Selling websites?

webnubie · #1 (**permalink**) 07-15-10, 12:40

What factors will a buyer consider when he is buying a website? Are the website ranking and traffic the only things he will consider? Is it possible to sell a website with low traffic and ranking?

Skipper · #2 (**permalink**) 07-25-10, 11:12

Well, you also want to consider what the website actually is/does - if it's a startup built off of a script that is widely used, traffic and SEO quality are going to be among the most important factors to consider. If it's custom-built with features that can't be found in a run-of-the-mill script, the value isn't necessarily dependent on its current traffic.

Bladerunner · #3 (**permalink**) 07-28-10, 07:40

I will add my thoughts to Skipper's excellent points here. A buyer will probably consider the time/effort/cost of managing the site (hosting fees etc) and perhaps how much of a growth market it operates in.

DavidJ · #4 (**permalink**) 07-28-10, 10:48

What about the things that we should avoid when we are the one trying to buy a website? How can we be sure that the person selling the website is the owner and not a scammer?

Skipper · #5 (**permalink**) 07-28-10, 17:03

David - I always look for contact information (hopefully more than just an email address), references, or previous sales (which can be found pretty easily if the seller is doing business via a forum) before buying a website or script. If my search doesn't return much, I'm usually cautious about sending any money.

carl owen · #6 (**permalink**) 07-28-10, 20:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidJ

What about the things that we should avoid when we are the one trying to buy a website? How can we be sure that the person selling the website is the owner and not a scammer?

If you are unsure about the seller, it is best to use payment gateways like Paypal which will give you information if the seller is verified or not and also offers an option of chargeback or raise an issue if the product offered is not as specified.

webnubie · #7 (**permalink**) 08-02-10, 12:36

Yes I think you should make good use of chargeback option to keep yourself from being scammed by website sellers. Anyway, I just read somewhere that web sellers usually advertise the websites they are selling on PTC programs. So, beware. Just because a website has good ranking on Alexa doesn't mean it is really popular and has good reputation.

Skipper · #8 (**permalink**) 08-04-10, 08:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by webnubie

Yes I think you should make good use of chargeback option to keep yourself from being scammed by website sellers. Anyway, I just read somewhere that web sellers usually advertise the websites they are selling on PTC programs. So, beware. Just because a website has good ranking on Alexa doesn't mean it is really popular and has good reputation.

Bah! It's an obvious work-around. Nowadays people don't want to just see the traffic - they also want to see where it's coming from. If you're pulling a big ZERO for search engine traffic, your site isn't even worth whatever you're paying in hosting.

DavidJ · #9 (**permalink**) 08-08-10, 11:00

Good observation Skipper. So we shouldn't buy any website that doesn't have results in search engines even how cheap they are. I still see a lot of people doing this thing though. Webmasters buy spammy forums and then bring them back to life.