you been curious about what Flippa has been doing?

They are working on adding small business to their platform.

Yeah. Dump money into selling physical business without verifying any of their claims.

That should work. Everyone is honest. Right?
Thanks for the info, Shane. I always wondered how sellers were making any money while paying out the exorbitant costs associated with upgrades.
 
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Thread marked as "Watched"!!

This will be a crazy ride, buckle up everybody. Thank you Shane :) I am looking forward to seeing what other shadiness will be shared.
 
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Very detailed report sir. I just started migrating my domains to Flippa. This post will definitely raise my guards when going forward.
 
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I will wait for Flippa to reply.
So I can have some good laughs maybe...
 
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Glad I used the free promo coupon ($60) posted here in NP to post 3 Domains a few days ago (first auction ever). I had a feeling I was wasting my time doing so even being free. Definitely watching this thread.
 
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Thanks Shane!

You just confirmed everything I already suspected about F.
 
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Maybe this should be in another thread, or maybe already answered somewhere, but outside of Flippa and besides here at NP, where are the best places to auction/sell domains?
 
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I have had zero success there, mind you I did not not list great names, but only getting like 5 views makes it a no go for me now, sorry.

imo the platform has to provide the views and the traffic without you having to fork out hefty payments.
 
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Maybe this should be in another thread, or maybe already answered somewhere, but outside of Flippa and besides here at NP, where are the best places to auction/sell domains?
Most of my sales come from Sedo and people contacting me directly.
 
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Thanks @Shane Bellone for the info. Probably it's time to remove my domains from Flippa...
 
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done with them for a while....will await reply :)
 
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Maybe this thread should be moved to Legal Discussion.

:xf.smile: :xf.wink:
 
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My apprehension about Editor Choice thing proved correct. Flippa exposed.
 
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So, wait, profiting from their shady practices would be OK if you hadn't lose all the perks?
But now it's not?

I'm confused... :rolleyes:
 
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appreciate the sharing of your perspective
 
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So, wait, profiting from their shady practices would be OK if you hadn't lose all the perks?
But now it's not?

I'm confused... :rolleyes:

This.

You didn't mind leaving your fellow domainers in the dark knowing fully well that Flippa was full of BS scam behavior - yet now that you got stung by the same circle of fraudulent activity you knowingly participated in, benefited from, and helped to promote by your engagement and promotion/support of the website, you now want to look like the saintful martyr and "expose" something?

All of that aside, tell us something other than what most of us have known for a long time now.
 
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So, wait, profiting from their shady practices would be OK if you hadn't lose all the perks?
But now it's not?

I'm confused... :rolleyes:

Developing relationships is part of business. Leveraging those relationships is just being smart.

And I haven't listed there in months. The platform has died.
 
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This.

You didn't mind leaving your fellow domainers in the dark knowing fully well that Flippa was full of BS scam behavior - yet now that you got stung by the same circle of fraudulent activity you knowingly participated in, benefited from, and helped to promote by your engagement and promotion/support of the website, you now want to look like the saintful martyr and "expose" something?

All of that aside, tell us something other than what most of us have known for a long time now.

I never claimed to be a saint.

Make this about me if you want.

I really couldn't care less.
 
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