How much could I sell a six figure earning website for?

20 replies
Hey guys:

For those with experience selling very profitable websites, what do you recommend as a reasonable price for a website earning high six figures?

Also, do you recommend selling on Flippa or ebay, or getting a private business broker involved? I really don't want to deal with tyre kickers, which I've heard Flippa and ebay are notorious for, although I wouldn't know ... this is the first site I will have sold.
#earning #figure #sell #website
  • Profile picture of the author dvduval
    If you are in a niche, developing a contact list and going after prospects that are outside of ebay and Flippa could go very well for you.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fredbou
    For a start, is the income gross or net?

    How does it earn revenue? If someone else bought it, would the income remain the same?

    What expertise is required to earn the income?

    There are lots of variables involved before a selling price can be ascertained.
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    • Profile picture of the author David DeAndre
      Originally Posted by Fredbou View Post

      For a start, is the income gross or net?
      Net.

      Originally Posted by Fredbou View Post

      How does it earn revenue? If someone else bought it, would the income remain the same?
      It's a Clickbank product. It earns revenue from front end sales, as well as significant commissions on the back end.

      Since most of the work is done by affiliates, yes, the income would remain the same for a new owner. I do purchase traffic but most of that is automated. All a new owner would have to do is add their details to my existing accounts.

      Originally Posted by Fredbou View Post

      What expertise is required to earn the income?
      None. It's all set up, all the hard work has been done. The only thing a new owner could do is expand the income by signing up more affiliates or doing more media buys. So a good understanding of internet marketing would be beneficial, but not 100% necessary.
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  • Profile picture of the author cardine
    For Clickbank products it usually depends on where in the product life cycle it is.

    If it's towards the end of its (which is usually the case when sites like these are getting sold) don't expect a very high multiple, often times no more than 3-4 months profit.

    People are (rightfully so) usually wary of buying clickbank products out of the fear that they'll get the product, then all of the affiliates will then jump over to the sellers new product or project. I'm not saying this is true for your site, but you will get a lower asking price because of this fear.
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  • First of all, contact a reputed website broker. When you're dealing with a 6-figure website, it's best to leave it to professionals.

    Clickbank product website tend to have limited expansion potential and limited life cycle. Depending on how long the site has been sustaining that income level, you could aim to around 6 months of net profit.
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  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    The factors raised above are good but I'd like to add that it also depends on niche. Since competition levels vary from niche to niche. The upside is the more competitive a niche, the more people want to cut in line to get a good start going. No better way to hit the ground running than by acquiring a proven site.
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  • Profile picture of the author Thomas Smale
    As others have mentioned, it largely depends on the product itself.

    Clickbank products are notorious for having a short life-cycle, but that's not always the case. I sold a CB product earlier this year in a very evergreen niche for around 2x yearly net profits (which is around the industry average for sites in the 6-7 figure range).

    If the profits are more inconsistent and the product is in a niche you are honestly better off keeping the site. It is very rare to find a buyer willing to pay any sort of multiple in a niche with a short product life cycle and inconsistent revenues.

    In terms of asking price there are far too many variables involved to even give you a ballpark figure without knowing more.

    If your site really is making high six figures, then Flippa and eBay definitely are not successful. The vast majority of 6 and 7 figure sales are either through brokers or private.

    I'd be happy to take a look and give you an accurate valuation, or if you want a more impartial list of brokers, FlipFilter has a pretty good one here: Website Brokers and Agencies

    Good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author David DeAndre
    Thanks everyone for the replies.

    The product is in the health and fitness (weight loss) niche, and has been going strong for a long time now. I have a history of solid growth in sales and profits, which I imagine is what a buyer is looking for.

    Anyway, definitely going to look into brokers ... I can't be bothered with the headaches of an auction, and dealing with tyre kickers.
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  • Profile picture of the author xtrapunch
    I personally find selling on Flippa fairly simple. You can easily expect 10-12 times your net income.

    One Clickbank product in the health niche sold for 35X: https://flippa.com/2721067-clickbank...al-health-site

    Another WP plugin Clickbank product site sold for 15X: https://flippa.com/2813372-6-month-r...0-mailing-list

    Trying Flippa would be just $40/20 (not sure) out of your pocket. A small price considering the amount that you can expect. Best of luck
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  • Profile picture of the author talfighel
    You will need to actually show income proof of that to your potential buyers.

    I am not saying that you are, but anyone can say that their website is making a ton of money and is for sale which in fact it is not getting any sales. Maybe one or two per week or so.

    If your website is earning you great money on auto-pilot, why would you sell it?

    I know that if I made a lot of sales on auto-pilot, I would never let anyone know about it yet sell it.
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  • Profile picture of the author wordpressdoctor
    You should sell it for six figures on Flippa, using escrow and the confidential feature. Investors will find it and they will love it.
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  • Profile picture of the author webcosmo
    you could partner with venture capitalists, they might even value it better.
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  • Profile picture of the author Anton543
    Very difficult to sell CB products on meaning multiples. People are just too wary because its a single product. You just never know when sales are going to start slowing down. And since it relies on affiliates, they could quickly start moving to the new 'hot' product in the niche.

    Since its earning lot of money for you (appears on autopilot), why not just keep riding the wave?
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  • Profile picture of the author tac88
    Usual the price of a website is based on 12 months of earnings. So if it makes a $100 a month then you can sell it for $1,200 ! Of course you will need proof of earnings and traffic !
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  • Profile picture of the author Green Moon
    Originally Posted by Kevin Muldoon View Post

    If the site doesn't take up much of your time to maintain, I would keep it. I know it's tempting to sell a profitable website and move on to something else but on most occasions you are going to cut yourself short unless you get a great price for it.
    I agree. It is very difficult to get a multiple that will justify selling a profitable site unless you simply need cash quickly.

    If you decide to sell, Flippa may be fine for attracting buyers but someone buying a site that claims to generate net profits of six figures is going to want to do a lot more due diligence than the Flippa or eBay auction process provides.
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  • Profile picture of the author jaggyjay
    All good points above. And another option you can consider is contacting a competitor and letting him or her know that your site is for sale.

    This may actually work out better than going through the process of finding a buyer. A competitor with a similar product (particularly a CB merchant) might be more receptive to giving you more or less what you're asking for.

    Similar website buy/sell discussion here: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...-websites.html
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  • Profile picture of the author Cool Hand Luke
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    • Profile picture of the author thatkeywordguy
      Originally Posted by Cool Hand Luke View Post

      I'm gonna take a swing and guess that you're trying to sell your CB site now before the costly new Clickbank policies on refunds/chargebacks go into effect next month, .
      i think i missed this news

      what is going down?

      is there some big money drain comming?
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      • Profile picture of the author DubDubDubDot
        Originally Posted by thatkeywordguy View Post

        i think i missed this news

        what is going down?

        is there some big money drain comming?
        Visa is taking an interest in cleaning up the online info product industry. They haven't come down with their iron fist yet, but I'm sure the changes at Clickbank are the result of pressure from Visa.

        Many of the boneheads responsible for these changes post right here on this forum. You know who you are. Don't keep pushing your luck or Visa will parade out your worst case scenario and categorize your materials as high risk transactions. At that point you'll need to obtain a special high risk merchant account from Visa and MasterCard if you want to keep selling online and they are expensive. Then if you go over a 1% chargeback rate they pull the plug on you. Selling through Clickbank or PayPal wouldn't be an option any longer.
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    • Profile picture of the author David DeAndre
      Originally Posted by Cool Hand Luke View Post

      I'm gonna take a swing and guess that you're trying to sell your CB site now before the costly new Clickbank policies on refunds/chargebacks go into effect next month, which is set to absolutely destroy many of the IM-niche products in the marketplace.

      I think you may have waited too long as this type of large scale deal may take a bit of time to complete, and obviously anyone who would be willing to buy your site is going to do their due diligence and figure out that there is likely going to be a significant financial downside to the current financials of your business come January 1st.

      I don't think you're going to get the deal you are hoping for, but if you are set on trying, you'll want to use a serious JV broker. Good luck, OP.
      Actually, my account is currently "Violet", the best risk tier you can get. My refunds are less than 4%, so it's a non-issue for me. I'm not currently in MMO, just weight loss. And I have a good product that people like and that works.

      There's no real reason I'm looking to sell other than to get a good price for it. I've done all the hard work, I've enjoyed the income, and now I'd like to move on to other projects.

      Of course, if I can't find a buyer or I can't get a good price, I'll just keep it. But it would be interesting to know what the market thinks my site is worth.

      Most webmasters seem to value their sites based on fantasy dollars ... I'd like to know what my site is *really* worth.
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  • Profile picture of the author DeanJames
    With regard to upcoming Clickbank changes, this article by Mark Ling points out some of the holes in the ratings system which becomes effective in Jan 2013 - Holes in Upcoming Clickbank Marketplace Ratings.
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