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The SitePoint Market Watch #11 Copyright (c) 2009
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News, Rants and Case Studies for Web Entrepreneurs
by Peter T Davis
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Introduction
Pricing at best is an inexact science. Today I'd like to focus
on a few small tips, and one big one, for sellers of web sites.
This can also apply to buyers, in that it will help you to
understand the psychology of sellers, but it's primarily for
sellers as they have the most to lose here. It's about how to
avoid burning bridges, and how you should always treat everyone
with the same regard and respect that you'd like to be treated
with in return.
Peter T. Davis
Editor
SitePoint Market Watch
IN THIS ISSUE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Introduction
- Give Thanks for Miracles
- Tips for Buyers and Sellers
- Featured Listings
GIVE THANKS FOR MIRACLES - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Have you ever pulled a miracle out of a hat for a person, but
made to feel it's still not good enough?
I'm routinely asked by people to help them sell their web site,
and most of these sites are hard sells. When I have the time, I
do try to look for value in the sites owned by these people
who've sought my help. I've written before -- in this newsletter
and on SitePoint's forum -- about what creates value in your web
site, so I'll leave off repeating myself. Suffice to say, if
there's a lack of revenues, traffic, unique products, or
valuable content, then a web site will be a difficult sell at
any price.
Today, I pulled a miracle out of a hat. A member I'd known from
the online communities and who I've transacted with before asked
me to sell one of those proverbial "no value" sites for him. Now,
I'm never surprised when a person places an extraordinary value
on a site they own. It's easy for an owner to do so when they've
owned it for a while and invested their time into building and
running the site, and so have become emotionally attached to it.
But buyers are unconcerned about that stuff. They don't care if
you've put 300 hours into tweaking the design. And why should
they? When a buyer can register a new domain for ten bucks, why
would he accept your opinion that your domain is worth
thousands?
But this site I was dealing with was a spam site. Plain and
simple. It was auto-generated content, made from an eBay RSS
feed. It's easy as pie to make those sites. The site did have a
trickle of traffic, and some revenue, but it was a spam site. I
doubted whether the traffic or the revenue was sustainable.
Well, I bet you're asking now, what was the miracle I pulled out
of the hat? Well, I gained him a solid offer. $3,500 in fact.
About two year's worth of current revenues. I was surprised to
receive an offer on it at all, and frankly, I was a little
embarrassed to even be showing this site to some of the high-end
buyers I work with; I usually work with larger transaction
amounts.
Anyway, the moral of the story is that if you receive a solid
offer for your web site, even if it's a genuinely valuable web
site, you should at least thank the potential buyer for the
offer and make a counter. Never insult the messenger, nor make
the buyer feel foolish about offering a certain price. The
magical price you had in mind is probably going to seem
unrealistic to buyers, anyway.
The number of times I've seen sellers burn bridges and let any
chance of a deal slip through their fingers -- either because of
unrealistic expectations or their inability to respond in a civil
manner to what they consider a low-ball offer -- are too numerous
to count. Be courteous to all your prospects, and you're sure to
reap the benefits.
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TIPS FOR BUYERS AND SELLERS
- Use language that avoids alienating the other party.
- When asking for more details about an auction listing, it
helps to do so in a non-accusatory manner. And, as your parents
taught you, saying please and thank-you can work wonders when
seeking information.
- When presenting your offer, explain it without trashing the
site. The seller may have emotional attachments that need to be
considered as well. Your offer should demonstrate that you hold
some value in the site.
- When receiving an offer, try to remember that the buyer is
without the same emotional attachments to the site that you may
hold. Rather than trying to insult you, in most cases an initial
offer is simply that, an initial offer. It's far better to reply
with a counter offer than take offense.
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That's all for this issue -- thanks for reading! I'll see you in
a few weeks.
Peter T. Davis
peter.davis@sitepoint.com [1]
Editor, SitePoint Market Watch
[1] <mailto:peter.davis@sitepoint.com>
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HELP YOUR FRIENDS OUT - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
People you care about can take charge of their Website by
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