My Tips On Buying a Website

By | March 23, 2013

I’ve been interested in a couple of sites in the past, and actually acquired three. But I’ve made offers on more than three. What annoys me from the buyer’s POV is that if someone else is selling a 75 or 100 page site, with poor rankings, and wavering traffic, negligible income, and a poor overall design/structure/implementation… and then ask for best offers, I make my best offer which is usually much less than they are expecting.

One site I was looking at I wrote to enquire and was quoted at over US$2000. That site barely made anything at all, and a year’s renewal was upcoming shortly. Some site owners don’t value their site according to values that enable a sale to be made. Without having a guide price, it is unlikely two people will be able to come to an agreement.

In fact, looking through the archives you will often find sites that are unsold because of this factor. Owners are afraid to cite a price because they’re afraid that people won’t enquire. The reality is: it wastes people’s time because the owner is still not going to sell the site when the prospective buyer finds out that the seller is valuing their site at xxx when they just offered yyy.

Ultimately, if a seller isn’t able or willing to provide all the information that the form asks for, they reduce their chances of a successful sale. If they quote best offer, they then reduce the chance even more. If they don’t answer their mail, then that chance goes to zero fast.

I would vote that the form HAS to be filled out as completely as possibly WITHOUT ignoring questions or giving minimal answers. If it isn’t, then perhaps the sale should be locked as it is now for those who don’t do the FORM at all.