Advice On Selling A Poker Site

[PFO]

After seeing some of the posts in the for sale section and after having sold one of my sites I though I would try to give some advice on trying to sell a site. It looks like some people are lost on this issue.

First thing to realize is your site is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it. Also, it is critical to provide a good sales copy for you site. You want to highlight the value of your site and be honest why you are selling. You could gain 10% or more revenue from the sale just by what you say and how you say it in your site’s listing.

Where should I list it for sale?
PAP, SitePoint, Digital Point Forums, Sedo, and other poker or related affiliate forums. This should be enough exposure.

How should I get paid?
Escrow.com is recommended. Both you and the buyer will open an account there and create the transaction. The buyer will transfer the funds to escrow and they will hold it until you have transferred everything. Once the domain is transferred and verified by the buyer the funds are released to you within 3 days depending on payout method.

Using paypal doesn’t give the buyer any reassurance that you will pay. Also never transfer the domain without receiving the money or using escrow!! You might as well play it safe and use escrow.

What should I list in the sale?

• Lists as much detail as possible.
• Obviously you need to list the domain name and age of the domain.
• Monthly revenue for the last year would last year – you will need to support this through screenshots for payments or affiliate account. List the different source of revenue too like CPA accounts, mgr accounts, banner or text link advertising. Actual account verification might also be done during the escrow process.
• Traffic stats, page rank, page views, daily uniques, referrers, and traffic sources. I recommend you have two sources of traffic stats like google analytics and webalizer. Proof of these stats are needed as well.
• Membership info through forums or newsletters. A list of subscribers can be very important to the sell of your site.
• Describe your content and amount of it. Lists any features you have like a odds calculator, poker reviews, strategy, poker blog, etc.
• How the site is hosted.

Common Questions You Might Get Asked:

• Why are you selling?
• How much money do you spend advertising?
• Do you do any SEO work?
• Is anyone else working for your or do you outsource any work?
• Is your site dynamic and have its own content management system?
• How many hours a week to you typically spend on it?
• Do you have any advertising commitments in place?
• Are you transferring affiliate accounts?
• How much is hosting and do I need my own?

How Much Should I Expect For The Site?
Well this is dependent on so many factors. Typically I would say 10-18 months revenue. Monthly revenue, traffic stats, website age, traffic sources, site membership, site reputation, and site content all play a factor in it. A site that has a mailing list of several thousands of players has more value too. If your traffic comes from high stakes poker terms or poker bonuses it will be worth more than a site that gets traffic from freeroll terms.

So How Can I Get More Money On My Sale?
Be honest. Highlight the positives of your site. Provide value to the buyer and how they can easily increase revenue. If you have a big membership site, state that you have x amounts of members that you can email poker offers to increase revenue. If your site gets most of its traffic from search engines highlight that. Make sure emphasize your traffic if it comes from competitive or high paying keywords. You might also emphasize your site design or any custom scripts or programs your site offers.

Feel free to add comments or other advice


,Thomas

[Mackan]

Great post!! This should be made a sticky in the Websites for sale section.

[ThePokerBank]

Very nice post. Deserves a sticky in the Buy and Sell section for websites.

[Holis]

Moved and stickied, Great post (10 months + revenue seems high to me but to each his own)

[Stocks]

Good post.

Also I thought 12 months revenue was kind of the average for the asking amount and up to 24 for a high quality site.

[Ridge]

Great post. This should be a stand alone sticky..

[ResIpsa]

Originally Posted by Stocks

Good post.

Also I thought 12 months revenue was kind of the average for the asking amount and up to 24 for a high quality site.

I think its very hard to give a general estimate as it really depends on where the revenue is coming from. I'd be much more willing to pay a higher multiple for a site that has multiple stable revenue streams then for one where everything is dependent on the google ranking for 1 keyword. If google sneezes, the site's value disappears and we all know how much rankings can fluctuate.

Secondly, a site with real growth potential will get a higher multiple then a site where the buyer is just expecting to maintain current revenue flow.

[PFO]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

Originally Posted by Holis

Moved and stickied, Great post (10 months + revenue seems high to me but to each his own)

I put 10-18 months just as a general estimate. You are right though, some sites might only be worth 6 months revenue.