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Are you looking forward to earning revenue from websites but not knowing how to build one? Or are you someone who has made an established site that generates millions and is looking for a buyer?
Let us help you find a platform that can help you find the best buyer or seller for your website.
Buying or selling websites is like any other business model. There are a couple of online marketplaces where you can sell and buy websites and online businesses.
These marketplaces offer a diversity of assets. You can buy and sell websites, SaaSes, eCommerce stores, apps, domains, extensions, newsletters, etc. As a buyer, you can find assets for a lower cost of $200 to $100,000, depending on your requirements and the seller’s features.
So, without further ado, let’s discuss the best platforms for buying and selling websites.
Table of Contents
Flippa
Flippa is a global marketplace for sellers, buyers, mediators, and brokers. It offers a range of products that you can acquire or sell.
You can buy and sell any digital product, such as domains, apps, websites, SaaS software, and tools. You can create deals for eCommerce businesses and services or digital content like blogs.
You can use Flippa for almost anything and find options for all budgets. For example, you might see a cheap $99 starter website going for $500,000+ or more following an established site.
With 120,000 registered buyers, as per 2022 reports, Flippa owns a considerable marketplace for buyers and sellers. It also provides a dedicated Flippa Agent who can guide you. However, as it is an open marketplace, you might find low-quality websites.
Flippa PROs
- There are many listings: apps, websites, domains, SaaSes, and digital businesses.
- Owners and brokers can place listings.
- Many details about the digital property: verified traffic, finances, SEO metrics, etc.
- Options to verify buyers and integrated NDA system.
- Doesn’t require exclusivity on listings.
Flippa CONs
- As a popular marketplace attracts scammers, so do your due diligence.
- It’s pretty costly for sellers due to listing prices.
- It is pretty tricky for buyers to navigate through the listings.
- You are primarily on your own in the acquisition process without much help from the Flippa team.
What can you buy & sell on Flippa?
Most of the listings on Flippa are for websites, domains, and apps that sell for under $300K. So, if you are looking for properties under this budget, Flippa is your best bet. They don’t have a clear focus on any particular niche and technology. You can use it for blogs, websites, eCommerce stores, Amazon FBA stores, apps, SaaS tools, and more.
Flippa Pricing
Flippa offers four paid plans for sellers, starting at $29 to $499. The platform provides advertising and all listing features. For buyers, there is transparent fixed-fee pricing. On a successful transaction between buyers and sellers, Flippa takes a commission fee. If the sold item price is up to $50,000, Flippa’s commission is 10%. The commission will decrease to 5% if the deal exceeds $100,000.
Empire Flippers
EmpireFlippers is an extensively vetted marketplace for websites. Websites on this platform are evaluated based on their monthly profits and traffic history. The standard acceptance for a propriety revenue should be $1,000/month and a record of 12 months of revenue.
This detail alone explains how the websites are sold. They start from as low as $5,000 and reach the higher end of $10M. The sites are diversified in all formats, such as SaaS tools, eCommerce businesses, marketplaces, affiliates, and revenue sites.
Empire Flippers claims a successful selling rate of 76%, totaling approximately $400M in overall sales and around $6M each month.
Empire Flippers PROs
- There are no upfront costs for listing a website in the marketplace.
- Commissions are decent:15% for sales under $1M and 2% for sales over $10M.
- It’s easy to navigate the listings and decide which one interests you.
- The business figures (financial, traffic, SEO) are checked and vetted by the EF team.
- As a seller, you can obtain more for your property (45 months x profit rather than the usual rate of 30-35x.
- It has a lucrative referral program. Read more about it here.
Empire Flippers CONs
- Most digital properties focus on display advertising, Amazon FBA, and the Amazon associates program.
- As a buyer, you may pay more than the usual rates for digital properties.
- Listings are not public. You have to register and go through a vetting program to be able to unlock listing details.
What can you buy & sell on Empire Flippers?
Most listings on Empire Flippers are for digital businesses evaluated over $1M. You can use them mainly for eCommerce, display ad websites, Amazon FBA, and Amazon Associates properties.
Empire Flippers Pricing
There is no service fee for listing, but the listing process is rigorous, so not all digital properties are accepted to be put on sale. EmpireFlippers offers commission fees based on the sale valuation. It starts with 15% for sales under $1M and regresses to 2% if the deal is valued at $10M.
FE International
FE International assists in buying and selling websites with a pre-qualified and established global network. This feature also provides an advisory board or team that helps potential buyers in their acquisitions. You can exchange various products such as SaaS tools, eCommerce websites, and businesses.
FE International has completed over $500 million in acquisitions and over 1,000 transactions in the six—to eight-figure range. With an 80,000+ network of buyers and a 94% success rate, it is a complete package with a global website and digital products market.
An advisory board that helps in acquiring businesses and gives apt valuations and legal advice. They do due diligence on all the properties they sell, so you can be sure that only authenticated, established sites make it into the marketplace. It also provides updates and case studies for the industry and the company.
What can you buy & sell on FE International?
FE International focuses on technology websites, so this is your best bet to sell SaaS, WordPress plugins, or eCommerce websites. The vast majority of deals are evaluated at over $500K.
FE International PROs
- It focuses on technology, digital businesses, and eCommerce.
- Their team conducts due diligence, so you can stay assured that the businesses are legit.
- Many details about the digital property: verified traffic, finances, SEO metrics, etc.
- Options to verify buyers and integrated NDA system.
- Get support from their team throughout the entire acquisition process.
FE International CONs
- Limited amount of listings (32 at the moment of review)
- For each listing, you have to unlock details through a vetting process.
- It is not suitable for new websites or those that don’t generate a reasonable income.
FE International Pricing
There are no particular listing fees. Instead, they mention the commission fees, which FE International takes 10-15% of the deal, and the sellers pay the rest. The costs will be paid once your agreement is processed.
Motion Invest
Motion Invest offers two platforms to sell your website. It provides a global marketplace and a dedicated Motion Invest team ready to pay you the valuation of your website immediately. With this approach, they tend to eliminate the commission system.
Motion Invest has not precisely set any factorization regarding what type of sites you can sell. However, it mainly deals with specialized content websites funded by affiliates.
What can you buy & sell on Motion Invest?
The Motion Invest team focuses only on monetized content websites through display ads and affiliate marketing. Most of their web websites launched no more than 2-3 years ago.
Motion Invest PROs
- There is no upfront payment cost for listing.
- It is very beginner-friendly.
- There are around 30-40 available listings every time.
Motion Invest CONs
- They tend to focus only on content websites.
- The due diligence process is not tremendous (especially on SEO growth strategies, aka black hat).
- They require an exclusivity period.
Motion Invest Pricing
There are no specific price listings. However, when you sell a website in the marketplace, you need a 15% commission if the valuation is above $20,000 and a 20% commission under the standard valuation.
Acquire
This platform connects buyers and sellers anonymously. However, you will connect with the potential buyer to finalize the transaction. The marketplace targets startups and SaaS with below $500,000 ARR. Although the marketplace is limiting compared to Empire Flippers and Flippa, Acquire gives you precisely what you want.
Sellers can list their products on this platform for free. However, buyers who wish to access deals early can upgrade to MicroAcquire Premium, which starts at $390 annually.
What can you buy & sell on Aquire?
The Micro Aquire marketplace is the best-to-go place to buy and sell SaaSes, Marketplaces, and eCommerce businesses, focusing only on these kinds of companies
Aquire PROs
- There is no upfront payment cost for listing a startup.
- They will help the sellers create compelling listings.
- It is very beginner-friendly for both buyers and sellers.
- There are over 2000 available listings every time.
Aquire CONs
- You have to purchase a $390 yearly membership to view listing details.
Aquire Pricing
Micro Aquire does not charge listing or commission fees, which can be helpful and motivating for new sellers. However, the quality of the websites is compromised, and everyone can list their sites on the platform.
As a premium buyer, you will get early access to the special offers and discounts sellers offer. You can open a premium account with a service cost of $390 per year.
FlipWP
FlipWP is a marketplace for people interested in properties from the WordPress ecosystem: plugins, themes, marketplaces, SaaSes that target WP users, etc. So, this may be your best bet for buying or selling a WordPress business. When writing this review, 22 WordPress businesses are listed for sale. The prices of the listings range from $50K to $1.5M.
For example, on MicroAquire, buyers must purchase a $299 yearly membership to view the businesses’ names and other details.
What can you buy & sell on FlipWP?
FlipWP focuses only on the WordPress ecosystem’s digital assets: plugins and themes for WordPress, marketplaces, API services, and SaaS-es.
FlipWP PROs
- Fees are pretty affordable for serious buyers and sellers.
- No exclusivity listing is required.
- You can get access to listings that aren’t posted elsewhere.
- The listings are seen only by members who paid a membership; no tire kickers.
FlipWP CONs
- As a buyer, you must purchase a $299 yearly membership to view listing details.
- The number of listings is not consistent.
FlipWP Pricing
Sellers should pay a listing fee of $99 if their asking price is below $20K or $199 for listings up to $100K. You must contact them for a custom offer if the requested price is higher. They also ask for a 1% success fee if the property is sold through their marketplace.
Buyers should only pay an annual membership of $299 to access listing details.
Indie Maker
IndieMaker.co is another marketplace with over 16000 members where you can buy and sell domains, side projects, social media accounts, and micro-businesses. This website has a couple of particularities. One is that independent developers create the projects listed here. The second is that most projects are in the initial growth stages and generate little profit.
The marketplace also has an escrow service that protects buyers and sellers. Escrow currently accepts bank or wire transfers and major debit or credit cards.
So this marketplace is for you if you are a marketer or an entrepreneur looking to get projects with growth potential in the developing growth phase. I like how you can easily navigate between the projects, as the website has many properties filters and loads quickly.
What can you buy & sell on IndieMaker?
Most of the projects listed on IndieMaker are attractive websites (databases, memberships, startups, SaaSes, content) in their initial phase or projects that didn’t perform as expected by the owners. So, if you are an entrepreneur or a marketer, you may find some excellent projects that resurrect and grow.
IndieMaker PROs
- There are many exciting listings available for sale at reasonable prices.
- They claim to show your business to a network of 16K+ potential buyers.
- You discuss directly with the creators, which can give you 1st hand information about the project.
IndieMaker CONs
- The platform only lists basic details about a website, so you have to do your research.
- If you are looking for established businesses with a proven record, then IndieMaker is not for you.
- The fees are not beginners friendly.
IndieMaker Pricing
For sellers, listing a digital asset on IndieMarker is free; however, if you want to see the contact details of your prospective buyers, you have to pay an unlock fee ranging from $9 (for listing prices under $100) and $250 (for listing priced over $10K). Besides that, there are some promotional fees, like promoting a listing on the homepage for $12/per week
For buyers, you pay only when you close deals. If you are on a free plan, you pay a 12% success fee, but if you get a premium membership, which costs $19/month, you pay only a 7.5% success fee.
BuySellEmpire
BuySellEmpire is a private online marketplace for listing and buying listed websites. With an over 90% success rate, BuySellEmpire has a network of 10,000+ networks. This network includes vetted buyers, trusted sellers, and investors.
BuySellEmpire offers to sell various business formats, such as Chrome extensions, Amazon associates, eCommerce sites, marketplaces, SaaS tools, and more. You can conduct a free website valuation and list it for buyers.
What can you buy & sell on BuySell Empire?
The Motion Invest team focuses only on monetized content websites through display ads and affiliate marketing. Most of their websites are young websites launched no more than 2-3 years ago.
BuySell Empire PROs
- There is no upfront payment cost for listing.
- It is very beginner-friendly.
- There are around 30-40 available listings every time.
BuySell Empire CONs
- They tend to focus only on content websites.
- The due diligence process is not tremendous (especially on SEO growth strategies, aka black hat).
- They require an exclusivity period.
Buy Sell Empire Pricing
Like a few other platforms, BuySellEmpire does not provide listing prices. Depending on the deal’s valuation, it offers the lowest commission fees, 4%—10 %.
Side Projectors
Side Projectors is another good alternative for a global marketplace. The seller can pursue the same cycle of listing and valuation. A platform other than the marketplace also offers a forum for finding a co-founder or showcasing the website.
Side Projectors supports projects such as SaaS tools, mobile and desktop apps, eCommerce businesses, digital content like blogs, domain names, and more. It offers a vast range of formats.
Side Projectors Pricing
There is no special commission rate for the listings. However, premium listing for a few websites or digital content may cost $10/month.
Human Proof Designs
Human Proof Designs is an example of a ‘too good to be true’ platform. It is an investment that you can make in a blink. The platform offers a range of features that any businessperson would require to grow their business.
Human Proof Designs helps you through the journey from starting a website to selling it in a market. It is a one-stop store that offers the creation of a website and digital content like a blog or video. It helps you put your business out there to generate revenue through web hosting. Lastly, it has a reliable and trusted marketplace for selling and buying websites.
Human Proof Designs offers ready-made and custom websites in all formats, from dropshipping and affiliate sites to lead generation and aged domain packages. It assists all types of businesses and tools.
Human Proof Designs Pricing
Considering the diversity of the platform and the available features, there is no question that it is expensive. It starts from $1,298 and only increases according to the packages you take. To use the keyword-generating tool as an add-on, you must pay $99.
Brand Father
Brand Father is a global marketplace and affiliate website platform. The platform custom-builds websites within 24 hours and provides ready-made sites for buyers. Affiliates and sellers can create their websites on the platform, a unified forum for premium plugins and fully responsive designs.
Brand Father guarantees that websites in any niche are profitable and claim potential monthly profits of $100,000. The platform also offers traffic acquisition guides and blueprints that you can implement.
Brand Father Pricing
Brand Father has standardized the marketplace, where all sites cost $99. However, you need to purchase a web hosting package. Additional benefits, like traffic acquisition guides, cost $499 as an add-on.
BrandBuilders.io
Like Brand Father, BrandBuilders.io is a marketplace for custom-built affiliate websites. The platform offers a fast and easy-to-use interface for affiliates and sellers.
BranBuilders.io can build any website format as it provides niche, competition, and keyword research. Significant plugins like Thrive Architect and Element Pro help create responsive website designs.
Brand Builders Pricing
BrandBuilders.io starts at the price of $1,395 per site.
We conclude our list of 12 Awesome Platforms to Buy and Sell Websites. Do check out our quick tips for buyers and sellers.
Quick Tips To Buy And Sell Websites Online
Tips for Sellers
- Classify the worth of your website and quote multiple valuations.
- Know and understand your audience’s niche.
- Research the available marketplaces for buying and selling websites.
- Gather statistical data and reports for the potential buyers.
- Offer commissions to the brokers for a seamless process and higher cost price.
Tips for Buyers
- Perform due diligence before purchasing a website. Due diligence refers to understanding all the aspects of an entity.
- You must research the website’s background for PBN links used to manipulate search rankings.
- Self-introspection is also a key element in deciding on a website as a buyer. It would be best if you had clarity in your priorities.
- And practicality to determine your requirements as you will invest quite an amount in the website.
Buy & Sell Websites FAQ
What is a website broker?
In that process, there are several tasks performed to try and maximize price:
- Determine an appropriate valuation range
- Compile an information memorandum (sales memorandum)
- Market the website
- Present the website to potential buyers
- Assist in negotiation on behalf of the seller
- Protect sellers’ confidentiality
- Look after paperwork
- Provide after-sales support.
How does it work?
The broker will then sell your website to potential buyers, screen them through their screening process, and present you with the best offers.
The buyer typically signs a letter of intent (LOI) and asks for a set period for final due diligence. As the buyer, you choose whether to allow this to be exclusive. After due diligence, they will make a formal offer, which you will accept or decline.
Then, the transfer process happens. Money is usually transferred using an escrow service. That can be the broker’s trust account, a lawyer’s account, or an escrow service. We prefer our service or escrow.com. The site is then transferred to the new owner, the seller receives their funds, and the buyer will take ownership of the website.
What is my online business worth?
- What are the sales and profit?
- How big is the business?
- What are the growth trends?
- What channels do new customers come from?
- What is your market position?
- How reliant is the business on the owner?
- What systems and processes are in place to run the business?
Your business is also worth what similar businesses have sold for. We recommend you check out this website appraisal report that analyses past transactions for internet businesses. The report analyses $380m over 714 transactions.
How do I get a higher price for my online business?
- With premium domains
- Have an existing active community
- Make recurring yearly income
- Have multiple income streams
- That is highly systemized
- Have a strong earnings history
Conclusion
Buying an online business on a marketplace can be a good experience if you work with the best. I listed my recommendations based on my personal experiences with the team and/or directly being involved in deals.
If you are buying an asset, research and understand the associated risks.
