Do not sell website for less than 4 years revenue

11 years ago

And this is based upon what?

Fact or opinion?

I've sold numerous sites, from $1,500 up to $25,000 and I've never sold at 4 years worth of income. Infact, I don't know of anyone that has.

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Anton543

11 years ago

Originally Posted by John Romaine

And this is based upon what?

Fact or opinion?

I've sold numerous sites, from $1,500 up to $25,000 and I've never sold at 4 years worth of income. Infact, I don't know of anyone that has.

Based on the fact that the web is a lot more competitive now, so letting go of established sites at a low price is very regrettable.

For example, if you have a site that has been ranking well for lot of terms for several years and you have been making, say, $1000/month from adsense, you would be crazy to sell for $24K (2 years revenue). The new owner will almost instantly be able to monetise it it better and boost revenue by 50% to 100%. By selling low, you are selling an aged domain, traffic that's built up over the years, good amount of returning traffic from links and type ins. If you think you can just replicate in a new niche quickly, you are mistaken. For one, Google probably won't rank your new site decently for at least 6 months to 1 year and after that lot will depend on the quality of your new site, how well you have manged to build relationship with social media, etc.

The domain age alone counts for a lot.

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sbucciarel

Banned 11 years ago

So exactly where are you seeing sites selling for 4 years income? Certainly not Flippa. Maybe a broker, but you're not likely to see those sales since many of them are private.

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Anton543

11 years ago

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

So exactly where are you seeing sites selling for 4 years income? Certainly not Flippa. Maybe a broker, but you're not likely to see those sales since many of them are private.

I know. Lot of people on Flippa have been ingrained to think the max you should pay is 10 to 24 months revenue. I say don't sell, just hold on unless the funds are needed as an emergency.

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John Romaine

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Anton543

I know. Lot of people on Flippa have been ingrained to think the max you should pay is 10 to 24 months revenue. I say don't sell, just hold on unless the funds are needed as an emergency.

I've sold 2 sites for $25,000 (1 years worth of income) and another for $15,000 because I "felt like it".

I sold those sites for my own reasons, not because I was in "desperate need of money" or in an "emergency".

Let me ask you, how many sites have you sold, and what qualifies you to give such advice?

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Newbieee

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Anton543

Do not sell lower than 4 years revenue (minimum) if the site is a good quality site and has had consistent revenue and traffic over a few years.

Its so much more difficult to get quality traffic to a new site these days than it was a few years back. One the one hand, it may be easier to get more traffic more quickly these days with social media, but often times the traffic is equivalent to junk traffic where the owner has not developed any relationship with the Facebook crowd. They may come and go but are not going to convert.

People will say, but your Google traffic could dry up any time so you shouldn't put such a premium. But the truth is, even an offline business could have their custom dry up any time. Those are 'what ifs' that could apply to any sort of business.

Seriously, anyone that manages to buy a site for 2 years revenue must think to himself what a fool the owner was to let it go at that price, or perhaps needed the money really bad.

erm, from what i understand, this is a buyer motivated market.
Its all about the buyer.
Its about how much the buyer wants to pay for a certain asset.
Just like property.
Its not the seller, you can price ur asset as high as u want, like 4 years in your opinion. But will people buy?
You can try.

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Adie

11 years ago

If there is someone who is interested to pay that price then why not? But I think it is also not logical to buy a site with the price equivalent to 4 years revenue....

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Newbieee

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Adie

If there is someone who is interested to pay that price then why not? But I think it is also not logical to buy a site with the price equivalent to 4 years revenue....

Thats why i said its all about the buyer.
If the buyer is willing then why not.

BUT u have to see the business model and the revenue model.
If its purely google organic like the previous post written by joseph, then its not wise, because its risky, 1 update from google and ur "investment" goes bearish.
Unless you can upkeep and adapt.
Cos 4 years of revenue to break even is a long long time.

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Anton543

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Newbieee

Thats why i said its all about the buyer.
If the buyer is willing then why not.

BUT u have to see the business model and the revenue model.
If its purely google organic like the previous post written by joseph, then its not wise, because its risky, 1 update from google and ur "investment" goes bearish.
Unless you can upkeep and adapt.
Cos 4 years of revenue to break even is a long long time.

It does assume the new buyer will be able to monetise the site much better and is a quality site (not MFA). Some of the guys who buy sites on Flippa are expert at this. They buy at 10 months revenue and then quickly double or even triple monthly income. So, effectively, they are just paying 3 to 5 months revenue for the site.

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Anonymous Affiliate

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Anton543

Do not sell lower than 4 years revenue (minimum) if the site is a good quality site and has had consistent revenue and traffic over a few years.

Based on what, I ask? :rolleyes:

You know, it's VERY difficult to sustain consistent revenue/traffic over a long-period of time (4+ years) for a number of reasons. For example: a single change in Google's algorithms can hammer your site down badly.

Cashing out and diversifying is a smart business route, and I live by it. In fact, I've done it a number of times, having sold quite a few websites for 6 figures over the years: create the site, grow it, expand it, monetize it all the way, plateau it, sell it, cash out and diversify your risk.

There's nothing wrong in selling a website if you feel its growth has plateaued, no matter whether it's within its 1st year from creation.

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Anton543

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Anonymous Affiliate

Based on what, I ask? :rolleyes:

You know, it's VERY difficult to sustain consistent revenue/traffic over a long-period of time (4+ years) for a number of reasons. For example: a single change in Google's algorithms can hammer your site down badly.

Cashing out and diversifying is a smart business route, and I live by it. In fact, I've done it a number of times, having sold quite a few websites for 6 figures over the years: create the site, grow it, expand it, monetize it all the way, plateau it, sell it, cash out and diversify your risk.

There's nothing wrong in selling a website if you feel its growth has plateaued, no matter whether it's within its 1st year from creation.

If you are moving into a different line of business, that's fine, but if you are staying within website management, then I wouldn't sell. I would rather keep the site and grow rather start all over again, unless you've completely lost passion for the niche you are in.

As I say, if the site is very good and you haven't done anything dodgy, there is no reason why you should be wiped off the Google radar. If you ahve been, it should be pretty easy to seek re-inclusion.

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Anonymous Affiliate

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Anton543

If you are moving into a different line of business, that's fine, but if you are staying within website management, then I wouldn't sell. I would rather keep the site and grow rather start all over again, unless you've completely lost passion for the niche you are in.

Are you familiar with the concept of risk diversification?

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Anton543 11 years ago

Originally Posted by Anonymous Affiliate

Are you familiar with the concept of risk diversification?

There are different diversification methods. In what context are you talking about? So you sell your sites and then what you do you diversify into with the sale proceeds?
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Tina Golden 11 years ago

Originally Posted by John Romaine

And this is based upon what?

Fact or opinion?

Originally Posted by John Romaine

Let me ask you, how many sites have you sold, and what qualifies you to give such advice?

Originally Posted by Anonymous Affiliate

Based on what, I ask? :rolleyes:

That's three times you've been asked to put up or shut up. Continuing to ignore the questions won't fool anyone with a few brain cells left.
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- FreshAndThemes 11 years ago
  
  Anton how many sites have you sold thus far?
  
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Malcolm Thomas

11 years ago

I agree with the other posters as in there is no set time limit to sell a site. How much someone is willing to pay for a site is how much it is worth in my opinion. A person may choose to sell a site just to simply focus on another project.

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khooster1

11 years ago

I don't think anyone will sell their money sites for less than 12 months of revenue. Unless he is desperate for money. which is rare.

Beware on what you buy in Flippa. I have bad experience purchasing websites.
Even if you bought a genuine profitable site, you might not be able to maintain its profitability as you don't have the knowledge/skills.
I still believe in building your own site.

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DonnyBoy

11 years ago

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Anton543

11 years ago

Originally Posted by DonnyBoy

I would not recommend to have your site with you for 4 years... Because nobody knows when Google gonna change its policies and stuff also after 4 years how much competition its gonna be? So seeing in for these 2 factors, I would suggest to sale your website when you get some good price... No matter if that is 1 month older or 4 years old... If you can get the price what your looking for, that is for you

Sorry, but that is a stupid comment. Many people operate their business for decades. Yes, 4 years down the line there will be more competition but don't forget you will have 4 years to grow your site further in the meantime.

Also, if you start a new site, why would you sell it after 1 month? It takes time to build up traffic and revenue, which would be used to base the eventual sale price.

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CyberAlien

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Anton543

Sorry, but that is a stupid comment. Many people operate their business for decades. Yes, 4 years down the line there will be more competition but don't forget you will have 4 years to grow your site further in the meantime.

Also, if you start a new site, why would you sell it after 1 month? It takes time to build up traffic and revenue, which would be used to base the eventual sale price.

In this thread, you're in no place to be calling other people's comments stupid lol.

Let me bring you back to the real world.

1. Can you name a single website that sold for 4 times the price and has been operating for decades?

2. Normally when people start threads, they either have personal and extensive experience doing something - otherwise your opinion is worth nothing. OR have extensive research into the matter and be able to show multiple examples for questions like the one I asked you above.

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franktwin

11 years ago

I have sold a few web sites on flippa, some worth thousands others worth hundreds, The golden rule I like to follow is to sell the site based on 10 times the monthly revenue. That is pretty much the best you are going to get.

Cheers,

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Anton543

11 years ago

Originally Posted by franktwin

I have sold a few web sites on flippa, some worth thousands others worth hundreds, The golden rule I like to follow is to sell the site based on 10 times the monthly revenue. That is pretty much the best you are going to get.

Cheers,

Yes, on Flippa.

I know a guy who sold for six figures despite revenues being around $2K-$2.5K a month.

The key is to try and build a very good site so you can seek out private buyers.

This site CD (Certificate of Deposit) Rates, Money Market Rates, High Interest Savings Accounts reportedly sold for more than $10 million. I don't think the guy was even making $300K annually. The professional buyers obviously could see the huge potential it had.

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Malcolm Thomas

11 years ago

Anton, how many websites have you yourself personally sold?

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Jeff Schuman

11 years ago

What you can sell a site for is what the market will bear. Virtual real estate is no different than selling property offline. If you can get 4 years worth of income for it then that is what you should sell it for. I doubt you can get that.

I have been told in the past by website brokers you can get 18 times monthly income on a site earning 4K a month and 10 times monthly income on sites earning less than that. In my limited experience actually selling 2 sites I have found that to be true.

In a down economy that may change. In an up economy that may increase a little. Often it comes down to marketing the property to enough people to establish what the real market is.

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theory expert

Banned 11 years ago

Originally Posted by Anton543

This site CD (Certificate of Deposit) Rates, Money Market Rates, High Interest Savings Accounts reportedly sold for more than $10 million. I don't think the guy was even making $300K annually. The professional buyers obviously could see the huge potential it had.

That was reported in 2008

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KevL

11 years ago

You seem to be forgetting that their is a buyer involved in this...

You also appear to be forgetting that there's far more to take into account than revenue. It's overall value, and overall value is not only about previous revenue.

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seasoned

11 years ago

I've heard a LOT of people say, for DECADES that you should at least break even at 3 years. You are telling everyone to make sure that CAN'T happen at the get go. News for you! THEY won't change! YOU ask them to change, as everyone and his brother has tried to do for thousands of years, and they will do what they do most times! Say FORGET IT!!!!!!

And SURE a B&M store may see its traffic drop. But RARELY as fast as it can happen on the internet! Google changes, clickbank changes, CJ changes, etc... And people here start complaining. I didn't notice people complaining about roibot, but in its hey day, LONG ago, people were bragging about making over 50K a year on it. They hooked EVERYTHING to it! Websites, search engines, books. You know how much they make NOW? NOTHING!!!!!!!

HECK, how are they to know how much you really make anyway?

Steve

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Do not sell website for less than 4 years revenue

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