If you are looking to know more about buying and selling websites, you have come to the right place. This article includes details for anybody who is looking to sell their site. It will also include details for those who are looking to buy a site to add to their portfolio.
How do you make money buying and selling websites?
There are plenty of money-making opportunities in the online business space. Below are some examples on how people are making money from buying and selling websites.
Make money by flipping a website
The place to start is to get a website into your possession. There are two different ways that you can do this. You can either start your own website from scratch or you can purchase one that is already generating traffic and income. Starting from scratch is the more time consuming method but will cost you less money. Purchasing a site is a lot less time consuming but will cost you more money up front. Either way, you are going to want to gain access to a website.
After you have a website in your possession, you need to make sure that it is being properly monetized. That could be through affiliate links from Amazon, display ads like Ezoic, or other affiliate programs. After your monetization is set up properly, the goal is to keep the site growing and moving in an upward direction. This is done by focusing on things like…
- improving SEO
- acquiring new backlinks
- creating new content
- and more
If done properly, there are some big profits to be had when you eventually sell your site.
If your site’s traffic keeps growing, your monthly earnings will grow with it. Let’s say that you bought a site for $1,500 that was making around $50 per month. If you are able to successfully grow the site, it could eventually turn into one that earns you $500 per month. After increasing the monthly earnings, you can then flip the site for a lot more than what you bought it for. Using the same multiple that you bought it for (30x), you could flip it for $15,000 and possibly even more.
Here is a recent case study of someone taking a site making under $100/month and growing it to almost $7k/month in 6 months.
Getting creative with the profit margin
There are also ways to make a lot of money in this space if you get creative. I will give you a practical example based on my own experience.
A few years ago, I was able to purchase a site for around $53,000, which was monetized through Amazon Associates. In only 8 short months, I was able to sell that same site for $334,000. So how did I do it?
I decided to develop and manufacture one of the top selling items on the site, which earned me a lot more money on each sale. Instead of earning around 5% in commissions for a sale, I was able to earn a lot more by manufacturing the product myself.
I saw an opportunity and went for it. My margins increased dramatically and so did the site’s earnings.
How much do websites sell for?
Typically, websites can sell anywhere from 20x to 50x the average monthly income. To gauge this, add up the total earnings from the past 6 months on your site. Then divide that number by 6 to get your average income for that 6-month time period. Take that income average number and multiply it by 40 to get an idea of what it could sell at. Which multiple your site sells at is based on a wide variety of factors, including your niche, traffic, authority, and more. The multiples for this asset class are quickly changing in early 2021.
6 months is pretty standard in the industry. In some cases, you can use anywhere from 3 to 12 months for your average income. This mostly depends on your niche and the place that you choose to buy or sell.
For example, if you are trying to sell a site that is in a seasonal niche like swimming pools, it makes sense to value it over the last 12 months. This is because the site will generate most of its traffic and income in the summer months. In this case, the last 6 months will not give a fair sense of what the site is worth, as you could be selling during the high or low part of the season. Using the last 12 months allows a buyer to evaluate the site based on the full year’s earnings, which is fair for everyone involved.
Where can I buy And sell websites?
1) Flippa
The best-known place where you can purchase or sell a site is Flippa. They are a marketplace where you can buy and sell a wide variety of online businesses. This includes ecommerce businesses, affiliate sites, domains, and even apps. You won’t find another place on the web with the amount of online real estate for sale on a daily basis. They work with sites at all different price points and are the clear leader in the field in terms of name value.
The biggest criticism of Flippa is there are a lot of potential scams. Their vetting process is not thorough and there are plenty of horror stories on the web about people losing money or being misdirected after purchasing a site on their platform. Just search (“is Flippa a scam” to see for yourself). This means that you need to be careful when purchasing a site from them and make sure to do your own due diligence before dropping a bunch of money. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Pros
- They have the most inventory of any broker, with hundreds of listings. A lot of new listings are also added every day.
- If you know what you are looking for and do extensive research yourself, there are some decent deals available.
Cons
- They do not have a very thorough due diligence process, which means that there is a lot of potential to get scammed.
- You need to do a lot of research on your own to make sure that you aren’t getting tricked or misled.
2) Empire Flippers
Another popular place where you can buy and sell sites is Empire Flippers. They work with all sorts of different online businesses, including ecommerce, dropshipping, and FBA. They have a comprehensive vetting process, where they verify the earnings of each site. This way, you know that your deal is legitimate.
Empire Flippers mostly deals with businesses that are generating a lot of money, with most all of their listings being over $100,000. They are a good option if you are looking for a site with a lot of capital at your disposal. They are also a good fit if you are looking to sell a business that is already generating a lot of revenue. If you are just starting out or don’t have a lot of capital, they probably aren’t for you.
Pros
- They have an extensive vetting process, so you know that you are getting a legitimate deal.
- There are some good options available if you have a lot of money to invest. They are also a good place to sell if you have a large-earning website.
Cons
- This is not a place for beginners or anyone with a small amount of capital behind them. As of writing this, the cheapest site available is $65,117 and most of their listings are over $100,000.
- They do not work with sites that earn less than $500 per month in net profit.
3) Motion Invest
For full disclosure, I am the co-founder of Motion Invest.
Another popular place to buy and sell your website is Motion Invest, which focuses on content sites. Like Empire Flippers, Motion Invest has a comprehensive vetting process to verify the earnings of each site. They work with websites of all different sizes, ranging from $1,000 to over $100,000.
Unlike other places, they offer to purchase your site directly (with no fees) if it fits their criteria. They also have a marketplace that uses a ‘dutch auction’ model. This is where prices decrease every two days until it sells or reaches the reserve price. The dutch auction allows for both sellers and buyers to get a fair deal based on what a site is worth.
Motion Invest does not have the same volume of listings as Flippa or Empire Flippers. While saying that, they are a great fit for anyone who is looking to purchase or sell a content site efficiently.
Pros
- They have an extensive vetting process, so you know that you are getting a legitimate deal.
- They offer to purchase sites directly if it fits their criteria, which is different from anywhere else.
- They work with a wide variety of sites. This includes sites that are earning anywhere from $20 per month to $7,000 per month.
Cons
- They only work with content sites. If you have an ecommerce site that you are looking to buy/sell, they won’t be a fit for you.
- There isn’t the same amount of inventory available as somewhere like Flippa or Empire Flippers.
4) blogsforsale.co
Blogsforsale.co is a boutique brokerage and marketplace that focuses specifically on the buying and selling of blogs. This makes it unique in the marketplace as it is the only place that focuses strictly on blogs and nothing else.
They currently have listings of both established and starter sites on their marketplace. This includes blogs in niches like yoga, weight loss, parenting, lifestyle, and more. If you have always wanted to start your own blog, they are a good place to explore.
Since they are such a specific marketplace, they won’t be for everyone. If you are into the blogging space though, they are a great fit.
Pros
- They are a specific marketplace, so you know the types of sites that you are getting. If you have a blog to sell, you know that they have a specific audience that would be interested.
- They have their own vetting process, so you know that you are getting a legitimate deal.
Cons
- If your site is not a blog, you wouldn’t sell with them.
- If you want to purchase something other than a blog, they would not be a fit for you.
5) FEInternational.com
FEInternational.com focuses on SAAS businesses and affiliate websites. They have been around since 2010 and have done hundreds of millions in business acquisitions.
They are a marketplace that focuses on larger investors, with most of their listings being for over $100,000. They also have many listings that are over $1,000,000. Like Empire Flippers, they are a good option for those with a lot of capital at their disposal.
Pros
- They have an extensive vetting process, so you know that you are getting a legitimate deal.
- There are some good options available if you have a lot of capital behind you. It is also a good place to sell if you have a large-earning business.
Cons
- Not a place for beginners. Their cheapest listing (as of writing this) is for $25,000. Most of their listings are over $100,000.
- Like Empire Flippers, they only work with higher-earning businesses.
Final thoughts
I hope that I was able to help anybody who is looking to get their feet wet in the buying and selling websites space. As I have shown above, there are plenty of great brokers where you can get started today. Check them all out for yourself and decide which would be the best fit for you.
