The Website Flip review

The Website Flip Brokerage Review


The Website Flip is a business broker that helps well-established content business owners to sell their businesses for a profit. If you have a website or content business and have been considering selling it, doing this can be a great way to generate a nice payout. In our The Website Flip review below we’ve broken down everything you need to know about the company, including if it’s right for you.


UPDATED: March 2024

Our Overall Rating


Overview Of The Website Flip

The Website Flip is based in Chicago, Illinois, and is led by Mushfiq S. The company is dedicated to helping buy, grow, and even flip websites that are content-based. Mushfiq began in the website industry back in 2008 when he first was introduced to SEO, which later led to him building his own website. The content at that time was based on VoIP, or Voice Over Internet Protocol.

After two years of this work, Mushfiq was asked if he would like to sell his website to another media company. They purchased the site for $25,000 in 2010 when he was only 20 years old. After leaving college and nearly a decade later, Mushfiq built his own website brokerage as inspired by his time selling his own website.

Mushfiq and The Website Flip started on Flippa, a top website marketplace in the business. He specializes in helping websites to grow and is known to help clients sell with six-figure profits. Because of the success he saw with his own business, Mushfiq went on to establish a quality team that together helped even more clients with their website flipping. They also help Mushfiq to manage his personal portfolio.

The Website Flip Team

The Website Flip team

Along with Mushfiq are multiple team members, Rhett Crites, Jeff Hund, Charles Sipe, and Shane Dayton, all of which play vital roles in the business. Below is a synopsis of each team member’s background and duties in the business.

  • Rhett Crites is a growth specialist who has a background in SEO, CRO, revenue and also works on the business’ operational strategies. Crites is familiar with website building and has a portfolio of his own websites that he owns in addition to contributing to The Website Flip.
  • Jeff Hund acts as the deal flow analyst. Jeff’s background in web design and growth began in 2012 when he started his first blog. In doing that, Jeff learned the importance of being a part of a community and how easy it was to do. Later down the line, Jeff realized the economic possibilities of blogging and content creation, so he shifted toward a business mindset. He later became an investor and researcher working within the digital space to help people grow their financial independence across the web.
  • Charles Sipe holds the position of technical analyst and writer at this business brokerage. He is no stranger to niche website investing and SEO work, holding a degree from the University of Washington, Seattle, in marketing. He is responsible for writing the business’ technical content and analyzing market trends to create a great host of knowledge to be used across the web.
  • Last is Shane Dayton. Shane also helps with the technical side of things working as the business’ technical writer. Shane has been creating sites since 2010 and writing online since 2004. Shane specializes in the combination of writing and creating niche sites, both of which allow him to live a digital nomad lifestyle, a personal dream of his. He lends skills in SEO and marketing to The Website Flip.

Along with the resident staff are a number of contributing experts who are knowledgeable in a number of important topics. The list of experts may change from time to time, but at the heart of the team are contributors who help to make the content the highest quality. The team of experts usually includes legal and SaaS experts and website portfolio management and operators.

Since 2008, the business has been involved with over 175 website deals. If you’re curious about the website flipping process and what it entails, you’re in luck. There are numerous materials on their website that help to educate on the topic and who it’s best for. Also, The Website Flip operates as a newsletter, sending out information on how to buy, grow, and sell online businesses. Though, it’s important to mention that the brand specializes in content-based sites but not websites like a car dealership or similar.

The Website Flip Newsletter

The Website Flip Newsletter

Because the newsletter is a big part of their offerings before many content sites decide to buy, sell, or grow with the brokerage, let’s take a second to learn a little more about the offerings.

The newsletter put out by The Website Flip is sent out three times a week and will vary from day to day depending on what it includes. Some days, the newsletter may highlight case studies from the business’ own portfolio of sites. Other days, it may cover guides, insights, tutorials as produced by their writing team. Another important aspect for buying clients is a detailed list of active websites that the company is brokering and are up for sale. With that is an analysis of stats, virtues, etc., that can be used to help determine if it’s right for you.

The newsletter aims to make website investing more accessible around the world. As of now, only a handful of people understand the possibilities that accompany website flipping, and the company is working to fix that. This is done via educating the audience on website flipping and making sure that their content is centered around actionable content, not fluff.

One thing that can be said about the content put out by The Website Flip to its readers is that what they provide is extremely in-depth guides and case studies that are very valuable. They only put out information that helps their readers and nothing that is considered trivial or useless content.


Types Of Businesses The Website Flip Brokerage Sells

businesses sold

The Website Flip exclusively purchases, sells, and flips content websites. Most niches are accepted by the brand, but each site is considered on a case-by-case basis. Niches and industries recently represented by this business broker include beverage, audio, education, sports, and music sites.

At the bare minimum, your site must be content-based and meet certain performance markers before they would be willing to take it on.

You must already have three months of revenue under your belt at the very least. They work with content based websites that are making $5,000 per year or more and a valuation between $10,000 up to $100,000. If your business is valued higher than $100,000, it’s better to go with another website broker.

Keeping businesses between these valuations allows Mushfiq and The Website Flip to close deals very quickly. They can close escrow deals in less than a week and many in one day.

So while your site doesn’t need to be a long-running one to turn a profit, it must at the very least pass the three-month revenue point. Further revenue requirements include that the revenue cannot be on a downward trend and must be stable. If your business is trending down, they may be willing to purchase this as well. It really is all individually analyzed and broken down with each site.


The Website Flip Valuation Process

the valuation process

The valuation process at The Website Flip may look a little different for each website, but usually, they follow the same pattern. If you ask the team to value your website, you can expect them to analyze multiple aspects, including the site itself, traffic, monetization strategy, earnings, and market dynamics.

Each of these factors contributes to how much your site is worth, and in turn, will get you a different dollar amount. From there, the team at The Website Flip will prepare a document known as a P&L spreadsheet to help organize the collected data in an attractive way for buyers. Included in this are earnings and traffic analysis.

The next step is to prepare a listing description that details what is for sale and why a buyer should want the product. When it comes to your website’s description, you can expect a quality description that has the site’s details, pros, and upsides for buyers.

Further Breaking Down the Valuation Process

The Website Flip has an extensive valuation framework broken down on their website that indicates their unique process further. The entire process is aimed at the two levers of valuations – average profit and monthly multiplier.

At a glance, this breaks down to a simple basic calculation, helping to understand the monthly multiplier: your site is worth 35-45x the average monthly profit. If your website made $500 a month, its value could be measured at $17,500-$22,500. That figure is what a broker like The Website Flip may offer for your website. There’s no guarantee that this valuation is what you will get, but it is a general idea of the measurements. For more specific numbers, you’ll need to look closely at the company’s valuation process.

Further diving in, this business uses two methods to value websites before purchasing, profit-based and cost-based. This looks like a more specific calculation:

L6M (last six months profit) x MM (monthly multiple) = $ (website valuation)

While the last six months of profit might be easy to understand, the monthly multiple is a bit more complicated. This figure is industry-based and also depends on the on-site quality, site assets, industry trends, and similar. Keep in mind if the website is seasonal, you’ll need 12 months of earning statements.

Are there other more simple factors that play a role? Exactly what you would expect! Your site’s age, the amount of articles/words, the cost to format content, the number of backlinks, and site buildout costs.

From there, the company will analyze the profit and loss specs. Profits include all revenue streams and all operational costs, while the loss is any amount of money used to maintain and operate the site. Oftentimes, operation costs include yearly domain fees, hosting fees, content creation, and marketing tool costs, and other tools that may vary depending on your site.

If it seems a bit complicated to measure your site’s value – that’s because it is! While this business thankfully provides a glimpse into how they do so, it is impossible to know for sure until you’ve requested a free business valuation.

Average Sale Price

While every case is different, there is an average selling point for most business brokerages. The average sale price for a website business sold on The Website Flip is around $30,000. They handle any niche except for adult sites, casinos, or illegal niches.


Sales Process for Sellers

sales process

Once your business has been evaluated, it is ready to list. Listing your site is an important process in order to generate multiple interested buyers and may raise the final sale price.

Listing your business on The Website Flip is easy. You simply complete a form on their website which will allow the team to evaluate and determine the valuation of your business.

There are three ways you can sell your business using The Website Flip. These are listed below:

  • Direct Purchase – This is where you can actually sell your business directly to The Website Flip. If it fits their criteria, they will make you an offer.
  • Newsletter Classified – Their newsletter has a large pool of over 4,000 buyers who are looking for good deals on website and web based businesses. Your business may be sent to these buyers.
  • Flippa Auction – This process is known as an auction. The Website Flip’s Flippa account has over 1,000 followers who are actively looking to buy businesses. When listing with Flippa, your business will be auctioned, and your site will be represented with additional perks like highlighted promotions, including an Editor’s Choice Listing section.

Similar to the real estate market or any other broker-driven business, a lot of the guesswork is taken out of finding a well-qualified client to buy your business. The Website Flip like any business brokerage will do the heavy lifting and find you a buyer who is ready to go.


The Website Flip Success Rates

success rates

This business broker does on average between 2 to 4 deals a month. These deals are highly vetted deals and they close very quickly.

The Website Flip has sold nearly $700,000 in digital assets to date. Beyond that, they also have a database of over 4,000 willing buyers looking for content-based businesses.

On top of that, they have a 97% success rate for selling a content-based website. This is mostly because of their price point where there are tons of buyers. Even so, this is still a very good success rate.


Fees Charged By The Website Flip To Sell A Business

The fees for selling a business are usually based on the overall value of your site. With this business brokerage, their fee is very straightforward and easy to understand. They charge a 10% success fee but it’s capped at $4,000. This means you will pay no more than $4,000 no matter the value of your business.

It’s important to keep in mind that this is a success fee. So only if and when your sale has gone through will you need to worry about paying the commission.


Pros And Cons Of Using The Website Flip

Next, we will look at the pros and cons of using this business brokerage to buy or sell your business.

Pros

Quick Closings

Since The Website Flip keeps businesses they list between $10,000 to $100,000 valuations, this allows for deals to close much faster. They tend to close deals within a week or less which is pretty amazing in this industry.

High Success Rate

At 97%, The Website Flip has an extremely high closing rate. This is important because it lets you know that should you list with them, you’re most likely going to sell your business.

Large Buyer Pool

With the newsletter and constant engagement with prospective buyers, there is an already motivated pool of people looking for sites like yours. Rather than having to market from scratch, exhausting time and resources, the idea of a pre-established buyers club is great.

Success Fees

The fees charged by The Website Flip are very fair. With a 10% success fee which is capped at $4,000, this is a great reason to use this broker. Many business brokerages will charge 10% and have no caps so using this brokerage will definitely help you save money on overall fees paid out.

Plenty of Experience

From the top to the entire team, there is a plethora of talent and industry experience working at this business brokerage. The different niche specialties and experience across the web are a great asset for ensuring your experience listing with them is smooth.

In-depth Valuation Process

The valuation process at this business broker is not one that is taken lightly. There is plenty of research that goes into valuing your site, all of which can be used to help create a compelling story to draw buyers later down the line. Rather than slapping a price tag based on one number, you can rest easy knowing your site’s value was carefully considered.

Great Vetting Process

The team at this business brokerage takes the vetting of all businesses very seriously. They will not take on any business that they themselves would not be willing to buy. Their due diligence is done at a high level and checks many aspects of a business such as PBN links, accuracy of claimed revenue, etc.

Cons

Lower End of Valuation

While this is not necessarily a negative, the website businesses sold by The Website Flip are on the lower end of valuations. Since they only sell businesses with valuations between $10,000 to $100,000, as a seller, this is a barrier to using them if you have a business valued higher than this. As a buyer, this also means you will need to go elsewhere if you want a larger business.

Conclusion And Verdict

In order to round out this The Website Flip review, let’s take a look at the brokerage’s reviews to better understand past clients’ experiences. To do so, we look to sites like TrustPilot to see what others say.

What Others Say

When it comes to TrustPilot, the brokerage has very high ratings. Most reviewers praise the site and have rated it a 4.8 out of 5 overall. Reviewers praise the excellent service, both customer-based for concerns and overall contact, as well as the site being helpful and informative.

It’s important to mention that the team also publishes content, including blogs, podcasts, and even has online classes for website success. Some of the reviews are praising that aspect of the business, which lumps everything together in the ratings. It’s nice to know that the courses and other website offerings are top-notch, but unfortunately, this makes it a bit difficult to identify who has actually successfully sold or purchased their content site via the brokerage.

When we take a broader look though we can see that many other leaders in the website flipping and niche website creation industry highly praise Mushfiq and The Website Flipping brokerage.

For instance, Spencer Haws, creator of Niche Pursuits did a whole interview with Mushfiq and how his experience in this industry makes him uniquely qualified to help others buy and sell online businesses.

Empire Flippers also did an in-depth case study to show how Mushfiq tripled his earnings from a site he bought on Empire Flippers (see our Empire Flipper review). This is yet another example of how Mushfiq not only understands this industry, he is living it.

Feedback on Flippa

The feedback left for The Website Flip brokerage on Flippa (see Flippa review) is about as strong as you can get. At present time, their Flippa profile shows that they have a 100% positive feedback rating with over 142 transactions completed. Feedback doesn’t get any better than that.

Final Verdict

To wrap up The Website Flip review, we would like to offer our verdict and recommendation.

Based on all of the information we have gathered from our research, The Website Flip brokerage is a great place to buy or sell a content-based website and we fully recommend their services.



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