How To Sell A Website On Flippa

Wondering if Flippa is legit? Thinking about selling your website on Flippa? You’re at the right place.

In December 2021, I used Flippa to sell a website for the first time. In this guide and review, I’ll give you information about Flippa and I’ll share my experience from a seller’s perspective.

That said, if you’re thinking of buying a website on Flippa, you should look out for scams and do proper due diligence. We also recommend you have experience with websites before buying one. 

Why?

Many people get scammed because they lack knowledge when it comes to understanding the data presented by a seller.

In this post, we won’t be focussing on buying websites on Flippa because at Nomad Life 101, we build our own websites and we don’t simply don’t flip sites.

What Is Flippa?

Flippa is a marketplace where you can buy an online business. Think of applications, domains, e-commerces, or blogs.

Flippa connects sellers and buyers and makes the whole process of selling websites or digital assets easier.

Who Is Flippa For?

Flippa is for online business owners, content creators, or investors who are thinking of selling/purchasing digital assets.

You should note that you’ll have to pay fees in order to add a listing and if the sale is successful. So, it’s not a free marketplace to advertise your website. More on this later on, so keep reading to learn more.

Flippa Review: Selling On Flippa

In this Flippa review, I’ll share my experience from a seller’s perspective. As mentioned above, I sold a website on Flippa recently and while it seemed complicated at first, the whole thing was quite easy.

This section is divided into different stages of the sale. But first, let’s talk quickly about the website I sold as well as the challenges that I had to face.

Information About The Website I Sold On Flippa

The website I decided to sell on Flippa was about 2 years old. It was a project started with a family member about a niche I wasn’t really interested in. 

In the first few months, we wrote about 10 blog posts, and then, we stopped because we didn’t have time to invest in this project anymore.

Here are some important details about the website:

• It was in French (which could have been a challenge to sell it)
• There were around 10 blog posts published on the website
• The domain authority was low (only 3)
• There were only 5 backlinks to this website
• The website wasn’t making any money
• The traffic was also low (around 100 visits per month), but was mostly organic (organic traffic is important when selling a website because it means the traffic is sustainable)
• The website is in the pet niche

As you can see this website was more of a starter website. This means, the niche had big potential, but by a lack of time and interest, we didn’t pursue this project.

So, I thought, I’d experiment with Flippa to learn about the process of selling a website. I didn’t care much about making a profit out of the sale. I simply wanted to get rid of it.

Creating A Listing On Flippa

Before you can create a listing on Flippa, you’ll need to create an account. Let’s see the steps below.

1. Once, you’re logged in, click on “Sell Now”. 
2. Enter the URL you wish to sell.
3. Select the type of online businesses you wish to sell.
4. Fill out the basic information about your business.
5. Enter information about the monetization of the business.
6. Connect your listing with Google Analytics and all the relevant integrations. For example, you could connect it with Shopify, WooCommerce, or Stripes. The goal here is to provide data so that potential buyers can have a clear overview of your stats.
7. Provide information about financials. You want to mention the revenue, expenses, and profits. We recommend providing lots of information so that potential buyers don’t think your listing is a scam.
8. Add more information to your listing. Think of images, videos, screenshots, information on the project, social media channels, etc.
9. Pick a selling method. Flippa offers two ways to sell your website. You can do an auction or you can enter an asking price.

If you are selling a website, you’ll need to decide about the selling method as we just mentioned. Although, it’s important to know that you’ll be able to negotiate directly with buyers when you select an asking price.

If you decide to do an auction, you can accept or reject bids. Keep reading to learn more.

Accepting Bids On Flippa

When you get bids, you have the right to accept or reject them. You’ll need to wait until the end of the auction to close the deal. So even if you’re happy with a bid, you’ll still need to wait.

I had personally picked the auction method because as I mentioned, I simply wanted to get rid of the website and test Flippa in the meantime.

Selling a French website is definitely harder as most websites are in English on Flippa. There are fewer potential buyers for foreign languages. I had only one bid and I accepted it.

Sale Process

At the end of the auction or when you finalize your deal directly with a buyer, you’ll receive an email from Flippa inviting you to request the payment to the buyer. 

At that point, you’ll need to wait until payment before processing the transfer. You can write up a legal contract too and offer a post-sale service if you wish to.

My buyer was quite straightforward. He paid the same day and then, we completed the transfer in one day.

There are two options when it comes to the payment:

1. Paypal
2. Escrow

As a seller, you can decide on the preferred payment method.

Post Sale Process

Depending on the digital asset you’re selling, you may need to provide a post-sale service. When I sold my website, it was quite easy. I had to transfer the domain to the buyer, give him access to analytics, and to the WordPress dashboard and that was it.

It was easy and as the buyer had lots of experience buying websites, he already knew exactly what he needed from me.

Flippa Fees

As we mentioned above, you’ll have to pay fees to Flippa in order to sell a digital business. 

Flippa has fixed fees to create a listing:

• Selling an established website and online business that is generating revenue: $49
• Selling a starter or template website that is not generating revenue: $15
• Selling a domain name: $10
• Selling an App: $15

Then, there’s a success fee which means the sale is happening. Once the buyer pays you, you pay a fee to Flippa:

• Sale up to $50K: 10% fee
• Sale from $50,001 to $100K: 7.5% fee
• Sale from $100K: 5% fee
• Broker sale: 15% fee

Lessons Learned From Selling A Website On Flippa

Now that I know how easy the process was, I’d definitely consider selling more websites on Flippa in the future.

At the moment, I’m holding on to my other websites until they make more revenue so that I can sell them for more. If you wish to increase your blog revenue, make sure to learn how to monetize a blog and to grab our blogging income tracker.

While selling a website on Flippa was relatively easy, I can’t say I made an enormous profit for the time spent creating the listing. 

That said, I wouldn’t waste time selling starter websites on there as you won’t make lots of profit. 

At the end of the day, a 10% success fee is a high fee if you’re selling a smaller website. Then, when we add the listing fee too – it adds up quickly.

I was surprised by how easy it was to transfer a domain to another person. The process was simple and I managed to do it in a few minutes via Bluehost (where I host most of my websites). I didn’t need to reach out to the support team so that’s a win for me!

In the upcoming year, I’m considering selling another website from another hosting provider, so I’m curious to see how the process will be and if it will be as easy as it was with Bluehost.

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Using Flippa

Now, let’s take a look at the main pros and cons of using Flippa for selling websites.

Advantages

Overall, my experience with Flippa was positive. Here are the things I liked the most about Flippa:

• It’s easy to use: I didn’t know if the whole process would be complicated or not and I found it to be very easy. Flippa sent me emails so that I can get updates regarding my listing and I didn’t have to log in every day to see how my auction was going.
• You can sell a website at any price range: You can start selling at $1 if you want to. There’s no minimum price range. Although, you should note that you’ll still need to pay fees so make sure it makes sense for you.
• Flippa offers lots of resources for buyers and sellers. For example, you can buy premade contract if you want to avoid any troubles during the sale. They offer a lot of upsells making the whole process easier for you.
• You can easily tell if a potential buyer has bought other websites before. This way, you can know if the buyer is legit.

Disadvantages

There are still a few things to note about Flippa, as no platform is perfect in this world:

• The fees can be quite high if you’re selling a starter website. It may be more worth it for bigger digital assets generating income. Otherwise, your profit can be quite small.
• If you’re buying websites, you should do your due diligence to avoid being scammed. So, keep an eye out for red flags.

Final Thoughts On Flippa For Sellers

Selling a website on Flippa was simple, easy and I’d do it again. Although I didn’t make an enormous profit, I’m glad I had to experience the process.

As the website was small and wasn’t generating revenue, I wasn’t so scared about the selling process, but I’d be curious to see how it would go if I was selling a bigger website generating monthly revenue.

I’ll make sure to update this Flippa review when I sell more websites in the future.

That said, I’m aware many people reported red flags when it comes to buying websites on Flippa.

I think this issue is not unique to Flippa because buying websites comes with risks. Risks can be avoided when doing proper due diligence, of course.

Want to learn more about flipping and selling websites?

Read our guide to selling websites here.