Sep 14, 2007

Dangers of international site purchase



Since my previous post about owning a website over the internet, I have been seeing a shift in the growing number of people eyeballing the endless possibilities of the internet in recent months. With the internet still having plenty of unexplored possibilities, it is also a growing haven for the amount of scams. Since everything about owning a piece of web is still relatively new, it is also a place very vulnerable to scams as well.

I myself will step up and say that I had almost became one of the victims and I am glad that the whole crazy merry go round is finally coming to a close with minimal loss. It was a very clear lesson to me and I felt it was important to share with all of my readers as well. Yes, I have been gone for sometime from the blog world but throughout the past month I have really learned a lot about owning a piece of web. Personally I haven't found much information about it throughout the web and I learned it the hard way. For you guys, you are more fortunate because here's a post for all the people looking for some advice on this topic from my personal experience.

Without further due, let's jump into the lesson. Remember my previous post about how to purchase a website? If you haven't, here's the post. So you have done all the preventive measures before buying a site, now does the geographic region of the site has anything to do with the results?

Sure it does! Not only does it have to do with the result of the website itself, it is the very heart for any possible expansion as well. Let's say you live in the US and you are looking into buying a website that is related to shoes located in Asia which claims to make a lot of money per month through different avenues of advertising and let's say in all the best case scenarios that they are all true, what will happen after you purchase the site? With all the right tools, of course you can promote to the same audience. But what if there are changes in habit on the visitors demographically that are coming to your site? You and I are most likely not be familiar with the changes and even if we hear about it here in the US of things happening in Asia it is also hard to comprehend with a mind of an American. This is just one of the many realistic scenarios that you have to think about prior, in consideration to value a site of its or worth. On sites that are purchased internationally, you are also heavily reliant on the original owner of the site in terms of providing accurate maintenance and promotional strategy.

Personally I have found international communications to be fairly difficult even though most of the time we are speaking in English. The phrases and understanding is usually different and this can cause many unnecessary miscommunication or misunderstanding in many cases. It is also important also consider the problem in the aspect of support as well. What if the support from the seller drops or the fact that he or she decides to terminate any communications with you, "the buyer" what type of laws are there governing that? Like international crime and scams with lotto, cases like these are very difficult for the police to track down because most instances people provide fake names or addresses.

Lastly, within its transition in payment and domain. Again, all it takes is one party to not have merit than the other party is in deep trouble. Not only is the wire none refundable, if legal disputes arise the police is most likely not going to have power to do much. After all, it's not just a local case but an international case and any cases revolve internationally requires both police force to cooperate with each other.

Unless you have a good understanding of the backgrounds of countries which the site originate as well as how to grow it with the local audience, I would not recommend buying sites internationally. Any site purchased whether it's locally or internationally requires a lot of thought placed before making a final decision. Sure there are sites that are definitely attractive and well maintained from different countries, be sure to consider its potential consequences before making the right decision for yourself. Owning a site requires a lot of care and attention, without them it is like any business without traffic people and it will eventually die out. Making money smart comes with first making the right decision, remember that! -Swapw



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