Where to Sell Your Website: Marketplaces, Brokers, and Direct Buyers

If you’re thinking about selling your website, the first decision is not which platform has the biggest audience. It’s whether you want to list the site publicly, have someone manage more of the sale, or speak with a buyer directly.

Flippa, Empire Flippers, Acquire.com, and private buyers all handle the process differently. The important differences are what they accept, what they charge, how much work they take on, and how much information you need to share.

I looked through the current seller information for each option so you can compare them without treating one platform as the answer for every type of website.

The main ways to sell a website

List it on a marketplace

You create the listing, set the asking price or sale format, answer buyer questions, and manage more of the process yourself. A marketplace can give you access to more potential buyers, but you are responsible for preparing the information and evaluating the interest you receive.

Use a managed marketplace or broker

A broker or managed marketplace may help with valuation, listing preparation, buyer screening, negotiation, due diligence, and the handover. You pay for that involvement through a commission or other fees, and the process may include eligibility requirements or an exclusivity period.

Speak with a direct buyer

You send the website details privately to a potential buyer, discuss whether it fits, and negotiate directly if there is mutual interest. There is no public listing, but you are speaking with one buyer instead of exposing the website to a large marketplace.

That is the route we offer at Valiance Labs. We look at small content sites, directories, comparison sites, calculators, lookup tools, and simple web utilities, generally earning under about $2,000 per month. If a site has real traffic, useful content, existing monetization, or room to improve, you can send it to us for a private review.

There is no listing fee and no success commission. We are not a marketplace or a broker, and we do not promise that every submission will receive an offer. If the site fits what we are buying, we will review the details and let you know whether we can operate and improve it.

You can submit a site through Sell Your Website to Us.

The right route depends on the website itself. A small content site, an established affiliate business, and a SaaS product may need different buyers and different sale processes.

Flippa

Flippa is a broad marketplace for digital businesses and online assets. It supports self-service listings, auctions, fixed-price sales, private deals, buyer matching, deal management, and optional broker support.

It is best understood as a marketplace that also offers additional brokerage and advisory services.

How Flippa works for sellers

Flippa lets sellers choose between auctions, fixed-price listings, and private deals. The platform also provides buyer messaging, a deal room, legal-document tools, buyer matching, performance-data integrations, and payment options.

You can manage the listing yourself or choose additional support. Flippa’s seller page describes its in-house brokers and broker partners as an optional service for sellers who want more guidance through the sale.

The amount of support depends on the sale type, asking price, and package selected.

What Flippa charges

Flippa’s pricing changes based on the asking price and the service selected. Its current pricing page shows self-service packages beginning at $29 for lower-priced assets, with longer listing terms and additional visibility available at higher flat fees.

Success fees also vary by transaction value. The current pricing page displays a success fee as high as 10% at the upper end of its selector, so check the rate for your own asking-price range before listing.

There is a difference between buyer and seller costs. Buyers can access Flippa for free, while Premium is an optional paid buyer subscription. Sellers generally choose a paid listing package and may owe a success fee when the website sells.

Check Flippa’s current pricing page before creating a listing because the package and fee selector is based on the asking price.

Flippa may suit you if you want

• Broad international buyer reach
• Self-service listing management
• Auction, fixed-price, or private-sale options
• A marketplace for smaller or earlier-stage digital businesses
• Optional broker or advisory support
• Access to comparable digital-business listings

Flippa covers more than content sites. Its marketplace includes websites, ecommerce businesses, SaaS products, apps, domains, newsletters, and other digital businesses.

Check these terms before listing

Before publishing a listing, confirm:

• The listing fee for your asking-price range
• The success-fee rate that applies if the site sells
• Whether NDA protection is included in your package
• Whether the listing renews or relists automatically
• Which payment and escrow options are available
• What buyers can see before signing an NDA
• Whether the listing terms affect your ability to use another marketplace or broker

Flippa’s current terms of service include restrictions for some listed assets. Do not assume you can list the same website on several platforms at the same time.

Empire Flippers

Empire Flippers is a curated online-business marketplace with a more managed, brokerage-style selling process. It evaluates businesses before listing them and handles more of the buyer communication, negotiation, and transfer work.

What Empire Flippers looks for

Its current published requirements include:

• At least $2,000 per month in average net profit over the previous 12 months
• At least 12 months of revenue history
• At least three months of Google Analytics or Clicky data
• A consistent domain history for many advertising and affiliate businesses
• Verifiable traffic, revenue, and expenses
• No evidence of manipulated traffic, artificial earnings, or material misrepresentation

Those requirements define the kind of established online business Empire Flippers is set up to list. A newer or smaller site may need a different selling route if it does not meet the current minimums.

See the current Empire Flippers listing requirements before applying.

What the selling process includes

After you submit the business, Empire Flippers reviews its financial, traffic, and operating information. If the site is accepted, the team helps prepare the listing, presents it to buyers, manages buyer communication, and supports negotiations.

The current seller page also describes:

• Hidden site URLs before a buyer unlocks the listing
• Buyer identity and funds verification
• A two-month exclusivity period
• Negotiation support
• Assistance transferring the website after the sale

This is a more managed process than creating a listing and handling every buyer conversation yourself. It may suit an owner who wants help organizing the business and moving the sale forward.

What Empire Flippers charges

There is no fee to submit a business for sale. If the business sells, Empire Flippers charges a blended commission based on the sale price.

“Blended” means that the rate changes by portion of the sale, rather than applying one lower rate to the entire amount.

The current commission structure is:

• $0 to $66,666.66: $10,000 commission
• $66,666.66 to $700,000: 15% of the sale price
• $700,000 to $5 million: 15% on the first $700,000, then 8% on the portion above $700,000
• Above $5 million: The same calculation, plus 2.5% on the portion above $5 million

For example, a $1 million sale would be charged:

• 15% of the first $700,000, or $105,000
• 8% of the remaining $300,000, or $24,000
• $129,000 total commission

You can check the current calculation with the Empire Flippers commission calculator and review the seller page before applying.

Empire Flippers may suit you if you have

• An established and profitable online business
• Clean financial and analytics records
• A preference for help with buyer communication and negotiation
• A business that meets the current eligibility requirements
• A need for support with the website transfer

The relevant question is whether the site has the revenue history, documentation, and operating structure that Empire Flippers’ buyers are looking for.

Acquire.com

Acquire.com is a startup acquisition marketplace. It is most naturally suited to SaaS companies, software products, and other online businesses with clear product, customer, revenue, and growth information.

Acquire.com also includes content websites and other online-business categories, but its seller workflow is oriented toward startup and product information.

How Acquire.com works for sellers

The seller workflow asks for details such as:

• Business model
• Technology stack
• Competitors
• Growth opportunities
• Reason for selling
• Assets included in the deal
• Revenue, profit, growth, and customer metrics
• Supporting documents
• A business headline and marketing information

Sellers can connect traffic and customer metrics or enter the information manually. Acquire.com also provides tools for financial information, company overviews, data-room materials, buyer conversations, offers, due diligence, escrow, and asset transfer.

Its current documentation describes a free account, legal-document tools, free Escrow.com escrow, optional financing, and help from its support team. See How Acquire.com works and the seller listing guide.

What Acquire.com charges

Acquire.com currently lists:

• A $25–$100 monthly listing fee while the listing is active
• A 6%–8% closing fee when the business sells
• No closing fee if the business does not sell
• Free escrow through Escrow.com according to its seller documentation

Confirm the current amount during the listing process because platform pricing can change. The current fee explanation is available at How much does it cost to sell?.

Acquire.com may suit you if you are selling

• A SaaS product
• A software tool
• A startup with a product and customer base
• An ecommerce business
• A newsletter or online media business
• An online business with clear technology, customer, growth, or recurring-revenue information

It may be useful when you want a structured acquisition workflow rather than a simple classified listing.

How to choose between the options

How much buyer reach do you need?

A broad marketplace gives you access to more buyers. A curated marketplace gives you a more screened audience. A startup acquisition platform puts the business in front of buyers who are looking for product and company information. A direct sale gives you a private conversation with one potential buyer.

How much work do you want to handle?

With a self-service listing, you may handle the description, buyer conversations, financial evidence, negotiations, and transfer coordination yourself.

With a managed platform, more of that work may be handled for you. In return, you follow the platform’s requirements and pay for its involvement.

With a direct buyer, there may be fewer conversations and less listing work. There is also no public listing to generate multiple offers.

What will the sale cost?

Calculate the full cost, including:

• Listing fees
• Monthly fees
• Success or closing fees
• Escrow and payment costs
• Legal or document costs
• The time you will spend preparing and managing the sale
• Any exclusivity period
• Any post-sale support you agree to provide

A lower percentage can still require more work from you. A higher commission may include more help with the sale.

How private does the sale need to be?

Ask whether the URL is public, whether financial details are visible, when an NDA is required, and who can access the listing information.

Some owners want the widest possible exposure. Others do not want customers, competitors, or employees to know that the website is for sale.

What does a buyer need to understand?

The best selling route depends on the website:

• A content site needs clear traffic, content, backlink, and monetization history.
• An affiliate site needs reliable earnings and partner-account information.
• A SaaS product needs product, technology, customer, and recurring-revenue information.
• A newsletter needs audience quality, subscriber history, and distribution details.
• A calculator or lookup tool needs usage, data sources, maintenance requirements, and room to expand.

Choose the route where buyers are likely to understand the kind of value the website actually has.

What happens after the sale?

Before accepting an offer, confirm who handles:

• Domain transfer
• Hosting and code transfer
• Analytics and monetization accounts
• Email and social accounts
• Content and image rights
• Data migration
• Post-sale support
• Earnouts or seller financing
• Payment release and escrow

The handover needs to be clear before the deal is signed. A website sale includes more than agreeing on a price.

Which option may fit your website?

A small content site or utility earning under about $2,000 per month

A direct buyer may be worth considering alongside a marketplace. Compare the exposure of a public listing with the fees, requirements, and time needed to prepare and manage it.

This is also the range where a private conversation with an operator can make sense, especially when the site has real traffic, useful content, and room for better tools or monetization.

An established, profitable website

A curated marketplace or broker may be useful when you want help with valuation, buyer screening, negotiation, and the transfer. Check the current requirements before spending time on an application.

A SaaS product or startup

An acquisition platform oriented around startups may make sense when product, technology, customers, growth, and recurring revenue are central to the sale. The listing should explain the product and business, not just the website’s pages.

A self-managed sale

A broad marketplace may give you more control over the asking price, listing format, buyer conversations, and timing. Be prepared to answer questions and verify that offers come from serious buyers.

A private sale

A direct conversation or a platform with locked listing information may be a better starting point if you do not want the website publicly identified. Ask how and when the URL, traffic, and revenue information become visible.

What to prepare before contacting anyone

Traffic information

Have the last 6–12 months of traffic information available, including the main sources, landing pages, search history, important changes, and any dependence on paid advertising.

Revenue and expenses

Organize monthly gross revenue, net profit, revenue by source, recurring costs, contractor expenses, advertising income, affiliate income, and major changes in earnings.

Ownership and operations

Write down who owns the domain, where the site is hosted, how it is published, who maintains it, which accounts are connected, and what subscriptions or contractors are required to keep it running.

Included website assets

Make a list of the domain, website files or repository, database, content, brand assets, email list, social accounts, tools, integrations, monetization accounts, and any customer or subscriber data included in the sale.

Your role in running the site

Be honest about your weekly workload and the tasks that depend on your personal knowledge. A buyer needs to understand what can be transferred through documentation and what requires a handover period.

Questions to ask before choosing a route

I’m new to selling a website. Do I need a broker?

Not necessarily. You can list the site yourself on a marketplace or speak directly with a buyer. If this is your first sale and you are unsure how to value the website, verify buyers, negotiate terms, or handle the transfer, a broker or managed marketplace can take on more of that work.

Can I list on multiple platforms at once?

Do not assume that you can. Check the exclusivity and listing terms before publishing the same website in more than one place. Flippa’s terms and Empire Flippers’ seller materials both describe restrictions that may affect how you run a sale.

What should I prepare before listing?

Prepare traffic and revenue records, expenses, ownership details, connected accounts, the website’s operating workload, and a clear list of what transfers to the buyer.

Where to start

Begin by describing the website clearly: what it does, how it earns money, where its traffic comes from, and how much work it takes to run.

Then compare the selling routes based on the amount of exposure, support, privacy, and cost you actually need.

If your site is a small content site, directory, comparison site, calculator, lookup tool, or simple web utility, you can also send it to us directly. We will review the details privately and let you know whether it fits what we are buying.