Buying a website - things to consider. Need your thoughts

Guys, I have seen a plenty of site sellers on here that want premium price for their sites but a lot of them say site has no traffic and revenue. What is the intention of these guys in selling these sites and how would a buyer pay thousands of dollars for these sites?
I am mainly talking about no traffic, no revenue and hidden urls. Some people would like to get at least 5 digits but they dont want to even reveal the site. I understand that there are so many people out there that would like to be clones, I am really not talking about these guys, I am talking about real buyers and how one would decide what to buy?
Here is just one example http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=2602003. Please note that this is just an example and I do not have anything against this post and it is just that I am tired of seeing these. To conclude my rant, "if you dont like it then dont get it". But, to cry out loud, "how would some one buy these"? Please bring all your rationale here.

Share your thoughts on what to look for in buying a website.
Thanks

 

Here are a few pointers for you, you will need to go in-depth too.

1. Ensure the PR is real, Scrape box have a good PR checker, it is also helpful if you manually check them on Google.
2. Get proof of sales record if there is any, i suggest looking for 3 months and beyond..
3. Verify the traffic claims, check to know how it has been doing since the last 3 months and beyond.
4. Ensure the site is not penalized... These days you never can tell.. To know Google the site description or first paragraph on Google and see if the site shows up in the first 10 result, if it doesn't then it's likely has been penalized.

 

Thanks for your share Kanonig.
I think we can check all these when the seller share some information such as url, etc.
Additionally, some sellers ask 12x the revenue when a site is born in this month and generated some money. I think, these sites revenue was artificially generated and would like to get more buck for their trick.
I agree with you that a buyer should check for at least 3 to 6 months revenue. Also, would you pay 12x the revenue for a site, especially these days, you never know how the market and competition will be the next day.

 

It's always a hit or miss type of thing. It could be that that site does bring $5000+ but it requires a lot of work (signing up new members, advertising, etc.) to make it.

 

Some people purchase website base on the ,
- PR of the site
- Traffic of the site
- Revenue and conversion of the site
- SERP ranking of the site

but some people sell high figure of the website cause they believe their design is unique, creative or SEO friendly
- some people purchase cause of want the templates
- some professional application in that website
- advanced and professional website design

They just give their design as premium level which is not able to done by anyone easily.

 

@qwikad.com, when it is hit or miss, it is better to play slots in a casino. I personally believe that buying a website is not hit or miss when you buy a site that is legitimate. Whether you buy a cash cow or a lame cow, you do have to work hard to get it going. I thank you for taking time to reply.

 

I am really not sure what to comprehend from your post, my point is that when someone is expecting high dollars, they ought to give each and every detail to the buyer that they think is prospective.

 

You must use it for some purpose, the site cannot be kept idle otherwise you would just invest your money on something total useless. the payment can be done by paypal i think.

 

I agree that site has to be used for a purpose. But things to consider in buying a website is not related to "what to do after buying a website". Thanks for your share exchanger107.

 

I could not resist. Must be getting punchey. All the above advice is valid.

Hamlet (slightly edited):

To buy, or not to buy, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous internet marketing,
Or to take arms against a sea of back links
And by opposing end them. To make lots of money,

Enough of that.

Don't get stuck in analysis paralysis. Do a simple risk analysis, don't put all your eggs/websites in one basket. Just keep throwing mud at the wall - some will stick.

If you can do enough things, fast enough, some will work. Keep those and move on...

 

For the average sites:
1. Many times you will see people selling sites that have "unlimited potential"... this usually means that the site has the potential to be sold for over $5, and thats about it.

2. Be prepared for any site you do buy to be instantly re-available for someone else -> ok, so you buy a flash games website, the seller makes $5 and decides to rinse and repeat. doesnt really matter what website is for sale, nothing preventing the seller from setting up an identical site on a different TLD (.org / .net) and using the same logos and colour schemes and selling those sites.

3. Make sure scripts (software such as vbulletin) are included and legally transferrable. Some sites (flash games for example) use scripts that are not legally transferable at all, this can create legal issues for you later. This applies to themes for wordpress or even some html themes are commercial and require a license to use the theme.
When you are buying a new site and the owner "cant remember where the theme came from" -> this means the theme is commercial and they didnt pay for it. In this case, walk away... dont get your fingerprints on that mess.

4. Be prepared for all existing traffic to stop. -> learnt this the hard way, alot of sellers simply buy traffic for 1-3 months so they can sell the site for a high price. Basically the site is worthless but you have paid top dollar for a site with good traffic that is all temporary.

5. Completely ignore the alexa ranking system. For average sites, it gives a loose indication of how many people with the alexa toolbar visits the site. But for new sites, or sites being prepared for sale, if the owner visits / improves / checks his website daily for a month, the alexa ranking will be 2m - 3m. I am hopefully not the only idiot that brought a site that had a high alexa ranking, only to realise that it was completely 'superficial'
here check this out:
fiverr.com/gigs/search?query=alexa&x=16&y=14
so very easy for a site to gain a temporary high alexa ranking.

6.there are sites for sale that have done high numbers of sales within the first day of being online (impossible when you know the niche and or specific site that is on the forum for sale right now that i am specifically thinking about) so be aware that often this is 'fake" or sales to friends and families. Others have been known to fake revenue screen shots, whatever the case, often we base the value of the site on what the site earns montly. With 'unnatural or fake sales, the site earns more then it otherwise should.

Bottom line, i have seen alot of people buy sites that they regretted, then the seller releases another 100+ identical sites same to the one that you brought, which makes it impossible for you to sell what you got, as well as making it difficult to promote something that really is an insult to the online world.

@op, for the high priced sites, I actually have a site that cost well over $1000 for the programming, graphics and other work, yet the revenue and traffic is far below what it should be. I can easily see how some sites with no revenue could be worth $xxxx range, simply as it was a massive investment involved to hire the coders and artists to build the site. But if they cant afford to keep hosting the site, or cant afford to hire SEO people to promote it, then this could be why they need to sell it. I have seen people put in $15k to build a professional website, but when they lack the skills to generate traffic and revenue and when the loan for the investment starts choking them, odds are they will put the site for sale in the bargain bin for whatever it will sell for.

 

Purpose of this thread is to let other website buyers including me, know about these things that other members are describing. I believe you got it, Thanks for Hamlet and your thought.

 

Great post. I can't agree with you more. You nailed it on many points. I hope others looking at this thread will learn something.
Also, some of the things you stated here, I personally experienced too. So, I know what it means.

 

Having done so on a few occasions, most will tell you to pay attention to profits. However and as is always true with websites, TRAFFIC is the driver of profits. NOTHING and having successfully purchased profitable websites, NOTHING is more important than traffic sources and longevity of that traffic. I never would even consider purchasing a site that can't produce adequate, long-term traffic statistics of more than 6 months. Further, when analyzing traffic stats, pay attention to huge visitor 'spikes' some sellers buy traffic to 'pad their stats' right before a sale to drive the price up or justify a 'buy now' cost.

 

When you brought your site and transfer your site in your server domain then you have got surprised over here. Your ranking and visitors are gone due to geo location changed . Search engine record every website don't forget over here before purchased !

 

Another useful tip while buying a site. I too believe a minimum of 6 months traffic should be looked into while buying one. Most sellers just inflate a brand new site sales in the first month and try to get 12x. I am sure most of these guys sales are not real.

 

I believe you are trying to say that rankings ( keyword position in a search engine) may change based on buyers location. I personally haven't heard about this and never experienced. Thanks for your share anyways