IT.COM

So you THOUGHT Flippa was shady?

Spaceship Spaceship
Watch

S-B

Account Closed
Impact
5,263
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?
 
91
•••
The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Okay but hang on a minute now...after the Aus.com auction, wasn't a new layer of verification added once an auction was over $5,000? So there is absolutely no question of anything dodgy once an auction gets over the $5,000 mark?

Perhaps someone knows if this is true or not?
 
0
•••
True. 110% of us submariners are 110% flamingly gay.
No way...you mean a childhood hero of mine isn't what I thought he was..
46182d_lg.jpeg

oh well..what he does behind closed doors is his business!

Anyway, interesting thread..totally neutral about the topic!
 
4
•••
...In San Francisco tech firms have 'gentlemens' agreements that when they part ways with an employee they agree not to tell future prospective employers how crap you were at your job, in return for the employee not telling the internet how crap their employer was...

Not only in San Francisco and not only for tech related jobs. That's an agreement widely used in Europe too and also a very good practice imo.

Though beneficial to the actual participating parties, it sure sounds like this should be considered "unethical" behavior in general.

Any non-aligned (i.e. outside) party -- future employers outside of the tech industry or new employees entering the industry -- not aware of this arrangement could "suffer adversely " as a result of this "gentlemen's agreement" (i.e. "secret") of not disclosing potentially negative but important information.

But then again, "ethics" and "ethical" -- and "fair" for that matter -- are VERY subjective terms and tend to be relative to the specific situation.
 
Last edited:
0
•••
I think this sumes up the whole "F" situation PERRRRRFECTLY!

 
6
•••
not aware of this arrangement could "suffer adversely " as a result of this "gentlemen's agreement" (i.e. "secret") of not disclosing potentially negative but important information.

I probably didn't explain myself very well. What I meant is that you actually sign that in your contract, it's not a secret agreement.
 
2
•••
I probably didn't explain myself very well. What I meant is that you actually sign that in your contract, it's not a secret agreement.
Oooooh... A non-disclosure agreement is part of the standard employment contract.

I guess if everyone knows that's the way the "game" is being played, it does level the playing field to a certain degree.

Thanks for the clarification!
 
1
•••
I would like to emphasis the point that I am not concerned with what anyone else in the industry does. I am concerned with my business. Honestly, a dollar spent on an auction that leads no where is a dollar less spent against me in the aftermarket. That's the brutal, unadulterated truth.

I came into this industry with zero experience or knowhow, much like many of you. When I asked for help I was greeted with the same response you see here all of the time - "search the forums." No one tutored me. No one gave me a refund after making a stupid purchase. I did the hard work and learned the lessons.

Now you sit here and say it was my responsibility to educate you. Come on. Man up (sorry ladies) and take responsibility for your actions.

Most of you don't know this but I take time out of my day to help people on this forum. I give advice all of the time via private message. I don't do this because I have to or because it's my duty. I do this because too many amateurs jump into this industry thinking they know everything. If you are smart enough to ask a valid question then you are smart enough accept a truthful and thought-out response. At the end of the day, I am willing to pass the little knowledge I possess on; providing you are looking for help and not a handout.

Even with the motivation to learn and ability to adapt many still aren't capable of mustering the strength battle it out on a daily basis.

This brings me to my next point. Some of you don't have the audacity to succeed in this business. You treat it is like a book club. You sit around, exchange stories, and do everything but read - or in this case sell domains. Yet you still criticize people you don't know for doing what you can't.

You need to change your mentality. Stop blaming other people for handicapping you. It's not your gender, orientation, or race. It's the fact that you fail to understand that you are not always right. Live to learn then learn to succeed. Those are words to live by.

If you've made it through this verbal assault I do commend you.

Just remember - if it's between you and me - it will always be me. I don't lie down or play dead. I play to win.
 
16
•••
I would like to emphasis the point that I am not concerned with what anyone else in the industry does. I am concerned with my business. Honestly, a dollar spent on an auction that leads no where is a dollar less spent against me in the aftermarket. That's the brutal, unadulterated truth.

I came into this industry with zero experience or knowhow, much like many of you. When I asked for help I was greeted with the same response you see here all of the time - "search the forums." No one tutored me. No one gave me a refund after making a stupid purchase. I did the hard work and learned the lessons.

Now you sit here and say it was my responsibility to educate you. Come on. Man up (sorry ladies) and take responsibility for your actions.

Most of you don't know this but I take time out of my day to help people on this forum. I give advice all of the time via private message. I don't do this because I have to or because it's my duty. I do this because too many amateurs jump into this industry thinking they know everything. If you are smart enough to ask a valid question then you are smart enough accept a truthful and thought-out response. At the end of the day, I am willing to pass the little knowledge I possess on; providing you are looking for help and not a handout.

Even with the motivation to learn and ability to adapt many still aren't capable of mustering the strength battle it out on a daily basis.

This brings me to my next point. Some of you don't have the audacity to succeed in this business. You treat it is like a book club. You sit around, exchange stories, and do everything but read - or in this case sell domains. Yet you still criticize people you don't know for doing what you can't.

You need to change your mentality. Stop blaming other people for handicapping you. It's not your gender, orientation, or race. It's the fact that you fail to understand that you are not always right. Live to learn then learn to succeed. Those are words to live by.

If you've made it through this verbal assault I do commend you.

Just remember - if it's between you and me - it will always be me. I don't lie down or play dead. I play to win.

Massive ego.
 
3
•••
Massive ego.

and totally failing to understand the difference between helping/educating and covering up scams/shady practices until it's convenient.
Success is reached when we, as people first and entrepreneurs after, are able to create win-win situations rather than win-lose ones.
Win-lose business models are indeed scams.
 
9
•••
September 16th
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.
Vs.

March 3rd
Editors choice is quite random. You can't just email them and ask to be included. They try to pick some of the best ones...


September 16th
If you’re paying full price for listing fees and upgrades you have been scammed.
Vs.

February 20th
If you have something premium, buy the upgrades. It's really that simple. :)
+
April 10th
In my honest opinion, I wouldn't call an upgrade a risk. It's an investment in order to see a return.


So when you say.......

Now you sit here and say it was my responsibility to educate you.

(which by the way, I've seen literally nobody say), to the contrary I consider you to be somebody with serious credibility issues, I now wouldn't believe a single word that you say.

Perhaps new domainers should now consider you to the be the last person they should listen to, unless they want misinformation?


Now I won’t lie

Of course not
 
Last edited:
24
•••
Opinion in this thread is divided. People see Shane as either a whistle blowing hero or a spiteful over-reactor. My view for the little that it is worth is that he is on this occasion probably closer to the latter.

To proudly claim that he is a "make money any legal way I can" kind of guy, and then criticize an organization that appears to have the same mindset is more than a little hypocritical in my opinion. Especially as (as others have pointed out), that he was fine with it all when he was benefiting from it.

I didn't read all the original thread about that 3 day old domain but what I did see was hardly worthy of getting Shane banned. He made good points and Flippa should be policing the unsubstantiable crap some people write.

What probably happened is that somebody at Flippa saw that thread, looked up Shane's account to see if they were making money from him, and when they realized that they no longer were, decided to use the comment to withdraw his super seller status. Most probably not as a punishment but as a way to open dialogue with him about becoming active again.

Unfortunately, Shane didn't pick up on this and instead went on all out public attack and the result is this thread where neither party's reputation will come out of it unscathed.

Has any real damage been done to Flippa? Probably not, most people already knew that it wasn't a level playing field, but they do now have an opportunity to change the way they operate. I would start by abolishing free upgrades, and then I would reduce the price of paid ones which will mean that ANY seller has the chance to promote a good domain, putting an end to the unfair advantage that they have been handing out to this select group of people that previously included Shane and bringing more liquidity to their market.
 
6
•••
Funny how there is such an overlap between those that have most respect from new domainers for turning profits and making money, and those that at some point get raked over the coals for their methods and practices. What is it they say about meeting your idols ? (or PROs)

I do have to agree with Shane in one respect though: many domainers are too lazy to figure out what is clearly in front of them and do any research of personal evaluation. It does not take a digital business forensics degree to see some of the "shocking" truths.

So anyway, now that one person has written a 100% truthful no BS no bias account of Flippa ;) there's only question left to ask:

Where can I list newly registered domains and sell them for a large profit without doing anything ?
 
2
•••
2
•••
Has any real damage been done to Flippa? Probably not, .

Am not sure i agree with this. Is this good publicity for flippa? probably not and if you're not getting good publicity then you're getting bad publicity. For some reason my gut tells me this isnt fully fair to flippa. I dont think flipppa is the devil(i have an account but am not their biggest fan or user btw)
 
0
•••
Am not sure i agree with this. Is this good publicity for flippa? probably not and if you're not getting good publicity then you're getting bad publicity. For some reason my gut tells me this isnt fully fair to flippa. I dont think flipppa is the devil(i have an account but am not their biggest fan or user btw)

It is one of those things that could go either way but with there not really being any better option for the smaller domainer I really don't think they will suffer any major loss of volume as a result of this thread.

Probably all that will happen will be that the number of paid listings that they sell over the next few days/weeks will go down, and the number of requests for freebies and discounts that they get will go up but really this is all nothing more than a storm in a teacup and not even news for most people here.
 
1
•••
So anyway, now that one person has written a 100% truthful no BS no bias account of Flippa

More than one person has been posting here about the negative aspects of Flippa. The odd thing is, you now take notice when someone who was part of the problem writes about it, instead of those of us who warned you weeks or months ago.

You also sound naive believing you have read, as you say, a "100% truthful and no bias account of Flippa." Are you kidding me?

You couldn't trust that joker before, but you can trust him now?

Wake up!
 
1
•••
You also sound naive believing you have read, as you say, a "100% truthful and no bias account of Flippa." Are you kidding me?
YES! It was a joke (you left of the winky smiley indicating such).

A joke explained is a joke lost but ..... like you said... my point was that some people are so lazy they don't do any of their own analysis - just like in this thread where some view OPs post as an true inside scoop without putting any thought into any of it.

Nothing has really changed here. Flippa is the same etc.. but now people can blame Flippa's internal marketing and promotions for their own crappy failures. Someone else getting Editor's choice has no impact on a crappy domain that doesn't sell (but people now seem to think that's the case).

I don't get scammed for paying full price at store because I didn't sign up to join up for their discount club.
 
1
•••
What exactly is shill bidding?

I was inspired by profitable flips interviews in @DomainSherpa on been successful in Flippa. In light of this revelation, maybe an update is needed to alert users to take more due diligence, especially so now that the most popular and 4th most popular videos in @DomainSherpa are Flippa-related.

Is it true that some SuperSellers took advantage of the free/subsidised upgrades and/or editor's choices and charged an additional 15% brokering fee on top of the success fee to list domains for others under their accounts?

Shane mentioned that the platform is now dead. What's the difference(s) between 6 months ago and 3 months ago when he decided not to use the marketplace anymore?
 
0
•••
What exactly is shill bidding?

I was inspired by profitable flips interviews in @DomainSherpa on been successful in Flippa. In light of this revelation, maybe an update is needed to alert users to take more due diligence, especially so now that the most popular and 4th most popular videos in @DomainSherpa are Flippa-related.

Is it true that some SuperSellers took advantage of the free/subsidised upgrades and/or editor's choices and charged an additional 15% brokering fee on top of the success fee to list domains for others under their accounts?

Shane mentioned that the platform is now dead. What's the difference(s) between 6 months ago and 3 months ago when he decided not to use the marketplace anymore?

Shill bidding is when a group of people bid up an auction in such a way that it benefits the seller.

The ITMagazine.com sale has nothing to do with this. I did not receive a free listing or any benefits. I'm not sure if that's what you were trying to say or not but that's the truth (believe it or not).
 
1
•••
Shill bidding is when a group of people bid up an auction in such a way that it benefits the seller.

When I watched your @DomainSherpa interview, I googled ITMagazine.com to have a glimpse so as to learn how the sale went through (like how you wrote the description, comments, BIN setting etc) and I found the following:

Is https://flippa.com/5163653-great-it-branche-website-for-sale considered as shill bidding?

The ITMagazine.com sale has nothing to do with this. I did not receive a free listing or any benefits. I'm not sure if that's what you were trying to say or not but that's the truth (believe it or not).

You revealed the following, so I don't know now what's fact and what's truth now:

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.

And why you left the platform 3 months ago? What have changed then that made the marketplace dead for you?
 
2
•••
Last edited:
2
•••
That does appear to show two flippa employees bidding on a flippa listing, Shane and Ali.

Is this why they are now former employees then?

What if employees are domainers who spot a good deal and like to participate in their own personal capacity?

Just because they are employees, is it a clash of interest as privileged info such as reserve price etc may be accessible to them?
 
0
•••
What if employees are domainers who spot a good deal and like to participate in their own personal capacity?

Just because they are employees, is it a clash of interest as privileged info such as reserve price etc may be accessible to them?

And what if both had access to the reserve price, and their joint effort seized just before hitting it....

If the reserve price is $5000, and they bid their way up to $4950..... then the next bid, whoever that comes from, is going to generate $500+ in success fees for Flippa.

There is no risk associated with the bid from an employee if they know that they aren't going to hit the reserve.
 
Last edited:
1
•••
Is this why they are now former employees then?

I am allowed to bid in whatever manner I please.

Plus the auction was going to be suspended anyways considering that was the owners 3rd account. His first was suspended for failing to pay me $6,000.

What if employees are domainers who spot a good deal and like to participate in their own personal capacity?

Just because they are employees, is it a clash of interest as privileged info such as reserve price etc may be accessible to them?

And what if both had access to the reserve price, and their joint effort seized just before hitting it....

If the reserve price is $5000, and they bid their way up to $4950..... then the next bid, whoever that comes from, is going to generate $500+ in success fees for Flippa.

There is no risk associated with the bid from an employee if they know that they aren't going to hit the reserve.

I've never been able to see reserve prices.
 
1
•••
I am allowed to bid in whatever manner I please.

Plus the auction was going to be suspended anyways considering that was the owners 3rd account. His first was suspended for failing to pay me $6,000.


I've never been able to see reserve prices.


Thanks for the clarification.

If you were permitted by flippa to bid, and couldn't see reserve prices, then that absolves you of any suggestion of personal wrongdoing in that auction, as simple as that.
 
1
•••
Back