buying and selling websites - some input needed

[gordongecko]

I actively buy and sell internet based projects. mainstream, adult, gaming, you name it. I have a nice contact list of buyers, and I do this for a living, so I feel like I at least am heading in the right direction. The problem (if you can call it that) is dealing with different types of buyers for different niches. Obviously mainstream sites get a higher price than adult, and adult gets more than gaming, this is just the way it is, I can live with that.


I seem to be having troubles coming up with an accurate price for a project thats in between mainstream and adult. It's a ceam/dating project (this is usualy my specialty, I have done (and own) numerous webcam sites). Basicaly this particular project nets about 1.5k a month, takes about 15 minutes a day to run, and costs under 50 bucks a month for hosting. It's pushing dating/cam sites, and it does pretty effing okay. When I started to raise some capital these past 2 months by selling off some of my other cam and adult sites, I ran into a problem. I feel like I am at the mercy of the market (which in my case is a small targeted list of buyers I have dealt with in the past..). I have a site very similar to this that gets about twice as much traffic, that I may be selling soon, so I want to get my pricing right. For the project that makes about $1,450 a month in profit, is $8k asking to much? I understand it has a hint of adult (cams and all), but I dont expect to sell for TGP/Blog pricing ya know. Any help or input is appreciated. Sorry for the long winded post, but it's been something that has been troubling me latley. Thanks. [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

[Tupacia]

4-5 times monthly profit isn't unreasonable for a site. Ask $8,000 and if nobody bites, drop your price.

[gordongecko]

well adult/dating sites dont sell for the normal 10-18 months revenue that typical mainstream sites sell for. Its not something personal, it's just the way the current market is I suppose.

[Tupacia]

Website revenues ebb and flow like crazy because the barriers to entry are very low. Depending on the revenue source and other factors, 4-5 times monthly profit isn't unreasonable.

Websites aren't valued by the market like traditional brick and mortar businesses (and for good reason).

[maxtower]

I guess I don't understand why you can't list this for sale on one of the established marketplaces for this stuff, like sitepoint or digitalpoint?

The beauty of the auction format is that you will get the best price the market will bear.

[gordongecko]

alot of sites frown upon our outright ban adult/gambling projects for obvious reasons.

[Dale Dough]

That sounds like a ridiculously lucrative opportunity. Why on earth do you want to sell?

Do you really believe you can't make at least 8k out of keeping that site?

I'd say 'do you accept FT transfers', but it just seems too damn fishy. Too good to be true. '1500 a month' probably means you usually pull like 200 and had one lucky month?

[gordongecko]

no dale my payout records are pretty steady for all my traffic, this is pretty typical pricing as tupacia said, for adult/cam sites anyway. hell mainstream websites only get like 10 months revenue, and that's for a solid deal. websites sell for alot less than say a brick and mortar business. As for why I would sell? The money is better spent elsewhere right now, and yes I could make 8k off the project in time, im positive...but how much more could I make if I stuck 8k in a much more lucrative project? This isnt really hypothetical. I have a project going on right now that should be much more lucrative, and I have more experience with it (gambling baseed).

Buying/Selling a website is much like buying real estate, there are many valid reasons for taking a short term loss on a piece of property, if another opportunity is present.

[Dale Dough]

So there's a gold mine out there that is worth more than 100% returns in six months? How come? I mean, I understand markets aren't efficient and all, but this field shouldn't be too hard to enter, right?

Mind sharing how much you have made in the last year?