Selling Websites Made Easy – How to Sell Your Site

Justin Cooke Updated on March 24, 2022

Are you looking into selling your websites?

Youโ€™ve come to the right place! We sell websites day in, day out and we love it.

This post will explain some of the benefits of selling websites with us and the exact step-by-step process used to take you from listing to actual sale.

Some website sellers are a bit fearful about the process, but itโ€™s not nearly as complicated as you might think. Weโ€™ve sold hundreds of sites since weโ€™ve started and can make your first (second, third, etc.) sale as painless as possible. Blogging sites, e-commerce websites, and many other online businesses have been a great way to make money online for some time now. But they’re also increasingly a desirable asset that buyers are looking to acquire and pay a surprising amount of money for.

Here are a few of the benefits our sellers have mentioned:

  • 20X to 60X+ Monthly Profit Multiples –ย Our buyers come to us because theyโ€™re looking for quality listings and theyโ€™re willing to pay a premium for them.
  • Private Listings = Private Niches –ย Our buyers understand the value here…there wonโ€™t be dozens of copycats that come with publicly listed sites.

The reasons are simple – our buyers have come to expect high-quality online businesses for sale. All of our sellers and sites listed go through an extensive vetting process where not all sites can be listed. In fact, we reject around โ…“ of the sites that are submitted.

We do this to protect the buyers and the sellers that continually bring quality sites to us to sell.

This post is to help you better understand the types of sites weโ€™re looking for and the requirements we use to vet the sites.

Click here to list your website for sale with us today

Alright, so letโ€™s get you started selling sites with us.

What Sites Are You Looking For?

We have a diverse group of buyers looking to add to their portfolio.

Types Of Websites & Online Businesses

If you’re unfamiliar with what one of these are below, feel free to click on the link to a little “primer” article we’ve written on each type of online business model that we sell on our marketplace. We are interested in websites with the following monetization methods:

We Need:

We Donโ€™t Need:

  • Non-monetized Sites or Blogs
  • SEO/Linkbuilding Service Sites
  • Social Media Like/Fan Sites
  • Adult Related Sites
  • Gambling Related Sites
  • Payday Loan Related Sites
  • Any sites promising cures through herbal remedies or other dubious claims
  • Any sites related to hacking or other criminal activities
  • Any site that sells physical products that are CBD or hemp oil related

We reserve the right to reject your business if it leans too closely with any of the above.

Website & Online Business Revenue

We Need:

  • Online businesses (FBA, eComm, Dropship, Info Products, KDP, Subscription, Service, SaaS, Affiliate, AdSense, Amazon Associates, Lead Gen, Amazon Merch, and Apps) – $2K/month profit avg. last 12 months (business needs to be 12-months old)
  • $2,000 – $5,000 Per Month Businesses
  • $5K – $20K Per Month Businesses
  • $20k-$40k Per Month Businesses
  • 50K+ Per Month Businesses
  • All businesses will have a 2-month exclusivity period. One of the lowest in the industry

We Donโ€™t Need:

  • Sites Without Revenue
  • Sites with Less than $2,000 Per Month in Net Profit over a 12-Month Average

Submit Your Business For Sale


Whatโ€™s The Process For Selling Websites With You?

The first step is to head over to ourย Sell Your Site page and submit your site with us.

Hereโ€™s the information youโ€™ll want to have ready:

  • Personal information (Name, email, skype, social media profiles, etc.)
  • Site/Business details (domain name, date purchased/created, site history, backlinking efforts, etc.)
  • Last 6+ months of revenue details (gross monthly revenue, net monthly profit)
  • Last 6+ monthsย expenses (COGS, Virtual Assistants, content, advertising, etc.)

Weโ€™ll also ask you for screenshots of:

  • 3 months+ย worth of revenue proof
  • Google Analytics / Clicky screenshot to verify website traffic

Once the order form has been submitted a ticket is automatically submitted to Zendesk and our team will take anywhere from 3-5 days to get back to you. Sometimes they need more information about the site/seller which may include:

  • Additional or corrected screenshots
  • Google Analytics access
  • Clarification on revenue or expenses
  • A quick Skype chat/call

Once our team has gone through all of their checks and verified the information, the information is sent to our team forย final checks and approval of the listing (2-4 days.)

Listings go live on our marketplace on Monday mornings at 10 AM EST.

Average time from initial submission to listingย takes approximatelyย 2-3 weeks.

What Do I Do After My Site Is Listed?

Sit back and leave the heavy lifting to us!

Weโ€™ll promote your listing to our audience and buyers through our 90K+ strong email list, social media profiles, and blog posts. Our goal is to find your business a good home – someone thatโ€™s looking to add your exact site to their portfolio.

If your business qualifies, we’ll record a seller interview with you (audio only). Our buyers find these extremely helpful and they help us attract more interested buyers to your listing.ย Examples here.

Weโ€™ll help with buyer vetting, communication, and negotiations. Ultimately, the decision to sell is up to you, but our job is to make that process as smooth and as painless as possible.

This is part of the reason we ask so many questions upfront – so youโ€™re not stuck answering them over and over again from interested buyers! Our buyers have to submit ID and proof of funds before making an offer on your business. We take great care to perform the necessary due diligence in finding you serious buyers only.

The only thing you need is update your screenshots and revenue details every month so that we can publish those changes for interested buyers. Our team will remind you each month your site is listed to update your information.

What If My Site Doesnโ€™t Sell?

As we mentioned before, more than 95% of the sites listed on our marketplace have sold.

In fact, we’re so confident that we can sell your business, we only ask for a two-month exclusivity from the date of listing your site (unless otherwise agreed) to complete the sale. That’s one of the shortest exclusivity periods in the industry.

In the rare instance your listing goes past that, we’ll continue to promote your listing to our 90K+ potential buyers that visit our site every month.

What Happens After The Sale?

Once the buyer has made payment and the funds have cleared, weโ€™ll begin the process of transferring the site to the new owner. This is a service we offer thatโ€™s included with the sale, although some of our sellers would rather handle this portion directly.

Migration is an important part of the selling process which requires experience. Our migrations team has vast experience whether you’ve got a WordPress site, Shopify store, or anything else.

Once the site transfer has been verified by the buyer, weโ€™ll release the funds to you – this usually takes just a couple of days once the site transfer is complete. Most deals will involve receiving the full asking price, but it’s common for larger deals to include an upfront lump sum followed by an earnout period.

You will be responsible for any bonuses like Skype calls, email support, or content that has been offered in the listing. Setting up the new business owner to succeed will crucial to ensuring the deal goes through.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you guarantee my website or business will sell?

No. Although weโ€™ve had a great track record to date, past performance is not an indicator of future performance and we cannot guarantee your particular business will sell.

Can I list my website or business concurrently elsewhere?

No. All business listings on Empire Flippers are exclusive. On very rare occasions we may help another broker get exposure for his or her listing, but this isnโ€™t the case for 99% of businesses listed.

What are the fees?

We have no listing fees, if we can’t sell your business then it doesn’t cost you anything.

If we sell your business then we make a commission. Our commission is blended, meaning the commission rates are stacked on one another based on the value of the business.

Hereโ€™s how it breaks down:

Under $700,000 – Commission will be a flat 15% on the sale price.

The value of the business between $700,000 and $5M – Commission will be reduced to 8% on the amount above $700,000 and below $5,000,000.

The value of a business above $5 million – Commission will further be reduced to 2.5% on the amount above $5,000,000.

For example, if a business is listed for $1 million:
$700,000 of the value will have a commission of 15% = $105,000
Plus 8% commission on the remaining $300,000 value = $24,000
Total = $105,000 + $24,000 = $129,000

If a business is listed at $5 million:
$700,000 of the value will have a commission of 15% = $105,000
Plus 8% commission on the remaining $4,300,000 value = $344,000
Total = $105,000 + $344,000 = $449,000

Remember, the same rule applies as you move above $5M, the remaining value would have a low commission rate of 2.5%.

To find out how much commission you could be paying based on your estimated listing price, check out our commission calculator.

How do you determine the listing price?

Our process for determining the saleย price uses the following formula:

Sales Price = Monthly Net Profit X 20x to 60x+ (depending on Valuation Tool estimates) + Discounted Assets (if any) + Wholesale Inventory (if any)

Monthly net profit is determined by averaging the last 6-12 months worth of revenue and subtracting any costs (COGS, marketing/advertising, hosting, Virtual Assistants, etc.) In situations where the niche is seasonal or the business has been running for years, we’ll take an average of the last 12 months. (Clearly mentioned in each listing)

We’ve sold hundreds of sites in this range and have tested through this to arrive at this valuation method.

Use ourย Free Valuation Toolย to get an estimate of your website’s value.

Want to learn how to increase your online business sales value?ย Here’s our free Seller’s Checklist on how you can raise the value of your website.

Where do I get started?

Click here to list your website for sale with us today

If you want some expert advice on how to get your business ready for sale, set up a free 30-minute call with our exit planning team. They’ll be able to tailor an exit plan to your specific business that maximizes your valuation.


Submit Your Business For Sale


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Discussion

  • fadella says:

    Is that site favor for eCommerce platforms and how much you charge in the exchange of displaying eCommerce site in the Auction.

    • Greg Elfrink says:

      Hey Fadella,

      We charge a $297 first time seller fee that covers our vetting costs. For repeat sellers we have a $97 listing fee. Upon the successful sale of your business, we then collect a 15% commission fee (that buys you our skills as negotiator, using our pool of buyers, and our marketing talents to make sure your business finds the right buyer)

  • tayyab says:

    Every thing is good except 297$ for listing site. i don’t think if web masters happily give you this amount. as i knwo my self , i wanna sell a site and a android gaming app. but $297 are stopping me to do business ๐Ÿ™

    • Greg Elfrink says:

      Hey Tayyab, if $297 is too much for you currently I would suggest to double down and keep building up the business to a bigger point when it is making more sales so the first time listing fee won’t be that much of a negative for you.

      Hope your business keeps going up!

  • Thanks for sharing this Information… I was referred by a friend of mine.. AS i told him that i want to sell one of my sites and he just gave me ur link… Now i know i can easily sell my site here for good amount of money..

  • Bibi Farber says:

    I’m looking to sell my website which makes over $1,000/ month. However, I don’t own the site’s infrastructure- I only upload content and maintain the mailing list. The new buyer would enter a relationship with the person who controls the format and programming, like buying into a franchise, and they would pay a monthly fee. I am selling the domain name, the brand, the 8,000 plus email list and possibly a mobile app independent of this arrangement. Would this scenario make sense for sale through you or is it too complicated? Again, the buyer would not be able to control the look, the format, any aspect of programming or the way the ads are positioned. Thanks beforehand!

    • Justin Cooke says:

      Hey Bibi,

      It’s an interesting situation. How do you not control the site’s infrastructure? What if that 3rd party were to remove your access and/or take it away? It sounds like that might be a bit of a problem for a buyer.

      The best way to check to see if we can sell is to submit. If we’re not able to list/sell we’ll refund you the listing fee, no worries.

  • Oluwaseun says:

    Hello Guys, do you accept product review blogs? I have a blog that reviews different type of products in the health niche, and I have about 15 keywords ranking on page 1 to 3 of google.

  • Hieu Nguyen says:

    Just bought a Premium Broker Package. This is my 1st time selling a website, I’m so excited ๐Ÿ˜€

    • Justin Cooke says:

      Boom – we’re excited for you! Hope this passes our vetting process so that we can help you get it listed/sold!

  • arthurfan92 says:

    Do you guys allow clickbank sites?

  • Guest says:

    15% commission is charged for both premium and basic package even if the site sells within 60 days ? or only for the ones you promote through flippa

    • Justin Cooke says:

      That’s correct – 15% is charged for both, even within 60 days.

      If the listing goes to Flippa, we take Flippa’s fees off the top and apply our 15% to what’s left over.

  • Geri Richmond says:

    Hi Justin,
    Great site and I was led here by the 45 experts blog that Gilbert did. I have a particular interest because I have an E-commerce site with drop shipping. It’s a really nice website and I paid a fortune to have it built and it’s been sitting for a couple of years, however, there is no income because I’ve let it sit. Any suggestions?
    Thanks for the great info!
    Geri Richmond

    • Justin Cooke says:

      Hey Geri,

      A site that’s not earning isn’t worth much, unfortunately. Here’s a post we wrote tackling the subject:

      https://empireflippers.com/site-selling-gone-wrong/

      If you really want to continue to build it out, you’re probably going to have to do the hard work of promoting and expanding it yourself. Alternatively, you could try to find a strategic partner that can take on some of the tasks, but they might be better off starting from scratch on their own and owning 100%, of course.

  • Josh says:

    Hey Guys, I’m looking at selling a whole lot of sites through you guys this year! Stoked that you’re expanding the brokerage part of your business. Few questions:

    1. Are you no longer excepting sites with earnings below $100/month? Any suggestions of brokers to sell those kinds of sites ($80/month average lets say)? Or is flippa the best option maybe (even with their obnoxious commissions increase)?

    2. I noticed not all sites on the marketplace are priced 20x their 30-day earnings…. Some of my sites have very seasonal earnings: Christmas time, or summer time for example. Are you guys developing some practical ways to price these sites? Doesn’t seem to make sense to price sites 20x the past 30 days if those 30 days are outliers in the long-term earnings of the site. Wouldn’t want a buyer to feel ripped off if he bought at its peak seasonal month and then the earnings went right down, but also wouldn’t want to sell a site during its low season. Know what I mean?

    • Justin Cooke says:

      Hey Josh,

      Valuation is a tricky subject – the case you’ve pointed out is just one of many that tend to pop up.

      Right now, we’re basing sales price off 20 X monthly net profit. We typically take an average of monthly net profit off the most previous 90 days to get our figure. In some instances (certain premiums, high-$$ sites, etc.) we’ll take an average of the last 12 months and base the 20X price on that average monthly net.

      We’ll take sites that are earning $80-$100 per month (We have buyers looking for those sites right now, actually) but because we charge our fee to list your actual net multiple goes down. Below $70/month or so and it’s probably not worth listing with us.

      • Josh Kelly says:

        Yeah cheers man. Makes a lot of sense. After I wrote the comment I read one of your posts on strategic website purchasing which made me think a lot about different aspects and complications of valuation. I’m sure you guys think a lot about this as brokers. I think an average of the past 3 months might work really well for most of the types of sites I’m building.

        Thanks for explaining the thinking behind not brokering sites below $70/month. Makes sense.

  • Barik Houlder says:

    I can’t get the real suggestion about our site to sell. you have given a idea.

    Thanks

  • Hey Joe and Justin, I’ve been looking at buying some of your guys’ sites and really like the idea of the confidential listings and that you guys look over them.
    One grip I have about it though is that you guys only list seo stats (ranking) for the exact match keyword if the site’s domain is an EMD. How come you guys don’t provide that info for the highest traffic keyword for non EMD sites?

    • That’s good feedback and something we should implement in the future. Currently, the marketplace uses some legacy code the assumes an EMD so using non-EMD stats is something we have to update manually.

  • paul jordan says:

    Great offer!! do you buy sites that are monetized by adsense that are in the coupon niche? i have a few a would like to sell? ๐Ÿ˜€ most are earning around $400 per month with potential to make a lot more!

    • Sure Paul, we’ve sold sites in the coupon niche before. You’ll have to pass the regular vetting process of course.

      • paul jordan says:

        thanks thats not a problem,, im signing up now! also the process of selling the site does it take 1-4 weeks for $100 โ€“ $500 Per Month Sites is that start to finish?

        • I guess it depends when you consider the “start” date. A lot depends on how much data you have and how quickly you get it to us (i.e. screenshots and Google Analytics access). Usually sites with a sales price less than $5k sell very quickly while $5k-15k take a couple of weeks.

          • paul jordan says:

            i was referring to the start being the start of the vetting process ๐Ÿ™‚ yes iv got all of that downloaded and ready.. il sign up and take things from there..
            look forward to do business with you’s!

  • Tung Tran says:

    Love this ๐Ÿ˜€ I’m building lots of new sites so maybe in the next 3-6 months I’ll have to use your service ๐Ÿ˜€

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