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  1. #1

    Buying a Hosting Website?

    Hey everyone! I am currently debating buying a hosting website for quite a bit of money. The site has 18,000 users, 100-200 new a day, a ton of features, users server from zipservers at 424 p/m, is 40,000 alexa rank and google pr 4. The site has its own advertising that users can pay for, CJ, and adsense and is earning between 1200-1800 a month. Getting aout 100,000 pageviews a day. All of this information has been verified and is legit

    My background: Recently bought and sold several domains and websites. No hosting knowledge or technical knowledge.

    Some of my questions: First, the guy is international, how would the sale go through, how can I make sure I don't get screwed? Second, quick learner and seller will provide 90 days full support and control if wanted, will I be able to keep up with the site? What type of work would I have to do? Is it hard to upgrade accounts support tickets, other stuff?

    These are just a few of my concerns I would appreciate as much insight and advice that I can get.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2001
    Location
    West Michigan, USA
    Posts
    9,687
    A hosting website? Do you mean a hosting business? If so, those numbers are HIGHLY HIGHLY suspect. If we say he's getting 150 new customers per day - then we have to believe that he gained all of his customers within the last year (to be generous). Hosting doesn't grow that much unless he's severely overselling or if these are garbage clients.

    Further, why would he have adsense on a hosting company's website? That doesn't make sense. You're, in effect, advertising hosting for other companies on your website.

    Seriously, this whole deal is very suspicious. When you say you verified it and its legit, HOW did you verify it exactly?

    --Tina
    ||| 99.999% Uptime SLA!!!
    Plenty of space and bandwidth to fit your needs!
    www.AEIandYou.com - - (WP Friendly - Premium Reseller Hosting and Cheap Dedicated Servers)

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Murray, KY
    Posts
    76
    I can't say I've ever dealt internationally, but first thing I would suggest is (1) Legal Counsell and (2) Escrow for the sale.

    Also, as for supporting it, there are companies you could hire that could take over your technical support, and basic administration. Some inexpensive, some more expensive but would handle more.
    www.CanisHosting.com, Shared, Reseller, & VPS

  4. #4
    Tina, "A hosting website? Do you mean a hosting business?"
    It is a free hosting website and the business. The website is only 9 months old and anyone can check to see the new users each day. It has about 700 new members since last Monday. The adsense is locacted on the homepage and every users footer. The seller placed my adsense on the site about 4 days ago and I have made roughly 80 dollars with around 100,000 views a day. The google ads are for other hosting websites but most of them are paid. I also have CJ earnings pageviews and his paypal page views. Thanks for your help and let me know you response,

    Ryan

  5. #5

    Companies to help?

    Quote Originally Posted by canishosting View Post
    I can't say I've ever dealt internationally, but first thing I would suggest is (1) Legal Counsell and (2) Escrow for the sale.

    Also, as for supporting it, there are companies you could hire that could take over your technical support, and basic administration. Some inexpensive, some more expensive but would handle more.
    Can you give me some examples or what to search, ive looked but can't seem to find any?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Murray, KY
    Posts
    76
    Well for tech support companies, touchsupport.com, logicsupport.com, caleris.com, I am familiar with Touch. All seem good.

    As for legal counsel, check for a business lawyer in your area.
    www.CanisHosting.com, Shared, Reseller, & VPS

  7. #7
    Will those companies essentially run the website for me?

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2001
    Location
    West Michigan, USA
    Posts
    9,687
    I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to post adsense on websites other than your own, since Google approves the content. You might want to check to make sure that posting those ads on the free users accounts is not violating the adsense terms of service.

    --Tina
    ||| 99.999% Uptime SLA!!!
    Plenty of space and bandwidth to fit your needs!
    www.AEIandYou.com - - (WP Friendly - Premium Reseller Hosting and Cheap Dedicated Servers)

  9. #9
    I double checked before I put the ads up, it is authorized under the TOS, do you have any other thoughts? How much knowledge should I have? How the transfer would work?

  10. #10
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Murray, KY
    Posts
    76
    Quote Originally Posted by ryguy4025 View Post
    Will those companies essentially run the website for me?
    Yeah. You can hire system administrators, support people.
    www.CanisHosting.com, Shared, Reseller, & VPS

  11. #11
    Awesome thanks for the advice Dan. Is it hard to operate by myself, how much knowledge do I ned?

  12. #12
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Murray, KY
    Posts
    76
    I think Basic knowledge is enough. Work towards learning more as you can. Putting a good team around you should be enough really.
    www.CanisHosting.com, Shared, Reseller, & VPS

  13. #13
    Thanks a ton Dan. I am definitley going to use escrow and have seeked legal advice. Only concern is that international contracts are pretty much impossible to enforce, is escrow enough to ensure that I get the domain and access to the entire site? Does anyone else have any expereince with this?

  14. #14
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Murray, KY
    Posts
    76
    Quote Originally Posted by ryguy4025 View Post
    Thanks a ton Dan. I am definitley going to use escrow and have seeked legal advice. Only concern is that international contracts are pretty much impossible to enforce, is escrow enough to ensure that I get the domain and access to the entire site? Does anyone else have any expereince with this?
    No Problem.

    That's really a question for a lawyer. I would say this though, if you hire a good lawyer, he should keep things in check for you. Be skeptical, ask a lot of questions, keep involved in everything. That should keep you straight.
    www.CanisHosting.com, Shared, Reseller, & VPS

  15. #15
    I know people that do free forum hosting and use google ads, the users are even allowed to have their own domain, google doesn't mind... I suggest you hire people to help support the site, something like this can grow and be too much to handle. Is this all being run off of one server at the moment?

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by qualityinterfaces View Post
    I know people that do free forum hosting and use google ads, the users are even allowed to have their own domain, google doesn't mind... I suggest you hire people to help support the site, something like this can grow and be too much to handle. Is this all being run off of one server at the moment?

    I am not sure how many servers, it says its a server farm with clusters? Do you have any suggestions about the transaction process?

  17. #17
    Use escrow services to smooth the transaction process and make sure that there is a way to scale up if the number of users keeps growing at the current rate

  18. #18
    Will the escrow service ensure that i get the domain and have control over the site?

  19. #19
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Murray, KY
    Posts
    76
    All the escrow is gonna do is ensure that your goods are secure before the money is released to the seller. Your lawyer will setup the deal to ensure youg et the domain and the rest of the goods.
    www.CanisHosting.com, Shared, Reseller, & VPS

  20. #20
    Basically escrow means you give the money to a third party, they hold the money until the other person gives you the domain and the server control, may i suggest you change server passwords immediately as an extra precaution.. Once you feel that you have full control you give the word to the escrow party for them to release the funds to the seller.

  21. #21
    So it is legit to use escrow for an international hosting website/ company purchase?

  22. #22
    I think escrow is a must, also I was trying to read back but I am unclear on this.. this is a free web hosting company that is supported by ads... do they offer ad free hosting as well? Also do they have a way to prevent spammers from signing up and using your web space for things such as phishing scams and spamming? You should see if this sort of system is currently in place otherwise you may have to spend more to get it done right.

  23. #23
    Yes this is a free web host that is supported by ads, CJ, and advertising space on the website, the ads are only on the footer. You can get ad free hosting for a 9.95 donation. Thanks for the info about spammers and phishing as far as I know the system is in place but I will double check.

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Posts
    575
    I think Escrow is a requirement in this case. Ensure that you know that you'll also be taking over his contracts from ZipServer and whoever else, and also, make sure that ZipServers changes all the Billing over to you, so that you'll have full control over the servers.

  25. #25
    Anyone have any more thoughts on how much work it will be and if I should keep the seller on board? SHould I hire outside?

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