Approaching owners to buy sites not for sale publicly

Hello,
Although this is my first post on these forums I've been lurking for more than a year.

What triggered me to finally post is that I've found a couple of established sites with high quality content, top 150000 in Alexa, poorly monetized (a mere default AdSense ad at the bottom of the right hand column, things like this). These sites aren't listed for sale on DP, SP, or any other public place. Basically their owners don't know what little treasures they have on their hands.

Does anyone here have any experience in approaching the sites' owners in such situations in order to buy the sites? What works best and what doesn't? How does one kick off the conversation? I thought of kicking things off with a "I'm willing to pay 10-12 months of net profits, which is the standard rate sites go for" line but I'm wondering whether the owner will react angrily to my proposal and that'll be the end of it.

I'd be interested to hear the experiences of those of you that tried buying quality sites that aren't for sale publicly.

Regards,
David

 

I had the same idea and didn't do it either. But I think the only way we are going to find out is just try and think that out of the 100 there only have to be a few hidden diamonds that say yes.

 

I guess you could try. I would think that almost everything is for sale when the price is right.

Of course that being said, there are some sites which I have which are not for sale no matter what the price is because of either sentimental value or the topic is close to my heart.

There is of course no harm trying. It is possible the current owners wants to monetize their site but just do not know how. Some could be abandoned diamond in the rough. As long your sales pitch is not spammy and what you are offering is genuine, I don't see a problem asking. The worst you will get is a flat 'No'.

 

You could send an email to the owner along of the of something that you found their site pretty interesting and was wondering if they had any interest in selling it. I think most people would be willing to listen

 

It doesnt have to be complicated. Just ask them if they wanna sell. Don't be telling them what you think the standard sell price is for sites that's for them to decide and for you to negotiate on.

 

I think the deal with sharing profiles is not wise...

offer them a straight up cash value for their site...

make it sound decent...

revenue sharing can get messy.....just get the full rights to the site first....then market it right...

 

Something you need to understand is that not every person running a site is doing so to profit from it. There are a lot of site owners who simply love the niche and want to be a part of it, so they won't be likely to sell. And offering them money based on 10-12 months' profit might be almost nothing if they're not trying to monetize it in the first place, so the offer might be pretty insulting compared to all of the time they put in building it up, building it's reputation as a visitor-friendly - rather than ad-littered - site, and they wouldn't sell for any amount. Sure... it doesn't hurt to ask. Just realize that there are people not doing it for the money, and they might in face get a bit insulted at the offers. So just tread carefully, and if they so no, don't push them, especially since it's unsolicited.

Jenn

 

Golden Tip: Ask them what they expect for a price, you might get something for much cheaper then you are expecting it for!

Also, just get into a conversation with them or email them saying "I want to express interest in buying your website.. and so on"

IT

 

A few points to note when contacting owners;

Just because you think its run down/a mess and needs work it may be their baby so tread carefully about what you say regarding the site, don't volunteer any info as to your intentions other than improving on what the owner has already done and maybe a re-design.

Possibly offer use of any existing email accounts for 12 months if it looks like the owner uses any, it would be easy for an owner to rule out a sale just thinking about having to change their email address.

Be prepared for crazy figures, I contacted a site owner and he offered to sell the site for $20k, 4 emails later we agreed on $2k, waterproof the person if possible by trying to tie down a general price range once you establish email contact.

Often they will reply and say 'everything is for sale at the right price, make me an offer' that is a good time to say 'I just sold a site of mine for $800 and I am looking to re-invest the money, can you give me an indication of what type of money your looking for?' Now your not offering high xxx and offending him/her but giving an indication as to your start price.

This will immediately stop them heading off into the pie in the sky prices and they may get back to you and say well your really going to need to pay 4 figures for me to sell, you can then ask for revenue/traffic proof to justify that kind of money as you would have to go over your budget and spend more than you had planned ...... and then try screw the price down.

Well that is what works for me anyway.

 

I generally keep it short and sweet.

"dear bob/site owner,

I'm starting a new project and am looking for a domain name to place it on. I came across your site and wonder if you would consider selling it. I would be prepared to offer you $XXX for the site.

Regards,
Wheel
toll-free-phone-number"

Almost all of the time I either get no response or I get "I would only let this go for $50K". Once in a rare while I pick up a site for $500 that is 5-7 years old, dmoz listed, etc.

 

Actually I have done this to a few sites. I was trying really hard about six months ago, but I was targeting older sites that looked out dated, and I was not getting any reply back from my emails. Though, recently I have tried a few sites that I thought was interested, and usually they are asking way to much for it! But, it's usually fun to meet knew people this way and then talk a little more about sites and can then usually get a link exchange out of them!

 

A simple straightforward email enquiring if the owner may be interested in selling should be enough to touch base.

"I came across your website www.example.com and was wondering if you might be interested in selling it. Please get back to me to discuss this."

I get some PMs occassionaly asking "How much for fad____.com" and that usually pisses me off enough to just delete their message even if I was actually willing to sell the site.