Flippa Strategies? How Much Do Upgrades Work? Any Tips To Share? Let's Discuss!

[NameFu]

I've hear a lot of things from $1 reserves to setting an auction for no longer than 7 days. Does anyone have any tips that are proven to increase your bids?

One things for sure:

1) The more views you get, the more likely you'll get more bids
2) The longer your auction, the more exposure it *could* get before it closes

But what about the other factors like advertising upgrades? Have any of you had luck with any kind of upgrades in particular? I for one have never tried the premium auction upgrade before, but I'm seriously considering it.

Another factor is how an auction's description is composed. Any tips to share? I'm always an open book and looking for input from others.

One thing that I've seen work over and over again with some of the more successful sellers is listing the past sales history of similar domains with the same keywords. I think this is becoming a popular tactic for a reason, but do any of you believe that doing this can cause harm to your auction's appeal?

Another tactic that I've seen used by some sellers on Flippa is keeping it REALLY simple. And by that I mean max 5-6 sentences. Sort of a take it or leave it approach....letting the domain speak for it's self?

It's worked! But maybe different strategies for different domains? Let's discuss!!

 

[equity78]

Flippa has been an advertiser on Tldinvestors.com and when I saw the commentary here, I emailed Kevin and told him there was a conversation he might be interested in. So it was no damage control, he got an email from me. Kevin has done a good job answering questions on the recent interview he did and I think he is just on top of his game and does not brush things off, he makes the kind of effort to engage that most other customer service reps would do well to emulate.

 

[The New Guy]

We have toyed with the ideas of getting rid of comments and messages altogether. Or at least, I have thought about it. Would be welcome to feedback on this. While removing these would be against our M.O. of transparency, I do understand that comments are sometimes superfluous and can overwhelm someone with dozens of emails if they're bidding/watching as many listings.

Comments are one of the reasons I won't list on flippa. When I'm trying to sell the domain it's between me and the interested party. Having comments on an auction is like letting a third part come into your art gallery and make random comments to a shopper while they're looking at an item to buy.

It's not amazon and you're not selling a hundred identical televisions where comments / reviews help everybody. There is no point to commenting on a unique name because no one other than the current owner has the item. It can too easily be used to sabotage a listing just for fun, out of spite, or to put down domains that are similar to ones they may be trying to sell with another account.

Why would I list there and why would I pay for promoting a domain if anyone can come in on a listing I paid for and leave bad comments about it?

How does it help me sell a domain if someone can make comments on it? Either someone wants to buy it or they don't - few things will motivate them to buy a domain they are not interested in, but many things can kill their interest in a product or a domain.

 

[HeyNow]

@HeyNow,

Even though I have serious concerns about about conflict of interest when it comes to Flippa and nearly every other domain sales venue, I think you're being unfair to Kevin Fink in your comments.

I appreciate your comments, all of them, not just those copied in this reply to your lengthy post.

A company which chooses to keep buyers in the dark about a potentially fraudulent practice is not worth doing business with, IMHO.

Paranoid? That's what Eric Lyons labeled me. IMHO, he's a fool for labeling me that, considering the Snapnames scandal, Godaddy scandal, and the fact he has no valid credential for diagnosing me as "paranoid" based on a few domain forum posts. After those scandals. we should all be aware of auctioneer policies which optically allow for the wholesale screwing of the buyers/bidders. Oddly, I like Eric. He's got loyalties, however misguided.

 

[equity78]

To be fair the Snapnames and Go Daddy situations were different, Snapnames was outright fraud, the Go Daddy situation cannot be called a scandal as Go Daddy said it was ok just like Flippa, the only thing was when the Go Daddy news broke it got covered in places outside domaining like Wired Magazine, after that Go Daddy changed policy. We cannot like something but if an employee is allowed they did nothing wrong just sol long as they paid for their auctions.

 

[DomainVP]

Flippa is for lazy domain sellers that are okay with only getting a Fraction of what their domain is worth.

I've had domains of Flippa that have gotten $250 - $700 offers, and then sold them independently for $5k+.

I've also spent about $700 with their abysmal 'promotion packages'. I guess I'm the sucker for that one, but I thought I would give their service a fair shot.

If you want to shill bid your name up to an absurd value and maybe phish a clueless end user, Flippa is the place to be. Everyone knows that, and if you didn't know that... your welcome.

In all seriousness, you might as well use eBay; they have stricter controls and failsafes than Flippa and their core business isn't based on a rampant scam of 'promotion packages' sold to domain sellers.

Quote all the metrics you want, it's all B.S.

 

[tomcarl]

Anyone notice a difference in attention from the time your listing ends? Obviously no one would want to end their auction at 3am, but what do you think would work better, morning, afternoon, evening?

 

[vccground]

Is the domain sale commission 10% or 15%? Also, if you're a seller you have to wire pay the commission separately or Flippa gets paid as part of the Escrow.com transaction?

 

[FPForum]

Anyone notice a difference in attention from the time your listing ends? Obviously no one would want to end their auction at 3am, but what do you think would work better, morning, afternoon, evening?

I've actually tested this in the past..I'm CST and have tried early morning..later in the morning..early afternoon..early evening..later in the evening. Out of all my testing I find the best time is early evening..Around 6-8ish (CST).

 

[jideofor]

One thing that I've seen work over and over again with some of the more successful sellers is listing the past sales history of similar domains with the same keywords. I think this is becoming a popular tactic for a reason, but do any of you believe that doing this can cause harm to your auction's appeal?

Yes, this works but with conditions that your domain has some notable values to spice things up.

Another tactic that I've seen used by some sellers on Flippa is keeping it REALLY simple. And by that I mean max 5-6 sentences. Sort of a take it or leave it approach....letting the domain speak for it's self?

It's worked! But maybe different strategies for different domains? Let's discuss!!

This will only work if you have a one word dictionary dot com, mostly premium keywords, in which you wouldn't have to speak-- the domain speak for itself and does the selling!

 

[Zombies]

HeyNow, I just wanted to give you some support. Very much agree with your comments regarding Flippa. Shill and Employee bidding - in any auction format - is completely unethical and unacceptable.

I am never sure why good samaritans, like yourself, get stones cast at them for trying to alert the community of potential dangers. Worse yet, the people casting stones (with apologist comments) are ones that are getting potentially exploited.

Anyway, just wanted to thank you for your common sense and willingness to speak out. bravo.

 

[FlippaDomains]

@FlippaDomains,

Good job jumping into the lion's den!

Thanks, @ImageAuthors ~ Definitely enjoy discussing the nuts and bolts with you. Let's keep talking.

A quick sidenote: we just obliterated the minimum $10 fee -- across the board! There's a simple 10% success fee for each sale, at auction or in catalog, website or domain...

 

[FlippaDomains]

Flippa has been an advertiser on Tldinvestors.com and when I saw the commentary here, I emailed Kevin and told him there was a conversation he might be interested in. So it was no damage control, he got an email from me. Kevin has done a good job answering questions on the recent interview he did and I think he is just on top of his game and does not brush things off, he makes the kind of effort to engage that most other customer service reps would do well to emulate.

@equity78 -- Thank you, and yes....You did bring this thread to my attention. I have been a longtime NamePros member, albeit under a different handle, but have basically stopped buying and selling since my role at Flippa materialized.

I appreciate the coverage of the industry you provide, including coverage of this thread. It's important to be discussing this. And I appreciate our media partnership -- we'll work together again soon.

 

[FlippaDomains]

Comments are one of the reasons I won't list on flippa. When I'm trying to sell the domain it's between me and the interested party. Having comments on an auction is like letting a third part come into your art gallery and make random comments to a shopper while they're looking at an item to buy.

It's not amazon and you're not selling a hundred identical televisions where comments / reviews help everybody. There is no point to commenting on a unique name because no one other than the current owner has the item. It can too easily be used to sabotage a listing just for fun, out of spite, or to put down domains that are similar to ones they may be trying to sell with another account.

Why would I list there and why would I pay for promoting a domain if anyone can come in on a listing I paid for and leave bad comments about it?

How does it help me sell a domain if someone can make comments on it? Either someone wants to buy it or they don't - few things will motivate them to buy a domain they are not interested in, but many things can kill their interest in a product or a domain.

Great insights. What would you think of the seller being able to moderate his or her auction's comments?

 

[ImageAuthors]

we just obliterated the minimum $10 fee -- across the board! There's a simple 10% success fee for each sale, at auction or in catalog, website or domain...

Good choice. It did feel a bit strange to pay Flippa a $10 success fee for a $6 or $1 sale.

Question: When someone makes an offer through the Flippa catalogue, does that person automatically become a watcher in a subsequent auction -- perhaps months afterward? I think that functionality would benefit all concerned.

 

[FlippaDomains]

Is the domain sale commission 10% or 15%? Also, if you're a seller you have to wire pay the commission separately or Flippa gets paid as part of the Escrow.com transaction?

10% across the board. And we just removed the $10 minimum fee -- so just 10% for every domain sale at auction or in catalog.

If you use the Escrow.com link via Flippa, you save 20% -- and Flippa deducts its success fee from the transaction.

If you do not use Escrow.com through Flippa, you are responsible for paying your success fee via other means.

We'll soon have a built-in Escrow service, stay tuned for this -- it's nearly here.

 

[FlippaDomains]

Good choice. It did feel a bit strange to pay Flippa a $10 success fee for a $6 or $1 sale.

Question: When someone makes an offer through the Flippa catalogue, does that person automatically become a watcher in a subsequent auction -- perhaps months afterward? I think that functionality would benefit all concerned.

It is absolutely something on my to-do list. Trying to also create a 'watch' list for catalog listings, in general...Thanks for your feedback, J

 

[FlippaDomains]

Flippa is for lazy domain sellers that are okay with only getting a Fraction of what their domain is worth.

I've had domains of Flippa that have gotten $250 - $700 offers, and then sold them independently for $5k+.

I've also spent about $700 with their abysmal 'promotion packages'. I guess I'm the sucker for that one, but I thought I would give their service a fair shot.

If you want to shill bid your name up to an absurd value and maybe phish a clueless end user, Flippa is the place to be. Everyone knows that, and if you didn't know that... your welcome.

In all seriousness, you might as well use eBay; they have stricter controls and failsafes than Flippa and their core business isn't based on a rampant scam of 'promotion packages' sold to domain sellers.

Quote all the metrics you want, it's all B.S.

Sorry you've had a bad experience. Was it during my watch? Always feel free to email me to see if there's anything I can do to provide a new, risk-free selling experience...

 

[The New Guy]

Great insights. What would you think of the seller being able to moderate his or her auction's comments?

Ideally they should be able to turn them off entirely.

What could be useful would be a Q&A section similar to what amazon does (I think ebay has added it too). If a buyer has a question, the seller can respond and opt to make the question and answer public in order to build up a sort of FAQ on that domain to save time.

 

[FlippaDomains]

Ideally they should be able to turn them off entirely.

What could be useful would be a Q&A section similar to what amazon does (I think ebay has added it too). If a buyer has a question, the seller can respond and opt to make the question and answer public in order to build up a sort of FAQ on that domain to save time.

Yes, I was thinking of exactly this just yesterday. Buyers can ask questions that the seller can choose to make public. The general "Nice domain" comments would go by the wayside.

Lots of interesting changes ahead. When Flippa started, it was 99% for websites -- now that domains have just as equal a place in the Flippa marketplace, we're in need of some modifications. I'll keep you updated...

 

[Archangel]

...that's not what he was doing. He was being paranoid and spouting out about things that make no sense in the discussion. Why applaud that?

HeyNow, I just wanted to give you some support. Very much agree with your comments regarding Flippa. Shill and Employee bidding - in any auction format - is completely unethical and unacceptable.

I am never sure why good samaritans, like yourself, get stones cast at them for trying to alert the community of potential dangers. Worse yet, the people casting stones (with apologist comments) are ones that are getting potentially exploited.

Anyway, just wanted to thank you for your common sense and willingness to speak out. bravo.

 

[Domain Shane]

I thought I would chime in here since I deal with Flippa every day through my list at DomainShane. Kevin can attest that I email him with every problem I see. From unnatural bids to a shitty search function. I have no vested interest in Flippa but they do advertise with me. I send them a ton of traffic but only because they have had some fantastic names and sales over the past 4 months. It's been slow this past months. But don't listen to anyone that blames the platform for their lack of sales. A good name at Flippa can sell at premium prices if properly placed and marketed. Look at sellers Kroc, Federer, and Eric Borgos and you will see sellers doing very well but they have great domains and know how to properly list a name. And yes I list names for people to give them more exposure but that's just a part of listing properly on Flippa. As for buyers, the only thing that matters for buyers is having quality names up for auction and a fair bidding process. I think they have it. The post negotiation makes it even better. That's my two cents and biased or not biased, I still have an educated opinion as I spend 30 minutes a day, every day, checking the name and bidding. And any questions or problems I have I don't bitch I just email Kevin and he always answers and fixes. That's more than you can say for many other companies. -Shane

 

[FlippaDomains]

And any questions or problems I have I don't bitch I just email Kevin and he always answers and fixes. That's more than you can say for many other companies. -Shane

Thanks, mate. Always enjoy hearing from you, no matter the feedback. As for our shitty search function, <picks up megaphone> be on the lookout for an entirely new domain buying and selling flow, very soon...

</puts megaphone down>

 

[Archangel]

Federer is kinda a god at this.

Look at sellers Kroc, Federer, and Eric Borgos and you will see sellers doing very well but they have great domains and know how to properly list a name.

 

[gerem]

Question about free listing on Flippa:

When you appraise 15 domain names, you earn a free listing. Recently I received an email whith a link for a free listing.
But at the end of the listing, Flippa still requires promotion (min. $9). So what's that free listing?

 

[FlippaDomains]

Question about free listing on Flippa:

When you appraise 15 domain names, you earn a free listing. Recently I received an email whith a link for a free listing.
But at the end of the listing, Flippa still requires promotion (min. $9). So what's that free listing?

The credits are deposited every Thursday -- it should say so in that email; if it doesn't, or if you don't see them being applied when you checkout, please email Support@Flippa to let someone know and they'll gladly assist.

We're soon going to be changing-up the appraisal system's credit structure. Stay tuned...