# Fake selling your website



## Peace2TheRest (Feb 6, 2008)

I was on ebay earlier and just wanted to see if anyone had ever thought of mock selling your business on ebay for an unrealistic amount of money....you can then list your website information on the add. 
I don't think I would do this cause it seems shady, but you never know, marketing is marketing. 
Just wanted to know if anyone had ever tried this?


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## dmm26 (Mar 21, 2007)

Never though of that. Could work out nicely!


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

> marketing is marketing.


I'm not sure that is always true. There are some marketing techniques that could backfire pretty quickly or put you out of business (spam).

So if it feels shady, then that's usually a good guide as to whether it's worth pursuing.


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## dmm26 (Mar 21, 2007)

Rodney said:


> I'm not sure that is always true. There are some marketing techniques that could backfire pretty quickly or put you out of business (spam).


Agreed, but it also could put you on the map. It really could go either way. Who knows though maybe it could get you on the news and maybe you could end up selling your start up company for a ton of money. Stranger things have happened.


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## dmm26 (Mar 21, 2007)

oops........ I just looked at the title again I thought you meant sell your company not just the website.


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## mystysue (Aug 27, 2006)

well.. If i saw a site advertised for sale on ebay.. I surely woudnt buy any shirts from them.. as they would seem fly by nite.. or like they are going out of business. Or not interested in being in business anymore..

just my 2 cents


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## Comin'OutSwingin (Oct 28, 2005)

That's a good point, Susan.

I think there are so many more things that you could do that are proven to be effective than something like this.


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## prometheus (Oct 19, 2006)

So you are talking about making it look like you are selling it, but really you are promoting it? ebay might not like it and boot you. It would seem to me like my mind would be in the mood for shopping, so if I went to the site and then found out it wasn't for sale, then I'd feel scammed and ticked. A waste of my time.


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## AustinJeff (May 12, 2007)

It could work for some types of businesses. Collectibles, such as stamps or rare coins, in which there is a very fine line between collector and dealer. The people most likely to view your listing would also be the people most likely to buy from your site (assuming it's a good site.)

Unfortunately, this correlation does not exist for T-shirts. The people who would view your listing are not particularly likely to buy your shirts. The hits you would get would not be targeted and would be virtually worthless. I would be very surprised if you could even cover the cost of the listing ($4.00 for a no-frills one-week listing with starting bid over $500.) Not to mention the time spent designing and posting the listing, answer questions from "tire kickers", fending off bogus bidders, etc.

Also, I don't see it as shady at all, as long as you are willing to sell for the asking price. It kinda reminds me of the Zillow.com "Make Me Move" price, where, even if you have no plans to sell your home, you can set a price that would "make you move."


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## Comin'OutSwingin (Oct 28, 2005)

AustinJeff said:


> Also, I don't see it as shady at all, as long as you are willing to sell for the asking price. It kinda reminds me of the Zillow.com "Make Me Move" price, where, even if you have no plans to sell your home, you can set a price that would "make you move."


Yeah, if you intend on selling. There's nothing shady about selling.

But, if you the whole thing is fake, like the thread topic and the OP's first post ssay, then that seems pretty shady to me.

The whole question at hand is doing it with absolutely no intent to sell.


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## Peace2TheRest (Feb 6, 2008)

Wow! I did not mean for this to sound like a shady post, I wouldnt do this, I just saw a shirt site for sale on ebay, and it got me to looking, and then let me see their site name from ebay, this just bypassed the rules set up by ebay and I wanted to see if it was something other people did to get their company noticed on ebay. 
My t-shirt line is my baby, and as such I would not do anything to give it a bad name. 

And I said to list it for sale as a business for an obscene amount of money so that if anyone did offer it to you then you would be foolish not to take it. So it wouldnt be a fake listing, so I guess I actually posted the title a little wrong.


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## Comin'OutSwingin (Oct 28, 2005)

No offense my friend, but you said yourself in your first post that it seemed shady.



> And I said to list it for sale as a business for an obscene amount of money so that if anyone did offer it to you then you would be foolish not to take it.


Actually you said to list it for an unrealistic amount with the sole purpose of getting people to see your ad and your information. Not to sell it for the unrealistic amount.

Also, if someone was to offer me an obscene amount of money for my clothing line, I would *definitely* not take it.

It's just the proof that I need that I have something that's worth more than what they were offering!

I get what you're saying though. It wasn't that you would do this, rather just trying to see what others opinions were about it.


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## Peace2TheRest (Feb 6, 2008)

Yeah, sorry for the messy thread, and to think that I am an english major! 
Just crazy right now trying to get everything in a row, I am trying to get designs done and website up and a list of a thosand other things before summer really sets in. 
Thanks for the response and taking it easy on me lol


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## Comin'OutSwingin (Oct 28, 2005)

Oh, this isn't messy at all, trust me!

It's alright. I get what you're saying, and I certainly know how other things can get you off track a bit.


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## prometheus (Oct 19, 2006)

I don't think anyone here was thinking of you as shady. I thought it was an interesting post and question. Ulitimately I think that the people looking to buy a business and the people looking to buy a t-shirt may be very different. Then again maybe not. But listing a shirt on ebay might be a good way to drive traffic to your site.


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## TripleT (Apr 29, 2007)

Putting aside the ebay part of the post, it's a common practice in real estate / business brokerage to list property and businesses at outlandish numbers just to see if someone is willing to buy (of course you must be willing to sell if you get the price.) There's nothing shady about that at all.


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## Comin'OutSwingin (Oct 28, 2005)

I agree, that there's nothing shady about that. 

The shady part is if you have absolutely no intention of selling and are only using the listing to promote your business.

It's almost like bait and switch (which I think is *very* shady). "I want you to look at this item that I claim I am selling, which I have no intention of selling to you, so that you can buy something else from me".

Shady indeed!


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## TripleT (Apr 29, 2007)

Comin'OutSwingin said:


> I agree, that there's nothing shady about that.
> 
> The shady part is if you have absolutely no intention of selling and are only using the listing to promote your business.
> 
> ...


 
It even goes beyond that. If you list a property or business for sale at $X.00, and a buyer who is ready, willing, and able accepts the offer - if you then renege, that buyer can take legal action against you.

So, do use that technique as part of your company's marketing strategy is pretty dumb.


But it's probably not what Peace2TheREST had in mind anyway.


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## Peace2TheRest (Feb 6, 2008)

No I didnt, my line is based on moral and ideaologica ideals. Just thought it was an interesting question, since I saw a still up and running t shirt website for sale on ebay.


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