PR4 zZounds affiliate site, unique design, auto-updated

Page rank: 4
Domain history: has Archive.org listings from 2003
Google indexed pages: 1800

After buying this here on DP a few months ago, I've decided to sell it on because I can't find the time (or have the know-how) to promote it fully, as well as needing some quick cash.

The site is custom built by jquindlen, and the link on that page will remain for another 8 months or so (PR5). I have also linked to the site from my PR4 Wolfmother site, and that link will also remain for 8 months (text can be changed). Please see this post from the original thread for detailed information and information about the script/design/rights etc.


From zZounds:
We pay the highest referral fees in the industry - 6%. In addition, you can earn significant bonuses:
o Generate Monthly Net Sales > $1,000, earn a 20% bonus
o Generate Monthly Net Sales > $5,000, earn a 40% bonus
o Generate Monthly Net Sales > $10,000, earn a 80% bonus

For example, if a customer buys a keyboard workstation, one of our most popular products, then you could earn a referral fee of $125-300 on that one sale alone. It can add up pretty quickly at that rate!


Natural traffic is low at the moment, only 5-10 per day through SE (primarily Google and MSN). I tried a small Adwords experiment (~$10), but didn't spend the time tuning the ad. I think I just put it out for "electric guitars", for which there is a lot of competition.

$1.50 revenue! Woohoo! The site has only had one sale since I had it up and running with my affiliate code (3 weeks), which brought $1.50 revenue.

Starting bid: $150 (what I paid for it when it had no PR and few indexed pages)
BIN: $300
Increments: $5
End date: 48 hours from this post.

Paypal only

Domain is at idotz - free push.

Important note: Buyer will be fully responsible for site transfer and setting up the site with zZounds. When I bought the site, Jeff was kind enough to compeltely set it up for me, therefore I have no knowledge of how to do that whatsoever. I will give the buyer full cPanel access.
I have PMed Jeff to see if he would assist in the re-transfer for a fee if you would like, but no guarantees.

I will only sell to someone I trust will adhere to any restrictions put in place by Jeff, outlined in the post above.

 

I've agreed to help setup the site to the winning bidder for a $10 fee.

 

I'm semi-interested as it's not often music related sites appear on DP.

Couple of questions.

In the previous selling post from J it says "I have not built an admin panel as there is no content to approve. However, if you would like a simple backend in order to add more articles, videos, and downloads, I am in the process of building one anyway. I will give you a license to use the admin backend when it is complete, and will install it on your site when I complete it, if you so desire." Can the original creator provide anymore info. on this, i.e Has there been any more advances on this proposed work. Obvisouly, as we all live in a more automated world, having to do as little as possible to run the site sits REALLY well with me I took a look at some of the site and the Videos seemed to relate purely to guitar techniques. Is this purely as the backend hasn't been updated in such a long time?

Does the format of the site sit well with ZzSounds. As in I'm aware they do have an affiliation and this site is obviously the affilated front end but Did Zzsounds provide you willingly with the code to make all of this work to reflect what they have on THEIR own site? Any extra info. on this would be much appreciated. Apologies if the info's in the post already and I've missed it.

Changing affiliation to tie-in with a NEW buyer = a case of NEW buyer simply registering and amending ONE link in the backend or would multiple pages need editing?

There was a mention of CRONTAB. What are the minimum specs. req'd to set this site up and running on a.n.other location.

Does the DOMAIN come with the site?

Which sites (if any) ave existing ties to previous advertising arrangements.

The site failed to validate - http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http://www.zinstruments.com/

Google's 1800 links all appear to be internal links only. Is this how you achieved PR4? - Bit confused on that one.

http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?url=http://www.zinstruments.com - Was this surge in traffic your Adwords attempt ?

That's all for now.. I'll wait to see what you have to say about my comments.

Thanks very much in advance.

Rich

 

Well before I get to Rich's points, I can confirm a $150 bid via PM.

Now, let's see if I can clarify the points you raise.

1) Jeff (previous seller) offered to work on and integrate a backend when I bought the site, but I told him there was no need. Updating the site is fairly simple via phpmyadmin I believe (though I admit to not having done so). Jeff may be willing to continue the backend, but I'd have to check with him and there may be a small fee.

2) As I mentioned, Jeff transferred the site so I'm not sure. I got the impression it was changing one or a few files - certainly not all.

3) Again I'm not completely sure, but as long as your host supports PHP, MySQL, and CRON jobs you will be fine. The site isn't resource intensive from what I can see.

4) Domain does indeed come with the site, registered at idotz.net with a free push.

5) No sites have existing ties. I mentioned a couple of links to the site which will stay after the sale, but otherwise nothing. Basically, Jeff transferred the site, I spent a few bucks on adwords and that's all I've done.

6) Validation - unfortunately the site is sold as is. As far as I know it displays correctly in both IE and Firefox.

7) What do you mean by internal links? I haven't "managed" to get PR4 at all, it naturally came about. I haven't done any link campaigns at all.

8) Alexa spike - no, the adwords campaign would have caused the small blip between Jan and Feb. The site would have still been in Jeff's hands at that point.

I think I covered everything, albeit not entirely in a complete manner. Do let me know if you would like any points clarifying with Jeff and I'll try to get them to him.

Cheers.

 

Sorry, realised I didn't address this point.

The affiliate manager at zZounds knows of and likes the site. In addition to the normal product referral IDs, they provide access to their feed which allows sites like this to auto update and always reflect their current catalogue.

 

We talked about setting up the admin panel, but chimaera never really pushed the issue. I can setup a basic admin panel that would give you the ability to add new articles/videos/software at no cost. Any further work on the admin would be an additional cost, but I doubt there'd be a need for any additional features in the admin panel, mainly since there's no user submitted content.

 

$160 bid from me.

 

Honey, I need to start PMing you with the sites I put up for sale (you keep missing them!) - though I'm sure a lot of people do that already =0)

The sale ended after 48 hours as per the original post, and the site has been transferred to the new owner.

Thanks for the interest though!

 

Congratulations honey!

I hope the site turns out to be a great investment for you and your portfolio.

Regards,

Rich.

 

Um, it was me that won the site...

Thanks to Chimaera for a swift and smooth transaction. Just in the process of setting up a new hosting account so will be transferred soon.

PM regarding admin panel and setup on its way to J...