How to determine value of member list?

2 replies
My company owns a subscription-based website which I would like to sell. However, due to circumstances I need not bother you with, I don't own the back-end code of the website.

I do, however, own the database, including our member list. My idea is to sell this list to one of our competitors, but it is difficult for me to determine an asking price.

Let's say I have 1000 paying members, and the subscription amount is $30/year. Competitors have roughly the same prices.

How much could I charge for the member list including contact details? Is there a general formula to determine the value of such information?

There is nothing in our terms of use / privacy policy that prevents transferring this information in case the site seizes to operate.
#determine #email #list #member #price
  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    If this is the only income stream, 1000 @ $30 os $30,000 per year. You might get the $30k if you're lucky. I'm basing that on list rental prices as I remember them. Proven buyers in the same market were about $1/name and you might rent the list once a month.

    If you have other streams of income that are not dependent on the backend, you might get 2-3 times the average subscriber value.

    Some will follow and say I'm high, some will protest that I'm too low. Either might be right, but I don't have enough info to base an estimate on. Keep in mind that you aren't actually selling the business that is creating the income, just the customer list.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10146017].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Monsignor
      Thanks, John, all info is valuable as I've never done this before.

      There are no other streams of income, there's original content on the site and users pay for access to it, that's pretty much the whole business model.

      Competitors have roughly the same model.
      Signature

      The intelligent investor is a realist who sells to optimists and buys from pessimists. - B. Graham

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10146025].message }}

Trending Topics