Offers CertificateSwap.com for Sale - Featured on Time Magazine, USA Today, NY Times

[Jernet]

well I guess there are good things and not-so-good things that come away from this auction.

Good thing - People at Ebay actually spend this kind of money on websites, maybe :worried:

Not so good - ANOTHER 'private' auction that results in an astronomical amount of bidding. Is it for real? I have seen many bogus private auctions at Ebay go for big bucks with tons of bidding, only to notice the WHOIS record never changes :wink:

Hope it was legit. Nice sale if it was

 

[macker123]

I just want to point out that Cameron Johnson is the same guy that ran off with thousands of members of SurfingPrizes.com money when that was big. I myself was owed over a few hundred dollars when they decided to end the program and I know of lots of others who were owed thousands.

He seems to only point out the good things about his past on the website, not the bad.

If my memory serves me correct, he could not be prosecuted as he was only 15 at the time.

 

[peter]

I just want to point out that Cameron Johnson is the same guy that ran off with thousands of members of SurfingPrizes.com money when that was big. I myself was owed over a few hundred dollars when they decided to end the program and I know of lots of others who were owed thousands.

He seems to only point out the good things about his past on the website, not the bad.

If my memory serves me correct, he could not be prosecuted as he was only 15 at the time.

wow, is that true??

 

[MediaHound]

wow, is that true??

At the age of 15, Cameron was the Chief Executive Officer of SurfingPrizes.com, a very successful pay-to-surf internet company. After six months of operation, the company had over 150,000 registered users from over 80 countries and was displaying 15 million banner advertisements per day. This translated to approximately $15,000 in revenue per day. The company grew too fast in many respects and, unfortunately, outgrew the advertising market supporting it. On September 10th, 2000, Cameron and his partners decided to shutdown the service after eight successful months of operation.

 

[macker123]

wow, is that true??

Yes, of course it is true or I would not post that.

SurfingPrizes used to have a very active message forum at DelphiForums.com that was active with most members of SurfingPrizes.com. For the first little while everyone received full payment, but then it was delayed and then not received at all.

Cameron told everyone they closed down, but would pay everyone, yet no money was sent out. A few members got a hold of his contact info and tracked him down, but from what I heard it was never pursued as he lived at him with his parents and was 15.

I cannot find any archives at DelphiForums with regards to SurfingPrizes.com. I am not sure if they delete after so many years. Purhaps others can post more detailed info concerning this or find the archives, as I don't want to post anything that is untrue.

So I only posted the basic facts.

 

[Edwin]

If the previous two posts are accurate, and if you assume they kept only the last couple of months of income, that still works out to be nearly $1 million they "retained".

Of course, this calculation is based solely on the above information - I don't have an independent source for the data.

 

[HeavyLifting]

back to certificateswap.com ..... >

why would someone pay $85,000 for site that is making ~$1000 a month at its peak?

 

[David G]

back to certificateswap.com ..... >

why would someone pay $85,000 for site that is making ~$1000 a month at its peak?

And don't forget that income was probably almost entirely atributable to the massive free media exposure their marketing genuis managed to achieve. The buyer will no doubt doubt need to pay lots of hard cash to market the site for anything near the same exposure, possibly making the site's income get into the red what with those high marketing costs. This sale price is even the more surprising since the domain itself has somewhat dubious value, IMO.

 

[MediaHound]

why would someone pay $85,000 for site that is making ~$1000 a month at its peak?

The same reason Cameron bought a $55K Porche SUV (with other people's money)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2466261858

Simply because they can

 

[MediaHound]

I like the stolen watch too.

 

[WebCat]

If the previous two posts are accurate, and if you assume they kept only the last couple of months of income, that still works out to be nearly $1 million they "retained".

Of course, this calculation is based solely on the above information - I don't have an independent source for the data.

Just another example of the bad guy getting away with the chips.

Some poor sucker put out 83K for a site that will take him 10 years to recover his initial investment- or more likely will either fail completely or look for it up for sale in 3 months for about 3 or 4 K!

Meanwhile the "I have no morals" Cameron drives away with another $83,000.00. You know, this is MUCH safer than robbing banks. :-(

 

[David G]

Just another example of the bad guy getting away with the chips. Some poor sucker put out 83K for a site that will take him 10 years to recover his initial investment- or more likely will either fail completely or look for it up for sale in 3 months for about 3 or 4 K! Meanwhile the "I have no morals" Cameron drives away with another $83,000.00. You know, this is MUCH safer than robbing banks. :-(

You really have to give him credit as a marketing genuis with all that free media coverage and incredibly well done eBay auction. By doing such a fabulous job I greatly respect that and think perhaps he deserves the money in excess of probable value due to his talent with marketing.

P.S. Call the extra monies compensation for all his hard work, if you will. Can you imagine all the hrs he spent on the marketing?

 

[macker123]

You really have to give him credit as a marketing genuis with all that free media coverage and incredibly well done eBay auction. By doing such a fabulous job I greatly respect that and think perhaps he deserves the money in excess of probable value due to his talent with marketing.

P.S. Call the extra monies compensation for all his hard work, if you will. Can you imagine all the hrs he spent on the marketing?

He hired a marketing company to do all this publicity for him. I was at the website a few days ago, I just can't remember which one.

I doubt he did any of it himself.

 

[David G]

He hired a marketing company to do all this publicity for him. I was at the website a few days ago, I just can't remember which one.
I doubt he did any of it himself.

Perhaps, but would be surprised if that was really so. Most all marketing firms (especially larger ones) never seem to do anywhere near as good a job as a talented and experienced individual owner can do, IMO.

 

[macker123]

Perhaps, but would be surprised if that was really so. Most all marketing firms (especially larger ones) never seem to do anywhere near as good a job as a talented and experienced individual owner can do, IMO.

Actually I am correct. Check the auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3819926655

It states and I quote, "S&S Public Relations was in charge of the company's launch and media attention and it helped drive interest and tens of thousands of visitors to the site."

So I was right Not that it really matters.

 

[Jernet]

ROFLMAO!
Just as I suspected. Another "PRIVATE" Ebay auction ends in disaster. this site is up for sale AGAIN: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3822914374

Because the high bidder didn't have the "proper funding" Hmmm, like I haven't seen that before. It's a real shame that it was private, and we all couldn't see who this so-called bad bidder was ;0)

Like I said...this has SCAM written all over it...

I can't believe some of the more seasoned vets here aren't on to this sort of stuff

 

[.biz]

Funny that we all bid on private auctions every day over at Pool.

and what did we learn about Pool auction?

it's the same as this private auction....s h i l l ...

 

[David G]

Actually I am correct. Check the auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3819926655
It states and I quote, "S&S Public Relations was in charge of the company's launch and media attention and it helped drive interest and tens of thousands of visitors to the site." So I was right Not that it really matters.

You were right. Great info and research. Thanks!

 

[MediaHound]

What a joke - it's relisted.


____
edit:

1. A Special Note About Children
Children (persons under the age of 18) are not eligible to use the Site unsupervised and we ask that children do not submit any personal information to us. If you are under the age of 18, you may only use this Site in conjunction with and under the supervision of your parents or guardians.

(I'm trying to think up something good to say about this portion of the site's privacy policy, considering the circumstances)

k:

 

[sellinbiz]

Anyone have a rough idea what it would cost to get your site advertised by S&S or any other agency? How much do you think went into promoting CertificateSwap?