Buyer Beware: The risks of buying developed sites.
Over the past few months there have been a great increase in the amount of developed sites being sold throughout the internet at places such as NamePros.com and Sitepoint.com. The majority of these sites are really great for people interested in a new project or to add to their portfolio. But there has also been an increase in the amount of deceptive websites for sale, meaning that they are using a tactic to make their site seem more appealing. This article will go through many types of deceptive selling and how you can prevent becoming a victim of it.
Estimating Revenue/Traffic:
Many People selling websites use this tactic to make their site more appealing and more profitable than it really is. They will take a few days Revenue or Traffic and then “Estimate” for the rest of the month. This is very dangerous because 2 days of good advertising will make a site look way better than it truly is. In the majority of these cases the Revenue or Traffic will dramatically drop after a few days, leaving you with a worthless site. A good way to avoid this type of Deceptive Selling is by only buying websites with long term data in regards to Revenue and Traffic. If you still want to buy a site with a month or less of data then make sure you look for any sharp declines that would suggest leveling off and then buy it at that rate.
Averaging:
This is a common technique for website sellers to disguise a recent or long term drop in traffic and/or revenue. By stating the overall average the site will still usually look very well, although there may be a large and recent decline in traffic and revenue. The best way to find out if this is the reason for a sale you should check the monthly revenue and traffic data to see if there is a decline. You also may want to check the website and see when it has been last updated or posted on if it is a forum, as this may be the decline.
Hidden Costs:
This is a recent problem that has been affecting many places where websites are bought and sold. The price for a certain site will seem too good to be true, the profit and traffic is amazing. The price for which it is selling is also great. The problem is that the revenue may be great but it may be greatly offset by a lot of maintenance costs such as hosting and advertising. There may also be licenses that will need to be bought after the sale, such as VB bulletin licenses.
The majority of sites being sold are legit and you should be very happy with the transaction, but you always need to keep an eye out for the above tactics being used.
Sincerely,
Falian
Contact me at [email protected] if you need help selling a site.
Over the past few months there have been a great increase in the amount of developed sites being sold throughout the internet at places such as NamePros.com and Sitepoint.com. The majority of these sites are really great for people interested in a new project or to add to their portfolio. But there has also been an increase in the amount of deceptive websites for sale, meaning that they are using a tactic to make their site seem more appealing. This article will go through many types of deceptive selling and how you can prevent becoming a victim of it.
Estimating Revenue/Traffic:
Many People selling websites use this tactic to make their site more appealing and more profitable than it really is. They will take a few days Revenue or Traffic and then “Estimate” for the rest of the month. This is very dangerous because 2 days of good advertising will make a site look way better than it truly is. In the majority of these cases the Revenue or Traffic will dramatically drop after a few days, leaving you with a worthless site. A good way to avoid this type of Deceptive Selling is by only buying websites with long term data in regards to Revenue and Traffic. If you still want to buy a site with a month or less of data then make sure you look for any sharp declines that would suggest leveling off and then buy it at that rate.
Averaging:
This is a common technique for website sellers to disguise a recent or long term drop in traffic and/or revenue. By stating the overall average the site will still usually look very well, although there may be a large and recent decline in traffic and revenue. The best way to find out if this is the reason for a sale you should check the monthly revenue and traffic data to see if there is a decline. You also may want to check the website and see when it has been last updated or posted on if it is a forum, as this may be the decline.
Hidden Costs:
This is a recent problem that has been affecting many places where websites are bought and sold. The price for a certain site will seem too good to be true, the profit and traffic is amazing. The price for which it is selling is also great. The problem is that the revenue may be great but it may be greatly offset by a lot of maintenance costs such as hosting and advertising. There may also be licenses that will need to be bought after the sale, such as VB bulletin licenses.
The majority of sites being sold are legit and you should be very happy with the transaction, but you always need to keep an eye out for the above tactics being used.
Sincerely,
Falian
Contact me at [email protected] if you need help selling a site.
