Our recommendation for the best website broker is Empire Flippers because of its reliable preliminary sales screening, excellent track record, and prompt assistance. Schedule a call to get started.
When buying or selling a website, you can connect with different parties directly, but this is a somewhat limiting approach.
Approaching website owners to buy a website doesn’t mean they are willing to sell—and if they do, you’ll likely have to pay a premium. Similarly, selling a website without an intermediary might cause you to miss out on buyers willing to pay a higher price.
This guide lists the best website brokers you can rely on to strike legitimate deals and get the maximum value and expert assistance.
The Top 6 Best Website Brokers
Choosing the best website broker requires in-depth research. To help you get started, I present my top recommendations that are both reliable and value for money. Empire Flippers is arguably the most renowned private marketplace offering a verified deal flow. Get started for free today.
- Empire Flippers — Best Vetted Private Website Marketplace
- Flippa — Best for Small Websites
- Investors Club — Best for Membership-Based Deal Flow
- FE International — Best for Large Websites
- Digital Exits — Best for Diverse Website Offerings
- Motion Invest — Best for Content Websites Under $30,000
Are you wondering how these companies made the list? Read on.
Match Your Scenario to the Right Website Brokering Solution
All website brokers are not equal. They cater to a different audience and offer specialized services that are more appealing to them as opposed to other users. Here’s a breakdown of the different scenarios along with my recommendations, to help you identify the best match for your needs.
- You want access to vetted buyers and sellers
- You want due diligence to make data-backed decisions
- You want access to diverse websites
You want access to vetted buyers and sellers
Best option: Empire Flippers
If you’re looking for a private marketplace with vetted buyers and sellers, Empire Flippers is your best bet.
It performs preliminary vetting of each deal to ensure all the provided information is accurate. Buyers also have a diligence period to check their assets for their peace of mind.
Another great choice: Investors Club
Investors Club offers a stream of exclusive listings to users to help them find genuine buyers and sellers that won’t waste their time. The fact that it also has paid membership further weeds out people who are likely to waste your time.
If you want access to vetted buyers and sellers, look for tools that:
- Are transparent about their vetting process
- Provide social proof about working with acclaimed brands
- Offer a private/paid service (optional, as only serious buyers/sellers are likely to shell out money
You want due diligence to make data-backed decisions
Best option: Investors Club
If you sign up for Investors Club’s premium plan, you can enjoy its due diligence feature.
This includes a detailed SWOT analysis that gives you an objective overview of every listing and an SEO analysis that evaluates websites on every critical ranking factor. We also get expert recommendations from season investors that highlight the path to scaling, business growth, and earning potential.
Another great choice: FE International
FE International is another excellent option if you want a website broker offering deep due diligence.
It helps you take a structured approach when buying or selling websites by helping you examine major investments from various perspectives, including traffic, financial, operational, owner, technical, and legal.
If you want due diligence, look for tools that:
- Offer due diligence specifically on their websites
- Have advanced analytics that let you evaluate various listings
You want access to diverse websites
Best option: Flippa
Flippa is a massive marketplace that is excellent for buying and selling small websites, regardless of the niche. From SaaS to ecommerce to content, the website broker doesn’t restrict you to traditional options, allowing you to explore various niches.
Another great option: Digital Exits
Digital Exits is a boutique brokerage company renowned for its diverse website offerings.
Instead of restricting your choices to content websites, it goes far and beyond. Expect high-quality options in ecommerce, in-person IT services, and digital service businesses, among other niches. Moreover, Digital Exits has a minimum $250,000 per year net profit requirement, so you don’t have to worry about profitability.
If you want access to diverse website listings, look for tools that:
- Are public website marketplaces with no barrier to entry
- Work with a diverse range of brands
- Don’t specialize in a specific niche
Website Brokers Company Reviews
Every website broker has its own processes, asset value minimums, list of requirements, and several other factors, as well as pros and cons. Below, we’ll go deeper into what makes each option stand out to help you determine the best option for your needs.
Empire Flippers — Best Vetted Private Website Marketplace
Launched in 2011 as “AdSense Flippers,” Empire Flippers has come a long way, having realized deals over $400+ million and having a claimed success rate of 79%.
Most of its deal flow is over $100,000, so the company will make a good fit if you’re in the medium-to-large website range. Expect content websites, SaaS businesses, and ecommerce brands on sale.
By far, Empire Flippers is the largest vetted private marketplace. It does preliminary vetting of each deal to ensure the P&L, traffic, and seller intent, among other factors, are accurate. But you still need to assess each deal to match your criteria.
What Makes Empire Flippers Great
Empire Flippers is certainly an excellent website broker with a long track record, a user-friendly system, and prompt assistance at every step of the process. In addition to publishing new businesses on its website, it sends out assets for sale via email every Monday at 10 AM USA Pacific Standard Time (PST).
All you have to do is sign up on its website, and you’ll get access.
If you’re looking for help with site migrations, Empire Flippers offers buyers and sellers a reliable migration service. But compared to the services offered by other website migration services, it feels slower and dragged out. Additionally, it has an inconsistent add-back policy and charges nearly 15% commission for sales up to $700,000 with a sliding scale down to 2.5%.
The website broker also publishes quarterly reports summarizing its business and the industry, in general, to keep you on top of the website market.
Flippa — Best for Small Websites
Flippa is your best website broker option to buy or sell small websites—and I don’t say this without reason.
The company is essentially a marketplace with a brokering service. You can filter websites to match your investment criteria, bookmark suitable URLs, and monitor listings regularly to have your eyes first on all deal flow.
You may not always see quality listings, but the fact that Flippa offers valuable assets and tons of real buyers works for small websites. You can use an auction system or list with an asking price to start negotiations.
What Makes Flippa Great
As the largest non-vetted marketplace, Flippa is your best bet if your website isn’t meeting the profit requirements other website brokers have in place.
Flippa’s diverse offering comprises content, SaaS, domains, ecommerce, and mobile apps, along with useful features like access to an escrow provider and an NDA function. Keep in mind that businesses sold through Flippa’s Partner Broker service have to pay a success fee of 15%.
While weeding out low-quality and sometimes misleading listings is on you, the fact that you can see past listings between buyers and sellers, along with reviews, reduces the possibility of complexities.
Overall, you can turn to Flippa to find large and diverse deals, but only if you know what you’re looking for.
Investors Club — Best for Membership-Based Deal Flow
Investors Club’s free membership includes basic listing details, full access to cost-saving offerings, and no-fee escrow. But if you want to cherry-pick deals from some of the most exclusive listings, you’ll certainly benefit from its premium membership.
Alongside all the features in the Free plan, you get instant access to every listing, and more importantly, first access to all new products and services. Deeper due diligence is another great perk, where you’ll get a detailed SWOT analysis for every listing as well as recommendations from seasoned investors to help you make the right choice.
Expect access to quality deal flow, along with full website migration. A Deal Concierge service is also available that facilitates deal negotiation and finding/sourcing private deals based on your unique criteria.
What Makes Investors Club Great
Investors Club charges the sellers just 5% broker fees, which is significantly lower compared to other website brokers. Being a dedicated marketplace, it also allows you to connect to the buyer/seller directly to handle things your way.
If you’re a newcomer, you can use their in-house white-glove services for expert guidance. The company also assists with transfers, legal docs and SOPs, and post-sale and inspection, among other perks, to save you from unnecessary headaches and save time.
Besides having to pay a hefty membership fee, Investors Club only works with content sites. So if you’re looking for other websites (for example, SaaS or ecommerce), you’ll have to look elsewhere.
To get Investors Club’s premium membership, you can choose between Yearly (costing $247 per year) and Lifetime (one-time $747 fee).
FE International — Best for Large Websites
With a success rate of 94.1%, FE International has a strong track record of securing high prices for sellers. Besides website valuation, it also helps with a range of processes like exit planning, due diligence, negotiations, legal frameworks, accounting, and post-sales.
Its merger and acquisition team specializes in selling content, SaaS, and ecommerce websites, with most selling for a minimum of $1 million. The website broker also provides professional and thorough service for mid-price deals for companies operating in diverse markets, subject to a standard 15% commission rate for all websites sold.
FE International is known for catering to users with big budgets and has a system in place to qualify both sellers and buyers before providing access to its global network. As such, FE International rejects sites it thinks won’t appeal to its buyers.
What Makes FE International Great
FE International arms with all the necessary information to help you zero in on the right business for your needs.
It offers a valuation tool and comprehensive documentation outlining market trends, opportunities, and financial performance to help you estimate your website’s value and get a grip on the current market situation, respectively. Investors can opt for FE International’s advisory services and enjoy access to other pre-qualified and established investors.
FE International also has a private company listing facility that restricts your company’s data to only qualified and serious purchasers to protect your interests.
Digital Exits — Best for Diverse Website Offerings
Digital Exits is a boutique brokerage company specializing in maximizing the value of online businesses and selling it for the best possible price.
While you can rely on this website broker to know what it takes to get your business at the right price for the best possible deal, Digital Exits‘ diversity stands out most for me.
Instead of restricting itself to content websites (which several competitors do), the platform has varied listings that include ecommerce, commercial cleaning businesses, in-person IT services, and digital service businesses, among others.
What Makes Digital Exits Great
Digital Exits is a private boutique service that charges a reasonable 10% commission and only adds serious buyers and sellers to its network.
While single-broker firms often struggle to give equal attention to all their projects, Digital Exits is more than capable of handling its large number of clients. You don’t have to worry about the company not giving their very best to meet your expectations and obtain the best possible price.
In a nutshell, Digital Exits would make a great website broker if you’re selling a medium-to-large business website. The only caveat to worry about is fulfilling its minimum $250,000 per year net profit requirement.
Motion Invest — Best for Content Websites Under $30,000
Launched recently in 2019, Motion Invest aims to help people buy and sell profitable content websites. It strives to fill a gap in the market by offering quality but affordable content sites that earn around $200-$2,000 a month.
It’s a marketplace that allows website listings to meet at the equilibrium price over time. In Motion Invest‘s own words, “This listing is doing a Dutch auction which means the price on the side is low at $275 every two days until it gets a bid or it hits the reserve price. The first bid made is the winning bid and will get the site.”
The only caveat of this approach is buyers may feel like “waiting it out” to see if the price drops before placing a bid.
What Makes Motion Invest Great
Motion Invest provides good data standardization on their listing pages, allowing you to assess listings based on data points like profit per month, visitors per month, Domain Authority, articles posted, and income multiple.
Moreover, you also get due diligence reports from renowned platforms like Google Analytics and Semrush, along with screenshots and a monthly breakdown of the users and earnings, to facilitate data-based decision-making.
The other problem is that all members have access to website URLs, so you may have to face copycats when selling.
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The Top Website Brokers in Summary
Selling or buying a website from a broker or marketplace can be a good experience if you make the right choice. You can use my list to kickstart your research and find the right fit for your needs.
In my opinion, Empire Flippers is the best website broker because of its massive vetted deal flow and diligence period for post-sales asset checking to create a safe and smooth experience for both the buyer and seller.
Source: quicksprout
Compare the Best Website Brokers