When surfing the Web, many will be faced with the buying or selling of a developed website. If this is something of interest, one should know how to weed out those who are peddling a scam or false hopes. Below you will find a variety of scenarios and tips that hopefully aid in the decision-making regarding the decision to buy or sell.

1) People can create a website for resale and there is nothing wrong with doing so. These sites are often referred to as “knock-offs” or “cookie cutters,” but they are used everywhere, including by companies such as eBay. Another type of business that uses these sites are real estate companies. These type of sites move from one person to another, usually turning a profit for the owner. It is the amount of money that is paid that concerns buyers.

2) Many people become suspicious when the owner of a site wishes to sell. There are people out there who truly don’t feel like running their site any longer; have other things to take care of or need the money for another task. Whatever the reason is, it doesn’t really matter since you have no way of finding out if it is the truth or not.

3) When considering a developed site, the buyer must weight the pros and cons of each potential purchase. All sites offer its own set of negatives and positives. There are many factors that influence any sale. If one relies solely on the “statistics” that are offered about a particular site, they may be in for a surprise: statistics can always be staged.

4) In the case of ranking, there are many ways a seller can manipulate the way they present the information regarding their website. Controlling their own tool bars or that of services, such as Alexa and Google, can falsely create rankings. One way to counteract this method, is to check the data dealing with “other sites that link to this site.” When a seller refers to PageRank, buyers should know that this is a minor detail in determining the value of a site.

5) When a seller boasts that they get a certain amount of hits per day on their website, this should not be taken seriously when evaluating the value of that site. The main concern should be how many different visitors and page views that the website attracts. The source of site traffic is important.

6) One of the biggest concerns when dealing with a website involves Intellectual Property issues. Some sites feature great, original content, while others have stolen from other websites. If the seller is unable to answer questions about original content, then it is safe to say that this may not be the one to purchase.

7) If a seller claims to make a certain amount of money from their site, buyers should inquire if this is a gross revenue estimate per month. If the seller cannot produce valid bank statements, deposit slips and tax returns; the financial facts may not be true. Proof is in the pudding.

8) When sellers claim that their expenses to maintain the site are low, a buyer should check this information against the amount of bandwidth the site consumes vs. page views.

9) When purchasing a site for more than $1,000, Escrow should be used to handle the transaction. It is up to both the buyer and seller to agree upon the Escrow company that will be used. Serious sellers can be separated from the duds when they open the escrow up in an act of good faith. Costs can then be negotiated thereafter.

10) All deals should feature a “kill/expires date” so that the transaction will occur within a reasonable timeframe. Attorneys and tax representatives can also be consulted when considering a new purchase such as this.

11) A few questions to ask and tips to follow that a buyer can keep in mind when analyzing the legitimacy of a website and its owner includes: 1. Can the business name be verified? 2. Pay close attention to the HTML code of the site for at least a week. Does the content appear to be original? Are there any site names in the Meta tags? 3. Search for keywords that correspond to the site that is of interest. Google is a good place to spend your time investigating.

12) The final price of a website is something that can be discussed between the buyer and seller. Some of the factors that can determine site value include how long the site has been online; how much brand recognition does the site possess; and what rights and technology is included with the website. The future potential of the site also increases the amount of the sale.

13) Consider the website’s domain name. Websites ending in “.com” are the best because they are the most commonly typed domain endings.

When considering the buying and selling of a developed website, both parties should be prepared to answer many questions and be willing to negotiate a deal that satisfies both parties. There are many pitfalls that can lure a victim into a scam, but with careful research and focus, there is a website and a buyer out there that offers a perfect fit.

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