Website Valuation

Transactional and Transfer Problems

As with all transactions you make with unknown people over the internet, you've got to be careful and do things the right way to make sure that there are no problems.

The consequences of being lazy in this situation can be significant. Payments can be delayed for weeks or months if you make a spelling mistake on a wire transfer. And as a seller you might end up getting completely ripped off and not getting any money at all. Read and follow the practices below and you'll never have any problems.

Decide who is responsible for what

Find out before you send any money where the site will be hosted, who will be uploading the files and who will be setting up the site. Heres a checklist of things you should have covered.

• Is the buyer taking over the sellers hosting account? Or having the site uploaded to their own hosting account?
• Is the buyer taking over the sellers affiliate account or creating a new one?
• When will the files be delivered and how?
• Who will be updating the site to add the new owners affiliate codes and adsense codes?

Never accept money via Paypal or any other credit card based service

This is extremely important for sellers.

NEVER accept money from a credit card based service.

A buyer can simply initiate a chargeback and the bank will almost always side with the buyer. This means that the buyer ends up getting their money back and keep the site. It sounds rediculous but it is completely true and happens very often. Don't fall prey to it!

Always use Escrow

Always use an escrow service and never deviate from the instructions it gives. If you are the seller, make sure you're sending the domain to the person listed in Escrow. As the buyer, make sure you double check the spelling details of your bank wire. Even one letter wrong can delay payments by weeks or months.

Ask for a long inspection period

An inspection period is the time you have as a buyer in an escrow transaction to decide if the website is as described.

If you set the inspection period to one week rather than one day, you give yourself a chance to make sure that the website is providing the sales and traffic that the previous owner claimed it was.