Hi there! This is my first post at Digital Point and I have a serious question that's burning hot, for me. I wish to purchase a website and I want to know how I can rate it and evaluate it's real value so that I can say that the offers is good or bad for me. Also If you can give me a hint on how to negotiate a lower price, I mean what drawbacks the website has. I don't have much expertise in building website, that's why I wish to buy a small website, to have a starting point. Website's name is Gadgetroad (URL www.gadgetroad.com). Thanks in advance!
Welcome to Digital Point! Where is the site listed for sale? If it's listed at SitePoint it should have enough information listed (such as revenue, it's Google PR, monthly unique visitors etc.). If it's listed elsewhere and has limited information, try contacting the seller and ask for the following: Proof of revenue Monthly unique visitors Where the visitors are coming from Monthly advertising spend, if any Running costs (eg; bandwidth used) The site has a brilliant design and really good ad placement. It's hard to find something flawed about it, other than that it might have low traffic. Best of luck.
There are many things you can do to determine what you think a website should go for. Is the site a template - If yes decrease the value, if no increase the value Check its back links - See how many other links are pointing to the site http://www.backlinkwatch.com Does it have a Page Rank - If you have Google tool bar it should let you know. Its Current Income - Is it making any money and off what (adsense etc.) How many visitors/members does it have How it ranks in competitive keywords in Google, Yahoo, MSN etc. Is it a Niche you would like to work in. There are many others but that is to just name a few
Also ask how much time is invested in running the website. As well, ensure you know why they are selling the website. Most of the time there are bigger issues behind the reason of selling a profiting website. Sometimes though you can find the diamond in the rough. Ensure and verify that the marketing expenses do not surpass the income listed, and spend no more than 8 months (preferrebly around 4-5 max would be a good deal) worth of the actual profit the website is bringing in. Therefore, if a person is spending $300.00 on marketing, but the income listed is $500.00.... you should not spend more than $1600.00 ($200.00 profit X 8 months). Personally, I wouldn't spend more than about $800.00 on a site such as this. Especially if the website hasn't been established for very long.
Personally sites marketplace are asking for another service - professional website business evalution, like risks, profits and so on , just like in usual business. I will be happy to pay fixed (or percentage based) price for such service. As for me I still didn't found such organisation.
With a site like this, besides what others have said, I would find out where the posts are coming from. Are they just feeds coming in or are they original articles written by the webmaster. Make sure you are able to keep up with writing good posts about this topic or you will lose whatever edge the site has. If they are just automated feeds coming in, I would not bother because they do not always hold up in Google. Make sure that you get proof of everything before buying and ask all questions up front. If the seller refuses to answer or avoids you important questions, I would pass. Good Luck!
What's been said here already is all pretty good info! You asked how to go about negotiating a lower price and this is actually easier than you might think. Others might have different ways of doing this, but this is how I go about it. When I'm about to buy a site, I figure out the maximum and ideal prices I'll pay. So, let's just pick a random number here. Let's say the maximum you'd pay for this site is $1000, based on traffic and revenue and ROI, etc. So, for me, the ideal price would be half that, or $500. Now most sites worth 1K won't actually sell for 500, but you never know when you might be dealing with somebody who doesn't know how to negotiate And then just go from there. Ask him how much he'd be willing to sell it for. Let's pretend he says $850, then you counter with something like $750 and hope to meet him at $800. If you really want the site quickly, then just snap up the offer of $850. If he wants more than $1000, start a $900 and hope to talk him down to your maximum price. And if he asks you to submit the first bid, then start it off at $500 and hope the price stays low It's all about how much money you want to save, how badly you want the site, and how much competition for it you think there is. Don't be afraid to negotiate, but don't negotiate so much and haggle over a few dollars to the point that he walks away from the table.
Usualy 10 months revenue But you must have proof + other things count like future development posibilitys / PR / SE rankings / Traffic Regards