Whats the real reason why people sell their websites ?

I have looked at a number of site listings here on dp and on flippa. And almost everytime it seems like the guys selling the site have the same lame excuses.

The site takes no time at all to maintain but, I just don't have enough time because of ...
or
I need to invest in my offline businesses so I'm selling a site that makes a good amount of money every month for 2-5x the monthly profit.
or
I need some urgent cash for the new year party or some other lame reason.

It's pretty easy to guess that all of those and the rest are just excuses and there is something more there, than meets the eye. A lot of the sites are absolute crap and it's kinda obvious that they wouldn't make much money. But, some sites look genuine and from the revenue proofs usually posted they make a decent amount every month. So, why do these people still sell their sites ?

 

I agree with you but as long as we use our common sense, we will not believe anyone selling a webpage for 500 while he/she claims he/she makes 2000/month

Anyway, i'll speak about my country (.gr domains)
the law about domains is not clear, so many domain owners who registered their domains in the past, have lost them because they were trademarked and the trademark owners just claimed the domain ownership.

This resulted to a stress to many webmasters/domain owners who willing to sell their domains/pages to avoid the risk of dealing with the trademark owners in future.

 

Simply enough, it's because the person wants to make money or can't be bothered working on it anymore and would like to get something back for it.

 

Well i wanted to know the reason too , as many claim their sites earns 1-5k$ every month , then why can't they keep doing it for a long time and why sell it for a lot less.

 

Not everyone is interested in the daily grind.

When you actually have some level of success online, unlike many here, and have been doing it for 2/5/10+ years you simply get tired of the grind. Especially when you do actually work online full time.

For me personally, I have had plenty of success building up, and selling off sites. I actually enjoy the creative process of building a site, and trying it out, getting it to make money and reach a certain level of success, or goals, tweaking things I simply lose that fire. Once that is done, I get board with the day to day 'routine' that most sites require.

Keep in mind, my forte is membership sites. So they need constant updates to keep the members rebilling, while attracting new. Where others expertise, especially in mainstream, could be a different 'routine' in that regards.

Again, for me, I simply enjoy building new shit and then when I lose interest I sell it off. Some people believe, even if you no longer update, you should just sit on your fat ass and milk the last drops of blood out of a site. I prefer to sell it while it is still worth something. But that's me.

I also can take that cashed out money and invest in my next versions of websites. I always have a white board full of new ideas in my office I would like to do, and typically most of my sites are 3-12+ months in development, thinking it out, re-writes, and more a less a business plan before they go into development. But almost all of my sites are, or require, custom programming. I simply do not buy shit out of the box. That can get pricey for a GOOD coder.

I suppose it comes down to your business model. Keep in mind that most people in both adult online, and mainstream, are part timers and hobbyists. Not full time business owners. That makes a huge difference in regards to their 'time commitments'. I see endless shit available from college kids. I know when I was in college, I had no time for running a bunch of sites. That's for sure!

Lastly, this does not even address the current economic situation. A lot of people are rethinking their business, if they are full timers, a lot of us are looking to, and investing, in things more brick and mortar. HArd asset tangibles to add to the portfolio of revenue streams. When you see how global trends are effecting your business's online revenue and the sways of the consumer. Some simply would rather have a consistent revenue stream from car washes, rentals, or even go back to their 9-5. Especially if they have kids, and/or a family. You simply need to have 'something' in the mix for when you are going to the bank for car loans, mortgages, among other goodies. Especially with erratic spikes and bottoming out online revenues.

What you call 'lame' I call life.

2 cents

 

urgent needs of cash,
no time for management
no profit..

 

I guess many people tried to sell site because they have loads of them in their pocket that they wanted to sell it when its hot rather than wait the time when you can no longer benefit from it

 

I get the point about people getting bored but, most of the times it makes no sense whatsoever economically to sell a site. Actually, I think a lot of the sites that are sold for 6-12x monthly earnings are scams of some sort. Either the seller is simply lying about the earnings, or he has inflated the recent earnings using ppc etc, or like nikolas mentioned there are copyright issues, or some other issue. Otherwise it makes no sense at all to sell a website you made, for 6-12x monthly earnings. If you really needed urgent cash it would probably make a lot of economic sense to get a personal/business loan (especially with the current rates of interest in the US and generally world over) and pay off the installments using your sites earnings. In my opinion, sites with consistent earnings and no future issues are worth way more than the usual 6-12x per month and more like 3-9x annual profits (and more in the case of some of the bigger, more popular sites eg:http://business.ohzee.com/content/google-may-buy-yelp-–-because-microsoft).

 

I know I've sold some of my sites in the past, often if you have a lapse in maintaining a site, it can be hard to bring it back to what it once was... sometimes we just lose motivation in our niche. But in honesty if you feel you lack the time, what is a success can easily become a failure, and hardworking webmasters never really want their sites to become a failure in the end

 

Well I think there are two main reasons for people selling their sites:

1. To make Money

2. Because they don't have enough time to keep them running

thats basicly it.

 

While I concede to your point of some of the sites being a pump and dump... I have seen endless amounts of them here, and at sitepoint, flippa, whatever...... not all are.

To a couple of your other points.

1. Not all banks are as open minded to loans in regards to people who make their money, solely, online. Even WITH good credit scores. In this regard, I recommend that if you have a local credit union, you have your business account there. It is much easier.

2. With this economy, a lot of BUYERS are unwilling to pay more than 12 months revenue. So that also is influencing prices people can ask for.

Furthermore, there are a TON of people leaving the online business, mainstream and adult, in mass. So the B&S sections of almost any decent industry board a absolutely FLOODED with garbage sites, and domains, as well as some nice mid range stuff, and networks. There simply are not enough buyers for all this stuff.

My point is, there is not one reason, or answer, to the O.P. question. There are a number of things going on with the online business that is effecting the price people can ask for, and get. As well as people's priorities and life changes.

However, if the point was to bitch about the pump and dumps and the excuses people are using to guise some of these P&D sites. I concur there are a lot of them on the market for sure. That is why it is important to get as many months revenue, traffic stats, and referrers as possible. Then you can see where that traffic, and sales are coming from. A lot of people have been burned on the P&D sites for sure.

 

I guess not many people understand how long it takes to make an website successful. The pace of slow speed might make somebody frustrated very easily....

 

Depends on what YOU call 'successful'.

My last site I built up to $3000.00 a month in revenue (profit) within 4-5 months, and under 1000 daily UV (organic). For many, that is considered a 'success'. For me, it is nice and all, but I have done it more than once making the same or more on sites. Which I then will typically sell off to those who can actually afford them.

The point is, for some it is easier than others and everyone's idea of 'success' would be different. I can think of many who would be happy with their $3000.00 a month. However, I prefer to build it up and then sell it off. Then I can move on to something else that is of more interest to me.

I guess I just have some different goals than others. I can't handle 20-30 bigger sites at once. However, I like to dabble in other niches and markets. But once I achieve whatever my goal is. I like to move on to something else that is on my radar for interest. Whether working on something local, or offline, or in mainstream or adult.

That said, I guess for some, if it is taking you YEARS to reach what you call or be 'successful', I can see why it would be hard for you to fathom people selling off consistent money makers. However, that again, is from your perspective and level of achievement or skill. Not the reality of the different variables in the online business world.

2cts

 

Cashing out for X number of months revenue because they don't have time to bring the site to the next level is not unreasonable.

 

To make money

 

Webmasters can't loan from banks. Because banks can't understand what the "online business" is though they know that there are many giant companies in online business which are bigger and financially healthier than most of the banks in the World. That's the main reason of why sites/domains are going cheap.

 

I think there reason is acceptable once that is there own site, and about site that it lame, I think he / she should wait longer time to get a buyer, or may be they got a new job which offer better salary, who knows.

 

thank you for this.

 

Sometimes the site owners have other ideas and they will sell off their current sites to make time for the new ideas. Also it may be that they are website flippers which sell sites for profits.

 

They sell their website coz they think the website have reach it full potential and its time to let other people manage the website then bring it to new height.