Flippa.com – The domain and web site aftermarket from Down Under
Flippa has been expanding its range of services into the second quarter of 2014, and has published an update on what has been achieved so far.
Aiming at increasing the “stickiness” of its domain marketplace for domain buyers and sellers, Flippa achieved the following primary goals:
- Domains are more accessible on Flippa – Flippa now has as many domains as websites listed and the iOS app marketplace is growing since its launch late last year.
- Flippa’s domains appraisal tool launched in 2014. Hundreds of domainers have received thousands of appraisals since its launch.
- The Introduction of a website broker arm at Flippa, Deal Flow, to assist high-end buyers and sellers transact, has been well received.
At the same time, according to Flippa’s general manager, Nick Kenn, Flippa has listened to the feedback provided by its users and has rolled out improvements and additions to its features, many of which are related to safety and security in the marketplace.
In particular:
- Introduction of the ‘Super Seller’ status. Some sellers are a cut above the rest. They go out of their way to help you with your purchase. You reward them with great feedback and we reward them with a new ‘Super Seller’ badge. We don’t give these out to just anyone, so you know you’re in good hands buying from them. Look for the green ‘S’ badge next to a seller’s name or use the Super Sellers filter on the left side of the listings page.
- A new look user profile page. Your profile is your passport on Flippa. It needs to be as rich as you can make it so that people can trust you. We’ve now made it easier than ever to see at a glance how much you and the people you transact with, have told us about who they are. Green is good, and you’ll see lots of green for our best users!
- Sites with Verified Analytics and Verified Adsense. Traffic and revenue influence the selling price of a Flippa listing. While a lot of users enter those values, the smarter seller will hook up the site to Google Analytics so it can be verified. Verified data makes a big difference to the value of the site on Flippa, so we’ve now given it more prominence in the search results and added a search filter for them too.
- Increased the size of the Customer Support team and their time zone coverage. They keep you safe and help you out when you need them.
- We’ve made it easier to save a search – Saving a search saves you time so you can come straight back to where you left and get alerts via email when new sites meet your criteria. Your saved searches are now in the main Flippa header along with your watched listings.
- Introduction of live chat for Premium Sellers – soon to be rolled out to a wider audience. Chat via a pop-up text box with our support team for even faster help.
- New feature displaying similar auctions to one you were watching that just ended. Currently emailed out to listing watchers. These show you what else is out there that you might be interested in.
- ‘Report this listing’ functionality – some listings don’t seem quite right, or the seller has answered in a way you’re not sure about. It costs you nothing to report a listing and it helps out the entire marketplace.
- Partnership with Centurica to provide exclusive due diligence reports to Flippa users. Due diligence is an important step in the process of purchasing a site. A report from Centurica will tell you all about the accuracy of claims regarding the site and highlight anything you need to consider before purchasing. Getting a Centurica report for a listing you’re considering will help you bid with much more confidence.
Lastly, a lot of improvements are slated for the months to come, some of which are highlighted below:
- New listing page and due diligence data – providing you with more assistance to research your next purchase.
- Improvements to Flippa’s mobile app
- Increased security with Escrow – transfer your site or funds safely with our escrow service.
- A brand new domains catalog product – upload multiple domains and set the price, then set back and wait for the sale!
- Never miss out on the sale or purchase again. Changes to the post auction negotiation system, for sites that don’t end up reaching reserve. Going forward, all previous bidders will be able to make offers to the seller over a specified time period.
- Monitoring all of your sites in a dashboard. Flippa will be providing Dasfolio, our sister company’s service, to users. Watch your analytics, Adsense, SEO, social.
- And a brand new offering for brand new websites.
Looks like an exciting second half of 2014 and beyond.
