The $5,000/Month Ugly Website: How DiskPrices dot com Proves Function Trumps Form
In an era of over-designed SaaS platforms and perfect branding, one developer built perhaps the ugliest functional website on the internet—and turned it into a passive income machine generating $60,000 annually. This is the story of why solving a real problem beats pretty aesthetics every time.
What DiskPrices Actually Does (And Why It Works)
Created by developer Jeremy Grosser while building his own Network-Attached Storage (NAS) system, DiskPrices.com serves a brutally simple purpose: it aggregates and displays Amazon hard drive discounts in real-time.
The Core Value:
- Real-time price tracking across Amazon's entire hard drive inventory
- Advanced filtering by country, condition (new/used), type (HDD/SSD), and capacity
- Zero fluff—just the data enthusiasts and builders actually need
- Constant updates ensuring users never miss a discount
The Deceptively Simple Revenue Machine
A single disclaimer on the site tells the entire story: "This website is supported by paid affiliate links." Every click-through purchase generates commission—turning what looks like a hobby project into a serious business.
$5,000
Monthly Revenue
~$0
Monthly Expenses (beyond hosting)
1
Person Operation
Organic Growth Without Marketing
DiskPrices achieves approximately 80,000 monthly visits through a textbook example of organic, product-led growth:
Direct Traffic (40%)
Users bookmark or type the URL directly—proof of recurring utility
SEO Traffic (35%)
Ranks for high-intent keywords like "hard disk price" and "price efficient HDD"
Social/Referral (25%)
Enthusiasts willingly share it in forums and communities
The Effortless SEO Strategy
DiskPrices demonstrates that great SEO isn't about complex strategies—it's about creating something people naturally want to link to. The site ranks for:
- "hard disk price" – 4,400 monthly searches
- "disk prices" – 1,900 monthly searches
- "price efficient HDD" – Long-tail but high-conversion intent
Backlinks come naturally because the site solves a specific, painful problem for a dedicated community. When tech enthusiasts find a tool this useful, they share it—no outreach required.
The Single Most Important Lesson
DiskPrices.com proves that utility trumps aesthetics in the most dramatic way possible. While competitors waste resources on:
What Most Startups Focus On:
- Perfect branding and logos
- Beautiful landing pages
- Polished copywriting
- Complex feature sets
What Actually Matters:
- Solving one specific problem exceptionally well
- Making the solution accessible immediately
- Ensuring reliable, up-to-date data
- Getting the MVP in users' hands
The Builders' Mantra
If you're sitting on an idea, waiting for the "perfect time" or getting lost in design details, remember DiskPrices.com. Build the simplest possible version that solves the core problem. Launch it. Let the market tell you what to improve. Sometimes, the ugliest solutions make the most beautiful businesses.
