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May 31

Hit me like a ton of bricks

Everyday BS, Web & Blog Design Add comments

You know how you end up meandering through your RSS feeds and land on sites that have good links to other sites and other sites and other sites, and then you realize just how off topic you’ve gone… 3 hours later. Well, I have a lot of days like that. But today was one of those days were I had a “Eureka” moment… it hit me like a ton of bricks.

It was a moment where I thought to myself - why haven’t I considered this before?

“Buy a developed website”

I’ve always started websites and putting in the time to see them grow. But today on my little escapade into RSS land I found SitePoint’s marketplace. I’ve even been there before selling some domains off - but the idea of actually going in there as a customer looking to buy something never even hit me.

Until now.

I was wondering if there were any of you out there who’ve tried their hand at buying websites? If you have… would you do it again?

I’ve looked at some websites listed for sale and those that look like they’ve got potential and they’ve got the stats, etc to back it up - are expensive… over $20,000. I don’t have that kind of money to play with, but maybe there is a little gem waiting to be won over between $0 - $500… far more affordable… maybe? I think that would be the only thing that would hold me back from trying this out (right now) is the lack of free funds to just try this, try something new. I would love a chance to take a site with a PR4 or 5 and play with it… see what money could be made.

I wonder if it’s easier when it’s already established to play around with a site to see what can be made money wise or popularity wise?

Maybe I should start saving my affiliate earnings to invest in a web property…

What do you think?

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Comments to “Hit me like a ton of bricks”

45n5 Says:
May 31st, 2007 at 1:30 pm

another hotspot for buying selling sites

http://forums.digitalpoint.com/forumdisplay.php?f=52

i’ve only mostly sold

SarahG Says:
June 1st, 2007 at 1:35 am

I bought a site which was 99% finished but never live so there was no traffic or PR, however Google already knew of the domain which helped a bit.

I paid just under $300 for it and I would say that I’ve made around $250 from it. Admittedly at the time of purchase I didn’t know a massive amount about the subject whereas now I know a lot more which allows me to add better content.

Would I buy again? Depends on the price and site subject but if I think I can make it work then why not. I like a challenge

gary Says:
June 1st, 2007 at 2:40 am

I’ve bought and sold lots of sites.

Probably my bst one was the one I bought for the cost of a .co.uk domain name renewal (Â£10, about $20). I’ve owned this site for almost exactly two years.

A simple “info” site of about 50 or so pages - monetised by the original owner with a few Commission Junction type ads & a couple of Amazon Book recommendations. I ripped those out and placed adsense on the site.

Since I purchased it, it has produced, up until today;

Adsense - $2774.40
TLA - $56.18 (only been on there for 3 months)
Product Sales - $40

Not bad for a $20 spend? I wrote a bit about it back in November.

HOT TIP: Instead of buying from the likes of Sitepoint, decide what sort of site you want and then join a forum. People who are not “site sellers” by trade, usually sell at a much lower price.

Minikotry Says:
June 1st, 2007 at 5:03 am

Hello! I’m from Spain and i just discover your site through a link on Dosh Dosh blog. I think i never will spend my money earned online in buy a domain name, because i have a very low rates now, but if you think you can grow one of those domain’s and have the money to it, go ahead. Regards. Ciao

Patrick Says:
June 1st, 2007 at 9:36 am

I’ve acquired one site. It was a very, very small purchase from a friend. Beyond that, I’m always looking. I purchased one site a while back just for the domain name and I killed the site (the site was not good).

I am a member of staff at SitePoint and the Marketplace is great. Lots of cool sites, domains and templates go up for sale there. I have purchased a number of domain names and templates myself.

I would think that the key to finding a good deal is to find a site that is under monetized in your eyes. i.e., if you know you can probably make X amount of dollars doing things they are not doing, bid with that in mind.

A lot of people get caught up in multiples of existing revenue. For example, 12-24 months of monthly revenue equals a fair price to pay for a lot of people. So, if you see a site that makes $20 a month, a bunch of people wouldn’t bid more than $240 to $480ish for it.

But, when you look at it, you think… “well, it’s making $20 now… but… he’s got one AdSense ad and it’s in a terrible location… I think I can get that to $100 relatively soon”. So, then, to you, the site is worth should be worth much more, but because of people being locked into multiples, the site has a better chance of going at a lower price.

Obviously, that may be an extreme example, but I think that would be the biggest thing to look for - sites that are under monetized. And then, you need a little luck as hopefully no one else will be interested to the extent that you are.

Good luck.

Empress Says:
June 4th, 2007 at 8:53 am

Thanks everyone for their tips on buying a developed site - I’ve been keeping my eye out for some sites that seem a bit undervalued and that I’m interested in.

The tips you gave have really helped!

I’ll keep you posted on how this goes.

Building My Empire » I think Yaro read my mind Says:
June 6th, 2007 at 9:31 am

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