Flippa's latest A-List newsletter ... oh dear!

[Clinton]

I've only just had a chance to read this week's newsletter.

I must say I'm disappointed.

The #2 item in the newsletter is promoting this auction.

That site is a few weeks old and the only earnings history it has is from a WSO!

The email does admit that and recognise the extra risk, but is this one of the top four opportunities in Flippa this week? Yikes!

Further the post goes on to explain that the site's main competitor gained traction only because of the "great word of mouth and the marketing savvy of everyone's favourite guru, Ed Dale (creator of the 30 day challenge)".

That sounds almost like an advert.

[benitez17]

Ah, Ed Dale. I forgot about him.

Flippa's offerings have been rather weak recently. I imagine that makes it tough to put together a weekly promotional newsletter.

[rob]

Agreed there has been a quality drop and it has a knock on effect as if that is the best then the incentive to visit and search is lost.

[flipfilter]

Clinton,

How I've missed your ... 'eagle eye'

As you've said, this item was never promoted as an established business, but a slightly riskier proposition for someone willing to take the risk.

To quote

"Most businesses sold this way would not make it to the newsletter, simply because they're yet to prove their longevity and whether sales are sustainable."

and

"Naturally, this is still a gamble versus a more established business with organic traffic and a longer sales history."

As far as software products go in this niche, this one worked well, it was cheap, had positive review collateral and would be a ready made product for someone wanting to compete in this niche. The fact it has some sales history to me, doesn't stop it from being a decent opportunity for someone wanting to approach the wider market outside of the warrior forum.

Re "everyone's favourite guru" I think you're missing the tone in which the sentence was intended, but ED does have incredible market savvy and the product does have incredible WOM. That's not an advert, it's an opinion, but one shared by many and justified by the results he and the software have achieved.

[flipfilter]

...and slightly off topic Clinton, how has Benitez got more rep power than you ... he's making you look bad in your own house

...tut tut

[Clinton]

Hey, nice to see you Justin!

Feel free to raise your rep related questions in the thread on reputation, but I've never changed the default vB lock of 10 to the admin's rep. So I'll always be 10.

I didn't claim you were listing it as an established business. That would be a bit silly given that it's only weeks old and it ain't even a business. Even the seller doesn't call it that, he recognises that the value is in the IP more than anything and so in his auction he points out that what he's selling is a product. I suppose one indicator of whether a particular listing was a good choice for the newsletter is how the bidding goes.

BTW, I noticed some identical text in the last A-list that was in a previous one.

The skin care market, a subset of the multi-billion dollar cosmetics industry, is forecast to see steady growth of around 6.7% in the US over the next five years, despite a slightly grim economic forecast for the same period. The cosmetic industry is famed for having extremely good margins as products can have gross margins above 70%. Barriers such as huge distribution costs and channel marketing requirements needed to penetrate such a large industry keep smaller competition out and often leave only the large players competing.

I think that's a savvy time-saving device as industry intros can apply to multiple sites in the same niche.

[flipfilter]

Clinton,

My 'savvy time-saving device' is less b i t c h ing and more working.

I came to this post to defend my choice. Highlighting a whole paragraph to make the point I've used the same stat twice is all a little News of the World for me, so
I'm taking my own advice and getting back to work.

No doubt you'll have something wise and 'last wordey' to add - I look forward to reading it in the morning.