Has iSold It Halted Franchise Sales?
April 3, 2007 by Sean Kelly
Filed under Business
iSold It is a franchise opportunity that has been touted as Entrepreneur’s #1 Top New Franchises for 2007, #17 in its Hotter Than Hot list of the 100 hottest companies, and has been positioned to ride one of the Hot Franchising Trends for 2007 into entrepreneurial and wealth-building Nirvana.
However, a website called AmITheOnlyOne.Org paints a different picture. The site, run by former iSold It franchisees Gene Bowen and Karen McGinn, contends:
iSold It and their competitors were in a race to sell franchises for a concept that was unproven and fatally flawed. Through apparent misrepresentation, iSold It claimed the #1 position by selling over 900 franchises. But less than 200 stores opened before troubled ones quietly started closing.
Bowen and McGinn have posted a .pdf of a forum entry allegedly authored by iSold It CEO Ken Sully acknowledging problems with the concept and store profitability, and stating that the company has halted franchise sales activity. According to the alleged post by Sully:
Far from setting out to defraud franchisees, the company some time ago slowed and has recently halted franchise sales activities. It has decreased royalties and advertising fees. It is devoting full time and effort to tackling the problems that existing franchisees face. We all see proof daily that customers need and want the services that iSold It stores provide. Now we need to work together to lower expenses and overhead so that our stores are more profitable.
Though not entirely clear, the post appears to have been made on or around March 13, 2007.
Has iSold It Suspended Franchise Sales to Retool Its Concept?
Has iSold It, Entrepreneur magazine’s top new franchise for 2007, really “halted franchise sales activities”?
If so, it seems to be a well-kept secret.
There is no mention of it on the iSold It website, either in the Franchise section or in the Press section.
iSold It franchise sales listings still seem to be active on Entrepreneur, Franchise Gator, the IFA website, and others.
With the significant Entrepreneur exposure and heavy online advertising, iSold It is surely continuing to receive a steady flow of franchise inquiries. Perhaps the company can help clear up the mystery.
Franchise Pick has invited iSold It to clarify whether they are still actively offering franchise opportunities either in the U.S. or overseas, and if not, when they plan to resume franchise sales activities.
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The iSold It website now says:
“Thanks for your interest in opening an iSold It franchise.
Today, iSold It is the #1 eBay drop-off franchise in the country, with stores nation-wide. The Internet is rapidly changing the world and we believe our concept has the potential to play an important part.
We are not accepting new applications in the USA at this time. Instead, we are focused on helping existing franchisees develop their current stores and add new stores. If you are interested in purchasing an iSold It store from an existing franchisee and would like to see if there is an opportunity in your area, please send an email to franchising@i-soldit.com. Thank you for your interest in iSold It.”
i-SOLD It is definately selling franchises in Canada. I spoke with Mark Clifton at the Canadian head office in Kelowna British. The Canadian corporate store is also in Kelowna.
They are definitely pursuing franchises in Canada. I too have been in detailed email correspondence with Mark Clifton and also have had phone conversations with him. My conversations started in mid March of 2007 and the last correspondence I had with him was in late April. He and his business partners are apparently opening their own store in Kelowna, BC. So there have been no suspensions of franchise sales. They are actively and aggressively promoting them in Canada. I was sent a franchise package and he answered questions on advertising and royalties as they applied to Canadian franchisees. I was working on a cash flow to see how the numbers were adding up when I found this site and backed off this “opportunity”.
So if they are not selling in the US, they are trying to sell to other countries.
If anyone buys into this franchise, they are idiots.
Take a look at the feedback numbers and sales figures for the one and only Canadian ISOLDIT, located in Kelowna
http://myworld.ebay.com/isoldit.cbc001
basically, if the company takes 33% of the sales, they would have trouble paying a single employee, let alone rent and other bills
it looks like the Kelowna location has sold under 100 items in three months. This is in a thriving, booming, growing, economic town of 100,000 people.
You do the math, the only profit in this company comes from the fools buying the franchise licenses.
i sold it have gone into liquidation in the UK
There is a God! Ken Sully died in a motorcylce crash last night at about 10pm! He was one of the nastiest franchisors out there!
Ken Sully posted on motorcycle forums as FastLaneKen. He had just bought a brand new red Ducati 1198, which I think is about a $20K bike.
He was just talking about his new Ducati, and was selling his Busa for $9K here: http://www.ducatispot.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12705
Here is an account of the fatal accident by the friend who was riding with him at the time: http://www.ducati1098.net/forums/showthread.php?t=13110
He concludes: “Ken leaves behind a beautiful wife of many, many years, and a young daughter of only 17. He was 58 years old.”
It’s especially sad that Ken left such a legacy of ill feelings behind him, at least among his former franchisees.
In commenting, please be respectful of his family.
New post: http://www.bizzia.com/franchisepick/isold-it-ceo-ken-sully-killed-in-crash/