To sell or not to sell small gaming forum

Hello!

I own a small forum about a specific, fairly popular videogame. The forum has about 400 members, 5000 posts, a twitter account with 800 followers, and currently just 600-700 visitors per month according to analytics. I honestly bought the website not to make money out of it, but because I liked the game and because the owner was selling a few licenses with it that I could use for other websites.

Now, yesterday I received an offer from one of the main gaming networks to purchase my forum and domain, for a considerable amount of money (around 3,xxx) for such a small website. I have no idea what they want the website for or how they think they could ever monetize it, so I am really undecided about selling it or not. The only thing I can think about is that they think the website's traffic will go up when the new iteration of the game comes out, but that means very little money. Another thing to consider is that I currently do not have much time to manage and promote the forum, so my users would probably be better of with a more caring and resourceful owner.

What would you do? Should I just sell the website and forget about it?

Thanks,

H.

 

Why not sell it ...

3,xxx is a good deal go for it ....

 

Yeah, all things considered I have nothing to lose. Thanks!

 

Well you have to look at the options here... if they're wanting to buy it for 3,xxx then they obviously think they can make more then that... or else they wouldn't be buying it for that price. The question is, do you have the time to continue working on it and make more then 3,xxx? If not, then sell it.... if so then don't.

 

Agree completely with Noah above. That's a general premise of most sales. I've been offered a lot of money for some of my sites which I wanted to focus on building. I did not sell those. I've been offered 20+ months of revenue for other sites which I have absolutely no time to build up and market. I sell those in a heartbeat. It's all a matter of personal preference.

 

Thanks a lot for the precious feedback, I agree with you. They know well that when there is a new game in the series released the forum traffic goes up, but I really have no time to work on a website for months just for that.

 

I agree with Noah.

 

Sell it and build a new one. There's no shortage of games, is there?

 

I agree the noah..

 

Hi,

I would advise you to sell a portion of the website.

Let say you own 49% of the website.

By doing this,you will still get the future earning incase the website earn money after you sell.

 

I'd definitely sell. If you haven't monetized it, theres nothing to lose. You can still participate as an active member. They may even let you moderate it still.

 

Well to be honest, 3,xxx for a forum with 400 members is a good deal if you ask me. If i got an email i would defently say sure. But the question you have to ask yoru self is, What if i dont sell it, do some more advertising, marketing etc and get more members , 1000+ maby, what would the offer be then? would they then turn round to you and offer you maby 10,xxx +?

 

I get your point, seagate, but I really have not time for it. I think I know what they are after; immediately after a game in the series is released, the traffic on the forum goes crazy, but just a couple of months. I suppose that they think that those two months will be enough to make the thing profitable, while being at the top tank for the search "game name + forum".

Even if I had 300,000 monthly visitors on that forum for a couple of months I would have no idea on how to monetize it, other than adsense; whereas, for a gaming network, that same amount of users would translate into decent money. Not to mention, my users will be much better if the forum is sold to an active game community which can bring a bit of activity to the forum.

Anyhow, I am selling it. I tried asking for a percentage on future income but they refused.

Thanks to all those who took time to help me - I know very little about website sales so your suggestions were important.

 

Personally I would sell it. You could also try and go for a clause that allows you to remain a mod (if you really wanted to). But yeah, a nice four figure sum. If a new instalment of the game is on the way in just a couple months, probably better to off-load now before they retract their offer. As you said, you didn't buy it to make money, but why not? You'll still have those licenses and will have more time to focus on those developments, and it's not like you can't visit that community any more.

 

Does it make any revenue? Are the costs high? Is it time consuming for you? I'd recommend if you don't want to sell it, merge it with another community that's doing pretty good - so that, members can be apart of a flourishing bigger community.

 

Go for it! $3,000+ is a lot of money for a gaming forum. I would definitely sell.

 

You get only 700 visitors a month? I'm sure you aren't making much money. I would look at the revenue and multiply it by 10 (months or 12) if $3,xxx is more than that sell it without giving it much thought. Good luck!

 

Thanks people for all the suggestion!

 

I say sell it! Then just create a new forum when you already have the time to do so. Goodluck mate!

 

sell it, but first try to capture the visitors data via promotion, so that you can take them to your new site