Last time we discussed where and how to look for your new website. Today, we’ll discuss gathering information on sites you’re interested in buying and making an offer.
So, you’ve found a site you’d like to buy. Once you find it, what do you do? Once you’ve either reached the broker of the site or the seller directly, it’s time to review the information provided about the site.
The broker or seller should provide you with the information below – and If they’re hesitant to provide you with basic, crucial information like this, you should consider that a red flag. Anyone serious about selling a site that isn’t a ‘lemon’ should be more than ready to share this kind of information.
Get some history on the site, how long it’s been in business, the story behind the site and why the seller wants to sell it. Get an inventory of the content and how much of it has current technologies like 4K or VR. Ask how often the site is updated.
Request a profit and loss statement of at least 3 years that’s up to date. If it’s June and they give you financials only through the end of the previous year, that’s not sufficient. Things move and change quickly in the online adult industry, so you need to see how the site is doing now, not how it was doing at the end of last year.
Find out how many new joins and rebills there are a day and determine the site’s membership retention rate. If possible, get your hands on the actual data measuring these things, rather than relying on the seller’s representations.
If the site you’re interested in is a paysite, be sure to get a username and password for the site so you can review the content.
Do they do shoot the content themselves, or do they hire someone to do it? If there is an outside producer, will that person continue to provide content for the site, or do you need to figure out a new arrangement?
Find out how much the content cost to produce and what the current cost of production is. This is an important question when considering the future and ongoing cost of operating the site.
Ask the seller if all the content is exclusive to that site. Is the same content available on any clip stores? You should specifically ask the seller if the content has ever been on VOD or DVD, as well, because the way some people define “exclusive”, they might tell you content is exclusive if it has only been published by them, regardless of how many different mediums they’ve previously used to distribute the content.
If the various distribution methods listed above haven’t been fully explored, there could be newfound revenue to be had from the site’s content, especially on clip stores and other VOD sites.
Very importantly, see if this operation can run without the owner. Some owners are so hands-on, their staff may not be positioned to keep things going without their boss – which means that if you buy the site, you might be buying yourself a lengthy daily to-do list, as well.
Find out if they do advertising on the site and where they get their traffic. Ask for Google Analytics access so you can see where the traffic comes from.
The above information will give you the opportunity to truly evaluate what it is you’re buying. Then if everything looks good to you and you want the site, it’s time to make an offer. Ultimately, only you can decide what the site is worth to you – but without the information listed above, you’re going to be flying blind, which is never a good idea when buying anything, let alone when buying a site.
If you’re working with a broker, such as, Adult Site Broker, of course we can help you determine the value of the site and what you should be paying for it.
To contact Adult Site Broker with any questions about what you’re reading here, or about buying or selling adult sites or companies, go to our contact page.
