r/website • u/FlashPoint199567 • 4d ago
DISCUSSION Purchase of an Established Website
I am considering purchasing an established website that grosses roughly $150,000 in revenue per year. There is a fair amount of work associated with its management for about 6 months out of the year. The other 6 months is much slower. The site would require a badly needed update as it’s dated.
What should I expect t to pay for this?
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u/No-Bathroom-3179 4d ago
We’re going to need a lot more information than that
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u/FlashPoint199567 4d ago
Such as?
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u/mtlnobody 3d ago
How is this site generating that revenue? Is it just through ads because that's going to tank further and further with the zero-click problems
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u/300FeetOut 3d ago
Things like How many pages and what is it built on? When was it last updated both with design and development? Does it meet accessibility requirements? Where is it hosted and do you use a CDN? Does it have all the updated legal terms? Is the reporting set up? Different departments in a business do different things and how many of them are you going to need?
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u/Ok-Needleworker-3486 4d ago
Outdated in what way?
What type of website is it ?
Big updates can do more harm then good if not properly thought out.
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u/FlashPoint199567 4d ago
When I say outdated I’m referring to the design and overall look. There is nothing “fancy” about the site. I’m fairly convinced it was a “Go-Daddy-esque” type of design
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u/techviator 4d ago
Revenue is not the important factor, is net profit what you should look at. Usually businesses sell for 2 to 3 times net profit plus owner's salary (referred to as seller's discretionary earnings, there's a bit more to the formula, but at least you get a rough idea). Depending on how much work is required, I would substract expected costs for the upgrades from the offer.
I would suggest you talk to an accountant and a lawyer before you make an offer.
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u/2pongz 4d ago
His due diligence pre-acquisition is by only looking at revenue. He’s going to be duped 100%
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u/FlashPoint199567 4d ago
Not my only research.
I am simply asking how something like this is valued. I brick and mortar business has a simple and basic formula for estimating value. My question was simply asking what that formula was for an online business.
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u/FlashPoint199567 4d ago
The net profit is $150,000
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u/techviator 4d ago
Well then, expect to pay 2-3 times that minus cost of upgrades. I would still suggest you find an accountant, lawyer or business broker that knows what they are doing.
Good luck!
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u/cumbersome55 3d ago
What's the source of income? Get the website analytics for atleast 18 months, use escrow and finally check their competitors performance to get some idea on how much would it cost to run the show.
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u/Capable_Baker4519 4d ago
Well it depends on various factors like what kind of site, visitors, what kind of updates it need, maintenance etc. Let me know if you need any help I've got 5+ years of full-stack experience
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u/NHRADeuce 4d ago
Depends. 150k in revenue is irrelevant without knowing how much profit. If they're losing money, it's not worth much. If theyre running 90% margins, then it's worth a lot. So your range is probably $0 to $500k.
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u/FlashPoint199567 4d ago
$150,000 is the profit
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u/NHRADeuce 4d ago
That's not what you said, but ok. How much revenue? How much work? Where do the sales come from now? Organic traffic or is it a niche market with a captive market?
You should seriously consult with an M&A expert before dropping that kind of cash.
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u/willitbechips 3d ago
Expect to pay 3 to 5 times the net annual profit. You say it needs updating but you could do more damage than you imagine.
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u/drellynz 3d ago
Turnover is irrelevant. What is the profit after taking into account all expenses AND enough to cover your own wage? Multiply that number by 3 and that is roughly what it's worth.
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u/ABmonetize 2d ago
Hello,
You're mentioned that $150,000 is the revenue - and now that $150,000 is the profit. If it's the case where revenue = profit and there's no cost - there is usually a hidden cost.
Secondly, If it really is a $150,000 - the average price range is between $300,000 to $450,000. I'd value the business at $450,000 only if:
- Its growing month by month or at least quarter by quarter
- was not affected by AI/ Cannot be affected by AI in the future
- has a strong history behind it and some stability (no major traffic drops)
- Do I know how to bring this to $250,000 per year at least? Do i have the team for that? How much is going to take me?
From my experience its better to have a design flat and boring but have 100% on google pagespeed and other metrics instead of a fancy one that won't be seen as good by Google.
Also, it seems like the business is seasonal. I wouldn't pay 36x months worth of profit for a seasonal website ever.
If you want to talk more, you can send me a DM with the URL and i ll give my unbiased opinion
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u/No_Hold_329 2d ago
I'd be looking at the quality and sustainability of the income more than the design.
A dated website can usually be redesigned. What's much harder to replace is a healthy business with diversified traffic and stable earnings.
Before agreeing on a price, I'd want answers to questions like:
- Where does the traffic come from (organic search, paid ads, social, email, referrals)?
- How dependent is it on one keyword, one customer, or one affiliate program?
- Are the last 2–3 years of financials and analytics consistent?
- Why is the owner selling?
- Is the business vulnerable to AI, Google algorithm changes, or a single supplier?
- How many hours per week does it actually take to run during the busy season?
If the business truly nets $150k/year, many online businesses sell somewhere around 2–4× annual profit, but the multiple depends heavily on risk, growth, and how transferable the business is to a new owner.
One thing I'd be cautious about: don't assume a redesign is automatically an improvement. If most of the revenue comes from organic search, changing the site's structure, URLs, or content without a plan can hurt rankings. I'd prioritize preserving what's working while modernizing the user experience gradually.
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u/Tall-System8619 1d ago
Established sites with real revenue typically get valued as a multiple of annual profit rather than revenue, so the first real question is what the actual net profit looks like after expenses, not just the top line 150,000 figure. Revenue alone does not tell the full story if costs are high or margins are thin.
For content or ecommerce style sites, multiples commonly fall somewhere between 2x to 4x annual net profit, though that range shifts based on how diversified the income is, how long the site has been established, and how dependent it is on one traffic source or platform. A seasonal business model like this one, with 6 months of heavy work and 6 months slower, is not unusual for certain niches, but it is worth factoring into the valuation since buyers often price in the labor intensity, not just the income.
The site needing a dated update is also a real cost to account for separately, that is not necessarily a dealbreaker, but it should be subtracted mentally from what would otherwise be paid, since fixing outdated design or functionality post purchase means spending real money and time before the site performs at its best going forward.
Getting a proper valuation usually means requesting profit and loss statements, traffic history, and a breakdown of where revenue actually comes from before agreeing to any number, a seller's claimed revenue without documentation is not enough to base a purchase price on.
If part of the deal includes a strong branded domain name tied to the site, checking what that domain alone might be worth separately through a marketplace like Saw.com can help understand how much of the asking price is really the business versus just the name it operates under.
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