The New-Look Flippa Auction Listing Page
Posted on June 16th, 2010 by Luke Moulton
Today we launched a new-look Flippa auction listing page. TA-DAAA!
Before you run off to admire the shiny new live version that’s operating right now on all our auction pages, stay with me, I’ll explain some of the method to our madness.
More Space For Stats
One of the main reasons for the redesign was so we could add more stats. We’re always stressing that buyers should do their website due diligence before placing a bid, so we like to give you as much information as we can to help (pssst – we’ll be adding even more soon!).
We’ve also been adding bits and pieces to the auction page for some time now so decided it was time to re-organise, re-prioritize, and generally clean up the place a bit.
SEMrush.com keyword stats have also been added. SEMrush provides some great information about what keywords a website is ranking for and the approximate traffic the site should be receiving via these keyword rankings.
Factual Information First
Usability testing on the old Auction page with the help of Clicktale, told us that the most important information to potential buyers is the site’s stats. Specifically information such as PageRank, Alexa Rank, Yahoo links and Google Links is of primary importance. So with this in mind, instead of making people scroll down the page, we’ve placed these details towards the top.
Easier to Bid
The Bid and Buy It Now buttons have been made more prominent. We’re big fans of usability (in case you hadn’t guessed already) and given the sole purpose of Flippa is to help people buy and sell websites, we’ve made it easier for people to find the Bid and Buy It Now buttons on auctions.
Social Media Buttons
Now you can promote your auction with the addition of Twitter and Facebook buttons or share other auctions with Twitter and Facebook followers and friends.
Go ahead – check out some website auctions.
Feedback?
Tells us what you think! Leave a comment below with your feedback.
Comments (111)
Comments are closed.
June 16, 2010 - 5:56 pm
You know, it quite funny. The second that I saw the new format, I hit up Screenflow straight away to do a overview for my visitors, and I must say that the first thing that got me was that the facts were above the fold, with claims below the fold. If anything, I think that that is the most important part of the update.
I’d like to congratulate you guys on a job well done, lets hope that this works out for the better!
June 16, 2010 - 6:23 pm
what happened to “report this listing” link. People cannot report listings that violates policy anymore?
June 16, 2010 - 6:25 pm
Thanks for bringing that attention Mathieu – we’ll get that fixed ASAP!
June 17, 2010 - 12:30 am
that’s a very crucial oversight…some listings are such bogus auctions that they need to be brought to the admin’s attention right away.
June 16, 2010 - 6:27 pm
HTML code span style is not working anymore ? you’ve got to be kidding me…
June 16, 2010 - 6:53 pm
I like the look, it is like eBay listing. Keep up the good job.
June 16, 2010 - 7:14 pm
Hey guys,
Where is the note about “Reserve Price met” .My auction has met the reserve price but there is not any note about this?
I think old look was more web 2.0 kind and auction friendly. I know you guys want to show more about site stats and so. I love flippa but sorry to say that old look was better until you guys improve this new look.
Dixant
June 16, 2010 - 7:16 pm
why did you changed the look?
I think old one was great ..
-Thanks
June 16, 2010 - 8:06 pm
Hi, like the new look and overview. I miss the colored comments from users and auction owner at the moment ?
Great work, keep it up.
June 16, 2010 - 8:10 pm
Comments from the iniator of the auction should still have different background color or marked somehow to stand out from the crowd.
June 16, 2010 - 8:12 pm
How can we tell if the reserve has been met? I don’t see where it is. Also, reporting the listing for violation is important to get back on please.
June 16, 2010 - 10:10 pm
JD, thanks for that, well spotted, we’ve fixed that stuff.
Keep up the comments, we’re very interested in your opinions!
June 17, 2010 - 1:40 pm
When will the change to show whether the reserve price has been met be posted? I’m still not seeing this. Thanks.
June 16, 2010 - 8:17 pm
Nice development – data is key for buyers and seller.
June 16, 2010 - 8:23 pm
Hi, Nice look, We cant see if the reserve has been met.
June 16, 2010 - 8:33 pm
I think there are good points as mentioned above, but unfortunately it seems to have taken away a lot of formatting from my listing e.g. I used to have different coloured subheadings and now it’s taken this away, and squashed the text up a little more, it just looks harder to read.
In the past I will say your HTML editor to upload listing text was very, very tricky to work with. I only hope it’s improved now despite this formatting being lost, and not got even worse. Otherwise it’ll take me a long time to get this right again!
June 16, 2010 - 8:53 pm
Stop changing things, they are fine the way they are…
June 16, 2010 - 9:16 pm
Looks like screenshot that’s generated on auction is somewhat blured, way uglier that the previous one.
Otherwise nice developement, congratz.
June 16, 2010 - 10:11 pm
Filip, you’re right about the screenshots, we’ll have a look at them in the next day.
June 16, 2010 - 9:48 pm
Hi, just wanted to add that the number of views and the people watching the auction looks like missing. Can you please add the feature?
June 16, 2010 - 10:39 pm
The site looks clean and neat.
The two issues I see that are not as good;
1. If the listing has met reserve or not, I assume the red bid price means it is below the reserve?
2. The site URL at the top used to always open in a new window, so u could leave and keep searching listings and compare. Now you are taken from the Flippa site as the URL opens over – not as good.
I am sure it will continue to develop if the users give feedback
June 16, 2010 - 11:02 pm
Always good to see more stats Luke and having them front and center does help.
The previous listing symbol is very small, it took me a while to find it. I think this is a critical piece of information for buyers so it would be good to see it highlighted a little more somehow.
The bid price fonts sure are huge, I don’t think anyone could miss them now.
Congrats on the changes.
June 16, 2010 - 11:32 pm
Although I’m not big on change I think you guys chose a good layout.
Tagline is missing. Please bring it back.
What happen to the Auction views and Watch list? They’re so small and at the bottom of the sidebar. That feature, bright and on display, proudly at the top of an auction brought bid retention.
If the screen shot needs to be so small for the layout could you at least pop it with a mouse over effect? It’s an extremely useful tool, especially if when we can view it before jumping offsite.
The attachment thumbnails – particularly the Video & Verified thumbnails do not resize to fit in the sidebar containers, they over lap other images.
Just Flippa as I see it. Thanks for everything you do.
Warm Regards, Jason
June 17, 2010 - 12:11 am
Jason,
Thanks for the comments. The listing subtitle won’t be coming back, sorry, as it wasn’t adding any useful information for buyers. Auction views and watching users are only visible to the seller, because that’s the only person who they really matter to. We’ll be working on the screenshot.
Thanks again.
June 17, 2010 - 5:21 am
In my opinion – “auction views” is really important for everyone. It says quite a lot about a site/seller if an auction has had 1000 views but no bids, helps with DD. Watchers were only ever visible to seller anyway.
I don’t agree with removing the ability to remove comments. This would require full time moderation from you guys as to what is a legit comment and what is not.
June 17, 2010 - 9:07 am
Auction views is too easy to game by buying traffic, or even just pressing refresh a lot of times, which many sellers were doing. So this won’t be coming back, sorry. But the seller can still see it as an indication of interest in their listing.
I never mentioned “removing the ability to remove comments”, did I?
June 16, 2010 - 11:59 pm
Please format the comments in the way that you did before with the seller’s comments being in a different color than the others. We were able to follow the comments conversations better when we knew who the seller was without having to find the user’s nickname.
June 17, 2010 - 12:07 am
Can you put back in where it says the reserve has been met or not? Right now its in red/green but new buyers will most likely not know what this means. Also I agree that the number of page views should be more prominent.
Other than that, job well done =)
June 17, 2010 - 12:11 am
Hi Luke,
Thanks for dropping me a note about the changes.
The changes do make it easier to get a quick idea of what a listing is about. A clear indication right at the top whether it’s a website for sale or a wannabe website would also be of help to buyers. That way one doesn’t have to scroll down the listing to see whether it’s making a profit or if “it’s got the potential to make millions”.
With some, like flippa.com/auctions/97592, it’s easy, you can tell from the reg date at the top (that’s useful, thanks). With others you have to wade through a fair bit of the seller’s pitch first unfortunately (especially the ones built on dropped domains that are trying to pass themselves off as “aged” sites).
Maybe you could colour code the profitable ones with green and the wannabe sites with er, brown perhaps?
Clinton
June 17, 2010 - 12:12 am
When I say ‘page views’ I mean making public the number of ‘auction views’ like it used to.
Thanks,
Nicole
June 17, 2010 - 12:18 am
How about removing the sellers ability to delete peoples comments?
I think it is a negative point when trying to create a fair and balanced marketplace. I’ve watched people post legitimate questions, or query something that looks suspicious, and the sellers response is simply to trash the comment and pretend it never existed. I don’t think thats right they get to do that.
June 17, 2010 - 12:31 am
I agree with that wholeheartedly. Why give sellers such absolute power?
June 17, 2010 - 1:39 am
I agree Starstruck, I am tired of seeing Plug-in’s and scripts sold against their Terms and having to report each one.
Many sellers list them here because they wouldn’t dare to see the rash of comments left by members on other well-known marketplaces where they can’t can’t delete comments and forum posts. They might be warned, but most likely be banned.
Please get a hold of the piracy going on.
June 17, 2010 - 12:23 am
Earlier interface looked more elegant , clean and have all that stuff already.
This one is too populated , nothing is clear , and you have to find stuff to look , earlier , everything was clear and looked good for the eyes.
This one is too , what i say , complex , itchy type.
June 17, 2010 - 12:26 am
Good job, this new page is great.
It will be simple to view website facts.
Thanks and goodbye,
Alessandro Zamboni
June 17, 2010 - 12:27 am
How about with other payment methods in below BIN button?
I’m not see other payment methods allowed in listing page
June 17, 2010 - 12:31 am
What happened to the “previous listing” information… “This URL has been listed 1 other time” or however it was worded. That was very useful.
I must say, to me these changes make Flippa *LOOK* less buyer friendly and are only going to further drive down sales on Flippa.
Hey, I am all for adding more DD to the site but for what this info helps (DD wise), I think Flippa is going to regret these changes.
June 17, 2010 - 12:32 am
I like it! One thing I think you could sell is a permanent front page listing. Maybe on the sidebar. Auctions that will stay there for the duration of the auction instead of going away.
On a side note, my site is currently up for auction if anyone is interested
June 17, 2010 - 12:48 am
How about a search feature for “monthly income”? That is a key search criteria for many of us.
June 17, 2010 - 1:01 am
Please make the comments by the seller in a different color as in the previous layout.
June 17, 2010 - 1:09 am
I have only recently discovered this site. Since then, the changes that have been made will help me when I get ready to sell the websites I have.
One thing that bothered me was that when I did a search using a keyword, the search brought up sites that were already sold or ended. I don’t want to know what ‘was” but what is available now.
Thanks,
Mike
June 17, 2010 - 1:12 am
I’m glad they took away the “previous listing” information. As a seller when you sell a site and the buyer ends up not paying and you re-list it it looks bad. You have a lot of people making comments like “didn’t you sell this site already”. Some people are on a constant mission to try to bust sellers out, when the majority of the time with re-list it’s because of non-paying bidders.
June 17, 2010 - 1:23 am
Yesterday was the first time I listed a website for sale, and when I woke up today to check it out, I thought I was in some back office…
There were a lot more stats to look at, the whole thing just looked more professional – took me a second, but realized that it was the new layout.
Switching back and forth from the layouts (I had the window open from yesterday), the new layout looks very intimidating.
There’s a lot less white space than the previous, not very inviting to a new buyer. I can see people getting over whelmed with all the stats…
Previously, the old layout looked similar to eBay, not even close anymore.
I’m new to all this, and I can see how this would help a seasoned flippa user, just worried about the new ones.
June 17, 2010 - 1:26 am
Please do work on the screenshot of site, it’s a bit small now and nowhere near as prominent as before.
Site images are important. IMHO. I like the Bid and BIN section improvements along with the overall layout, looks good.
Cheers!
June 17, 2010 - 1:26 am
Hi there,
In my opinion the original format was better, but this one is OK too.
Connor
June 17, 2010 - 1:47 am
Just here for the backlink
Seriously guys, it looks great. Information is paramount and you have it right in your face now!
June 17, 2010 - 2:11 am
In my humble opinion as a web designer it looks like you tried to jam in as much information as possible above the fold which gives the eye no path to follow. I don’t know where to look.
Please consider the rules of proximity, alignment and the use of white space.
Your previous layout was much better.
June 17, 2010 - 3:31 am
Thanks for the nice update in the look and feel..
June 17, 2010 - 4:53 am
I think old design is more user friendly. Maybe some things need to be hidden, such as view or watch list.
and the important thing in web design in gone in this new layout. that is COLOR!!! with this new layout, this listing page look so flat and if buyer do not read carefully, they will miss an important thing!
I love this new design, but please give more color the make a different between web stat and sales letter.
Thanks,
sihendri
June 17, 2010 - 5:31 am
YAY! I love it. Stats and FACTS grab you by the eyeballs. This will help new Flippa browsers find the important stuff fast.
June 17, 2010 - 5:37 am
The backlinks are marked ‘nofollow,’ so good luck with that.
Anyhoo, great new redesign!
Much appreciated!!!
June 17, 2010 - 6:24 am
I also noticed that some of the footnotes are wrong e.g. “Site Content” and “Claimed Financials” both have the number 7 footnote, and “SEMRush Stats” and “Post A Comment” – but the footnote description doesn’t cover them both. Does that make sense?
June 17, 2010 - 6:54 am
Nice changes with the site…
Now all you need to do is make it so that when a user searches out a particular niche, that the “won” or “ended” items don’t show up..they’re won…why would they be interested in it.
Throw all the “ended” auctions to a tab on it’s own if they need to see them, or even need to see what’s been won and they can approach the new owners.
other than that, site is coming right along
June 17, 2010 - 7:22 am
I guess I’m the only one that doesn’t really like the new look. The old look didn’t look so cluttered.
The side stats in the old version were colored a different background, so it was much easier to read the description without being distracted. I find my eyes darting all over the page with this new layout.
I really do not like where the new attachments are. The old location was much better, i feel like the attachments in the new location is really crammed in there.
June 17, 2010 - 8:48 am
I agree with Webatures. I dont like the new look. It is soooo cluttered. I guess I’ll get used to it.
I made a listing last night and worked hard on the font and formating and colors, only for it to not work in the new auction listing format. I think the colours are important. My BIN features are totally lost now. All the formating is squashed, even though I went and used html to try and get it right. Spent a couple of extra hours on it for it not to work. Will this change?
Also, the screen shots are way too hidden, these too are important to our customers to see and add value.
I think stats are important for those sites that have good ones etc but perhaps it could have been an “option” to click. So if a customer was interested, they could click on a “see stats” button and bring up all the information.
The listing format as it is now is way too cluttered and squashed.
As a “new” customer, I would be totally confused and just click away
June 17, 2010 - 8:52 am
I agree with Webatures. I dont like the new look. It is soooo cluttered. I guess I’ll get used to it.
I made a listing last night and worked hard on the font and formating and colors, only for it to not work in the new auction listing format. I think the colours are important. My BIN features are totally lost now. All the formating is squashed, even though I went and used html to try and get it right. Spent a couple of extra hours on it for it not to work. Will this change?
Also, the attachments (pics) are way too hidden, these too are important to our customers to see and add value.
I think stats are important for those sites that have good ones etc but perhaps it could have been an “option” to click. So if a customer was interested, they could click on a “see stats” button and bring up all the information.
The listing format as it is now is way too cluttered and squashed.
As a “new” customer, I would be totally confused and just click away
June 17, 2010 - 9:20 am
Wow Nice I really like the new look will help when I sell some of my flipped domains.
June 17, 2010 - 9:43 am
Loving the new design, will take some getting used to but I’m sure it will give a better user experience.
June 17, 2010 - 9:59 am
I would like to see something prominent that tells us whether a listing is a Blog or not. As a seller of html sites I waste time answering people who ask if it is a Blog.
Now there are so many new listings every week, many of them automated blogs, there is a lot to look through before coming to an html site which is all I am interested in as seller or buyer. In fact I would like to see the listings divided into Blogs and others; some people are not interested in buying blogs, while others may only be interested in Blogs.
At the very least the listings should be easily sortable into Blogs/non Blogs but separate listings would be preferable now that listing volumes are so high.
June 17, 2010 - 10:12 am
Wouldn’t let me reply to you on #25 Dave so apologies for posting so far down.
Couldn’t you just make it count 1 view per IP? Gets past the refreshing problem. Obviously there are ways round that too but would be a little more accurate. I can see the logic to some extent but would still be nice to keep.
Regarding comments: I was referring to a comment made further down (#30), perhaps I should have been a little more clear.