Option 1:  Buy cheap websites, fix them up and then sell them for a profit.

Option 2:  Create new websites from scratch and then sell them for a profit.

So if you decided to choose option 1 and buy cheap websites to fix up, where would you go to buy those cheap websites.

Well, I have found the best 2 places for buying cheap websites to renovate are Ebay and Digital Point forum.  However, with both of these sites there are some sites that sell for good prices also, so to get a good deal you really do need to search to find those hidden gems.

Firstly, you need to look for sites that are selling cheap.  You need to keep in mind any fees that you are going to pay out along the way including the fees you will pay to relist the site for sale when the time comes to sell it.  Together with those fees and the asking price of the website, you need to ask yourself will you be able to change the website enough that it will make you a profit.

Secondly, you need to consider the time that you will need to spend on that website to fix it up.  It may need a complete makeover with a whole new look or it may just need some good unique content added to it.  It might already be a great website that just needs some article marketing or backlink building to build it up and bit and start making some money with it.

That brings me to the third point – do you intend to just do a quick fix up and sell it or do you intend to promote the site and have it earning money before going ahead and selling it.  If you can get the site earning an income then you will be able to sell the site for a much higher price.

I guess it all depends on what aspects of the process you are good and and which one’s you would rather not do.  Some site flippers will just fix up the site and make it look better and then sell it off, while others who are quite happy to put in the time to promote the site, will hang onto it a bit longer and make money from it before selling it.

Either option is good and it really is just a matter of personal choice as to what you want to do for your business.  The quick and easy fix up can still make money as long as you really do search for a good deal when buying your website to fix up.  You don’t want to fix a website up and not be able to make a profit from it, so you really do need to consider all the costs involved and how much time and effort you want to spend working on the site.

Choose wisely and good luck with your site flipping business

Start Up Sites

Flipping brand new sites is when you buy a domain name and build the site from scratch and then sell it straight away as a newly created website not yet earning an income.  These are often classified as ’start up’ sites and can sell quite well, particularly if your sites stand out from the crowd.

Start up sites do have a lot of competition though as they are quick and easy to create they are quite popular.  Some sellers will just sell the same site over and over again but on a new domain, so although it is a new site on it’s own, there could be 50, 100 or even thousands of the same website out there being sold.  These are known as turnkey sites and generally sell quite cheap.

I sell a lot of start up sites, but not so much turnkey sites.  Although my sites are not unique, I don’t sell hundreds of the same site.  I may sell a few of the same site, but spaced out with some months inbetween selling the same site.  Generally though I try to change the site a little so that they aren’t exactly the same, even if it is something as simple as changing the colors slightly, just enough to make it a little unique.

Start up sites can sell anywhere from $1 to $400 or $500, although generally you’d be looking at $50 to $100.  I never start my listings at as little as $1, I always start them at a price that will at least cover the cost of the domain name and the listing fees.

Established Sites

An established site is one that is usually over 3 months old and usually earning an income already.  You can either buy a domain and build the site from scratch and then promote it to earn an income from it, or you can buy an already established site and then promote it to earn income from it.

If you are purchasing an already established site, you can often pick up sites at a good price if they are pretty basic and not very nice looking sites.  Then you can give them a bit of a face lift, make them look fantastic and often this might be enough to sell it and make a profit.  Or you can spend a month or two promoting the site, driving traffic to it and making some income, and then it will sell for an even higher price.

An established site will usually sell for 10 x the income it is making, though many buyers will want to see a steady income that has been made over a few  months.  So if you just promote and earn one month of income, you will still sell it for a reasonable price, but if you can show 3, 4 or 6 months or more income, then you will earn 10 x the monthly income.  So a site that is earning you $100 a month in commission or adsense you could sell for $1000.

Conclusion

Both types of sites can earn a decent income.  If you like the promotion side of things, then established sites might be the way to go.  With established sites though, you want to make sure that the time you spend promoting the site is worth it when you sell the site.  Try and set your income to give yourself an hourly rate of income and if you are spending too many hours on a site to promote it and your sell price doesn’t work out to be much income per hour, then you are spending too much time on it.

Start up sites you need to create many more sites to make a bigger income, so if creating sites is the part you like doing, then this option may be for you.  Once again though, don’t spend too much time on a site so that the income you make isn’t worth it.  Remember, start up sites don’t sell for as much so you don’t want to spend a lot of time creating them.  You still want to have nice sites, but fast and easy to create sites.

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