Could You help me value this site on flippa?

[epoch707]

I am about to bid on this eccommerce site: asiankoreanfashion.com

Here is the flippa listing:

https://flippa.com/2833058-establish...sd2100-average

I've talked to the owner and she wants $20,000 for it, which according to her "records" looks like a decent deal. If this site profits $2200 a month, I'll have my money back in 9 months or so. Anyway what do you think?

Thanks

[Kay]

Well, I'm not an expert on buying and selling websites but even I can see that the seller seems to have some very strange ideas.

It’s easier money to get from women.Did you heard about “Missing a clothing in women wardrobe Forever?” Women can buy without accessories, shoes, makeup,BUT they must buy clothing every week.

Source: Flippa listing linked to above.

Also what is this?

USD200 for seo ( you have to pay each month,it makes your ranking stable and increase)

To whom are you expected to pay this $200 per month for SEO? Is it a company the website seller is associated with perhaps? And what do you get for your money?

I'd also be asking questions about the 13 "possible copies".
https://flippa.com/auctions/2833058/view-copies

Any ideas why the profit/revenue graph shows a steep downward trend?

[Clinton]

epoch707, welcome to our forums.

If it is making $2,200 net - and you understand and are satisfied with the risks in this business, then 20K is a fantastic price. But from the figures disclosed in Flippa, it doesn't look like it's making that kind of money.

I'd like to ask you a question. What do you see as the biggest risks in this business?

[epoch707]

Here is the way I see it at a glance:

Pro: the seller has all the documents, pdfs, invoices that prove income. I really liked how she put up more than most sellers would


Con: The seller could have photoshoped/faked those earnings
Dropshipping from China is riskier, I have not worked with those suppliers and they could be good or bad. I don't know any alternative dropshippers in case this one sucks


Also, I am researching the site on semrush.com and compete.com and the traffic is decent, but maybe I am missing something. Why does the seller only want $20,000? I'll make that money back in 9 months, sounds fishy.

[Kay]

What does this site have that other very similar sites (copies) don't have? Does it have a USP? If you buy it, will you have an agreement with the seller that they won't compete with you? If you do have such an agreement, would you be able to enforce it?

Where does the traffic come from? Did the seller do something prior to the offer for sale to artificially inflate the traffic figures. Do you have access to real stats and not have to rely on screenshots which could be faked?

Do you think it all sounds too good to be true?

[epoch707]

I have $30,000 to spend. My goal is to create another stream of income (think "passive") that would eventually reach a stable $3,000/month in net profit. I would devote many hours initially, but I want to use automation to reduce the hours to only 4 hours a week later on.

Should I:

1. buy a dropship website with established traffic and the inital SEO done?
buy one for $20k, invest another $10k to grow it, value add, brand it, blog it, ect, ect, seo seo


2. start a site from scratch (I have some experience starting one, but not much experience in SEO)
-start a site from scratch and invest $30k into it and hope I reach my goal.

I am leaning toward buying an eccomerce site because I am impatient and want an established site that I can personalize and tweek right away. and profit month by month from the get go. The key risks are incorrectly assessing the value of the site and dropship supplier issues (who can I trust?).

Here are some additional links I found that could help anyone else with this quest:
storecoach.com
smartpassiveincome.com/how-to-buy-a-website
[Edit to disable links.]

PS, how do I establish and maintain good relations with suppliers/ dropship? Should I do a mix of holding inventory and dropship? I know nothing about supply chain!

My dream: financial freedom and working from "home" using my laptop somewhere in a tropical island, and getting out of the rat race. Can you help me with this dream...

[Kay]

It's interesting that you would suggest the "Smart Passive Income" site. Pat Flynn, the owner of that site, is a member here, although I don't recall seeing him on the forums for a while now.

Your dream is pretty much the same as many people's. It doesn't usually happen by buying a recipe or a blueprint. People selling that kind of stuff are either newbies hoping to hoodwink other newbies, or they already milked the method to death before they sell you their "secrets" at a high cost. And then they go on to make more money by selling the dream.

Does anyone here agree or disagree with that assessment?

[AustinR]

We all have that dream but when it comes to the internet, you better have both eyes wide open. Read Clinton's quote on smart passive income's post that you linked to. From your questions, I would say save your money, start a website from scratch or buy a cheap start up drop ship site on flippa, use that experience to learn all you can then invest in an established site if you can still smell that tropical breeze.

"Sounds fishy" probably is. "That $200 on SEO" caused a huge dive with Penguin 1.1. "Possible copies found" looks like a supplier's site but also sites that look very similar to the one being sold - does she own the competition?" Kay's right in quoting "women must buy clothes every week" OH pleaseee. And her best line of all - she wants to "invest in the Hong Kong financial market because that's there the money is not online" Good sales pitch and financial advice. Not.

[epoch707]

word. I'm sure it makes money, but it does sound a little fishy to me...

I was browsing on flippa and noticed this gem, someone quickly bought it at the "buy it now price".

https://flippa.com/2823810-industria...lifetime-sales

13 year old pr4 site, current owner is not managing and marketing as they should and still nets at least $1,000/month. If you add more products, did SEO, blog/review new products, and did extensive mailing campaigns and adword campaigns, the mojo would be back on this site.

this one is not too bad too, its a nice site:

https://flippa.com/2832785-dropship-...last-12-months

sold for 42k

[gzed]

how do I establish and maintain good relations with suppliers/ dropship? Should I do a mix of holding inventory and dropship? I know nothing about supply chain!

There's an ongoing tragedy of wide-eyed newbies who get in over their heads buying income generating ecommerce sites on Flippa. These sites sell for $10,000+, and when you visit them a few months later, the homepage is dead: either dns is down / 404 page or a generic cgi-bin directory listing.

Why not try for a site that's making only a couple hundred a month? You can see what you're getting into & the difficulties involved, and if it doesn't work out you're only out $1-$2 thousand.