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Buying websites

by Imdg
15 replies
Hey guys I am planning to buy an already made website on shopify..most of the sellers on there seem to give the same reasons for selling.. is it a good idea to buy these kind of websites?
#buying #websites
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  • Profile picture of the author affmarketer101
    It's not simply buying a website. Actually you are buying their reputation, their crm, email list, selling system, marketing system. Please keep in mind that, rather than just care about website, technically.
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  • Profile picture of the author sean1776
    It depends on your situation.
    If you don't need any custom development, it's good and go for it.
    If you are stuck with some issue after buying it and the seller is not responding, you may need to hire a developer or expert to help you dealing with it, which increases costs.
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  • Profile picture of the author md mani
    You can do this, if you need.
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  • Profile picture of the author IGotMine
    most of the sellers on there seem to give the same reasons for selling
    It was a really bad idea and can't be made profitable?
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  • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
    Be very careful about buying an existing website. There is a huge difference between the gross profit numbers they show for those Shopify sites and net profit, which is many cases is a net loss. Be sure to get an accurate and verifiable accounting of all expenses (hopefully they have a P&L statement). Get access to their Google Analytics. Find out how they are generating traffic and whether they actually rank for anything. Due diligence is paramount when buying an existing site!

    Most sites are being sold for far more than they are worth. There are a few diamonds in the rough, though, where people are selling an actual money-generating site for a bargain price.
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  • Profile picture of the author Imdg
    Thanks for the advice.here is an example of a site I am trying to buy..http://homesfinest.com, ihttp://kitchenease.us is got every detail information listed on shopify but I find it difficult to trust the numbers..my first suspicion is that if the site is making money,why would a person want to sell it? I have lost money previously on online marketing I just want to make some money this time..some fraudster on udimi took my money to create a landing page and a sale funnel,but he disappeared into thin air after a few months.
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    • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
      Originally Posted by Imdg View Post

      Thanks for the advice.here is an example of a site I am trying to buy..http://homesfinest.com, ihttp://kitchenease.us is got every detail information listed on shopify but I find it difficult to trust the numbers..my first suspicion is that if the site is making money,why would a person want to sell it? I have lost money previously on online marketing I just want to make some money this time..some fraudster on udimi took my money to create a landing page and a sale funnel,but he disappeared into thin air after a few months.
      A link to the website tells us nothing. What are the COGS? What are the advertising expenses? How do they get traffic to the website?

      Buying a website comes down to simple numbers. How much actual profit is it making per month? How long has it been making that profit? What are the trends of the website (are they selling more each month or is it in a downward spiral)? Is it an evergreen niche or a fad product that won't be popular in 2 years?
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  • Profile picture of the author crackhouse
    As others have said, be very careful with these sites. I would learn a lot more about the industry, especially to shopify - have you actually run a successful shopify site before? That alone will give you insights into how these businesses work and if any of the ones you see have all the hurdles cleared that you would typically encounter. Then remember that a LOT of these numbers are fudged, and you need to see real verifiable data.
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  • Profile picture of the author Imdg
    Thanks a lot guys., I realize I got a lot to look into before buying a website..This has helped me a lot.. I looked up some of the websites on Alexa, the sites don't even have any record of traffic as claimed..
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    • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
      Originally Posted by Imdg View Post

      Thanks a lot guys., I realize I got a lot to look into before buying a website..This has helped me a lot.. I looked up some of the websites on Alexa, the sites don't even have any record of traffic as claimed..
      Please, PLEASE will people STOP USING ALEXA!

      Alexa has absolutely no clue what the traffic is to 99.9% of the websites out there. The only data they have is on the relatively minute percentage of fools who installed their toolbar. The rest of the websites are an absolute guess.

      You'll NEVER be able to find out the traffic another website has unless you have access to their Google Analytics account.
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  • Profile picture of the author mindmasters
    Make sure you do your due diligence and research.
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  • Profile picture of the author newton
    It's often a faster way to get started, as established sites will have traffic and possibly sales too. But it's so easy to build Shopify stores these days, unless they have either othe traffic or sales, then you'll probably pay too much for them even though they might look quite professional.


    Depends on your budget but the Shopify marketplace and Flippa.com would be your best options.
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  • Profile picture of the author DURABLEOILCOM
    Just find out how much it would cost to build your own website vs buying an existing one. Remember if this previous owner has built up negative feedback or reputation you will be an owner of a sinking ship. Ask yourself if the website were truly turning a profit with positive return on investment why would they sell it?
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    • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
      Originally Posted by DURABLEOILCOM View Post

      Just find out how much it would cost to build your own website vs buying an existing one. Remember if this previous owner has built up negative feedback or reputation you will be an owner of a sinking ship. Ask yourself if the website were truly turning a profit with positive return on investment why would they sell it?
      I have sold MANY websites that were profitable. In some cases, websites were sold in order to generate funding needed for much larger projects we wanted to launch, in some cases it was for money I wanted to use to make very large purchases (like a house), in some cases they were sold as part of a dissolution of a partnership (rather than continuing to split profits with a partner and deal with disagreements about how that website was run) and in some cases, they were sold because there is only so much time in a day and when you have 50 websites, you'd rather devote the time to the 25 that are the most profitable and sell off the ones that aren't as profitable as the top 25.

      There are lots of very valid reasons for selling a profitable website. You cannot assume that someone is selling a website just to dump a "sinking ship". I've bought plenty of websites and tripled the profits in a matter of months. None of them were "sinking ships". The bottom line is that you have to do your due diligence and make sure that what you are buying is really what the owner says it is.
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  • Profile picture of the author InternetMarketingMadeEZ
    It is only worthwhile if the statistics can show it is able to generate positive ROI.
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