Web Sites For Sale

Opti · 10-18-2004

Friday night, a good mate who has been talking about an industry exit for a few weeks sent a rough run down of the assets he wanted to move.. and said he wanted $80k and how would I go about selling it.

I couldn't see an easy way to get anyone I knew with that sort of cash to even read his list of stuff, let alone buy it, but I wanted to at least see if I could help him establish a value without getting cut to ribbons by posting asking for opinions on a message board... so I started penning a post and it just turned into a dutch auction.. and seemed like it would be far more interesting if there was also a cheaper site, so I added my linksite.

As far as the goal of getting #2 looked at went, about 12 people saw the list, 2 people sounded like they will seriously look at Paul's proposition and 1 person said they would be fairly sure to pay $45k for it if he ever wanted to discuss that sort of price.

So, as long as I didn't piss anyone off.. I enjoyed myself and got a far better result than expected for what I wanted to achieve at the start.

It's probably easier to answer a few questions people asked rather than rave on.

* Why not just tell us what the sites earn?

I didn't want to get into proving anything this weekend, nor take a risk on guaranteeing anything. Those that spoke to me personally have a fairly accurate guess what #2 will earn next month. For the curious that cant deal with any other valuation method than multiplication of income.. #1 is 1-2k/mth and #2 is 5-15k/mth (thats a wide range as its not my business to be posting anything more exact)

* Did you really expect anyone to spend 80k without research time?

No. but after what I saw I think people will spend 80k if given the research time and more information

* No one on Oprano could understand where the value was in these sites!

That's why I kept trying to frame the deal toward an affiliate program owner, to make it relevant.. I think with more time and a little planning, I could do a far better job of that part. FYI I "think" every serious buyer was a freesite orientated webmaster, so some serious business people that don't own paysites seem to read the board already.. I for one wouldn't mind a bit more talk about dollars amongst the politics and the sort of people attracted to this sort of thread are just the type of webmasters I want to know.

* You didn't think anyone would pay 10k for your site so you never expected to donate that money!

The second time I posted the offer, that was exactly what I was angling for and genuinely thought someone was going to do it! By that stage I was thinking more about establishing a market price for next week than any personal profit this week.

* Selling websites just screams "failure"

Here is a good example of 2 deals that don't scream failure.. And that would be a major selling point for mine if I end up doing this again... You are buying something you can have more confidence in purchasing than usual... If we can find quality sites regularly, and build up a few happy buyers as references.

* No One has any money right now

Many people I have known long term are having the best year of their careers, GFY is aflood with people buying second hand sites and trying to resell them at profit, there seems to buyers everywhere to me.

There is no forum or place to sell an actual operating business though. And none where you can buy from someone and feel like there is any guarantees.. it's just too hard to buy or sell a site like the ones above.. but I really think there is a market for it and value to be had.

This is too long anyway now.. so i wont go on.. but there is a whole bunch of areas i see spin off potential in (as I tried to demonstrate to some extent) so, if someone wants to encourage me... I'll probably have a think about this one, do a little work and see if I can have a another go at this in 2 weeks time. Probably not just linksites next time, but once again, hard to sell/buy businesses. Drav, I'd like to talk about doing Free Porn List if you are up for it genuinely.

I promise thats the last long post (I hate them myself) and thanks to all that supported or participated.

10-18-2004	#18
Opti Members Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 1,205	Friday night, a good mate who has been talking about an industry exit for a few weeks sent a rough run down of the assets he wanted to move.. and said he wanted $80k and how would I go about selling it. I couldn't see an easy way to get anyone I knew with that sort of cash to even read his list of stuff, let alone buy it, but I wanted to at least see if I could help him establish a value without getting cut to ribbons by posting asking for opinions on a message board... so I started penning a post and it just turned into a dutch auction.. and seemed like it would be far more interesting if there was also a cheaper site, so I added my linksite. As far as the goal of getting #2 looked at went, about 12 people saw the list, 2 people sounded like they will seriously look at Paul's proposition and 1 person said they would be fairly sure to pay $45k for it if he ever wanted to discuss that sort of price. So, as long as I didn't piss anyone off.. I enjoyed myself and got a far better result than expected for what I wanted to achieve at the start. It's probably easier to answer a few questions people asked rather than rave on. * Why not just tell us what the sites earn? I didn't want to get into proving anything this weekend, nor take a risk on guaranteeing anything. Those that spoke to me personally have a fairly accurate guess what #2 will earn next month. For the curious that cant deal with any other valuation method than multiplication of income.. #1 is 1-2k/mth and #2 is 5-15k/mth (thats a wide range as its not my business to be posting anything more exact) * Did you really expect anyone to spend 80k without research time? No. but after what I saw I think people will spend 80k if given the research time and more information * No one on Oprano could understand where the value was in these sites! That's why I kept trying to frame the deal toward an affiliate program owner, to make it relevant.. I think with more time and a little planning, I could do a far better job of that part. FYI I "think" every serious buyer was a freesite orientated webmaster, so some serious business people that don't own paysites seem to read the board already.. I for one wouldn't mind a bit more talk about dollars amongst the politics and the sort of people attracted to this sort of thread are just the type of webmasters I want to know. * You didn't think anyone would pay 10k for your site so you never expected to donate that money! The second time I posted the offer, that was exactly what I was angling for and genuinely thought someone was going to do it! By that stage I was thinking more about establishing a market price for next week than any personal profit this week. * Selling websites just screams "failure" Here is a good example of 2 deals that don't scream failure.. And that would be a major selling point for mine if I end up doing this again... You are buying something you can have more confidence in purchasing than usual... If we can find quality sites regularly, and build up a few happy buyers as references. * No One has any money right now Many people I have known long term are having the best year of their careers, GFY is aflood with people buying second hand sites and trying to resell them at profit, there seems to buyers everywhere to me. There is no forum or place to sell an actual operating business though. And none where you can buy from someone and feel like there is any guarantees.. it's just too hard to buy or sell a site like the ones above.. but I really think there is a market for it and value to be had. This is too long anyway now.. so i wont go on.. but there is a whole bunch of areas i see spin off potential in (as I tried to demonstrate to some extent) so, if someone wants to encourage me... I'll probably have a think about this one, do a little work and see if I can have a another go at this in 2 weeks time. Probably not just linksites next time, but once again, hard to sell/buy businesses. Drav, I'd like to talk about doing Free Porn List if you are up for it genuinely. I promise thats the last long post (I hate them myself) and thanks to all that supported or participated.