Well established and active Discussion Forum
http://www.philosophyforum.com/ This site has been listed 2 times previously
Sold at Public Auction
$15,000
Bidding History: 1 bid- Started:
- Fri, Oct 9, 2009
- Completed:
- Mon, Oct 12, 2009
Website Statistics and Collected Data
Site Visibility
| Google PageRank | 3 |
|---|---|
| Alexa Rank | 191,806 |
| Links in Google | 21 |
| Links in Yahoo! | 8,808 |
Domain
| Registration Date | 31st Jul, 2002 |
|---|
Compete Stats
| Compete Ranking | 444,916 |
|---|---|
| Trust | Neutral |
SEMRush Stats
| SEMRush Rank | 0 |
|---|---|
| Keywords in Google | 0 |
Site Content
| Possible Copies Found | 3 (view) |
|---|
Site Details
Own The Largest most Active Philosophy Forum on the net!
Site Relisted by Request
There has been a request to relist this site with a minimum bid and No Reserve.
PhilosophyForum.com is a very well established forum with a very premium domain name that was originally purchased from BuyDomains.com back in 2005. The site was developed as a personal hobby of mine, off the cuff and has grown naturally to over 22,000 unique visitors per month, organically.
The site currently has Threads: 5,182, Posts: 84,269, Members: 2,833, Active Members: 493 as of the writing of this listing and is growing rapidly.
Owned licenses include:
- Vbulletin
- VBSEO
- VbTube
- VBA Links Directory
- VB Gameroom
Please understand that this has been a 3+ year project for me and I'm not in the business of selling websites. Great care has been taken to combat spam and have quality content. This was my baby and I'm hoping it can be followed up and taken to the next level with the new owner.
Traffic Details
This site has 100% organic traffic with NO Link Exchange and NO Advertising and NO SPAM. URLs are unique and search engine friendly and traffic is on the rise daily. Currently we do not even have a newsletter so traffic is true organic quality.
Traffic currently is being generated through organic search engine listings and we have a new twitter account that is generating some interest: http://twitter.com/PhilosophyForum
Spam Free Website
PhilosophyForum.com is a spam free website. It is free from trolls, flamers and spammers alike. Most of the members on the site are actively participating in ongoing discussions. There's a limit of 2 new threads per day per member to prevent any kind of spamming or over posting. When someone creates a thread title, the forum automatically searches for similar titles and threads and suggests they read those before opening a new thread. This of course hasn't given us as many threads that are commonly found in other forums but the quality and uniqueness of the content is second to none.
Forum Management
The forum is managed by myself as the administrator and an additional administrator that has lots of forum experience. We also have a handful of long time moderators and system of reporting and dealing with issues among members as well as combating spam on the spot. There is almost NO spam that gets through to the forum so much of the moderation and management comes into play with member relations, flaming or trolling. This forum is highly moderated and well maintained.
Operating Costs and Details
Currently, the Philosophy Forum is on a dedicated server at the Planet that I personally manage and have hosted approximately 50 other websites for clients etc. The site is averaging around 25 gig of bandwidth per month. I pay $220 per month for the server but that doesn't mean it needs it's own server however, I'd highly recommend quality hosting. You could probably get a server or a VPS server for around $75 a month that would be fine for the current and future traffic of the site. Please see attachments of additional information.
Why am I selling it?
I'm selling this website because I'm funding another major web project that has nothing to do with philosophy, science or religion. :) Besides, I currently manage almost 50 websites and I'm doing some house cleaning due to time constraints.
The Transition
Obviously, there's going to be a period of transition with the purchasing of a website of this nature. I will assist in facilitating every aspect of the transition of ownership to the new owner. Here's what I will provide:
- Hosting for 1 month after the sale, free of charge.
- Moving of entire website to new cpanel hosting account on a linux server of your choice.
- Assisting in administrative services regarding the website for 1 month after the sale. This does not include major updates but will include help and consultation on general day-to-day forum operations management if needed.
- I'd like to continue as a moderator on this website as I do have an interest in this but this would all be based on availability and time.
- Introducing the new owner and facilitating a smooth transition in ownership.
- All related usernames and passwords to accounts and licenses will be transferred to the new owner including the youtube account, twitter, facebook page and everything else.
What's included in the sale?
- Owned VBulletin license
- Owned VBtube license
- Owned VBadvanced Directory license
- Owned VBSEO license
- Owned GameRoom license
- PhilosophyForum.com Twitter profile
- PhilosophyForum.com Facebook page (currently under construction)
- Youtube account for instructional videos etc.
Unfinished Work
There is some ongoing work that needs to be finished and will not be halted due to the sale of this website. This work includes:
- Landing page clean up and customization
- Facebook Integration - so users can connect with their facebook account.
- Mandatory updates from Vbulletin
- Implementation of new group of forums for Religion
- Implementation and integration of infraction system
- Privacy policy and terms of use agreement
- Integration of some additional features
- Debate forums - organized and moderated debates, 80% complete.
You are looking at a well established forum with most of the hard work already done. There is now only the need to monetize the traffic and build upon what's already there. We have unique content and high quality membership base.
Escrow Terms of the Sale
Due to Escrow.com not exactly being for website owners and not the most ideal escrow for website sales, to protect both the buyer, seller, and our members information, the process of escrow will go like this:
- Buyer wins auction and agrees to terms
- Buyer pays escrow
- Seller transfers the domain name, (leaving nameservers in tact)
- Buyer approves transfer and inspection period
- Escrow.com prepares funds disbursement
- Seller, once the funds are in route and everything is OK and approved via escrow, then the new owner will be given access to cpanel and the data - and of course administrative access to the entire forum.
Due to possible abuse of the escrow system, buyer will receive sensitive data ONLY after the escrow is cleared by the buyer and in route to the seller. This is partly due to having offers previously for content only and partly to protect the interest of the members of the forum and their information. It's also because Escrow.com is not exactly the best option for data driven websites, it's set up more for domains.
My name is Justin, I will work with the buyer directly via phone, email, or IM to facilitate the complete transition and moving of the website. I'm happy to work with the new Admin until everything is complete. I think it's also important to make a public announcement on the forum and introduce the new admin and the plans he/she has for the forum.
Revenue Details
I'm not selling this site based on revenue. Revenue currently comes from forum donations into our paypal account and recently, (this year) we've implemented Google ads for non-registered users. The potential for revenue is very good and has yet to be expounded upon. Here are some ideas:
- Paid Memberships - We've asked the members and they have no problem with paid memberships that provide greater access to the forums and some of the additional features. I have already drafted an html page listing the features and potential membership amounts and I think most of the active members would have no problem at all supporting this.
- Advertising - Aside from the recent implementation of Google Ads, there is no other advertising on the forum. We have not pursued any advertising at all.
- Book Store - This is something that we've been considering and the idea is to pull eBay auctions in through the eBay affiliate program to provide a niche site for books for our members. This is something I'm willing to consult the new owner on and possibly assist in the development of this since I have other EBay Affiliate sites. You could also use Amazon or other affiliates that suit your needs.
- Donations - I don't push. Only members can donate to the forum and lurkers or non-members cannot. We don't push donations but they could be pushed however, the above would be a better way of doing it. If paid memberships are implemented, then all those members who previously donated to the forum should be upgraded to the premium membership level or even lifetime member.
Revenue potential on this website is still in it's infancy. It's very possible that with a little organization and some chopping wood and carrying water, this site could easily produce good revenue. Paid membership subscriptions is nearly all set up and new owner will own this as well.
Traffic Details
100 percent organic. We have never advertised or participated in link exchanges although we have a link directory in progress that will facilitate link exchanges and link submissions.
Top search queries
1 philosophical questions, position 3
2 philosophy forum, position 2
3 define ego, position 7
4 philosophy forums, position 4
5 burgomeister, position 6
6 imanuel kant, position 7
7 burgomeister books, position 8
8 define nature, position 7
9 biovisions, position 8
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Comments 8 public, 1 deleted
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Claimed Traffic
| Page Views Per Month | 180,000 |
|---|---|
| Uniques Per Month | 22,000 |
Claimed Financials
| Gross Revenue (per month est) | $50 |
|---|---|
| No profit is being claimed. | |
| Warning: The seller has provided estimates (read more) | |
Monetization Methods
| Advertising Sales | No |
|---|---|
| Product or Service Sales | No |
| Affiliate Income | No |
Site Uniqueness
- Content is claimed to be unique
- Design is claimed to be unique
Seller
Attachments
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AW Stats
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Bandwidth Usage
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Donations - not all of them.
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Google Dashboard
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Full year dashboard Oct. 7, 2008 - 2009
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Last 30 days stats
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Adsense for Last Month
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Contextual Help
- The winner of this listing will be required to pay a 2.5% success fee to Flippa.
More Information ^ - Ownership transfer is safest when using Escrow.com (more information)
Seller also accepts payment using: Electronic Transfer ^
Kindly provide screenshots of Google Analytics and Adsense for the past one month.
Screenshots provided. Adsense is only visible to unregistered users at this time and could/should be monetized further. I'll be happy to provide analytics access to anyone with a bid.
@Marc - Thanks for the bid and best of luck to you. Reserve met.
@Marc. Wish you good luck.
One of the best website pitches I've seen. Well organized, the owner is clearly a nice person to deal with and understands the forum business, and, most importantly, sees the critical challenges of transfer of forum leadership. Rarely do I see someone being so to-the-point and yet detailed in their description.
Now if the forum subject was about something I was comfortable with... :)
Just out of curiosity, how big of a factor it is for the rest of this sharply-run community that the new leader is not proficient in the subject? After all, you lead by example and passion for the subject...
Thank you Artashes for the compliment on the site listing.
As for the subject... Well, to be perfectly honest with you, I had no experience in philosophy when I first opened the forum, sort of 'off the cuff' if I suppose. So I think the important thing, like most else is simply dealing with the people and performing the administrative tasks and duties. So technically the proficiency needs not be on the subject matter but on administrating what's already existing and learning along the way.
Transferring of leadership should go rather smoothly with mutual cooperation. I will personally work with the new owner to facilitate a smooth transition and of course, I'm hopeful and more than willing to stay on the forum as a moderator or co-admin. I do however think it should be taken to the next level.
This certainly isn't one of those get rich quick sites loaded with content for quick sale... It's an actual community with quality membership, content, and relationships. We also have a 'dream team' of well-educated, mature, and highly proficient moderators on the staff.
Thanks again for your compliments and I look forward to working with the new owner.
Interesting price... Regardless of the search position, traffic and size that price is ...*no comment*
For those of you following this auction, I've made an official announcement on the Philosophy Forum.
http://www.philosophyforum.com/forum-administration-area/news-announcements/6162-philosophyforum-com-sale.html