Establishing an online business does not necessarily need you to build a website and start from the very beginning. Of course, if you feel better to start everything from scratch, you can devote your time and energy. However, there is also another option which is to purchase an existing online business.
What Are the Advantages of Buying an Online Business for Sale?
Let us talk about these advantages by clarifying that buying an online business is not a cost-inefficient option in comparison to starting your own business from the beginning. The reason is that if you start your own company, you should spend a lot on your lead generation process and building a conversion funnel.
Moreover, you should spend a lot before making your first online sale. Perhaps the social media of the business are already active and you do not need to use tools like Instagram follower apps to increase your real audience base. In addition, you need to spend a great deal on a competent human resource to carry out your marketing strategies.
So, taken as a whole, here are some of the most important advantages of buying an existing online business:
- Much less time-consuming
- Budget-friendly
- It is already running
- Already generated leads are there
- Established customer base
- It has already proven to be profitable
Where to Buy, Sell & Find an Online Business for Sale?
Buying and selling an online business can be remarkably different depending on the procedure you choose. Here we will examine the ways you can consider buying, selling, or finding an online business for sale:
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Marketplaces - Those who want to buy and sell their online business can search for the marketplaces, like Shopify Exchange, and find each other. These marketplaces help the two to connect to each other.
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Auction Sites - In auction sites such as Flippa, buyers can bid on the businesses for sale that they want to buy.
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Brokers - Negotiating and making a contract through a broker, such as Digital Exits & FE International, rather than other procedures is a more personal kind of purchase. Generally speaking, brokers know many sellers and buyers and they can make these two groups connect. You can contact nearby brokers with the Pitch-to-Brokers tool
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Direct Contact - Direct contact is also another way which eliminates any form of mediators. In this approach, you should analyze all the advantages and disadvantages of online business by yourself.
5 Marketplaces to Buy, Sell and Find an Online Business for Sale
Here are the 5 best marketplaces where you can buy, sell and find an online business for sale. Choose the one that you think is more convenient for you:
1. Shopify Exchange
It is a quite new marketplace for buying and selling online businesses. One great advantage of buying a business through Shopify Exchange is that you can have a Shopify store. Apart from that, Shopify is a well-credited e-commerce platform.
In a marketplace other than Shopify Exchange, it might happen that the seller does not reveal all the information about their business. However, in Shopify sellers have all their information, from traffic to revenue numbers, recorded on Shopify. Furthermore, Shopify Exchange does not charge you for buying and selling. In addition, you can choose your desired online business using filter categories.
Sellers should only download the Shopify Exchange app and add the description of their store and decide on a price. If deciding on a price is not something that you can do, you can use the valuation tool of the app and see what is the best price for your online store regarding its facts.
2. Empire Flippers
The service that Empire Flippers provides for you is a more individual one. They try to decrease the probable occurrence of burdensome issues during the selling and purchasing processes so that the clients are fully satisfied. It is more individual in the sense that they offer help and assist you as a seller or buyer in each step.
Empire Flippers charges buyers to pay a 5% deposit to have access to the one-year recorded store data of the desired online business. Such a deposit is, however, refundable. Another point about Empire Flippers is that you can easily communicate with the seller as the platform grants you such facilitation.
Sellers, on the other hand, can get rid of undecided buyers who may waste their time. In addition, you as a seller can sell your online business at a higher price if you use Empire Flippers in comparison to selling it on your own.
3. FE International
FE International is a well-reputed website broker that aims at offering personalized procedures so that both buyers and sellers can get exactly what they look for. Well, they are brokers, so they know how to understand the requirements of each party and how to fulfill them.
The procedure starts with a buyer who searches for an online business and asks FE International to start negotiations with the seller. FE International does all the necessary tasks and guarantees the buyer of all the information given by the seller. When the sale is done, both parties are satisfied as the broker has done everything properly.
4. Flippa
None of the mentioned marketplaces have been the pioneers in the sales of online business. Flippa, however, has been the first marketplace for website sales and purchases. There are over 600 thousand users on the platform which means that it is not only the first but also one of the best ones.
Flippa also offers other services such as offering domains, apps, and websites. There are some categories for buyers to choose online businesses among Shopify stores and Amazon FBA stores. In addition, it provides a secure payment process as well as offering a valuation tool for deciding on the pricing of online businesses.
5. SideProjectors
The online businesses that are available for buyers on this platform are less expensive because the businesses and websites are not complete. In other words, there are some sellers who have not finished building their websites for any reason and put them on SideProjectors for sale. Therefore, they can get at least a few amounts of their investment back.
So, SideProjects helps those buyers who cannot invest a lot in buying an online business. In addition, those sellers who have changed their minds to continue with their website building can sell their websites and get some money in return.
One thing about SideProjectors is that they only connect buyers and sellers and do not help them with the rest of the procedure. For instance, considering the payment methods, the two parties should decide and they themselves are responsible for the safety of the method.
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Conclusion
No matter if you want to put your online business on sale or you want to invest in buying a business, you can use the information above to make the right choice. Check the marketplaces and see which one can offer the best to you regarding your needs. Wish you the best of luck!
Bio: I am Parichehr Parsi, a born writer, and a freelance copywriter in the fields of travel, fashion, and Instagram marketing. I currently write for Realtormate and online magazines in Italy and I love reading, writing, and researching. Find me on LinkedIn
