PureFTA
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New member Username: PureftaUK Post Number: 1 Registered: Dec-07 | Hi people, JP here, owner of PureFTA. I just wanted to throw water over any rumours which have been flying around in the last few months. We we're hacked once, but since then we have recovered with no data loss, and registrations are rising. As for the potential sale of PureFTA, and the ridiculous thought that we might sell for a measly $3,500, please disregard this rumour.  PureFTA is here to stay and we have no intentions of selling. We are the fastest growing community on the net for FTA discussion and support. I won't post a link here, I just wanted to clear up a thread that is in your archives.. I stumbled accross it on Google and thought I should explain. Thanks for reading, JP - Owner of PureFTA. |
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Bronze Member Username: BushdamanPost Number: 55 Registered: Nov-07 | knew it wasnt true. pure is the best site on the net. no bullchit and all the files you would ever need. thanks jp |
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Silver Member Username: RunnerguyPluto Post Number: 910 Registered: Sep-06 | FYI C/P The owner at purefta has warned members that they have been hacked,STAY AWAY. I entered the site with a preselected ip using a tor proxy and was led to a well known hack site. The owner at purefta has sent info to other fta sites. Do not enter this site unless you have untraceable proxy. __________________ |
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Silver Member Username: RunnerguyPluto Post Number: 911 Registered: Sep-06 | Oh sure!! I will go there because James Papworth and a guy named fukcoff says it's cool!!  |
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Gold Member Username: Ke5aqnIF I DONT KNOW THE ANSWER, I WILL FIND... Post Number: 2013 Registered: Sep-06 | That is why we recommend you stay away from the spam sites anyway. All receivers have "home" forum's with all the information you need. This spammer has been hacked and is getting desperate to get traffic back I would stay away. |
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Silver Member Username: JoeturnPost Number: 160 Registered: Apr-06 | Well I will give him the benifit of the dought as long as I dont have to become a member to get the downloads and it is not ran by vBulletin!! I'll be right back with my evaluation!! |
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Silver Member Username: JoeturnPost Number: 161 Registered: Apr-06 | Must be in Philadelphia? When is the grand Opening?? The page cannot be displayed The page you are looking for is currently unavailable. The Web site might be experiencing technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust your browser settings. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please try the following: Click the Refresh button, or try again later. If you typed the page address in the Address bar, make sure that it is spelled correctly. To check your connection settings, click the Tools menu, and then click Internet Options. On the Connections tab, click Settings. The settings should match those provided by your local area network (LAN) administrator or Internet service provider (ISP). If your Network Administrator has enabled it, Microsoft Windows can examine your network and automatically discover network connection settings. If you would like Windows to try and discover them, click Detect Network Settings Some sites require 128-bit connection security. Click the Help menu and then click About Internet Explorer to determine what strength security you have installed. If you are trying to reach a secure site, make sure your Security settings can support it. Click the Tools menu, and then click Internet Options. On the Advanced tab, scroll to the Security section and check settings for SSL 2.0, SSL 3.0, TLS 1.0, PCT 1.0. Click the Back button to try another link. Cannot find server or DNS Error Internet Explorer |
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Silver Member Username: JoeturnPost Number: 162 Registered: Apr-06 | I found it! Smells like one of Sir James sites out of AU. Requires a sign in and wants you to load a special tool bar and deals DIRECTv with Pay Pal!! The part that threw me was the ALEXA spyware for Microsoft!! I have decided it not worthy of my presence but I'm particular&%#^ say hi to laughlin for me ;) |
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Silver Member Username: JoeturnPost Number: 163 Registered: Apr-06 | SitePoint Search Site Home Articles Books Kits Videos Blogs Contests Marketplace Forums Username: Password: Remember Me SitePoint Marketplace » Premium Sites For Sale Huge Free to Air Forum! 60,000 Members, one of the largest around! New Account Marketplace Help and FAQs Customer Support Auction Ended Reserve Not Reached Highest Bid: $3,750.00 The bidding on this auction did not reach the seller's hidden reserve price. The seller may choose whether or not to sell. Bids are no longer being accepted. Seller Profile: pap_itfc Message me Current Offers: 5 Dec 2007 14:40 $3,750 (Private) 5 Dec 2007 14:15 $3,600 (Private) 22 Nov 2007 05:54 $3,500 (Private) 21 Nov 2007 23:39 $2,050 (Private) 21 Nov 2007 10:07 $2,000 (Private) 19 Nov 2007 13:48 $310 - kenty19 19 Nov 2007 08:26 $300 - edango 18 Nov 2007 19:17 $50 (Private) 18 Nov 2007 10:13 $12 - hagere 17 Nov 2007 10:30 $10 (Private) Huge Free to Air Forum! 60,000 Members, one of the largest around! Net profit of around $4000-$6000 per MONTH - This will sell FAST. URL: purefta.com Established: 17 Dec 2005 Uniques/Month: 170,000 Page views/month: 900,000 Monthly Revenue: $4000-$6000 Listed: 14 Nov 2007 Description: First of all, this website is in a very tight niche. I strongly recommend you explore the topic/genre of the site before bidding. This forum is a cash-cow, but it does carry risk. I am willing to answer all questions via PM about the genre of this site. I would like to stress however, the forum is now 2 years old and we have never run into any legal issues regarding the sites content. And moving the site offshore will cease any risk involved anyway. First of all, this forum is run with very little effort from myself. We have a knowledgeable hard working staff team, who I am confident will stay on with the new owner. The forum is around 2 years old. And first of all I would like to explain the lack of posts. Most users use us as a resource site for downloads, and support. It's not a "community" as such, ie not what you would expect from a forum environment. We have a dedicated userbase and get between 1500-7000 users online each day. Our traffic also varies from month to month, depending on how busy the FTA scene is. Some weeks, the site generates upto $2000, others around $500. The excitement of this forum is what originally made me so interested in the site. The site is currently hosted in the US, and it's costing me just $300/month. I do however, for security reasons, recommend moving the site offshore The revenue per month varies. Now we have introduced paypal VIP membership, our revenue has increased 3 fold. On a slow month, we expect to make around $2500, on a high month we can peak at around $7000. The variable income is a real nice feeling to know some months you will get a big payoff. I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE IT CLEAR, I AM IN NO RUSH TO SELL THIS FORUM. IT'S A CASH-COW RIGHT NOW AND IF I DON'T GET AN OFFER I AM HAPPY WITH I SHALL CONTINUE RUNNING THE WEBSITE, AND SAVING FOR MY OTHER PROJECTS. The reason why I am considering selling is because I fancy a change of scenary. Whether thats moving away from forums entirely, or just wanting to run a differet subject site, I don't know yet. I will accept Escrow, Cheque (PREFERRED (no fees), or Electronic Bank Transfer. I am a UK resident but can accept payments/checks in US dollars or other leading world currencies. Traffic to PureFTA varies greatly. Anywhere from 130,000 to 250,000 unique visitors can be expected to visit PureFTA each month. If you have real interest, I will provide you with my phone number so you can call me about the sale and ask any questions directly. - **I have no doubt many of you will have alot of questions**. I work full time online so please PM me your questions, as this will ensure you get the quickest possible response! - **I have priced the site to sell. It's a great oppurtunity for the right buyer. However, if I do not get an offer I am happy with, I will not sell. - **Additionally, I reserve to right to end this auction early for any reason, or if I recieve an offer I am happy with! Server Specs: --------------- CENTOS CentOS 4.5-32 SuperMicro X7DBR-E Intel Xeon DualCore DualProc SATA [2Proc] Intel Xeon-Woodcrest 5148-DualCore-LV [2.33GHz] Processor Intel Xeon-Woodcrest 5148-DualCore-LV [2.33GHz] Generic 1GB 533ECC FB-DIMM DDR2 [1GB] Generic 1GB 533ECC FB-DIMM DDR2 [1GB] Hard Drive - Western Digital WD Caviar RE 16 WD2500YS [250GB] Uplink speed 1000Mbps Bandwidth Allotment: 2000GB -------------------------------------------------- Apart from that, good luck and happy bidding! Revenue Details: I have included a months worth of Paypal screenshots. If you require screenshots for previous months, please ask. (However, the screenshots for the last month is around 15 shots of proof of income.) I have also included 12 months adsense revenue screeshot, and also a shot of the best month for adsense. (August, $2000+). The main source of revenue, without doubt, is through VIP membership. ------------------ REVENUE BREAKDOWN ------------------- Google Adsense over last 12 months: $14,761,61 Equivilent to average of: $1230/month Peak Month: August 2006, $2,067,19 Lowest month: June 2006, $512 Last 3 months: August - $2,067,19 September - $896.98 October - $931.45 --------------------------------------- We are currently displaying 6 sponsors banners. (2 are unpaid as a favour to a staff memember) The other four pay between $100-$200 each month. Sponsors advertising $: $400-$600/month. ----------------------------------------- TOTAL REVENUE MADE FROM PAYPAL SUBSCRIPTION SINCE 20TH OF OCTOBER = £2243 = $4603 Monthly Revenue breakdown: Google Adsense - $1230 Sponsors - $400-$600 VIP payments (paypal) - $4603 TOTAL: $6233-$6663. = Potential Annual Revenue of : $79,956. --------------------------------------------------------- Screenshots (Adsense) ---------------------- Screenshots (Paypal) ------------- Traffic Details: Traffic to PureFTA varies greatly. Anywhere from 130,000 to 250,000 unique visitors can be expected to visit PureFTA each month. (ANALYTICS HAS NOT BEEN FUNCTIONING ON THE SITE SINCE NOVEMBER 1ST SINCE WE HAD TO RELOAD THE SITE AND DIDN'T RE-ADD ANALYTICS. I HAVE NOW RE-ADDED ANALTICS!) I have also included the link so you can access our webalizer stats! (I have no idea how accuarate the webalizer program is for monitoring traffic however.) ------------- Screenshots: ------------- Webalizer stats: ----------------- https://purefta.com/webstat/ ( Some of these stats are incomplete due to downtime) Server Specs: --------------- CENTOS CentOS 4.5-32 SuperMicro X7DBR-E Intel Xeon DualCore DualProc SATA [2Proc] Intel Xeon-Woodcrest 5148-DualCore-LV [2.33GHz] Processor Intel Xeon-Woodcrest 5148-DualCore-LV [2.33GHz] Generic 1GB 533ECC FB-DIMM DDR2 [1GB] Generic 1GB 533ECC FB-DIMM DDR2 [1GB] Hard Drive - Western Digital WD Caviar RE 16 WD2500YS [250GB] Uplink speed 1000Mbps Bandwidth Allotment: 2000GB ALEXA: http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details/purefta.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Discussion #1Wed Nov 14, 15:03 pap_itfc Message me I would like to add reciever companies who provide FTA recievers, often sponsor PureFTA for contests. Brands such as Satopia, Neusat, Co olsat, Viewsat, etc etc. As a result, they donate FTA recievers to us, so we can test them, and make contests for the members. This gives them exposure, and keeps PureFTA an excitement place to be part of. Again, if you have any questions at all, speak up! #2Wed Nov 14, 15:10 pap_itfc Message me Server Specs: --------------- CENTOS CentOS 4.5-32 SuperMicro X7DBR-E Intel Xeon DualCore DualProc SATA [2Proc] Intel Xeon-Woodcrest 5148-DualCore-LV [2.33GHz] Processor Intel Xeon-Woodcrest 5148-DualCore-LV [2.33GHz] Generic 1GB 533ECC FB-DIMM DDR2 [1GB] Generic 1GB 533ECC FB-DIMM DDR2 [1GB] Hard Drive - Western Digital WD Caviar RE 16 WD2500YS [250GB] Uplink speed 1000Mbps Bandwidth Allotment: 2000GB #3Wed Nov 14, 20:20 HostLead Toronto Message me Hi! Why do you recommend hosting the site offshore? Had any trouble in the past? #4Thu Nov 15, 00:25 Msg.com Message me You have more members than posts, this isn't a forum, its a member database. :D #5Thu Nov 15, 01:47 nikolaalx Message me Hi, I am really interested in your forum, but I need to ask you a couple of questions: 1. Why you didnt mention in the sales thread the recent problems which you had with the forum. You had a corrupt database, formatted the server and had lots of problems with the functionality of the site. How did this affect the site traffic? Did you fix it completely, and what are the results from all this. Is selling the forums partially related to these issues, and if yes, why? 2. Can you provide more detailed statistics. I mean, you cant someone to pay you 70 grand without having at least 6-10 months traffic. I Live in Europe, and am comming to London tomorrow for some business issues. If you can respond to my questions as objectively as you can please pm me and we might have a deal. Cheers, Nik #6Thu Nov 15, 02:02 Edman Message me So basically, you've made a lot of bank from VIP signups in the last 3 weeks, and interpolated those 3 weeks into a huge 1 year revenue that has never existed. How long do you expect people to continue signing up? What's the trend so far? #7Thu Nov 15, 09:55 pap_itfc Message me Ok, I will try to answer everyones questions. Q: Hi! Why do you recommend hosting the site offshore? Had any trouble in the past? A: Hostlead, as mentioned in the sales description we have never had any legal issues in the past. The reason why I am suggesting the site would be better hosted offshore is that this would remove all issues which may, or may not arise in the future. Q: You have more members than posts, this isn't a forum, its a member database. A: Please also see the sales description. This will answer your query. The community is once of the largest around, but its used mainly for its resource value as opposed to its "environment" enjoyment. I can provide registration, posts, and user activity screenshots if required. I would appreciate it if you did read the entire sales thread however, as this question was already answered and your statement was incorrect. Q: 1. Why you didnt mention in the sales thread the recent problems which you had with the forum. You had a corrupt database, formatted the server and had lots of problems with the functionality of the site. How did this affect the site traffic? Did you fix it completely, and what are the results from all this. A: The server is now running stable, and we have google analytics back running, along with Webalizer. Luckily, 95% of our traffic is organic and for our downtime we were not removed from search engines, meaning no traffic drop. When we came back online we simply emailed members informing them of the issues we faced, and we have now started 2 contests to regain the excitement of PureFTA.com. Q: Can you provide more detailed statistics. I mean, you cant someone to pay you 70 grand without having at least 6-10 months traffic. A: Google Analytics has only been running the last month. Webalizer a little longer (but we did change servers 3-4 months ago meaning we only have traffic stats for the last 3-4 months. I advise you also take a look at us on Alexa.com, and I can also guarentee that once the new owner takes over, the traffic nor revenue will fall any lower than it has done in the past. Q: How long do you expect people to continue signing up? What's the trend so far? A: People use the site as in the long run it saves them hundreds - if not thousands of dollars. This means, they are more than happy to donate to the site. We recieve between 200-2000 new users everyday, and while that continues more and more will switch to VIP. The VIP section contains downloads, and VIP contests (development stages for that), meaning members are motivated to make the leap from registered user; to VIP member. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- OK - I think thats all the questions so far answered. If you have anymore, either PM me or continue posting them here. Regards, James #8Thu Nov 15, 10:01 pap_itfc Message me I have recieved alot of PM's from interested parties asking for my AIM or MSN. I won't disclose this publically on the forum but you can PM me for it. Regards, James #9Mon Nov 19, 19:33 pap_itfc Message me The site earns an additial $2-$4 a day through the use of our custom site toolbar powered by Conduit. #10Wed Nov 21, 05:51 I, Brian Message me Okay, I'm potentially interested, and based in the UK, too. Would be better if you stopped avoiding mention of the fact that hosting keys and unofficial firmware can be illegal - it also doesn't matter where the server is hosted - a UK entity engaged in illegal activity is still subject to UK law, regardless of where the server is. The big concern is the big loss to the forum database - if you have an older and more complete version of this I would be very interested indeed in buying that. At present, though, IMO it's over-priced for a 50k post forum. I also couldn't offer VIP memberships because of the legal issues, so would make a bid based on current, not past, revenues via advertising only. You also seem to have taken a huge drop in traffic since the end of Oct, so more information on that would be appreciated. #11Wed Nov 21, 12:06 pap_itfc Message me Hi Brian, This site has illegal content, there is no way of looking past that. And while as I'm from the UK I'm subject to UK law, if the site is hosted offshore, shutting it down will involve GREAT difficulty. I know, as I have many contacts in the industry, including owners of the larger sites which have 200k+ members, and some of which have already had attempts to close them down ending in failure. As for the big loss to the forum database, I'm unsure what you mean. When the site went down, we lost around 8,000 members and 5,000 posts, which in total was around 15 days of data. Since restoring the site, daily backups are in place to avoid any potential issues in the future. The post count does not reflect the value of the site. As with most in the field, FTA is reknown for resources, and as hard as me or the potential new owner will try they won't be able to create the steriotypical "forum" environment. Revenue from advertising ranges profits of between $1300-$2000 monthly. Multiply that by 12, and you get between $15,600 to $24,000. I am willing to disclose that the reserve for this auction is around not much above the lower figure. Traffic drops come with the field. FTA goes down when the US TV companies attempt to combat the pirated signals. When TV goes down, the site gets flooded. Often upto 20,000 unique visitors in one 24 hour period.. and this is when $200-$300 can be generated via Adsense. However, when TV stays up for a while, traffic naturally drops. This is because, as I explained above, the site is not a 'community', and it's more of a resource to members. I hope this answered your questions, and if you wish to PM/post more questions, or if you would like my UK landline to contact me via phone, I can provide that. James #12Wed Nov 21, 12:09 pap_itfc Message me To add.. To explain the legality issues further, it's similar to warez sites/forums. While hosted in the USA they get shut down daily, but those hosted off US waters face no issues, mainly due to the fact that the hosting providers turn a complete blind eye to any communication other companies might attempt. While hosting offshore would increase the sites running costs, it would also increase the sites safety. James #13Wed Nov 21, 14:37 pap_itfc Message me Dish channels going down RIGHT NOW. This is one of those big days I have described in the comments section of this sale. People flood the site once channels starting dropping, and this is when VIP signups increase dramatically. James #14Wed Nov 21, 23:40 pap_itfc Message me Good news, the site has made $800 in the last 12 hours from VIP payments since Dish TV started going down. If your interested, please PM me for screenshots of todays/yesterdays PP earnings. James #15Thu Nov 22, 14:39 I, Brian Message me Okay, I was seriously interested in this site, but commitments elsewhere are forcing me to have to leave this purchase for now. I think PureFTA will be a good purchase for somebody somewhere - so long as you can address the legal issues, you should have a thriving and strong long-term project. In the meantime I wish James and any potential buyer every success with the site, and am really narked I can't pursue this further myself. - Brian #16Thu Nov 22, 16:43 pap_itfc Message me Brian, Thanks for your kind words, it's great to have such an established Sitepoint user endorsing the site. I'm sure things didn't work out for you in terms of your other business issues. James #17Wed Nov 28, 23:07 wirescale mtl Message me how many members in the staff team and do they share revenue with you? #18Wed Nov 28, 23:23 pap_itfc Message me We currently have 3 support admins, excluding myself. We have another admin too, but he is a vBulletin coder and I pay him. We also have around 10 moderators, who answer support questions from members, and they also post downloads/latest files. None of the staff other than the one admin I mentioned above are paid, nor do they get any revenue. The one technical admin I currently pay $15/hour, and the new owner can decide whether to keep him on staff. #19Sat Dec 1, 12:40 wirescale mtl Message me Do you personally know the admin/mod staff members? which sort of relationship do you have with the admin/mo staff? Do you have a similar project to develop or launch after the sale? Where are you (not the server) located? Also, do you have a dedicated technical staff who develops and tests the bin files? #20Sat Dec 1, 18:29 pap_itfc Message me Hi wirescale, I have never personally met any of the staff on the forum as I am located in the UK and all of them are based in US/Canada/etc.. They have all been staff for many months (and some have been there almost 2 years since when the site started!). I will not be launching any other sites, nor do I own others, related to FTA. I am willing to sign a non-competition agreement with the prospective buyer. The server is currently located in the USA. If I don't sell the site here, I will move it offshore myself at some point. Mainly, only our staff post BIN files. And 90% of them we test. However to be safe we always include "Use at your own risk" and "Assume untested" to the downloads page. Hope that helps. James #21Mon Dec 3, 11:15 pap_itfc Message me Yesterday we managed to record an Alexa ranking of 8,306.. and Alexa shows the trafic spike we are currently experiancing. http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details/purefta.com The server was struggling yesterday as we recieved 1,500 new members, and over 18,000 unique visitors! James -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reply: To post a comment on this auction, please log in to your SitePoint Forums account. If you don't have an account yet, you can create one now for free. Advertise About Us Contact Us Site Map Write For Us RSS Search Privacy Glossary Terms & Conditions Jobs The contents of this webpage are copyright © 1998-2007 SitePoint Pty. Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Web Design & Development by SitePoint, Melbourne, Australia - |
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Silver Member Username: Space_invaderAndromeda M31 Post Number: 325 Registered: Nov-07 |  I hate spammers...  |
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New member Username: PureftaUK Post Number: 2 Registered: Dec-07 | Site currently down due to heavy traffic. We have 84,000 members and are fast becoming one of the largest players. Just wanted to clear it up. Stay away if you wish.. a few lost members here and there will not make a difference. |
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New member Username: PureftaUK Post Number: 3 Registered: Dec-07 | At the end of the day, I just made this thread just to try and explain recent events. Whether or not you wish to comment on that is entirely in your own right. If you are wary of the site then stay away, if you understand the situation then your welcome. Simple as that, noone is forcing anyone into anything. All I will say, is anyone concerned about my identity, simply PM me (JP) on the forum and I will confirm this is me. |
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Bronze Member Username: Chicken_littlePost Number: 12 Registered: Dec-07 |  |
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