Selling £six figure website

[nomis5]

I'm in the final stages of agreeing to sell one of my websites for a six figure £ amount. I need any advice you can give me about the sales procedure. I don't need advice as to if I should sell it - the price is right and I want to sell.

I'm in the UK, the buyer is an Israeli and his company already owns several popular sites.

We are going to use a well-established escrow company to transfer money and ownership. But aside from that I have no idea what pitfalls await me in the final stages. Could anyone use a purchase like this to damage me? I have two other popular websites and several smaller ones.

I haven't seen any contract yet, I am meeting the guy on Thursday in London. He most certainly has experience of buying / selling websites in the past. I have no experience.

Any ideas or warnings will be most gratefully received.

Worried from Warwick.

[astupidname]

What an excellent topic, great thread! I hope some day to be in a similar predicament, I think... Although I personally would probably want to keep leaning on the cash cow if the cow (site) is making any significant money. As you say, there is a line that is personal to each person, and the circumstances of any deal.

I'm meeting the buyer next week in his relative's home in London.

I would think that the personal aspect of that, willingness to meet in the buyer's relative's residence, says a tremendous amount about the integrity of the deal. Although, may want to verify how long the relative has lived there....

We live in the real world where this sort of thing is done every day

If that's the case (full of cash?!) I'm going to start hanging out at the airport more, looking for errantly misplaced briefcases or duffel bags with green paper hanging out of them.....

Good luck to you, hope it turns out as you wish!

[artefaqs]

If that's the case (full of cash?!) I'm going to start hanging out at the airport more, looking for errantly misplaced briefcases or duffel bags with green paper hanging out of them.

Contrary to what the American Express commercials want you to believe, chances are that shiny new stove at that hip new bistro down the street was very likely paid for in cash. When you get to a certain level in certain businesses, there are substantial incentives for using cash.

forget about the suitcases and cash idea, there are important limitations to the cash you are allowed to travel with international. Ask the Swiss !

That may be your gut feeling, but it's far from the truth. Many people travel internationally every day with cases full of cash. It's so common that there are forms and procedures for handling just this sort of thing.

As a US citizen, I can't speak to the OP's situation since he's in the UK. But here's a link to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection flyer about transporting large sums of money overseas [cbp.gov]. Its very first line states:

It is legal to transport any amount of currency or other monetary instruments into or out of the United States.

All you have to do is complete this form [fincen.gov] and go about your business.

If, as you stipulate, there is some restriction on moving money from country to country in the E.U., well that's a discussion that's beyond the scope of this thread.

I still say deal in cash in a public place. Lowest possible risk for all parties involved.

Even if you don't go the cash route, I don't like the idea of meeting the buyer at some relative's house. It's too easy for it to be a set-up. Meet someplace public and neutral.

Maybe show the buyer the web site on a laptop in a coffee shop, then accompany him to his bank and stand with him while he withdraws the cash or has a certified check made out to you, then give him the disc or computer or flash drive or whatever.

[MrHard]

I would think that the personal aspect of that, willingness to meet in the buyer's relative's residence, says a tremendous amount about the integrity of the deal

I feel just the opposite. In a case like this I would opt for not doing a face to face meeting unless they insist, or perhaps offer one after the deal is sealed to inform them of details, or send a rep to the meeting.

A cash transaction of that size. That's got to raise red flags. Just have the funds transferred and make a nice clean exchange. Legit places in this century transfer funds so there is some type of record of the transaction.

The reason you are nervous about the meeting is that you feel you could do or say something that breaks the deal. You may be correct. It's like someone selling their own home, it's very difficult to stay unbiased and not get into discussions that can break the deal especially in a familial environment where you may be asked personal questions by the buyer or their relatives.

I would have someone accompany me into the meeting, and a second person wait outside in the car. Man on deck?

[ziajunu]

Escrow handles domain name transfer only, they donot take care website, scripts etc..

[lammert]

I would never accept a meeting in a relative's home. Even if the other party is honest, it still gives you a psychological disadvantage because you are in a place you don't know and they aren't.

A public neutral place would be best.

[castar]

Great thread.

Anyone thinking that market prices are too low should be out there taking out mortgages at 7% and buying sites to get 30% returns. There are a lot of sites selling every single day. And I'm not talking just the junk at Flippa.

So if not Flippa, how do you get the word out that you have a site that you want to sell for mid six figures. I've been trying to sell my site on a site similar to Flippa. Not worth it in my opinion. For those who have been successful in selling sites 6 figures or more, how did you find your buyer?

[buckworks]

The buyer found me.

[artefaqs]

For me, I advertised sites I had for sale on Flippa, and people who inquired about those sites ended up buying other sites I owned.

I agree, Flippa is far more trouble than it's worth. 99% of the so-called "buyers" I've dealt with on there are just bottom feeders looking for something for nothing, who are just kicking the tires and not serious about doing business.

[JS_Harris]

If your site has up to date contact information a serious buyer will eventually find you. I've seen a lot of consolidation in one of my niches this year already.

[oddsod]

castar, there isn't one single place that exclusively stocks sites that are upmarket from Flippa. There's no Flippa Plus.

There's the JS_Harris passive approach of sitting and waiting, but that may not suit everyone and the buyer with the biggest budget may never be actively hunting for a site to buy.

Places like businessesforsale, sunbeltnetwork, bizquest etc., are the places to list higher value sites. There's also the option of hiring a broker to assist. Pick the right one and they can be invaluable in identifying prospective buyers in your industry and elsewhere and making initial contact to suss interest. Some brokers have listings on their own sites. I don't make broker recommendations, but there are at least two brokers who regularly sell websites at higher multiples than you see in the Flippa/DP kind of marketplaces. You should be able to find them with a little bit of research. The higher multiples they get is because they focus on better quality properties (less risk) and put in a lot of work. Because they advertise in business mags, finance newspapers etc., they often have a database of interested buyers whom they've already vetted and got signed NDAs from.

The way it works for the higher value websites is a bit less crass than a public auction where every idiot who doesn't have $2 to his name can post a criticism of your site, its prospects or your asking price. The work happens behind the scences - by PM, email, phone chats, physical visits. Involved are often Letters of Intent, long and boring discussions on terms, NDAs, sales contracts etc. and, contrary to how some here would like to do business, the transactions tend not to happen in cash.