How do you price adult sites for sale or purchase?

[Samsonite]

I've been through a lot of sites. Buying, selling, building from scratch, flipping.

In mainstream I normally get about 24 months average monthly earnings for the sale, though I have received more or less in different situations.

It's more difficult to get an idea on adult sites. First, there aren't many big central places you can go to look at recent sales and how price related to earnings. There aren't even many people talking about adult sites sales or flips. When you do find a write up the price you see most often for adult sites is 10 times monthly earnings. Is that the norm in your experience?

How would you price an adult oriented niche site or blog for sale for purchase? I'm talking about sites that don't have their own memberships, content, and record keeping rules as that is a different can of worms in my view.

So what should be paid on a niche site or blog earning from affiliate programs? 10 times the monthly sales? More? Less? A different formula all together?

Interested in your thoughts.

[CurrentlySober]

This sounds like a flippant reply, but it really isn't...

You could A) Pull a number out your arse and then spend a few days arguing on GFY with people who tell you you are unrealistic, or B) Decide what you want for it and get people to make 'Best Offers' to you via PM. Then, if any are near ballpark, talk further.

Its only ever going to be worth what someone is willing to pay for it, so pointless to waste time arguing

Just my

[pornguy]

Used to be a long time back sites sold for 3 years provable income. How ever thats not really the same now days.

Other sites sold for that the buyer was willing to pay. And thats the true value of a site in a whole site sale situation. Its only worth what someone is willing to pay.

[Klen]

one thing is mainstream, second is adult - in adult it's highly unrealistic to expect revenue for longer period of 12 months. The thing with adult how it se trends moves faster, so a day after you buy site/sites it's rankings could tank and all your money lost.

[Samsonite]

I understand where you're coming from, but I have adult sites with steady revenues going back 5 years. On the other hand I've sold mainstream sites with 6 months of revenues at 24 times monthly revenue. So it's a little odd to me when people make the "adult isn't steady" argument without looking at the exacts.

Each case is different. Not all adult sites are so variable, and not all mainstream sites are so steady.

[Samsonite]

Originally Posted by CurrentlySober

Pull a number out your arse and then spend a few days arguing on GFY with people who tell you you are unrealistic

This is definitely right on the money. Been there before. Not many places to sell outside of GFY for certain kinds of sites too, though having a list of contacts can help.

[TFCash]

Originally Posted by Samsonite

I understand where you're coming from, but I have adult sites with steady revenues going back 5 years. On the other hand I've sold mainstream sites with 6 months of revenues at 24 times monthly revenue. So it's a little odd to me when people make the "adult isn't steady" argument without looking at the exacts.

Each case is different. Not all adult sites are so variable, and not all mainstream sites are so steady.

True but your pool of potential buyers are vastly different. Only a handful of people buy adult sites these days. I would think that if your looking to flip sites versus run them, that mainstream would be the only profitable way to go.

[CaptainHowdy]

Monthly revenue x 12 ??

[Samsonite]

There are still adult sites out there making money. Tubes, blogs, even a few old TGPs! Do people just hang on to them forever? Some of them most go up for sale.

As for me, I'm getting older and I wouldn't mind unloading some of my sites just because I don't want to deal with owning them anymore. There's really not much to it, I just rather have the lump sum and be done with it in some cases.

After years of staring at computer screens sometimes you'd rather go take a hike in the forest than spend more time hunched over a keyboard.

[BigFurry]

Originally Posted by pornguy

Other sites sold for that the buyer was willing to pay. And thats the true value of a site in a whole site sale situation. Its only worth what someone is willing to pay.

Well said. It's the only thing that matters.

[celandina]

The price of course is what somebody is willing to pay. Nobody here however mentioned "the content". If you have an original and not spoiled content ( and a lots of ) it will bring a much higher price then some recycled garbage site ( tubes,blogs,and other social media) or the flavor of the month site ( VR,dating,pharma,cams,bitcoin etc..)

The price for a car dealership which only has a building and a bit of a name is entirely different then for the same dealership with 100 brand new cars all paid for and sitting on the lot.

So for such a site 24 month revenue seems about right PLUS an independent valuation of the content.

[Samsonite]

Ultimately what someone will pay is what someone will pay. My question is about pricing. When you start out, what price do you figure to ask for. If you have a blog, all fresh and original content*, making 5k a month from affiliate payments with a record going back years, with sustainable organic traffic, what do you price it at?

50000? 60000? 120000?

* I wish that this did matter, but I don't know that it does. All buyers I've dealt with more or less cared about actual monthly revenues and not so much how they go there.

[The Porn Nerd]

Originally Posted by Samsonite

Ultimately what someone will pay is what someone will pay. My question is about pricing. When you start out, what price do you figure to ask for. If you have a blog, all fresh and original content*, making 5k a month from affiliate payments with a record going back years, with sustainable organic traffic, what do you price it at?

50000? 60000? 120000?

* I wish that this did matter, but I don't know that it does. All buyers I've dealt with more or less cared about actual monthly revenues and not so much how they go there.

If you have a site pulling in 5K PROFIT (not "income" or revenue) then I would pay 6-9 months on that BUT it depends on the content, the traffic and other factors. I would want to know if that 5K monthly would continue after I bought it AND how much work is required (updates, SEO, etc) to KEEP that income at that level.

If it threw off 5K profit without much work I would honestly wonder why you would sell it and not just put it on auto-pilot and just let it run.

[Samsonite]

It almost never makes financial sense to sell a website, at least for me. Especially for adult with people offering as little as 6 months vs the 24-36 you can get for a mainstream site.

None of the websites I've sold have died after the sale. In fact all of them have increased revenues with no extra input from the buyer.

One site I sold through a contact met here in 2014 was earning 1500 a month. After the sale it increased to 4500 a month. It's still going strong now. It ranked well for some important key words an it still ranks now. Strong SEO I guess. If I knew it would increase that much I wouldn't have sold, but oh well. I paid off a $10,000 loan with the sale. At the time that seemed like a good idea.

I sell for various reasons. Boredom, need a lump sum for a major purchase, have too many sites, want to get start up money for a new idea, etc. My adult sites are the biggest earners, but I often think about getting out of the game all together and just going into full retirement. The problem is I don't think I could offload them for anything approaching a reasonable price. Like you said, why would anyone sell a site making $5000 a month steadily for $30,000?

[BigFurry]

I have paid more than 1 year's profit for free sites when it was right. It all depends on the specific site really. Can it generate that on autopilot? Is there someone who can do the work? What are the risks?

In the end, all you can do is put it up for sale, and see what buyers are willing to offer. You could always choose to not sell in the end :-)

[JFK]

Originally Posted by The Porn Nerd

If you have a site pulling in 5K PROFIT (not "income" or revenue) then I would pay 6-9 months on that BUT it depends on the content, the traffic and other factors. I would want to know if that 5K monthly would continue after I bought it AND how much work is required (updates, SEO, etc) to KEEP that income at that level.

If it threw off 5K profit without much work I would honestly wonder why you would sell it and not just put it on auto-pilot and just let it run.

[Axeman]

Originally Posted by BigFurry

I have paid more than 1 year's profit for free sites when it was right. It all depends on the specific site really. Can it generate that on autopilot? Is there someone who can do the work? What are the risks?

In the end, all you can do is put it up for sale, and see what buyers are willing to offer. You could always choose to not sell in the end :-)

I think this is true. For me, it would be looking at the traffic sources as much as the revenues. Too many times I have seen sites for sale, and half the traffic sources were from the seller, which propped up the traffic and hence the revenues. Buy the site, and that goes away.

I'd look at the SEO and SE traffic for sure, and make sure nothing shady, but knowing that SE traffic in adult is a wild ride these days, not make my purchase based on that.

If I felt the sites were not being propped up, and legit, I'd go higher than 12x for the right fit/site.

I haven't done much in mainstream for a long time. Any good marketplaces for selling legit, quality sites these days?

[Major Tom Thanks Duke]

There is no method. It’s all bs. Everything you hear. In short, what do you want, and what are they willing to pay. Chances are no one has the money to buy you right out but rather give payments with your own money.

[Major Tom Thanks Duke]

Originally Posted by The Porn Nerd

If you have a site pulling in 5K PROFIT (not "income" or revenue) then I would pay 6-9 months on that BUT it depends on the content, the traffic and other factors. I would want to know if that 5K monthly would continue after I bought it AND how much work is required (updates, SEO, etc) to KEEP that income at that level.

If it threw off 5K profit without much work I would honestly wonder why you would sell it and not just put it on auto-pilot and just let it run.

Do you count payroll as profit? Distributions? Depreciation? Profit is a bs term.

[NatalieK]

Originally Posted by CurrentlySober

This sounds like a flippant reply, but it really isn't...

You could A) Pull a number out your arse and then spend a few days arguing on GFY with people who tell you you are unrealistic, or B) Decide what you want for it and get people to make 'Best Offers' to you via PM. Then, if any are near ballpark, talk further.

Its only ever going to be worth what someone is willing to pay for it, so pointless to waste time arguing

Just my

Originally Posted by pornguy

Used to be a long time back sites sold for 3 years provable income. How ever thats not really the same now days.

Other sites sold for that the buyer was willing to pay. And thats the true value of a site in a whole site sale situation. Its only worth what someone is willing to pay.

both great comments to start this thread off and give you an understanding Samsonite.



In honesty, it only takes dedication, daily updates of a desired niche to create an online business.

Depending on your profits, the type of business, whether you own content, the type of content, whether the site gains generic traffic & the traffic to sales ratio. Retention, how many customers the site has now and many people would ask how their continued content if a content site is going to be constructed for updates. If it´s an affiliate site making profit of say 1000 a month on a steady basis, this would be worth more to many than a content owner pay site making say 2 grand a month. But obviously the content with exclusive rights could be worth more than the site

[NatalieK]

Originally Posted by DukeSkywalker

Do you count payroll as profit? Distributions? Depreciation? Profit is a bs term.

Net profit, after expenditure

[The Porn Nerd]

Originally Posted by DukeSkywalker

Do you count payroll as profit? Distributions? Depreciation? Profit is a bs term.

Profit is a BS term? Shit I am glad you are not my accountant!

No I do not count the following as "profit" (only fucking idiots would):

Payroll
Hosting
Domain registration
Traffic buys/cost
Content costs/production

Etc etc. Basically anything that involves the running of the business are EXPENSES. PROFIT is how much $$$ you put in your bank account after all the EXPENSES.

And there's no 'depreciation' since the biz is not a fixed asset like a car. Jeez Louise. LOL

[Samsonite]

Yea, profit is what you take home after expenses. That's the very definition: "the difference between the amount earned and the amount spent in buying, operating, or producing something."

Expenses on even my biggest sites earning close to 10k a month are about $70, so no worries there. I don't have any employees, don't advertise, don't buy traffic, don't buy content, so really nothing to spend money on other than hosting.

[NatalieK]

Originally Posted by Samsonite

Yea, profit is what you take home after expenses. That's the very definition: "the difference between the amount earned and the amount spent in buying, operating, or producing something."

Expenses on even my biggest sites earning close to 10k a month are about $70, so no worries there. I don't have any employees, don't advertise, don't buy traffic, don't buy content, so really nothing to spend money on other than hosting.

Although, there´s some expenses not always shown, of which can be taken into account. How often has or is your site hit by hackers & how old is your site, does it need redesign.
Tech teams and designers will take some of those profits, but as long as your site´s making profit with generic traffic, you´re good to go

[Samsonite]

Maybe I'm lucky, but in 20 years of being a webmaster, I've never been hacked and never had to hire any design teams. I've outsourced a few banners and header graphics before, but that's it (usually they ended up being as bad or worse than I could do myself anyway). I tried buying articles one time too, it was real garbage.

I guess it depends what kind of sites you're running too. If you can rank for even 2-3 decent keywords and get ~100,000 views on a site organically without spam or buying traffic you can make decent money with not much risk. For example I have never been hit by any Google penalties even though 70% of my traffic or more on all sites comes from Google. I've heard horror stories from some guys I know who are "SEO specialists" or whatever. Some of them are more successful at selling sites too. Go figure.

[ladida]

Originally Posted by Samsonite

Maybe I'm lucky, but in 20 years of being a webmaster, I've never been hacked

HAHAHAHA .
You either
a) run a site for 20 years that has 100 or less subscribers at best and no one knows about
b) don't have any site at all
c) clueless as to how many times you got hacked.

The c) option is your best bet.

[HairyChick]

I was offered a low six-figure price when I wasn’t selling. It was my biggest site but it drew income from sales of products and mostly affiliate links My pay sites grew from those links. If I sold the main attraction, I’d have to begin marketing my other sites and build another main attraction.

The offer was from a fairly major studio of fetish sites. Earnings from twelve months was the norm but I wanted more since it led to my other sites. It had been up since 1993 and had name recognition. I’d have to start over and didn’t want that.

He wouldn’t raise his offer but instead offered $1,000 for my mailing list of customers and subscribers. I’d promised not to distribute this info when they ordered and a grand was chump change. I countered with $100 per address and he agreed. Then I said I had 5,000 on the list. He backed down fast and countered with $5,000. Yeah. Sure.

It depends on the market and competition. Visitors, SE placement, amount of work to maintain, expenses, learning curve, and monthly cost to maintain. Niche is very important, too. We don’t need another teen site unless the model is extraordinary and then you have to take into account the life of being a teen.

Your competition needs to be researched. What makes those sites so popular? Content? Model interaction? Videos? Exclusivity?

It can’t be based solely on income.

[Samsonite]

Originally Posted by ladida

HAHAHAHA .
You either
a) run a site for 20 years that has 100 or less subscribers at best and no one knows about
b) don't have any site at all
c) clueless as to how many times you got hacked.

The c) option is your best bet.

If you think so there really wouldn't be any way to prove you wrong, eh? I don't have any subscribers though. No members either. I don't sell anything and I don't collect user information. I create contact and refer to affiliate programs with regular old links. Oh, and sell ad space. That's it. My sites range from 40,000 users a month to 200,000. Mostly organic traffic. Not Facebook, but enough to put me in a high tax bracket

[ladida]

Originally Posted by Samsonite

If you think so there really wouldn't be any way to prove you wrong, eh?

Obviously. However, i know enough to know that anything of any relevance in the cyberspace has been hacked at least once in it's lifespan.

[iceboi]

As you said, it's usually not viable to sell a consistently earning website for 6x or even 12x. The reason for this is because there is alot of shady things going on in the adult biz and you don't want to pay 24x for a site that loses its revenue in the 3rd month.

Most of the buyers here are either skeptical or just want to make easy profits by underpaying for sites.

With that being said. There is alot of factors to be considered when buying an affiliate site. Is the af program rev share? This would be a big factor because you could be making most of your revenue from a few leads that you made years ago and this shouldn't be considered in the monthly revenue because the new owner will not get paid from previous leads. For example:i have a cam affiliate site that makes 5k/month but 4k comes from 20users that make consistent purchases every month. Now if I told the buyer that I made 5k a month, he would perceive this to mean that he will be making 5k a month when he buys the site... But I will not hand over my affiliate account so that would be misleading. Hope you get my point.

The smart choice for me in this situation is to keep the site.

[EliteWebmaster]

The worst thing I hate hearing from someone selling their site is "It has the POTENTIAL to make $xx,xxx" or "i used to make $xxxx, you can EASILY get it back to that revenue".

I usually just discard those sellers right away because those sellers are living in a dream world with their "potential" or past revenue value of their sites. What matters is what it's pulling in now, not what it pulled last year or 2 years ago or someone's pipedream about what their site could make.

[The Porn Nerd]

Originally Posted by PamWinterReturns

I was offered a low six-figure price when I wasn’t selling. It was my biggest site but it drew income from sales of products and mostly affiliate links My pay sites grew from those links. If I sold the main attraction, I’d have to begin marketing my other sites and build another main attraction.

The offer was from a fairly major studio of fetish sites. Earnings from twelve months was the norm but I wanted more since it led to my other sites. It had been up since 1993 and had name recognition. I’d have to start over and didn’t want that.

He wouldn’t raise his offer but instead offered $1,000 for my mailing list of customers and subscribers. I’d promised not to distribute this info when they ordered and a grand was chump change. I countered with $100 per address and he agreed. Then I said I had 5,000 on the list. He backed down fast and countered with $5,000. Yeah. Sure.

It depends on the market and competition. Visitors, SE placement, amount of work to maintain, expenses, learning curve, and monthly cost to maintain. Niche is very important, too. We don’t need another teen site unless the model is extraordinary and then you have to take into account the life of being a teen.

Your competition needs to be researched. What makes those sites so popular? Content? Model interaction? Videos? Exclusivity?

It can’t be based solely on income.

Excellent post.

And I do not mean to be snarky (it's my New York personality I guess). Selling a site really does depend on current income levels AND what a site could make when optimized.

Whatever happens I wish you well on the sale OP!

[flashfire]

reality is 6-10 months in for adult sites

unless its something special like a premium domain

Really the buyer is going to have to work to keep the revenue going...why would they pay the seller for work they have to do in the future?

I have bought many sites in that price range

[kjs]

It's whatever someone is willing to pay.

Here is the formula that I use to begin the negotiation.

Trailing 12 mo. revenue * (average customer retention in years * 0.66)

For example, I know that my revshare customers on white labels stick around for several years. For this example assume it's 3. If my trailing 12 month revenue was 10,000 then I'd value the site at 10,000 ( 3 * .66 ) = 19,800. The 0.66 is your discount and is where you negotiate. If you look at this from the other side of the table your expected revenue on the site over the next 3 years, allowing for assumptions, could be ~30,000.

I would NEVER use this method for any business that is mostly dependent on Google SEO. It can change overnight and it's just too risky. I buy companies that perform only based on repeatable media buys and well established advertising methods.

[The Porn Nerd]

Originally Posted by kjs

It's whatever someone is willing to pay.

Here is the formula that I use to begin the negotiation.

Trailing 12 mo. revenue * (average customer retention in years * 0.66)

For example, I know that my revshare customers on white labels stick around for several years. For this example assume it's 3. If my trailing 12 month revenue was 10,000 then I'd value the site at 10,000 ( 3 * .66 ) = 19,800. The 0.66 is your discount and is where you negotiate. If you look at this from the other side of the table your expected revenue on the site over the next 3 years, allowing for assumptions, could be ~30,000.

I would NEVER use this method for any business that is mostly dependent on Google SEO. It can change overnight and it's just too risky. I buy companies that perform only based on repeatable media buys and well established advertising methods.

This is an excellent metric to use. Thanks for sharing!!