How To Flip A Website For A Five Figure Profit
It's been a few months since I last posted on the Warrior Forum having spent most of the last 6 weeks or so on vacation (ah, the internet lifestyle!) so to celebrate getting back onto the forum I thought I would explain how I sold a website in July for a five figure sum.
Truth be told - I don't consider myself an expert in any way on selling websites and I know that fellow members like Justin Brooke and Kate Anderson are the real pros of the forum at site flipping. However I hope all the same that my own experiences can prove useful to some other members here - because the feeling of receiving a five figure sum on one day has to be experienced to be believed ;-)
Here, then, are my own observations:
1) A Big Sale Is Totally Different To A Small Sale
I have sold a number of smaller sites for the $500-$1000 range over the last year or two but I was truly shocked at how different it was when it came to selling a big site. Because you are dealing with larger sums of money, you are also dealing with a different class of buyer.
This means that I found it a far more time-intensive process to sell one big site than a number of smaller sites.
Typically with a smaller site, I list it, it sells a few hours or days later, the buyer sends payment via Paypal and then I email over all the files. A quick check that the buyer is happy with what they have received and the whole process is completed. From creating the auction, to answering questions, to sending the files, I find it only takes a few hours of work in total to complete a transaction of under $1,000.
But with a big sale I found it a long, hard struggle requiring lots of time and attention to really make the sale happen. Be prepared for this difference if you have only sold small sites until now.
2) Proof, Proof, Proof
Many smaller sites are sold on potential (if they are newly launched) or on basic evidence if they are an established site (screen shots of Adsense accounts, Clickbank accounts etc.). Assuming you are a legitimate seller, this evidence is easy to come by and quick to gather.
However in my experience of selling a big site, you are expected to be able to prove *everything* in infinite detail. By the time I had sold my site I had screen captures from all sorts of affiliate programs over the years, historical sales and traffic stretching back 12+ months, SEO positioning reports, scans of bank deposit slips to prove income and more. So consider in advance how you are going to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are telling the truth about your sales and traffic numbers.
3) Google Analytics Is King
When it comes to traffic, the big buyers seem to want to see Google Analytics details. They don't seem to care about Awstats or anything else. So get GA installed on your site as quickly as possible so you can grant access to potential bidders. The longer your GA stats go back, the safer a buyer feels and so the more income you're likely to receive.
4) Consider The Long Term Aspects
If someone is buying a site for 5 figures or more, they understandably want to ensure their investment is as safe as possible. So the more data you can give them, the better. If you can show steady traffic and sales over 6 months or more then you will likely manage to achieve a far better price than if the site is newly launched. So if you plan to sell a site, get the data collection going as early as possible.
4) Ensure You Have The Time
I found that I had loads more questions, proof requests, offers and general comments on my big auction than on all my other smaller sales added together. Frequently these require detailed responses and the gathering of data that can take time. So before you put a big site up for sale, ensure you have plenty of time to actually be around at your computer on a regular basis to respond to all of these.
5) Running Your Auction
Most bids seem to come in towards the end of an auction so I only listed my site for a few days. Sure enough, I had a few bids early on but towards the end things really went wild with the sums being offered going up and up at a breakneck speed! I even had a few bidders make generous offers if I was willing to end the auction then and there. I struggled to make a decision but decided eventually to keep it running to the end and the auction ended up finishing for more money than they initially offered - so I'm glad I did it but it was certainly a sweaty palm moment for a while ;-)
6) Vetting Your Buyer
You are likely going to have to work closely with the buyer when you complete the transaction. I made the mistake of automatically accepting every bid and the eventual winner was a true pain to deal with - rude, brusk and they decided to check all the stats *after* they had won the auction rather than before. Then worst of all they disappeared off on vacation for a few weeks before paying me.
Luckily Flippa stepped in and agreed this was unreasonable and that I could sell to the second-highest bidder, who turned out to be a great guy. We exchanged phone numbers and worked closely to complete the transaction swiftly. So be careful who you accept a bid from.
7) Getting Paid
The successful buyer and I used Escrow.com which was tremendously successful. The buyer funded the account and then we signed a contract for the sale. I transferred all the files to his hosting account and arranged the transfer of the domain. Then he released the funds. Even though I am in the UK, the funds arrived in my account within a couple of hours of them being released by Escrow.com which I consider to be great service.
That's it! I'd love to hear feedback from anyone else who has sold a site for a serious sum to see if your experiences match mine or not. Best of luck to you - and I hope you gained something from this lengthy post!
All the best,
Richard
Truth be told - I don't consider myself an expert in any way on selling websites and I know that fellow members like Justin Brooke and Kate Anderson are the real pros of the forum at site flipping. However I hope all the same that my own experiences can prove useful to some other members here - because the feeling of receiving a five figure sum on one day has to be experienced to be believed ;-)
Here, then, are my own observations:
1) A Big Sale Is Totally Different To A Small Sale
I have sold a number of smaller sites for the $500-$1000 range over the last year or two but I was truly shocked at how different it was when it came to selling a big site. Because you are dealing with larger sums of money, you are also dealing with a different class of buyer.
This means that I found it a far more time-intensive process to sell one big site than a number of smaller sites.
Typically with a smaller site, I list it, it sells a few hours or days later, the buyer sends payment via Paypal and then I email over all the files. A quick check that the buyer is happy with what they have received and the whole process is completed. From creating the auction, to answering questions, to sending the files, I find it only takes a few hours of work in total to complete a transaction of under $1,000.
But with a big sale I found it a long, hard struggle requiring lots of time and attention to really make the sale happen. Be prepared for this difference if you have only sold small sites until now.
2) Proof, Proof, Proof
Many smaller sites are sold on potential (if they are newly launched) or on basic evidence if they are an established site (screen shots of Adsense accounts, Clickbank accounts etc.). Assuming you are a legitimate seller, this evidence is easy to come by and quick to gather.
However in my experience of selling a big site, you are expected to be able to prove *everything* in infinite detail. By the time I had sold my site I had screen captures from all sorts of affiliate programs over the years, historical sales and traffic stretching back 12+ months, SEO positioning reports, scans of bank deposit slips to prove income and more. So consider in advance how you are going to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are telling the truth about your sales and traffic numbers.
3) Google Analytics Is King
When it comes to traffic, the big buyers seem to want to see Google Analytics details. They don't seem to care about Awstats or anything else. So get GA installed on your site as quickly as possible so you can grant access to potential bidders. The longer your GA stats go back, the safer a buyer feels and so the more income you're likely to receive.
4) Consider The Long Term Aspects
If someone is buying a site for 5 figures or more, they understandably want to ensure their investment is as safe as possible. So the more data you can give them, the better. If you can show steady traffic and sales over 6 months or more then you will likely manage to achieve a far better price than if the site is newly launched. So if you plan to sell a site, get the data collection going as early as possible.
4) Ensure You Have The Time
I found that I had loads more questions, proof requests, offers and general comments on my big auction than on all my other smaller sales added together. Frequently these require detailed responses and the gathering of data that can take time. So before you put a big site up for sale, ensure you have plenty of time to actually be around at your computer on a regular basis to respond to all of these.
5) Running Your Auction
Most bids seem to come in towards the end of an auction so I only listed my site for a few days. Sure enough, I had a few bids early on but towards the end things really went wild with the sums being offered going up and up at a breakneck speed! I even had a few bidders make generous offers if I was willing to end the auction then and there. I struggled to make a decision but decided eventually to keep it running to the end and the auction ended up finishing for more money than they initially offered - so I'm glad I did it but it was certainly a sweaty palm moment for a while ;-)
6) Vetting Your Buyer
You are likely going to have to work closely with the buyer when you complete the transaction. I made the mistake of automatically accepting every bid and the eventual winner was a true pain to deal with - rude, brusk and they decided to check all the stats *after* they had won the auction rather than before. Then worst of all they disappeared off on vacation for a few weeks before paying me.
Luckily Flippa stepped in and agreed this was unreasonable and that I could sell to the second-highest bidder, who turned out to be a great guy. We exchanged phone numbers and worked closely to complete the transaction swiftly. So be careful who you accept a bid from.
7) Getting Paid
The successful buyer and I used Escrow.com which was tremendously successful. The buyer funded the account and then we signed a contract for the sale. I transferred all the files to his hosting account and arranged the transfer of the domain. Then he released the funds. Even though I am in the UK, the funds arrived in my account within a couple of hours of them being released by Escrow.com which I consider to be great service.
That's it! I'd love to hear feedback from anyone else who has sold a site for a serious sum to see if your experiences match mine or not. Best of luck to you - and I hope you gained something from this lengthy post!
All the best,
Richard