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Purchasing Established Website Through Flippa

by Danny10
7 replies
I'm interested in buying an established website through Flippa which has a monthly revenue of at least $2500 per month with a good net profit margin ($2000/month min).

I would like some tips and advice from experienced marketers as to what to look for before purchasing a site. From your experience, how did the site perform in the months following your purchase? Was it worth buying an established site? How long did you hold on to the site? Do you have a whole list of sites earning you passive income?

I understand some work will be involved in maintaining the sites traffic etc. How much work have you needed to put in to keep your sites performing well? I would hate to buy a site and have it dwindle down to nothing, especially before recouping the initial investment. Has this happened to any of your sites?

Please don't provide any advice if you don't have first hand experience. Thank you.
#established #flippa #purchasing #website
  • Profile picture of the author Adie
    I don't have a buyer's experience but has a lot of sellers experience before flippa was born (formerly sitepoint marketplace).

    Some of the things that you need to know are:
    1. is the niche profitable?
    2. keywords and ranking
    3. sources of traffic (paid traffic including adwords are not a good thing in buying a site)
    4. Quality of content. Does the content provide value to the reader that they want to return to the site?
    5. Products and services (if any)
    6. Cost and difficulty of maintenance.
    7. is there any list created/included? how big?
    8. Is there any rss subscribers? how big? fb pages? twitter pages? - how big?
    9. If the site offers service, are there any recurring services/customers?
    10. what is the sources of revenue?

    A website that is earning at least $2,000/month would probably cost around $25,000 or more. If you have that kind of money and found a legit, real, and verified site then go ahead. but make sure you have some extra cash to maintain the site and people who knows how to run a profitable site (if you can't do it by yourself).

    The last time I sold one of my sites in flippa was 8 years ago. That site was earning around $1,300/month but since it was a very good site, it was sold for $28,900 to the highest bidder. These were 16 bidders.
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  • Profile picture of the author Campbell24
    If it is an seo site:
    1. Does it come with backlinks to keep it ranking in the longterm?
    2. Is it using lonterm backlinks and not spam? (so your rankings don't deteriorate)
    3. What is the affiliate program and do they accept everyone?

    Just some things to consider.
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    I will answer your SEO questions 100% for free.

    Just ask me whatever you want!
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  • Profile picture of the author lotsofsnow
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    • Profile picture of the author Danny10
      Thanks for all your replies and insight. I think I will invest the money elsewhere where it's not so volatile. I'll continue to build smaller niche sites from scratch and may start working on an authority site with a view to future income.
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    • Profile picture of the author Shan54
      Originally Posted by hpgoodboy View Post

      I do not recommend that you buy a web site of Flippa if you have no clue what you are doing.

      Buying an established site is comparable to buying a business - if you o not know what you are doing you will loose your shirt.

      I suggest to hire somebody that has experience. A good site that really makes $2,000 per month profit will cost between $10k and $40k.

      Hiring somebody with experience to help you with this might cost lets say $2k to $4k. That way you would reduce the risk by 90%. Yes, even somebody with experience can make mistakes but at least you will not waste your time with complete duds.

      There are many sites for sale where somebody with experience can immediately tell you that they are a complete waste of money and time. Those site look good for the beginner but a pro will spot instantly that something is fishy.

      Also:"I understand some work will be involved in maintaining the sites traffic etc."
      That is wrong. A lot of work will be involved in maintaining the sites traffic. Even if
      there was little work involved from the previous owner, you have to calculate that it
      will take you way more time until you learn the ropes.

      A web site is not like a piece of real estate. If you buy a house you can leave it alone for many months (aside from moving the lawn etc.) and nothing bad will happen. A web site not maintained for a couple months can deteriorate and turn into pretty much nothing.

      Yes, there are sites that do not need any maintenance but those are usually not sold. 99% of all sites sold need ongoing creation.

      Thanks for these useful tips. I've been looking at Flippa for a while but there didn't seem to be any advice other than "do your due diligence." This gives more information and guidelines. Thank you!

      Shan
      Signature

      Shan Marshall

      http://www.thecoloringcoach.com

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      • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
        Banned
        Originally Posted by Shan54 View Post

        Thanks for these useful tips. I've been looking at Flippa for a while but there didn't seem to be any advice other than "do your due diligence." This gives more information and guidelines. Thank you!

        Shan
        The due diligence is absolutely important though. Just because a site is listed on Flippa claiming $2K/mnth income, doesn't mean that it is true or that there aren't other factors that the seller isn't telling you.

        It could have been recently hit by a Google algo change and the income and traffic is dropping. The seller could be using fake income and traffic screenshots or could have bought cheap, garbage traffic.

        Do not trust everything Flippa sellers post. Many are dishonest and a site legitimately making $2K/mnth will cost between $20K - $40K minimum. Could be more depending on other factors of the site. That's a lot of money to lose.
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        • Profile picture of the author TegaD
          I may be too late posting this up but a few days ago Brad Gosse put out this video(i am not an affiliate). The video is Brad selling strategy session with him, but it also covers some of the things that a good seller should provide if they want their listing to be successful on Flippa.

          I am sharing it here because it stands to reason that if you know what they sellers have to provide then it stands to reason that you become aware of what you should be looking for if you want to buy a website from flippa.

          I hope it helps you out http://bradgosse.com/stuff/ghu2pubi1cin/
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  • Profile picture of the author Shane12
    Flippa now sells due dilligence reports via Centurica. I don't have any experience with it, but for a site with that sticker price, it might be worth exploring.

    I have had a few good successes, both through Flippa and other platforms. One site I bought direct from a seller I had worked with before. I still have the site, which has earned more than 70 times what I paid for it. Another site I got from Digital Point was for a specific game, which obviously gives it a limited shelf life, but I netted about 10 times what I paid for that before finally giving it up. A third site from Flippa was doing awesome numbers, but then Google slapped it multiple times. I still run it just as a hobby, even though it makes next to nothing, but over time that has made about 10 times more than I paid as well.

    On the other side of the spectrum, I have bought three or four sites where the claimed revenue was a lie, and in those instances pretty much the entire purchase price was a waste. I haven't bought a site there since, even though at the end of the day I'm still coming out way ahead.
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