So you THOUGHT Flippa was shady?

[S-B]

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?

 

[S-B]

@FlippaDomains

Care to explain why things magically disappear on your website? Maybe it's a technical glitch caused by the vast series of glorious updates?

 

[Abdullah Abdullah]

The times I saw such error page was when privacy is bought etc.

 

[FlippaDomains]

It's interesting how I post a link to an auction that was a scam and it magically disappears within 1 day.

GO TEAM FLIPPA

I actually saw that the minute you posted and somehow forgot to mention. When you posted, the page didnt exist.

Just another reason no one should use Flippa.

@FlippaDomains

Care to explain why things magically disappear on your website? Maybe it's a technical glitch caused by the vast series of glorious updates?

I didn't touch it, so it's likely the guy you've been hammering on for the past day decided to hide it.

Whether or not something was strange with this listing, I can not confirm - it was a website listing from 6+ months back, so I have little insight into it - but if you want to bring to attention something strange, dodgy, alarming or whatever other adjective you can think of, bring it to me or our team - preferably via PM.

Publicizing these things has its place, but in this instance, you're just going to get more and more things hidden and the misunderstanding will continue. I'll speak to you separately about this, because it sounds like we need to clear it up that way.

 

[Mr Dobalina]

How about Flippa's customer service lol. Don't even try.

 

[Jen-Sin]

@FlippaDomains, why is Flippa asking to verify my identity again when I had previously provided my identification?

According to AUSTRAC, "Know Your Customer" (KYC) identification process is required by financial entities for new customers when opening an account to prevent or detect money laundering activities. It can also reduce other types of risks to a business.

Under the ongoing customer due diligence (OCDD), entities need to determine when and in what circumstances additional KYC information should be collected, updated or verified.

After 10+ transactions in Flippa, my transactions are now considered unusual or suspicious or high-risk that I need to provide identify verification again to ensure my account remains under my control?

Earlier identify verification, phone verification and credit card verification and other forms of checking like IP monitoring are not enough to confirm my identity?

The process should not be the reason to hold back rightful payment from auctions and sales. If a risk has been identified, shouldn't OCDD be conducted before any sale and not during the release of funds?

Now it has became a situation where I have to be compliant to this request in order to receive my funds.

I understand that integrity of a marketplace is important. But sometimes I feel Market Integrity of Flippa views and treats all users as potential fruadsters first and valued customers second.

Even big marketplaces like GoDaddy and Sedo don't demand the kind of verification Flippa requires.

Hi @Jen-Sin ~ Sounds like you may have triggered a new threshold of transaction totals you've thread through the platform. I believe they need to re-evaluate every so often, though because their department is separated [PromisePay aka Flippa Escrow is a separate company, just so everyone's clear], you'll need to reach out directly. Best way to get in touch with any questions or concerns is via [email protected]

@FlippaDomains,

Now I received a note from AirTasker.com via Flippa support that my account may be suspended if I don't provide my identification. The intent of Know Your Customer is to know your customer and mitigate possible business risks. Can Flippa explain how am I a higher risk customer now? I have completed 10+ transactions with 100% feedback, and your company has already verified me via my email, full name, credit card, telephone, and all my social medias, and earlier, I have verified my identify prior to my first Flippa escrow transaction. Even my PayPal email is my verified email and my bank account provided is under my name. All these are still not enough for the company to know me as a customer? Even IP checks are able to flag suspicious accounts, but can't determine I'm the actual person using my account? How about a phone call to my verified number to check?

How many other separate companies are involved? First PromisePay, now AirTasker.com.

And now my $2+k and my account are been placed on hostage. Why is it that Flippa loves to treat customers as potential criminals? I've chatted with you many times about this, but things don't seems to improve but getting ridiculous. How many more good people is Flippa going to lose? It's not about upholding market integrity and apologising later. Will anyone like getting slapped in the face and getting an apology later? These are definitely not honest mistakes but intentional procedures that no longer makes sense when implemented to the extreme.

If PromisePay is not Flippa and Flippa is not PromisePay, why use the name Flippa Escrow? And PromisePay is able to have my Flippa account suspended or banned?

Can Flippa please share how such practices are the standard industrial regulations? Aren't EYC and OCDD a process prior to using the service and not just before release of funds?

Flippa is quick to ban and suspend accounts, but half the time, slow to respond. Market Integrity was able to flag more suspicious activities this year, but with the increased threshold, it has achieved a negative experience overall. Just the last few pages alone, there're already a few users who felt the consequences were not warranted. What about those users who don't read this thread nor know you but were handled a ban and/or suspension with no recourse?

In the last 4 months alone, I have been banned once, threatened to be banned twice, and now a note of possible suspension with my money held on hold. Market integrity is important, so is customer experience. We are not criminals.

Please please please please please review the current processes. Good Market Integrity is supposed to increase confidence in the marketplace, not the reverse knowing that money paid can be forfeited or funds held.

 

[Mr Dobalina]

They have very rude customer service reps who do not want to help solve your problems.

@FlippaDomains,

Now I received a note from AirTasker.com via Flippa support that my account may be suspended if I don't provide my identification. The intent of Know Your Customer is to know your customer and mitigate possible business risks. Can Flippa explain how am I a higher risk customer now? I have completed 10+ transactions with 100% feedback, and your company has already verified me via my email, full name, credit card, telephone, and all my social medias, and earlier, I have verified my identify prior to my first Flippa escrow transaction. Even my PayPal email is my verified email and my bank account provided is under my name. All these are still not enough for the company to know me as a customer? Even IP checks are able to flag suspicious accounts, but can't determine I'm the actual person using my account? How about a phone call to my verified number to check?

How many other separate companies are involved? First PromisePay, now AirTasker.com.

And now my $2+k and my account are been placed on hostage. Why is it that Flippa loves to treat customers as potential criminals? I've chatted with you many times about this, but things don't seems to improve but getting ridiculous. How many more good people is Flippa going to lose? It's not about upholding market integrity and apologising later. Will anyone like getting slapped in the face and getting an apology later? These are definitely not honest mistakes but intentional procedures that no longer makes sense when implemented to the extreme.

If PromisePay is not Flippa and Flippa is not PromisePay, why use the name Flippa Escrow? And PromisePay is able to have my Flippa account suspended or banned?

Can Flippa please share how such practices are the standard industrial regulations? Aren't EYC and OCDD a process prior to using the service and not just before release of funds?

Flippa is quick to ban and suspend accounts, but half the time, slow to respond. Market Integrity was able to flag more suspicious activities this year, but with the increased threshold, it has achieved a negative experience overall. Just the last few pages alone, there're already a few users who felt the consequences were not warranted. What about those users who don't read this thread nor know you but were handled a ban and/or suspension with no recourse?

In the last 4 months alone, I have been banned once, threatened to be banned twice, and now a note of possible suspension with my money held on hold. Market integrity is important, so is customer experience. We are not criminals.

Please please please please please review the current processes. Good Market Integrity is supposed to increase confidence in the marketplace, not the reverse knowing that money paid can be forfeited or funds held.

 

[HeyNow]

@FlippaDomains,

Now I received a note from AirTasker.com via Flippa support that my account may be suspended if I don't provide my identification. And now my $2+k and my account are been placed on hostage. Why is it that Flippa loves to treat customers as potential criminals? Flippa is quick to ban and suspend accounts, but half the time, slow to respond. In the last 4 months alone, I have been banned once, threatened to be banned twice, and now a note of possible suspension with my money held on hold.

After all that, you would still use Flippa? You know what the answer is to your problem. If Flippa is as bad as you say, then why in the world aren't you taking your money and running away?

 

[Jen-Sin]

They have very rude customer service reps who do not want to help solve your problems.

They do have good people and good customer service reps in their team.

One I like to highlight and commend is Ashley Silva. She has always been very prompt, helpful and friendly.

 

[Jen-Sin]

After all that, you would still use Flippa? You know what the answer is to your problem. If Flippa is as bad as you say, then why in the world aren't you taking your money and running away?

My intent is to provide constructive feedback in hope to see positive improvements. Flippa is not 100% bad. There are still many good things/features about Flippa.

Taking my money elsewhere is not the only solution, but it is indeed shifting that way, just not at the tipping point yet.

Knowing Flippa, taking business elsewhere will not bother them one bit with their current market integrity policies. I feel that most of their staff are not totally in tune with the domaining industry, maybe except for Kevin, and any policies will pan across the whole marketplace of sites, domains and apps, not just the domains division. These will only add limitations and reduce pace to changes.

 

[Jen-Sin]

I didn't touch it, so it's likely the guy you've been hammering on for the past day decided to hide it.

How do one hide a listing?

I recently requested my cancelled catalog listings to be deleted, but was told Flippa doesn't delete any of its current, ended or canceled listings to maintain transparency in the marketplace.

The reason why i requested the non-sales listings deleted is because my listings look messy with these still around in my profile publicly. And we all know messy listings only turn off potential buyers. And they still have Make Offer written there, and Watch buttons.

@FlippaDomains you may like to propose to relook into this policy. Cancelled listings had no offers, bids nor transactions before, and should not impact any transparency issue.

Thank you.

 

[yogiDomain]

How do one hide a listing?

I recently requested my cancelled catalog listings to be deleted, but was told Flippa doesn't delete any of its current, ended or canceled listings to maintain transparency in the marketplace.

The reason why i requested the non-sales listings deleted is because my listings look messy with these still around in my profile publicly. And we all know messy listings only turn off potential buyers. And they still have Make Offer written there, and Watch buttons.

@FlippaDomains you may like to propose to relook into this policy. Cancelled listings had no offers, bids nor transactions before, and should not impact any transparency issue.

Thank you.

I think you need to pay them to cancel the listing.
Please correct me if I am wrong

 

[JamesCrew]

I think you need to pay them to cancel the listing.
Please correct me if I am wrong

Yes, that's a response when I requested Flippa to delete one of my old listing. They asked me to pay to get the listing deleted. What a transparency!!!

 

[mad409]

There are NO OTHER marketplaces that allow sellers to close/delete auctions if there are bids on it.

Not true.

 

[NameOmnia]

They asked me to pay to get the listing deleted

WHAT?????

 

[Messiah]

WHAT?????

This is why there is this feature to hide your listings... If you want to hide your listing, you need to pay for it...

• Private listing (+$20)
  Hide your listing from search engines like Google and the general public.
• Hide listing completely from public view (+$30)
  Your listing will no longer be visible to the public.

 

[Abdullah Abdullah]

They do have good people and good customer service reps in their team.

One I like to highlight and commend is Ashley Silva. She has always been very prompt, helpful and friendly.

Agreed. Ashley is the BEST, also Natalie,

 

[iAchilles]

Yes, that's a response when I requested Flippa to delete one of my old listing. They asked me to pay to get the listing deleted. What a transparency!!!

If you're a European citizen you could try this to bypass the $20 fee. If you don't live in Europe maybe a European friend can help you out. It will only remove the links from European serps unfortunately.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2014/05/30/google-offers-up-forget-me-form/

Maybe I should start up a service charging $10. :D

 

[HeyNow]

Knowing Flippa, taking business elsewhere will not bother them one bit ...

Well, after you leave and take you business elsewhere, why in the world would you care if it bothers them or not? Eventually, if they don't change their practices and policies, I imagine they'll be gone. Word is spreading about their shortcomings.

And frankly, I'm also watching those that sell there, and will not buy from those individuals even outside of the Flippa platform. You see, any Seller who participates in what I consider a rigged system benefiting the Seller and taking advantage of buyers who have not had full disclosure about auction platform employees potentially bidding against them, will also not benefit from my hard-earned cash. Never.

There are too many individuals in this domain aftermarket who don't have real jobs, and fantasize about working from their bedroom trading domains, making a good living. Many of them are okay defrauding others. Those who cheat at auctions (including misleading buyers) will not get my money.

 

[FlippaDomains]

@FlippaDomains,

Now I received a note from AirTasker.com via Flippa support that my account may be suspended if I don't provide my identification. The intent of Know Your Customer is to know your customer and mitigate possible business risks. Can Flippa explain how am I a higher risk customer now? I have completed 10+ transactions with 100% feedback, and your company has already verified me via my email, full name, credit card, telephone, and all my social medias, and earlier, I have verified my identify prior to my first Flippa escrow transaction. Even my PayPal email is my verified email and my bank account provided is under my name. All these are still not enough for the company to know me as a customer? Even IP checks are able to flag suspicious accounts, but can't determine I'm the actual person using my account? How about a phone call to my verified number to check?

How many other separate companies are involved? First PromisePay, now AirTasker.com.

And now my $2+k and my account are been placed on hostage. Why is it that Flippa loves to treat customers as potential criminals? I've chatted with you many times about this, but things don't seems to improve but getting ridiculous. How many more good people is Flippa going to lose? It's not about upholding market integrity and apologising later. Will anyone like getting slapped in the face and getting an apology later? These are definitely not honest mistakes but intentional procedures that no longer makes sense when implemented to the extreme.

If PromisePay is not Flippa and Flippa is not PromisePay, why use the name Flippa Escrow? And PromisePay is able to have my Flippa account suspended or banned?

Can Flippa please share how such practices are the standard industrial regulations? Aren't EYC and OCDD a process prior to using the service and not just before release of funds?

Flippa is quick to ban and suspend accounts, but half the time, slow to respond. Market Integrity was able to flag more suspicious activities this year, but with the increased threshold, it has achieved a negative experience overall. Just the last few pages alone, there're already a few users who felt the consequences were not warranted. What about those users who don't read this thread nor know you but were handled a ban and/or suspension with no recourse?

In the last 4 months alone, I have been banned once, threatened to be banned twice, and now a note of possible suspension with my money held on hold. Market integrity is important, so is customer experience. We are not criminals.

Please please please please please review the current processes. Good Market Integrity is supposed to increase confidence in the marketplace, not the reverse knowing that money paid can be forfeited or funds held.

Hi @Jen-Sin -- First, I think the AirTasker thing must be a mistake. PromisePay also services them, so ...Not sure about that one.

As for KYC (Know Your Customer), I have the same curiosities and yet - I do not run their company. They are simply meeting compliance with what is requested and required of them via their banking institutions.

That said, and as I have recently mentioned before, we (Flippa) will do a better job outlining ahead of time what kinds of ID checks and otherwise are required upfront, so as to alert buyers and sellers ahead of time.

The fact that you're repeatedly getting asked for your ID isn't a systemic failure so much as a missing explanation as to why they call-up checks at different points in a buyer's or seller's history. Seems that new transaction totals trigger new thresholds.

I am reviewing this process; I am reviewing lots of things. I understand your frustration and I have addressed much of this off-thread to you privately. I am working to ensure that you are at the very least briefed on what happens and why, so I will request you work with me (PM is fine) in outlining your latest instances of communication - who you spoke to, what they told you, etc. We'll get this sorted by week's end.

I feel that most of their staff are not totally in tune with the domaining industry, maybe except for Kevin, and any policies will pan across the whole marketplace of sites, domains and apps, not just the domains division. These will only add limitations and reduce pace to changes.

Our domains team is (still) small. We are growing, though. As far as our Customer Success team, we've had some turnover but have made some great new hires and I guarantee our response times and knowledgeable staff will vastly improve. If at any time you are dissatisfied with a rep, please do reach out (PM, again).

How do one hide a listing?

I recently requested my cancelled catalog listings to be deleted, but was told Flippa doesn't delete any of its current, ended or canceled listings to maintain transparency in the marketplace.

The reason why i requested the non-sales listings deleted is because my listings look messy with these still around in my profile publicly. And we all know messy listings only turn off potential buyers. And they still have Make Offer written there, and Watch buttons.

@FlippaDomains you may like to propose to relook into this policy. Cancelled listings had no offers, bids nor transactions before, and should not impact any transparency issue.

Thank you.

I think you need to pay them to cancel the listing.
Please correct me if I am wrong

Yes, that's a response when I requested Flippa to delete one of my old listing. They asked me to pay to get the listing deleted. What a transparency!!!

WHAT?????

I am working to remove the pay-to-remove/cancel fee, to make it easier for sellers to hide items they want hidden.

And frankly, I'm also watching those that sell there, and will not buy from those individuals even outside of the Flippa platform. You see, any Seller who participates in what I consider a rigged system benefiting the Seller and taking advantage of buyers who have not had full disclosure about auction platform employees potentially bidding against them, will also not benefit from my hard-earned cash. Never.

Going through an update of our ToS this week. Will be addressing this (employee involvement) in the days to come.

 

[FlippaDomains]

This should not be a way out, especially if reserve has already been met.

Can I cancel a Flippa auction if my domain is sold at BIN at Afternic, GoDaddy, Sedo etc during the auction?

Oh I don't think there is anything wrong with running the auction, I hate to see people go through the hassle of an auction being cancelled. BrandBucket could allow people to freeze their listings so they don't show on their website.

Again, I'm just going to keep repeating myself until it's clear -

Double-listing, addressed below (in the non-auction, offer/counter-offer, buy/now section) is allowed, and seemingly every single domainer short of the die-hard loyal one-platform customers...seem to partake in this practice.

Flippa will me amending their ToS to reflect this change of language, addressing past concerns that we demanded exclusivity.

THAT SAID, if you have SOMETHING AT AUCTION - domain, website, app - you are prohibited from accepting offers ANYwhere else. That means, during the duration of the live auction on Flippa, you either need to ignore or disable offers of the same asset that may exist on other platforms.

Easy ! If you get a huge offer you could even bid on your own name! Or get an employee to do it for you!

Proof, please.

If you set up an auction with no reserve then you should remove all other sales venues because the name will sell and all you are doing is pissing off the person who is "investing" in your name that has to clean up your bs mess.

Agreed.

I have seen plenty of Buy it now domains on SEDO, Afternic, DNS, Flippa Catalog
I always check other platforms for low price before checking out.

Is that wrong ?

If you have only get offers everywhere I don't think that it is bad, but if you have buy it now or direct bids in more than one place than it is wrong !

Correct.

There are NO OTHER marketplaces that allow sellers to close/delete auctions if there are bids on it.
Flippa once again has to make it to the news...and not for good reasons!

Just for the record, I'll only say this once more --

This rarely happens, and other than during extenuating circumstances, is prohibited.

 

[BrandingModel.com]

 

[equity78]

Again, I'm just going to keep repeating myself until it's clear -

Double-listing, addressed below (in the non-auction, offer/counter-offer, buy/now section) is allowed, and seemingly every single domainer short of the die-hard loyal one-platform customers...seem to partake in this practice.

Flippa will me amending their ToS to reflect this change of language, addressing past concerns that we demanded exclusivity.

THAT SAID, if you have SOMETHING AT AUCTION - domain, website, app - you are prohibited from accepting offers ANYwhere else. That means, during the duration of the live auction on Flippa, you either need to ignore or disable offers of the same asset that may exist on other platforms.



Proof, please.



Agreed.





Correct.



Just for the record, I'll only say this once more --

This rarely happens, and other than during extenuating circumstances, is prohibited.

There was nothing unclear to me so not sure why you are replying to me with that. I said I hate to see people have to cancel auctions, and BrandBucket needs to have a freeze option, or say no if your domain is on BrandBucket you cannot run an auction on Flippa, if you do, we will remove the name from BrandBucket.

 

[Mr Dobalina]

@FlippaDomains The company is clearly being run into the ground. I can make a potential 7 figure offer if I can see financial statements. Flippa needs help.

 

[DnSpy]

@Trademedomains , nice quote

"Can be destroyed themselves" or
" can be detroyed by others with rumours"

 

[BrandingModel.com]

@Trademedomains , nice quote

"Can be destroyed themselves" or
" can be detroyed by others with rumours"

I Agree with you...

I haven't had a bad experience with Flippa to date. When buying domains now I find that NP auctions gives me more of a peace in mind to avoid the potential shill bidding even if it isn't happening at Flippa as much as we think or if it is happening at all now???

However that being said there are some very good domain GEMs at Flippa and I find that a PM and negotiating a BIN and getting the deal done is much better for me. IMO... I've had no problems with Flippa Escrow...

I guess there are different experiences that vary from person to person... However reputation is everything and it seems that Kevin is doing his best to answer customer concerns on this blog... That's all we can ask for and hopefully it helps to resolve and fix customer concerns...

Not everyone is going to be satisfied and that happens in business...