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Negotiating the Best Website Business Deal
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By Dennis Blasius
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Congratulations! After many hours of searching buy-sell websitesites , you've finally found the perfect website. It meets allof your requirements and is definitely in alignment with yourpurchasing goals.
But now, you're completely stuck. You don't have a clue of howyou can effectively negotiate with the seller and certainlydon't want to pay more than the site is worth. In fact, you wantto get the best possible price for your money. Well, sit back,relax, and get comfortable because in five simple steps, we'regoing to teach you how to effectively negotiate and obtain thebest possible deal for your new website. So, let's get started!
1. Be a detective. First and foremost, you have to act as adetective. You should be willing to roll up your sleeves and dosome in-depth research into the site which will enable you toobtain answers to some important questions. Now is not the timeto be shy because you future is at stake. You have to delve deepand be willing to find all the pertinent information that willhelp you make a great offer. Here are some questions that you'llwant to inquire as you become a detective: a. Does the site haveany copyright/trademark violations or pending law suits? b. Hasthe site ever been associated with spam or received anywarnings? c. Is the site content devoid of any copyrightinfringement issues? d. Will you be allowed to customize thecontent as you see fit? e. What is your monthly bandwidth andcosts if you go over this allocated amount? f. Will the existingmerchant account and hosting service be transferred to you? g.Will any technical assistance be available for the transfer? h.Can you verify the site's web traffic with independent sourceslike Google, Alexa or other engines? i. Does the site relyheavily on pay-per-click advertising? If so, how much does itcost to maintain these rankings? j. Will your designer be ableto maintain graphics and current site technology? k. Are plannedchanges compatible with existing software? l. Will you own thedomain name and when will that registration be transferred? m.What will be your initial and monthly costs with running thissite? n. What is your expected monthly profit? o. Will you beallowed to add additional links or improve upon existing ones?p. Will you have access to any auto responders, interactivefeatures, or programming, which the current owner utilizes? q.How will you update the site as time passes? r. Will you haveaccess to website statistics including page history, existingmember lists, and other pertinent information? s. When was thesite last updated? By whom? t. Who designed current content andsite and are they still available to handle revision requests?
2. Consolidate information. Once you have answered all thesequestions, you'll have a better idea of what the site is worth.However, you're work is not done. You now have to consolidateall this information into a concrete number.
Some consultants recommend that you pay no more than five or sixtimes the monthly earnings of the website however; we've foundthat each site is individualized and a simple formula doesn'twork for everyone. Instead, you should take all gatheredinformation and either hire a professional website appraisalcompany or do your own research to come up with an amount thatfactors in your site's uniqueness.
3. Decide what you're willing to pay. Now that you know whatyour website is worth, you have to figure out what you'rewilling to pay for it. That is, what is your bottom line figure?What is your high figure? Once you know these answers, youshould be willing to walk away if you can't reach a price thatyou're comfortable with. After all, there are literallythousands of sites available for purchase. You simply have to bepatient and hold off for the site that can meets all your needsand your budgetary constraints.
4. Feel out the site owner. Now, it's time to feel out the siteowner. In this step, you must find out what the site owner'smotivating factors are for selling the site. For instance, arethey concerned with a lump sum payment or are they moreconcerned with security? The reason being is that if they areconcerned with a lump sum payment they will likely not be opento a contingency plan or won't be as interested in taking stockin lieu of cash. However, if they are more concerned withsecurity, they may be open to a more creative type of financingarrangement. Once you know this information, you can use it inthe negotiating process.
5. Make your offer. Finally, it is now time to make your offer.If possible, get the existing owner to make the first offer andthen negotiate from there. If you make the first offer, makesure that you have factored in all pertinent information andthat your offer is based on your budget. You should neverlowball the owner (unless you don't care whether they sell youthe site or not) and should always make a fair offer so that thesite owner doesn't cease negotiations. If you do offer less thanthe current asking price, include your reasons for making thelower offer.
In conclusion, purchasing a website is not a simple process. Itinvolves much planning, research, and careful implementation.However, if you apply the previous five steps, you can walk awaywith a great site, peace of mind, and immense pride in knowingthat you negotiated well and paid a fair price.
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