Complete List Of 21 Marketplaces To Buy A Website

Websites can make great investments, and I plan to buy one in the next 12 months to increase my cash flow. I’ll be writing about everything I learn and every step I take before buying my first site, and the first topic is finding every place I can buy a website.

There’s no telling where I might find that next great deal, so I want to keep my options as open as possible.

So before I go through the complete list, I wanted to separate the marketplaces in a few different ways.

Best Marketplaces To Purchase Businesses Under $100,000

My absolute max budget is probably around $200,000, and I know most people looking to buy their first cash flowing asset are probably going to be able to afford $100,000 or less.

So here’s my list of best places for first timers to buy a site for under $100k.

Most of the marketplaces listed here will have at least a few businesses for sale under $100,000, but these six were all vetted and each had several of those less expensive listings.

List of Vetted Marketplaces

Most of the marketplaces on my list have some process to ensure that only legitimate businesses are listed on their site.

Most of these marketplaces (actually I think all of them) double as brokers. This means that they provide a line of protection for you as a buyer. They will assist in the process of purchasing the business by holding your payment during the transition of ownership and waiting to release it to the seller until you approve the ownership transfer.

List of Unvetted Marketplaces

Some of the marketplaces on my list had no reliable process in place to ensure the businesses listed on their site were legitimate. They are ripe with scammy listings.

Flippa
SideProjectors
Exchange Marketplace (this one is pseudo-vetted)
Freemarket
WebsiteBroker
Indiemaker

The Complete List

Now here is the complete list of marketplaces I found to buy a website. If you know of any not on my list, please contact me or comment below on the article.

1. Flippa

Flippa is definitely the most well known of the internet website marketplaces. It honestly has a bit of everything. You can buy websites, domain names, and mobile applications. And you can buy anything from $1 sites and domains to online businesses worth several million dollars.

One of the defining characteristics of this marketplace is that there is very little vetting of the for sale businesses. This results in a huge number of scammy sellers.

This lack of due diligence from Flippa also makes it one of the best places to find undervalued sites.

Flippa also offers several services to help buyers. They have a due diligence service (for $1,500) to help buyers analyze earnings and traffic for a site, and identify the biggest risk factors. Also, there is a service that helps buyers get financing to purchase a site.

Here are the defining characteristics for Flippa.com:

No vetting done before a site can be listed
Services offered to help buyers (including financing and due diligence)
Extensive filtering available for buyers
Auction and Buy Now listings
Thousands of listings

My thoughts: I’ll keep a standard filter set on Flippa, so I can regularly check the site, but I don’t expect to find my first investment site here. I’ll want some form of professional vetting and I’ll only be willing to pay the $1,500 due diligence service fee if the site is worth over $100,000. Chances are I’ll pay under $100,000 for my first investment site.

2. Empire Flippers

Empire Flippers is another very popular marketplace. They have a few podcasts (I started listening to their web equity podcast a few months ago) that are worth listening to for newbies like myself.

Empire Flippers vets all their listings before putting them up for sale. This marketplace’s most unique characteristic is the seller interviews. Many of the listings have interviews with the seller of the website, and I’ve found those interviews to be quite informative.

I actually got in touch about purchasing one of their sites recently and was super happy with their service. You get hooked up with one of their business analysts and they answer questions for you, get you set up with Google Analytics access and can schedule an interview with the seller for you.

If you do purchase a site, Empire Flippers will help migrate everything over for you. Then you get some time to verify that everything is satisfactory before they release your payment to the seller.

Here are the defining characteristics for empireflippers.com:

All sites on the marketplace are vetted
Seller interviews are available for many sites
Dozens of listings
Cheapest sites are around $20,000 and most expensive are several million
You get assistance throughout the entire process

My thoughts: Empire Flippers is one of the marketplaces I’ll keep a close eye on. With sites already vetted and a representative to walk me through the entire process, it seems like a great place to do my first deal.

3. Motion Invest

Lots of the marketplaces do formal vetting before they list a website for sale. However, very few of these list sites that are valued under $20,000.

Motion Invest is attempting to fill in that gap. They list two types of sites. The first are sites they purchase themselves and list for sale, and the second are sites for sale by the owner that they help facilitate the sale. All their sites seem to be valued under $100,000, and several are under $10,000.

Defining characteristics for motioninvest.com:

Sites are vetted before being listed
All sites are valued under $100,000
Some websites are actually owned by Motion Invest
Only a few websites for sale at one time
Dutch auction pricing, sites get less expensive the longer they sit in the marketplace

My thoughts: There was a site here listed for $1,800. It’s not easy to find pre-vetted sites that are less than $5,000. I’m seriously considering purchasing one of these very cheap sites in the next month or two simply to gain some experience purchasing a site.

4. SideProjectors

SiteProjectors claims to be the result of a hackathon in 2013. It’s a place where anyone can list their side projects for sale for free.

This marketplace has no vetting in place, and they offer no additional assistance with the purchase of the sites they list, but they also don’t take any fees from buyers or sellers. There are hundreds of listings, but anywhere that has no vetting process will also come with plenty of scams.

There is a good user interface with quite a few filtering options.

Defining characteristics of sideprojectors.com:

No vetting
No fees for sellers or buyers
Good UI with filtering
Hundreds of sites for sale
No involvement in the sales process, they just help connect buyers and sellers

My thoughts: I’m hesitant to spend too much time sifting through this marketplace. There are probably good deals to be had here, but for my first deal I’m going to prefer the marketplaces that have vetting processes in place.

5. FE International

FE International specializes in brokering website sales. They keep a small curated list of sites, and the prices range from about $50,000 to over $10 million. Although their FAQs say they specialize in sales in the 6, 7 and 8 figure range.

To me, the biggest draw for FE International is their professionalism. They have great resources to help new buyers and their team claims to have completed over 800 successful transactions. The big pain point for new buyers is the price points.

Defining characteristics of feinternational.com:

Curated list of sites from $50,000 to $10,000,000 plus
Professional team with lots of experience
Lots of resources for new buyers
Buyer network that can help match you with a site that meets your wants
Low fees for buyers

My thoughts: If I’m going to buy a site worth over $50,000, then this seems like a great marketplace. Their marketplace has about 20 sites, which is small enough to easily find everything, but big enough to have variety. My only concern is that most of their websites are out of my price range for now.

6. Quiet Light Brokerage

Quiet Light Brokerage is very similar to FE International. It’s a team that curates a list of mid to high valued websites to sell.

They have done over 500 transactions totaling over $100 million. They also have lots of resources for buyers and sellers including podcasts, videos and articles.

Defining characteristics of quietlightbrokerage.com:

Small curated list of sites valued between $100,000 and $5 million
Professional team with lots of experience
Lots of resources for new buyers
I couldn’t find their fee structure

My thoughts: I would consider this marketplace if I found a site in the $50,000 – $200,000 range, but overall the businesses seemed too pricey for me.

7. Exchange Marketplace

Shopify has it’s own marketplace where they sell Ecommerce websites built with Shopify. The numbers shown in the marketplace are supposed to be accurate, because they are imported straight from Shopify.

A quick look through the marketplace casts doubt on the accuracy of the numbers, however. Regardless, this is a great marketplace to look through if you’re interested in E-commerce or dropshipping.

Defining characteristics of exchangemarketplace.com

All listings are Shopify stores
Thousands of listings with prices from $1 to $5 million
Numbers supposedly can’t be faked
Good filtering of listings
No visible assistance from the marketplace

My thoughts: I didn’t spend too long looking around here because I’m not currently interested in E-commerce or dropshipping sites, so I’ll be looking elsewhere. It does seem like the best place to look for Shopify sites though.

8. BuySellEmpire

BuySellEmpire is another online business broker like FE International and Soft Light Brokerage. When I visited, there was only one online business for sale and it was a mobile app with an asking price of $50,000.

It’s hard to get much info from just one listing.

Defining characteristics of buysellempire.com:

An online business broker with vetted businesses in marketplace
Assistance with buying process and due diligence
Very few listings

My thoughts: It’s hard to get too excited about a marketplace with only one listing and no websites. I may check back again in a month and see if anything has changed.

9. Website Closers

Website Closers is a vetted marketplace that has online businesses ranging from about $15,000 to one I saw for over $100,000,000. There were around 400 businesses listed when I looked while writing this article. Unfortunately, this marketplace has the sold, pending and available businesses all mixed together in with no easy way to filter.

They do assist buyers with financing, which is a big plus in my opinion.

Defining characteristics of websiteclosers.com:

Large list of online businesses
Prices range from about $15,000 to tens of millions
Assistance with financing and buying process
Very poor filtering for the number of listings

My thoughts: This marketplace is probably one that you have to get registered as a buyer to get the most out of. They have available and unavailable business all mixed together in their list of businesses. If I don’t have luck elsewhere, I’ll come back here and try to registered as a buyer.

10. Trustiu

Trustiu is another vetted marketplace that provides the services of a broker. They list websites, but also specialize in YouTube channels, which is the first I’ve seen that.

One characteristic of this marketplace is it’s based out of Spain, so there are several Spanish businesses listed.

Defining characteristics of trustiu.com:

Smaller vetted list of businesses
Based out of Spain, so has more non-U.S. businesses
Most of the businesses are under 100.000€ ($120,000)
Specialty in YouTube channels

My thoughts: I’m planning to make Trustiu one of my primary marketplaces. I found a few sites that looked to be great deals in my price range, I’ll definitely browsing this marketplace regularly.

11. Website Properties

You can add Website Properties to our long list of online business brokers that provide a vetted list of online businesses in their marketplace.

This broker had about 15 listings when I was looking and most of them were valued well over $100,000.

Defining characteristics of websiteproperties.com:

Small curated/vetted list of online businesses
Most are $200,000 to $5,000,000 in value
Another broker that assists buyers through the process

My thoughts: I’m starting to get the picture. There are a lot of brokers that sell websites and other online businesses. Ultimately, I found too few businesses in my price range at Website Properties, so I will probably not prioritize their marketplace during my search for a website.

12. Digital Exits

Digital Exits joins our now long list of online business brokers. When I looked at their marketplace they had only a few listings and the least expensive of those was around $500,000. A bit too expensive for my budget.

As brokers, they offer assistance in the buying process, just like the others on our list.

Defining characteristics of digitalexits.com:

Small curated list of businesses
Average value of businesses sold is $3 million
Assistance through the buying process

My thoughts: For now, the businesses on Digital Exits are simply too expensive for me. I may come back here after I get a few deals under my belt.

13. BizBroker24

Bizbroker24 is yet another online business broker. They claim to be the largest E-Business merger and acquisition company in the world, and they list over $100,000,000 worth of businesses in their marketplace.

I found listings as low as $45,000, but the majority of their businesses are valued over $100,000.

Defining characteristics of bizbroker24.com:

Large vetted list of online businesses
Walked through the process of buying
Help with financing
International listings

My thoughts: I’ll definitely be keeping my eye on the listing here. While the majority are above my price range, since there are so many businesses, there are still a good number listed under $100,000. And they help with financing, so this seems like a good broker no matter your financial situation.

14. WeSellYourSite

WeSellYourSite is an online business broker that keeps a small curated list in their marketplace. In fact, when I visited they had only four businesses listed, two were sold already and the other two had sales pending.

You’ll probably have to join their buyers list to have a decent chance at finding a deal here.

Defining characteristics of wesellyoursite.com:

Very small curated list of sites
Probably need to join buyers list to get a shot at one of their listings
Very little information about their process online

My thoughts: I’ll probably pass on these brokers. Their marketplace was small and they didn’t have much information online about how they do business.

15. Latona’s

Latona’s is a web broker based out of Puerto Rico. Their marketplace is vetted, and they have several dozen businesses for sale.

I found their user interface easy to use and they have decent filtering available. Also, it appears they just started (Sept. 2020) a new podcast.

Defining characteristics of latonas.com

Listings between $50,000 and $5 million
All listings are vetted
UI is easy to use and filter
They have some good resources for buyers

My thoughts: I couldn’t find any information about their process or if they offer financing assistance, but I’ll definitely keep my eye on this marketplace. They have a good number of listings and plenty below $100,000.

16. AppBusinessBrokers

AppBusinessBrokers is a broker that specializes in software related businesses. They have a handful of E-commerce style websites, but most of their listings are applications.

Their website seems to be a little out of date as well. Their resources page talks about the features coming in 2018, but it does appear to suggest they assist with financing.

Defining characteristics of appbusinessbrokers.com:

Vetted list of 10-20 online businesses
Specialty in applications/software businesses
Several businesses valued under $100,000

My thoughts: This is a good marketplace for anyone wanting to buy an application or software based business. That’s not what I’m looking for, so I’ll find my business elsewhere.

17. Freemarket

Freemarket is just a marketplace for websites and domain names. The listings are not vetted and it’s free to list a site, so I’d definitely be on the lookout for scams.

There were over 15,000 websites listed when I was browsing their marketplace, but the vast majority of those were under $5,000. In fact, I couldn’t find a business listed for more than $100,000.

Defining characteristics for freemarket.com:

Large marketplace with no vetting process
Appeared as though all listings were under $100,000
Likely to be peppered with scam listings
No assistance with buying process
Adequate, but not great filtering

My thoughts: This marketplace seems very similar to Flippa. Lots of listings and no proper vetting. I may come back here again after I have a deal or two under my belt, but my preference would be to work with a broker to avoid getting scammed.

18. WebsiteBroker

WebsiteBroker appears to be an abandoned site. There were two listings when I visited the site and they both look like scams. I would recommend completely avoiding this marketplace.

Defining characteristics of websitebroker.com:

Appears to be abandoned
Only two listings and both were scams

My thoughts: No thanks.

19. Indiemaker

Indiemaker labels itself a community marketplace. They try to cultivate a community of users that buy and sell to each other.

The nature of this marketplace makes it one with lots of cheaper listings. Out of around 2000 there were only 5 with an asking price above $100,000. There doesn’t appear to be a vetting process, so again I’d keep an eye out for scams.

Defining characteristics of indiemaker.co:

Has a community with a forum
Almost all listings below $100,000
No vetting process
No assistance with transaction

My thoughts: Again, I’m leaning towards using a broker for my first deal, so I’ll be avoiding these marketplaces with no vetting process until I done at least one deal. Other than that, it seems like one of the less spammy of the unvetted marketplaces.

20. CrowdMnA

CrowdMnA is one more online business broker. They appear to be based out of the UK.

Their marketplace had only 30-40 vetted businesses, much like other brokers on this list. Unlike other brokers on this list, the businesses were mostly below £50,000 (about $65,000).

They don’t appear to offer assistance with financing, but I did find a purchase agreement listed on their site, which was a first. After clicking around a bit I found some buggy behavior on the site, so I could see this marketplace being a bit difficult to use.

Purchase agreement listed on website
Vetted list of about 40 businesses
Most listings below £50,000
Some buggy behavior

My thoughts: I might come back here looking for a cheaper business. My one hesitation is the fact that I clicked on a couple listings and got a blank page. This doesn’t give me much confidence in the quality of the service.

21. BizBuySell

I found BizBuySell through a paid Google ad. They are the largest online marketplace for buying and selling businesses. The thing is, most of their businesses are offline, but they do have a pretty impressive selection of online businesses as well.

Defining characteristics of bizbuysell.com:

Largest online marketplace for buying and selling businesses
Websites are mixed in with Tech companies
Most businesses above $100,000
Filtering is adequate, but not great

My thoughts: When I buy real estate I always work with someone local, someone I have a relationship with. So I generally avoid these super big businesses. I’ll probably avoid BizBuySell for this reason. I think it’s totally reasonable to find a business here though.

Conclusion

So there’s my list of everywhere I could find that sells websites. If you know of a place that’s not on my list, contact me or comment below and I’ll add it to the list.

For my first online business purchase, I’m planning to use one of the many brokers on the list. It should help prevent a true blunder on my part and gives me some protection as well.

My next step will be to find a list of businesses that interest me.

Happy investing.

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