I don't know if this is in the right area or not... so if not please move it.
I'm debating buying a shared hosting company. It all sound great... Good price good clients it all looks good on paper... How do I know if I'm getting ripped off?
What do you look for in buying a company like this? I'm an admin I've only worked on servers and hosting so I don't know exactly what to be looking for.

I sold one a year ago for ~12k through WHT.

And what proof did you give that you were legit and not trying to scam people? What should I look for to protect myself?

Escrow would be a good idea.

But if its virtual how do I know its not doctored?

And what proof did you give that you were legit and not trying to scam people? What should I look for to protect myself?Not much. I sold it via live chat. :rolleyes:
I think the most important thing is to buy from a person residing in your country and pay him via bank transfer.

Was thinking paypal... Lol! He's in the east coast and seems good. Have had chats and emails with him seems decent... Just a lot of money to lose in case it is a scam.

Was thinking paypal... Lol! He's in the east coast and seems good. Have had chats and emails with him seems decent... Just a lot of money to lose in case it is a scam.
DO NOT USE PayPal. If he is a scammer, you can kiss your money goodbye. Do not do wire transfers or Western Union stuff either.
Your safest bet is an escrow like escrow.com.
Also, ask for a login for their billing system, and ping a few of the client domains to see if the IP matches the server IP. The seller may want an NDA for this, but it's well worth the peace of mind :)

You should also verify his claim for the company income. Ask for PayPal, 2CO, or whatever payment method his accepting and WHMCS/CE screenshots. Ask for it while you're on the live chat, if it takes him more than 3 to 5 minutes to send it to you should be really careful.

You should also verify his claim for the company income. Ask for PayPal, 2CO, or whatever payment method his accepting and WHMCS/CE screenshots. Ask for it while you're on the live chat, if it takes him more than 3 to 5 minutes to send it to you should be really careful.
All of those things can be faked/doctored. If I didn't get a login to the billing system (under NDA if needed), a purchase would not even be considered without solid proof in other areas (domains resolving to server, etc.)

All of those things can be faked/doctored. If I didn't get a login to the billing system (under NDA if needed), a purchase would not even be considered without solid proof in other areas (domains resolving to server, etc.)Sure it can be faked but it can't be done within 5 minutes. We are talking about at least one year income details.
You should not complicate things. Someone wanted my old company for 17k but he asked for NDA, logins etc. So I went and sold it for 12k just to avoid the headache :D

Sure it can be faked but it can't be done within 5 minutes. We are talking about at least one year income details.
You should not complicate things. Someone wanted my old company for 17k but he asked for NDA, logins etc. So I went and sold it for 12k just to avoid the headache :D
No, but it can be done in advance.
Personally, I believe anyone who won't provide an NDA and logins has something to hide. Not saying you are dishonest, but most of those types are.

I'd just make sure you're very careful. It's always tempting to go for the easy option but that isn't going to provide you with protection. I'd make sure I used a safe payment method and it wouldn't hurt to get real contact details (phone, address) and verify they're real.