Buying an Established Website
Have you ever given any thought to purchasing a website that is already established? Personally, I think that this is a good alternative to starting on your own from scratch. Of course, there are some pros and cons to buying a website as opposed to developing on your own.
First off, let’s take a look at the benefits. Number one, when you buy an established website you will have an idea of the type of traffic and revenue that it is capable of. This type of information can be quite useful when determining how much money you are willing to spend.
Another benefit of buying a website that has been around is that you can ask questions of the past owner. He or she will be able to tell you what to expect, what they have done right, what they have done wrong, and much more. Obviously, when you develop on your own you are diving into the unknown.
The biggest downside of buying an established website is that you will have to pay a premium price. In most cases, websites will sell for 10 to 12 times their monthly income, on average. So if you want to purchase a website that earns $100/month, you can expect to pay anywhere from $1,000 and up. Of course, this can change based on a number of factors such as traffic, recurring income streams, and overall potential.
To go along with paying a premium, buying an established website means that you will not get to watch it grow from day one. Many webmasters love the thrill of growing a site from the ground up. If this sounds like you, buying sites that have been around may not suit your needs.
I have never purchased a website; all of mine have been developed by me from day one. But with that being said, I am considering the benefits of buying in the near future. Now that I have enough income to purchase some solid sites, it may be advantageous to spend a bit more money up front in return for built in traffic and revenue.
If anybody has suggestions on what to consider when buying an established website, please let me know via comment or email. And of course, if you have a website or blog for sale, let me know!Â
October 2nd, 2007 at 11:50 am
There are many websites for sale on sitepoint and DP. I just think that the prices they are asking for most of them is too high, and it will be something like you will buy it, have to work a lot to keep the same income coming, and only after 6-12 months of hard work, you will be able to cover all the costs, and start earning some money.
It’s a lot like the real estate investment you will have to know the market really well before you take any steps and throw some money in this market.
I like to start from 0.
October 2nd, 2007 at 9:13 pm
Sounds risky because even screenshots of revenue and traffic can be photoshopped or faked in order to sell a website for a higher price. Finding a reliable source to buy from can be hard.
October 3rd, 2007 at 5:11 am
Buying an established website to me is almost like buying an established restaurant. The attraction is good food. Similarly, the attraction to a particular blog/website would be “content” i.e the ideas, opinions, thought process of the site owner. Now, the difference between a restaurant and blog/website owner is that with a restaurant, the receipes are factored into the purchase price which you can purchase. But can you purchase “content”?
October 3rd, 2007 at 10:40 am
I think one of the most difficult things to do is buy a blog! Because people come there to see the opinions of a certain person, and if they will not find him they will jsut leave. So buying a blog is a waste of money, unless you are better/more interesting than the person that is selling.
There was a company (TLA), that brought auctionads.com from shoemoney, and now auctionads is going down the drain… it’s really important the management of the new company, if it’s capable of creating something better.. if not it’s a waste of money.
October 3rd, 2007 at 11:10 am
Thanks for all the input on this. You definitely raise some good points here. As mentioned, it appears that buying established websites or blogs comes along with some risk…
October 3rd, 2007 at 2:23 pm
I find that 95% of the sites for sale on SitePoint (and especially, on Digital Point) are nothing more than hot garbage. Very rarely does a true opportunity present itself on those sites and when it does the price is measured in tens of thousands of dollars.
Off topic, but the AuctionAds ship was sinking way before the folks at TLA bought them. This does tie in with monetizing sites though in the sense that it’s extremely difficult to bring in revenue if you aren’t shoving affiliate deals down a visitor’s throat. Programs like AdSense, AuctionAds, etc. etc. just aren’t big money makers for the majority of small sites.
March 15th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
I don’t normally comment on blogs but your post was a real call to action. Thank you for a great read, I will be sure to bookmark your site and check in now and again. Cheers, Amy xXx.