The New York Times has discovered what Internet marketers have known about - and been doing - for years: website flipping. In its strangely wide-eyed article about web flipping, the Times observes that flippers are 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.”

Apparently, web flipping is at all-time high with the number of sites sold on eBay doubling over the last three months, and sales quadrupling at SitePoint’s website marketplace.

But although more and more people are buying and selling websites… it’s questionable whether the majority of flippers are really making much money. The average price for those websites sold on eBay? A paltry $78.

Although a small group of savvy flippers are likely to be making the big bucks, it’s not difficult to grasp the keys to profitable web flipping. They’re much like the keys to success in real estate flipping:

1. Identify websites with high return on investment (ROI) potential - sites that are undervalued, and whose value can be substantially increased for relatively little cost.
2. Apply the necessary knowledge, skills and resources to increase the value of the site.
3. Sell the website at the right price in order to achieve the desired ROI.
4. Repeat this process over and over.

Website flipping is NOT something you want to do blindly. Not if you want to make it a significant source of income. So definitely get educated on how to do it properly. Just be selective when it comes to choosing a suitable training program or home study course, etc. Although I have not seen or undertaken it myself, I have heard a lot of good things about Ed Dale’s Dominiche course.

Ed is, in my opinion, one of the more knowledgeable and reputable high profile players within the Internet marketing niche. Plus, he’s a fellow Melbournian! So you might want to check out Dominiche. Otherwise, stay tuned - we’ll explore website flipping in greater detail in future issues of the newsletter.

Sources: Abha Bhattarai, “Find an Undervalued Asset. Fix It Up. Flip It. (Now It’s Web Sites, Not Houses)”, The New York Times, July 29, 2008, Dominiche