5 Mistakes to Avoid When You Sell Your Website on Flippa
If you want to sell your website then Flippa offers a great platform for you to connect with people who want to buy a website, but how do you make sure it sells?
Well, apart from delivering a killer website with awesome content and revenue streams you make sure you put up a great Flippa listing.
No doubt you’re an expert at running sites, but are you such an expert at selling them?
The answer’s probably no, so I’m going to take you through some of the biggest mistakes people make when selling on Flippa.
Being too Confident
Yeah, your website is pretty good. No, in actual fact it’s really good, but in your mind, blinded by ego, it’s the best damn website since Google landed.
And, you know what, I really like confidence in a seller. It shows that they care about their product.
The problem comes, though, when you believe people will be banging down your door and forcing dollar bills in your pocket.
This simply isn’t going to happen.
What you need to do here is take a step back and get an independent valuation. This allows you to understand exactly what sort of price you’re likely to receive.
It may be that this independent valuation brings you back down to Earth. It may even persuade you to hold off selling until you’ve really optimized it.
Bad Preparation
You can tell a rushed Flippa listing from a mile off and it doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in the product.
To deliver a great, professional listing you need to start preparing a couple of weeks before you launch your listing.
And there are several aspects of your site that you need to concentrate on:
- What’s your site all about?
- Where does the revenue come from?
- Is the site ready to run?
- Are you going to offer after sales support?
You’ll find that by preparing information to answer these questions puts you in a much better position to create a killer Flippa listing.
Anything less than a well prepared listing and you risk bidders running for the hills.
Fabricating the Truth
You want your Flippa listing to really sing the praises of your site in order to get bidders salivating. However, it’s possible to go just too far.
We’ve seen Flippa listings where the revenue claims are astronomical and, frankly, laughable at times. They’re also the same listings where there’s no actual proof of the financials.
And it’s these sites which make us bang our fists on the table and scream “How stupid do you think we are?!”
Now, Flippa allows you to upload any type of document you want, so why wouldn’t you upload some proof or your $250,000 earnings?!
Listings where the crazy figures can’t be backed up often descend into mudslinging between seller and buyers, so make sure you can always back up your claims.
And you need to be completely honest about your site’s current situation.
Say, for example, you’re currently turning over $5k per month selling electronics. You’d want to include this in your listing, but if your main supplier is closing down next month, you need to disclose this too.
If you start trying to sell websites with hidden dangers just around the corner then you’re going to get a bad rep very quickly.
Predicting the Unpredictable
Flippa sellers sometimes get a little carried away with the potential of their websites for sale.
And it’s not uncommon to see bold headlines which promise that a great fortune can be made in just a few months.
These headlines irritate me because, you know, as with anything in life, there are no guarantees.
Who’s to say that the main product you’re currently making a killing on isn’t going to go out of fashion in a heartbeat? Are you really going to carry on building revenue to the insane amounts promised?
No, of course you’re not!
That’s why you should concentrate on detailing exactly what your site is making now and all the current opportunities it’s mining.
Flippa buyers welcome this kind of honesty a lot more than the promise of pipe dreams.
Setting Too High a Price
So, you’ve had your site valued and you’re happy with the price, that’s great!
But, hold your horses, buddy, that doesn’t mean you have to set your price to that exact price!
If you set your starting price too high then you’re not going to sell your website. You see, they’ll take one look at your price and think “I’ll wait for something cheaper”.
By setting a lower price you’re more likely to whet their appetite and get them engaged with the auction from early on.
We went over the benefits of a low reserve price on Flippa several months back on SellMySite, so make sure you check it out here.
Get Started on That Listing
We’ve covered some pretty basic areas here, but you’d be surprised just how many of these mistakes are made on a daily basis.
And some of these mistakes can even be found on Flippa listings which bring in some decent dollar. Just imagine how much more they could make by cutting out these mistakes.
The key points to take away our that preparation, honesty and good business sense will go a long way in helping you sell your website on Flippa.
