Online business takes time and patience to build and develop. More so, to earn profits. But what is it worth in the global market? Flippa is an online platform that values an online business and facilitates in buying/selling of an online business. It is a sort of digital marketplace where online business owners come in contact with buyers and entrepreneurs who like to buy a profitable online business.
Flippa has listings of many online eCommerce stores, web domains, apps, and websites generating huge revenue, and having huge organic traffic. Buyers get what they are looking for, and sellers get the best valuation for their online business. To help with how to buy or sell an online business through Flippa here is a complete guide.
What is an online business?
An online business can be anything that earns revenue and profits to the business owner. It is a type of digital asset.
- Content website.
- Blog.
- Digital Service.
- eCommerce Store.
- Domain.
- Amazon Affiliate store.
- Shopify store.
- YouTube Channel.
- Instagram Account.
- SaaS Business.
- Online app.
Now, let’s find out the top features of Flippa.
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Online business owners can contact buyers instantly on Flippa
Flippa makes it convenient to contact potential buyers. Online business owners and digital entrepreneurs can directly contact a potential buyer for their digital assets and can command a selling price. Flippa estimates the valuation of the online business, facilitates negotiations and discussions between sellers and buyers. Online businesses get the best environment on Flippa to hold online meetings and buyers get the best acquisitions at the price fixed.
Peer to Peer platform
Flippa is a peer-to-peer platform in the sense that there are no brokers that are involved between buyers and sellers. Sellers can create a business listing on Flippa with the required details. They can hold discussions and chat directly with buyers. Sellers can fix their selling price and are in total control of their listing. Flippa creates a platform where online business owners are the direct owners of the listing, and no broker or other service providers are involved.
Safe transactions
Flippa provides a safe environment to buy and sell online business assets. Digital assets can be sold to the best buyers and transaction is safe and transparent. A sales team from Flippa gets in touch with both the buyers and sellers to enable them to make a smooth transaction.
Affordable
Creating a business listing on Flippa is very affordable and no extravagant and unnecessary costs are involved. Business owners can create a listing at nominal rates and the service fees are very competitive. The listing fee comes with the required technology that provides a safe and secure listing and better engagement with buyers.
Sell through a Broker
Flippa provides a base to create a business listing that is independent of any brokers. Digital asset owners can create a listing by themselves. And if they need a broker Flippa provides Brokerage Matching Service, where expert business brokers collaborate with buyers and help to evaluate their business worth, do the necessary documentation, and provide critical inputs that help to list the business with full potential.
How to list a business on Flippa?
Creating a business listing is key to start contacting potential buyers. A listing is what drives the attention of the buyers to buy it. The process of start selling an online business or website on Flippa is pretty much straightforward.
Enter Flippa
Visit Flippa.com and go to ‘start selling’.
Type of business
Enter the URL in the blank space and choose the type of online business. Flippa will guide you with six of the most common type of business that is sold. All these are digital asset types. Choose ‘Other asset’ if the list does not apply to the business.
Enter the Basics
Sellers will have to input the basic information about their business. They will have to provide essential details like business name, country of the business, industry to which the business belongs when the business was founded, and so on.
Monetization
Flippa will now prompt sellers to specify how the business makes money. They will have to choose from options like ad revenue, affiliate sales, subscriptions, or any other methods. Here, sellers will also have the option to select multiple options.
Integrations
Sellers on Flippa now arrive at the most important step of creating their business listing. They will have to integrate their analytics and revenue structure with Flippa, so that Flippa can come to know how much revenue and how much engagement the website is able to achieve through the years of operation. They can integrate Google Analytics data, Google AdSense, WooCommerce, PayPal, BigCommerce. Doing so will allow Flippa to come to know of the valuation to be put to the business, the traffic that comes to the website, page views, organic search data, social media following, etc.
Financial history
Buyers see what is the profit that the website can make, and what is the revenue of the business. They see the sources from which money comes. Flippa enables integration to QuickBooks or Stripe, and if not available, then they can attach whichever info they have about revenue or profits. Statements, data, monetization methods are all acceptable. Screenshots, Shopify store, videos, subscription service revenue are also acceptable.
Listing
A business listing with complete details has a better chance of getting noticed by buyers. Sellers should give as much info as they can about their online business such as videos, images, etc. Sellers should be very particular about describing their business on Flippa. They should specify what are the products they are selling online, where is the warehouse, what is the profit margin, what is the social media analytics, ROI, what is the Facebook Ad revenue, Google AdSense revenue, website ranking on Google, etc.
Selling options
Flippa has two methods of putting a price on the website or online business. One is the Asking Price, and the other is the Auction Price.
- Auction Price: Sellers can bid their business on Flippa and set a minimum reserve price that they want to bid for. The minimum price is what the sellers expect to make a sale on Flippa. They can raise the price as bidding goes on. The auction lasts for 30 days on Flippa.
- Asking Price: Sellers can set a price for their website on Flippa, which is known as Asking Price. They can contact buyers and negotiate on the price. Like this, sellers can put a high valuation for their business. Sellers can consider the offer that buyers make with them, whether it is low or high. They can also change the Asking Price at any time. Until the business is sold, it will remain live on Flippa. Once it is sold, the listing will get canceled or removed.
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Closing the deal
This is the last step of selling a website on Flippa. But sellers will have to consider a few things before finalizing a deal. These are:
- Verify the buyer: Sellers should verify the trustworthiness of the buyers. Whether the offer made by the buyer is right, what is their history, what are the online reviews, etc.? Talk to the buyer personally before establishing trust in them. Sellers are going to do a major financial transaction with them. So, it is important to know them.
- Safety in transactions: Sellers should not transfer their digital assets from Flippa just because a buyer is willing to pay the right price for the online business. Most of all, they should conduct the transaction through Flippa and not go offline to end the sale. They may get duped, and the buyer may elope. But on Flippa, the transaction remains safe due to the policies and set procedures that are in place.
- Payment options: Flippa integrates with PayPal for low-value transactions. But for high-value transactions, it has integrated with Escrow.com. It safeguards funds and keeps them safe until the transaction is not complete. Making a transaction with Escrow.com enables smooth transfer of digital assets and website to the buyer, and payment of funds to the seller. The buyer gets the website, and the seller gets the worth of their business. If the country does not support PayPal or Escrow.com, then Flippa can arrange for other payment options as well.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Can I trust Flippa’s valuation?
Yes. Flippa is the largest marketplace for buying and selling websites and online digital assets. Apps, content websites, and online shopping portals can be bought and sold through Flippa. Flippa has a credible evaluation method that values and finds out the market value of a website.
Is Flippa’s valuation free or paid?
Flippa’s business valuation tool is not paid but is free. Website owners can use the valuation tool of Flippa any number of times.
How does Flippa arrive at the valuation of online business?
Flippa uses many factors to arrive at the correct valuation for a website. It uses data from the many websites that were bought and sold on Flippa. It looks at the business model, business category, and many other critical factors to arrive at the valuation of a website or digital asset.
How to sell a business on Flippa?
Sellers who would like to put their business listing on Flippa can chat with a customer representative or email them and they will get guidance on how to create a business listing.
Flippa pricing model
| Standard | Enhanced | Premium | Ultimate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price (USD) | USD 29 | USD 199 | USD 299 | USD 299 |
| Duration | 3 months | Not fixed | Not fixed | Not fixed |
| Escrow | Discounted | Free | Free | Free |
| What is included | Marketplace Listing, Data Integration, Same Day Support | Category Page Showcase, Weekly Insight Report, Higher Visibility | Social Media Promotion, Paid Buyer Retargeting, Web Display Advertising, Dedicated Flippa Agent | Homepage Promotion, Daily Newsletter, Blog Post, Custom Video, Third Party Syndication |
| Optional Add-ons | $99 NDA & Confidentiality, $99 Optimization Report, $99 Legal Templates | |||
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Final Words
Flippa makes buying and selling websites so much easy through properly set rules and regulations. The process of website selling and buying gets smooth through Flippa. Buyers who are in search of a profit-making digital asset of the website can get it on Flippa. Sellers can get the best price and valuation for their website on Flippa.
Web developer and SEO specialist with 20+ years of experience in open-source web development, digital marketing, and search engine optimization. He is also the moderator of this blog "RS Web Solutions (RSWEBSOLS)".
