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Dave Hermansen did not own a bird or a cage when he bought bird-cage.com, an online store, for $1,800 three years ago. He simply saw a Web site that was “very, very poorly done,” and begged the owners to sell it to him. He then redesigned the site, added advertising and drove up traffic. Last December, he sold it for $173,000.
Hermansen, 30, is among the latest wave of entrepreneurs who, like the day traders and real estate investors before them, are looking to make a lot of money without much effort.
They use little more than home computers and free software to buy Web sites that appeal to a small and specific niche. Then they fix up the sites with hopes of reselling them for far more than they paid…
While there is no data on how many people flip Web sites, the number of sites sold on eBay has doubled over the last three months, the company said. At SitePoint’s marketplace, a similar forum where users can auction off Web sites, sales have quadrupled in the last year.
Instead of selling goods and services, analysts said most flippers are looking into the easiest way to make a quick profit, by tapping into specialized advertising.
Useful detailed article about the process and how-to’s.
KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid, still rules.
Wow, that’s interesting. We all knew that someone was doing this sort of thing. Crap, I mean there is a “Donald” in every industry. Too bad it’s not me right now.
hey if it improves the quality of the interwebz tubes then i am all for it
Thanks for blogging this story.
What’s interesting (and what didn’t make it into the article) is the huge discreptency between the different website marketplaces.
While eBay’s “Internet Businesses & Websites” category average selling price is just $78 with a 12% auction success rate, the SitePoint Mraketplace sees an average selling price of just under $2000 with 35-40% auction success rates.
We’re currently seeing over 1700 websites go onto the auction block every month, with over $1 million in closed transactions on a monthly basis.
So Dave Hermansen buys the website 3 years ago, revamps it and 18 months later sells it.
What is the unbelievable message at the top of the website?
http://www.bird-cage.com
The name you can trust… since 1996
Nothing new about this especially when you consider the success of google ads – the gross dollars and profits involved for google as well as the costs of and competition for those google ads
Haha this is LOL funny. Read what I say carefully and you’ll see what I mean …
Analyze this:
“Quick profit for owners who flip niche websites”
Quick profit = fast
flip = makes it sound simple
website = ooh! Internet opporunity
This serves 2 purposes:
1. Sell “Flipping Websites for Dummies” or equivalent books to people looking to make a buck. (selling books = $$$). Also sell them some kits to help identify web sites that can be “flipped” (sell kits!)
2. Suggest a domain marketing website or clearinghouse to bid for domain names.
Remember, in war no makes any money except the guys selling the guns. A business selling books to people would make a lot more $$$ than “flipping websites” ever would
And of course, it will end up neither being “quick” and you probably won’t make a “profit” and it certainly won’t be easy.
/Guy selling books and kits via infomericals laughs all the way to the bank.
#6 – Hmeyers. Exactly was I was thing when I read this. This sounds like all those comeons to buy and resell real estate, that we’ve seen on Tv. And look where the market for that is now! Practically a bust! This doesn’t sound very doable in the long run. How can anyone just dress up a website, and not also be invested its nuts and bolts selling operation. Are they farming all that out to India?! It sounds more like a con to sell another batch of advice books, on website speculation. The new real estate scam. Just so the rest of us taxpayers don’t have to bail out the a-holes who over-speculate themselves into bankruptcy. Will the banking system be floating loans for this next? I’m sure they’re thinking about it.
Maybe the government needs to start regulating who can turn websites into a business venture, without any long term commitment. Like maybe a minimum holding time, and some kind of proof of viability or growth. Slapping a coat of paint on it, and then auctioning it off to unsuspecting buyers, sounds highly unethical. Government regulators would step in, if this were being done to brick and mortar businesses.
Wow a fool and their money are soon departed. But hey if you can milk it go for it.
Absolutely amazing. Scams? Government regulations? Are you people retarded? Site flipping is a valid business model. As for unethical idiots… well, we have them in every industry, and as for idiots in general who want government regulation and to cry scam simply because they are too lazy to do the work involved… Well, those kinds are obviously everywhere, sort of like insects, no one wants them around, but you just cant get rid of the nasty little buggers. (maybe there should be government regulation about stupidity, it would sure clean up the net)
Really interesting! I don’t doubt the happenings as stated in the article a bit. I’ve personally known a lot of people who have sold as well as bought websites through auctions. I feel it makes sense to buy a ready website than to build from the scratch. It is better to buy off a website that is already getting enough traffic than building a whole new website and anticipating to get good traffic. Thanks for sharing this article anyways.