advice on buying a website

This is always a little tricky, because if it is making money, why would someone want to sell it? And if they are willing to sell it, they would probably want to put the price at a point where it would take a while for you to break even.

(and if you ever want to design your own software, and have someone else make it, send me a note. That's what we do)

Thats a tough one. I believe thats what everybody is looking for lol.

I know myproductcenter.com offers a free website you can promote.

I would check revenue reports to be sure they aren't inflated. Also get a look at the analytics. If they use GOogle ask them to give you access.

People tend to inflate things whenever they are trying to sell. Some send crap traffic to the site to boost numbers. You will be able to see this if you look at the analytics.

Get details of revenue. Ask for access if possible. Talk with other customers if possible.

I my experience most sites look better right after they are put up for sale. Buyer beware.

I agree, if it's making money, why would they need to sell it.

Just so you know, most good sites are going to go for the price of 12 x monthly income, so as mentioned it might take you a wile to break even.

Guess the best you can do it try to get real stats data such as income and traffic. Not just screen shots as those can be doctored. Though most probably won't let you log into to their private data.

Try using something like Yahoo site explorer, you can at least check the backlinks, how many, where they are coming from. Although Alexa is usually way off, it might give you some indication is there is really any traffic to the site or not. Just don't take it as proof. Check whois, to verify what they say about the site, such as age.

Course you don't want to buy from some one that might not have much of a rating as a seller, or on forums, ones that have few posts, ect.

Honestly you would be much better off buying a new site or have some one create one for you and invest money in learning how to drive traffic, getting your pages bookmarked, ect. You'll most likely see a real profit faster.

I have never used one but I recently sold a site for 19 months earnings and learned about using a broker. The site details are all disclosed to the broker and everything is completely transparent for the buyer.

Often the actual name and URL of the site are not disclosed until a sale agreement is reached.

Just another option.

I completely disagree with "if the site is making money why are they selling". I sold my site because I needed the money to fund another project. The monthly revenue were not sufficient.