I was talking with the owner of Wingate Solutions , Nathan, about his network of very fabulous forums and we got into the subject of what were our intentions of our forums. We starting to exchange some statistics and the question came up of whether we would ever sell them for the right price. And to my surpise we were both very passionate about our sites and felt their value could never be compensated enough because their potential was very high. Now of course if someone offered either one of us $10,000,000.00 then they would be sold in a heart beat but that is something only dreams are made of, usually. After realizing what we had said I started to think about what other Admins think their internet property was worth.
As most of us know already sites usually sell for anywhere between 9-20 months revenue. But as forums get more and more popular and online business begins to feel more like a brick and mortar store those numbers are due to change and rise in the coming future. You would never hear about offline business’s selling for under 24 months and if you have it was a steal. I really hope and am waiting for the day that the online world comes to grips with this and it will be those that hold out that really get a pay off.
I guess I will end this with a question, What do you think forums are worth in terms of months of revenue?
Rex, CruiseLineForums.com
Rex, I think your post was very informative. Regarding your questions, I am starting to develop my own forum site http://debatement.com but I think that forums in general are usually worth more than “regular” sites. As for a number of months, right now I would say anywhere form 12-18 months as of right now. If you get serious investors, you might be able to sell for over 24 months, but according to current trends online, that time may be going up in the near future, as more quality sites are developed.
-Matt
www.pyropixel.com