I am confused why so people jump on offers for permanent links. How long is permanent? We see everyday on here that people buy and sell websites and make new ones, sell links, and then sell the site. Is permanent links worth the extra money? Would it not be better to have a set time for a link? I think it is wiser to purchase a set time for a link because then you can request a refund for the remaining time if the link is removed. With permanent, the seller can say it was as long as they owned the site. If I sell you a permanent link on my PR7 site and I shut down the site in 3 months, you have no recourse because technically it was permanent as long as the site was up. If you purchased it for one year, you could request a refund for 9 months because I sold you a year. I would suggest at bare minimum when buying a permanent link, you ask many questions and get a guarantee of how long the person will keep the site. Also it is good to check the person's past posting history to see if they buy and sell a lot of sites. This is a good indication that they may make the quick bucks and then pass the site on to a new owner. Link building is very important and if you are like me, you do not want to waste money on a $40 link if the site is going to be sold in a few months or if the site will close down. Check also the whois info for how long the domain is registered. This also can be applied to links like signature links. If the person is banned in two months, you just lost the high price you paid for a permanent link. These are some important things to consider when buying permanent links.
What I used to say when I was selling "permanent" links on LinkAdAge for $90 a pop embedded in an article, was that the technical stated term was for one year, but that for all practical purposes it will be forever.. thus, they would have recourse if it was taken down in the first year, but they know that as long as the article is published, which should be forever, then it truly is kind of permanent. Sure, I think I'll die, Microsoft kills the software and everyone is using other technology and after 10 years no one bothers to keep the site up anymore, it will happen, but it will still be in archive.org in that case! Eric