6 Essentials to Check Before Listing Your Website Auction
Selling your site is a big step, so you need to make it has the best chance of selling. Many sellers, however, rush into auctions without checking the basics have been fulfilled.
Fulfill these basics, though, and you increase your chances of making a nice profit.
Let’s take a look at the absolute essential checks you need to make when listing your website auction.
1. Do You Actually Want to Sell Your Site?
You’ve worked hard to get your site to a level where people are eager to snap it up, but does this mean you have to sell it?
Sure, you’ll make a large amount of money quickly, but just take a look at those steady revenue streams. A quick bit of math might open your eyes to long term profits.
Of course, it isn’t all about the money either. Maybe this site is your passion, so what would life be without it? Yeah, you may move on to other successful sites, but will these give you the same joy?
Deciding whether to list your site isn’t easy, so take some time to weigh up the pros and cons as once it’s sold, it’s sold!
2. Figure Out What Your Site is Worth
Deciding your site’s worth is essential in maximizing your sale. Price it too low and you’re throwing money down the drain, but price it too high and bidders will steer clear.
The first thing to avoid is online calculators which aim to provide your site’s worth. Head to Google and type in “How much is my site worth” and you’ll be shown hundreds of calculators. However, they’re wildly unreliable! I tried one of my sites through three of them and received estimates of $8.95, $312 and $825!
That sort of variation isn’t going to help anyone!
What will help is checking through Flippa’s ‘Just Sold‘ section to see what similar sites in the same niche are selling for. This arms you with a useful estimate of how to price your site competitively.
Another option is to investigate putting your sale through a website broker. These guys really know their onions and will be able to calculate the best price for your site.
3. Does Your Site Have the Copy It Deserves?
Look at that site of yours! It’s amazing, isn’t it! You’ve done a great job of putting revenue streams in place and hiring a great team to push it.
But does that mean it’s going to sell itself? How can I put this? NO!
What you need is a listing which is going to tick all the boxes a potential buyer brings to the table.
Honesty is vital in your listing, so don’t try to hide anything and make sure you flaunt your achievements.
We’re not talking an emotionless, long stream of bullet points though. You need to weave an engaging story that has buyers drooling over the thought of buying your site.
It’s a somewhat tired cliche, but as regards the online world, content is king. And, you know, despite running an amazing site perhaps content isn’t your strong point. Your copy team, though, are kings of content, so get them involved.
Maybe you’re a smaller operation and content is only a minimal part of your site, so what then? Do you just give up? Of course you don’t! You take a look at tailored guides to auction listings! And, as luck would have it, we ran a foolproof guide a while back!
4. Will You Offer Post Sales Support?
Managing a new site can be very intimidating, especially to a first time buyer, so have you considered offering post sales support?
Detailing how your site operates, introducing the new owner to site affiliates and helping the buyer through any teething problems is invaluable. You seriously need to consider this to make your listing even more attractive.
Not only does going the extra mile make people more likely to bid, it helps establish a strong relationship with the buyer. And, who knows, maybe it will make that next sale to them that little bit easier.
5. Have You Read the Small Print?
We’ve all been there – you’ve bought/sold something and then you run into a huge issue. Maybe it doesn’t work properly or maybe the buyer hasn’t paid you yet.
The worst response to receive in this situation is “Read the small print, dummy!”
This “small print” is also known as the dreaded “terms and conditions” (T&C). And believe me, the T&C haven’t been knocked up in five minutes by the mail-room boy. Highly paid lawyers will have gone over these T&C with a fine-tooth comb to make sure everything’s legally binding.
Luckily, most auction sites/brokers list their T&C on their site. They’re usually tucked away at the bottom of the page, but you need to find them and read through them. Some of the terms will be vague, so if you’re not sure make sure you get these clarified.
It could save you a huge headache and many arguments post-sale.
6. Do You Need All Those Bells and Whistles?
Nestling within the listings section of Flippa are a range of tempting, but sometimes expensive upgrades. These promise to promote your site, but are they always necessary?
Say you’re selling a site worth $1200 and you take out Flippa’s ‘Ultra Premium Listing’ which costs $349. That’s nearly a third of your profits flushed away in an instant.
However, taking up the ‘Home Page Feature’ on the last day of the auction will cost just $49 and drive huge interest in your auction.
Instead of diving in with needless upgrades, plan which upgrades are crucial and plan a strategy to get the best out of them.
All Checked? Then You’re Ready to Go!
These 6 points can really make the difference between your site selling and your site sitting on the shelf.
Don’t charge into an auction with all guns blazing. Instead, keep calm and reap the benefits of a well planned auction.
