empire flippers vs flippa

Empire Flippers vs Flippa

Before selling my website on the Empire Flippers Marketplace, I shopped around and listed my e-commerce site on Flippa.

Flippa has a lower fee of only 5% of the sale price vs Empire Flippers 15%, so I thought it was worth a shot.

In this review, I’ll share my honest opinion about which platform is better for buying and selling sites based on the following criteria:

  • Listing Fees and Commission
  • Customer Service
  • Best Website Valuations
  • Quality of Sites on Each Platform
  • Quality of Buyers and Sellers
  • Best Broker For Buying
  • Best Broker For Selling

And I’ll also share a strategy where you can combine the benefits of Flippa and Empire Flippers to get the best of both worlds!

My Experience with Flippa

The first difference between Flippa and Empire Flippers is that Flippa charges a fee to list your site. I paid $29.00 to list my site and an extra $99.00 to keep my listing confidential.

With an NDA, the potential buyer needs to “sign” a document saying they will not steal your idea or disclose any sensitive information before they can see the details of your business.

At first, my business got a lot of attention, and it seemed like Flippa would work out. Then came the stupid questions.

I kept getting questions that were already listed in the description, like:

“I have a full-time job and can’t spend time on the business. Is it 100% passive?”

“what’s your monetization method?”

“do you use any VAs?”

“Who is your biggest supplier?”

After weeks of answering stupid questions, it became painfully obvious that the buyers on Flippa weren’t serious, and even worse, they might even try to copy my business. The valuation Flippa suggested was also lower than the Empire Flippers Valuation, which would have resulted in me receiving about $50,000 less after the sale.

Flippa

My Experience with Empire Flippers

I ended up selling my site on Empire Flippers for about $300,000, and you can read the full review here.

I chose to list my site on Empire Flippers because the buyers weren’t serious on Flippa. Details about my website were also exposed to random people who might try to copy my website.

Empire Flippers didn’t charge anything for me to list my site, and the due diligence and vetting they put my online businesses through was much more thorough than with Flippa.

The process took about two months before my site was listed, but the valuation I got was higher than with Flippa, so the extra two months were worth it.

It then took about six months for my site to sell. During that time, I talked with about six other Empire Flippers staff from all different departments to help keep my listing updated, perform negotiations, and finally, the sale process.

Empire Flippers handled the entire website migration process, and my digital assets were safe the whole time. They also used an escrow account to hold onto the buyer’s payment, so I felt there was no chance I would be scammed or have my site stolen.

Empire Flippers

Types and Quality of Online Businesses

When it comes to the types of online businesses sold by each broker, Empire Flippers and Flippa have distinct differences.

Empire Flippers sells established, profitable online businesses that generate consistent revenue.

These include e-commerce sites, affiliate sites, content sites, kindle publishing sites, and SaaS businesses.

Empire Flippers focus on businesses with at least a six months track record and a minimum net profit of $1,000 per month. This ensures the quality and value of the sites they sell.

Flippa sells a broader range of online businesses. This includes starter sites, domain names, and established businesses that may still need to be profitable.

They also offer a marketplace for digital assets like mobile phone apps.

While Flippa has a larger quantity of businesses for sale, the quality of the listings may vary, and due diligence is necessary to ensure a worthwhile investment.

Quality of Buyers and Sellers

Empire Flippers and Flippa also differ in the quality of buyers and sellers each broker attracts.

Empire Flippers has a selective process for buyers and sellers, ensuring that only high-quality businesses and serious buyers can access the marketplace.

They have a rigorous vetting process for sellers, verifying financials and traffic sources to ensure that the businesses listed on their platform are legitimate and profitable. This attracts buyers willing to pay a premium for a quality business.

Flippa has a more open marketplace where anyone can buy or sell a website or online business. This means more low-quality businesses and unqualified buyers are on the platform.

While this may result in more affordable prices, it also means that buyers need to be extra diligent in the due diligence process to avoid scams and poorly performing businesses.

Empire Flippers vs Flippa: Website Valuation and Multiples

Empire Flippers generally gives websites and online businesses a higher valuation than Flippa. They do this by taking a multiple of monthly net profit and multiplying it by 25-50x.

Empire Flippers comprehensively analyzes business performance metrics, such as net profit, revenue trends, user engagement, and customer loyalty. This allows them to provide accurate valuations based on current market conditions.

Flippa is more geared towards a faster sale and, because of this, tends to have lower valuations. They also use a yearly profit multiple, averaging about 1.8-3 years of profit or 21.6 – 36 months.

Flippa has a variety of multiples available for buyers to determine an estimated value for their purchase. These include industry-specific multiples and others more commonly used in the online marketplace space.

While neither broker guarantees exact values or results from their respective services, they offer potential buyers valuable insight into the worth of an online business before investing in it.

Website Valuation Tool

Empire Flippers Selling Fees:

Listing Fee – FREE

Empire Flippers charges a commission fee when selling an online business on their platform. The fee is based on a sliding scale, depending on the final sale price of the business. For businesses sold for $700,000 or less, the commission is 15%. For businesses sold between $700,000- $5,000,000, the commission is 8% and 2.5% for anything over 5 Million.

The commission includes services such as vetting, listing creation, and access to Empire Flipper’s exclusive network of buyers.

Use the Empire Flippers Commission Calculator Below

Commission Calculator

Flippa Selling Fees:

Listing Fee – $29

Flippa takes a smaller commission than Empire Flippers, only 5% of the final selling or listing price for larger and 10% for smaller sites. But they charge you a fee to list your site, which ranges from $29.00 to $499.00. I paid $128.00 to have an NDA & Confidentiality agreement attached to my site. Otherwise, anyone on the platform can see your URL and other business details.

Also, as I mentioned above, the quality of the buyers on Flippa is much lower than on Empire Flippers. From my experience, Flippa is better for listing low-value sites (under $10,000), and Empire Flippers is better for high-value areas.

Flippa and Empire Flippers Customer Support

Empire Flippers offers comprehensive customer support to both buyers and sellers. They guide you throughout the process and provide personal consulting services upon request.

For buyers, they provide a step-by-step guide on how to purchase an online business as well as how to create an effective due diligence process.

For sellers, they provide valuable advice on best practices for listing their business and maximizing its potential sale price.

Additionally, Empire Flippers has a dedicated team of account managers available for one-on-one support if needed.

Flippa’s customer support is limited and mainly consists of generic FAQs and help documents found in their knowledge base. However, users can submit requests for additional assistance if needed.

Empire Flippers Employees

Combining Empire Flippers and Flippa

One strategy for maximizing profit in the online business flipping market is to buy low-cost websites on Flippa and improve them using SEO and other optimization techniques.

Flippa’s open marketplace allows for the opportunity to find undervalued websites with growth potential. Once the website has been improved, it can be flipped on a higher-end platform such as Empire Flippers for profit.

By utilizing Empire Flippers’ selective vetting process and high-quality buyer network, the website can be sold for a higher price and increase the profitability of the overall investment.

Additionally, Empire Flippers’ optional services, such as professional photography and marketing outreach, can further enhance the value of the website before it is sold, maximizing the potential profit for the seller.

Overall, this strategy allows for the acquisition and improvement of undervalued websites and the potential for significant profit once you flip them on Empire Flippers.

Pros and Cons of Using Empire Flippers:

Pros:

  1. Thorough Vetting Process: Empire Flippers has a rigorous vetting process that ensures all businesses listed on their platform are legitimate and profitable. This process includes thorough financial and traffic analysis, which helps buyers make informed decisions.
  2. Exclusive Buyer Network: Empire Flippers has a large base of pre-qualified buyers serious about investing in online businesses. This helps sellers reach a wider audience and increase the chances of a successful sale.
  3. Personalized Customer Support: the Empire Flippers team provides personalized support to buyers and sellers. They have a dedicated team of account managers who can provide one-on-one assistance if needed.
  4. Reasonable Fees: Empire Flippers charges a commission fee based on a sliding scale, which means that sellers only pay a percentage of the final sale price. The fees are reasonable and include a range of valuable services.

Cons:

  1. Limited Selection: Empire Flippers only lists online businesses that meet their strict vetting criteria, which means that there is a limited selection of businesses available on the platform.
  2. Commission Fees: While Empire Flippers’ fees are reasonable, they can still be costly for sellers of high-value businesses.
  3. Complex Listing Process: Empire Flippers’ listing process can be complex and time-consuming, which may be challenging for inexperienced sellers.
  4. Long Sales Process: Empire Flippers’ vetting process and high-quality buyer network can result in a longer sales process compared to other platforms.

Pros and Cons of Using Flippa:

Pros:

  1. Large Selection: Flippa has a large selection of online businesses for sale, which provides buyers with a wider range of options to choose from.
  2. Open Marketplace: Flippa has an open marketplace that allows anyone to buy or sell an online business, which means that there are opportunities to find undervalued websites with growth potential.
  3. Lower Fees: Flippa charges lower fees than Empire Flippers, which can be beneficial for sellers of low-value businesses.
  4. User-Friendly: Flippa has a user-friendly platform that is easy to navigate, which makes it a good option for inexperienced buyers and sellers.

Cons:

  1. Lower-Quality Vetting Process: Flippa’s vetting process is not as rigorous as Empire Flippers’, which means that there are increased risks of buying a business that is not profitable or legitimate.
  2. Public Marketplace: Flippa’s open marketplace means that there is more competition among sellers and a higher chance of lower sale prices.
  3. Limited Optional Services: Flippa offers limited optional services to sellers, which means that it may be more challenging to optimize the listing and increase the sale price.
  4. Limited Customer Support: Flippa’s customer support is limited and mainly consists of generic FAQs and help documents found in their knowledge base.
  5. Higher-Risk: Due to the open marketplace, there is a higher risk of scams or fraudulent listings on Flippa, which means that buyers need to be cautious and conduct thorough due diligence before investing in a business.

Empire Flippers vs Flippa Summary

Empire Flippers and Flippa are both decent choices for buying and selling websites, and which one you choose will depend on your investing goals.
If you want to buy or sell a quality, established online business, then go with Empire Flippers.

But if you want to find an undervalued website with a lot of growth potential, then Flippa might have some gems waiting for you to sift through. Flippa is also my choice for selling domains or low-value sites that don’t have a lot of traction yet.

Empire Flipper offers more selection with personalized customer support and professional services; it charges a higher commission fee compared to the open marketplace of Flippa, which has lower fees but a less stringent vetting process.

Ultimately, whether you choose one platform over the other will depend on your specific needs as a buyer or seller. It is important to remember that safety should always be taken into consideration when using either platform, so conducting thorough due diligence before investing in any business is essential.

With these tips in mind, you can make an informed decision about which platform best suits your individual needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Broker is Larger?

Flippa is by far the larger website broker, with over 170,000 registered users, and sells over 10,000 businesses a year.
Empire Flippers is more selective in which type of buyers and sellers it has on its marketplace and currently has about 150 digital assets for sale.

Which broker has the higher risk of getting scammed?

You can lose your money on both platforms if you don’t do your due diligence.
However, Empire Flippers has a much more selective user base and higher site quality, so it can seem less risky.

Which broker has more quality sites?

Empire Flippers sites tend to be of higher quality due to the types of buyers and sellers that their platform attacks.

What is the difference between Empire Flippers and Flippa?

The main differences between Empire Flippers and Flippa are selection, fees, customer support, vetting process, and optional services. Empire Flippers has more selective listing criteria but offers sellers personalized customer support and professional services. On the contrary, Flippa has an open marketplace with lower fees, but its vetting process is less stringent.

Is it better to use Empire Flippers or Flippa?

It depends on your needs as a buyer or seller. If you need personalized customer support and access to professional service providers, then Empire Flipper would be a better option than Flippa, which offers an open marketplace with lower fees, but its vetting process is less stringent.

Does using one of these platforms guarantee success in selling my business?

No platform can guarantee success in selling your business; however, Empire Flippers & Flippa provide comprehensive resources such as tutorials & articles that can help users optimize their listings & maximize sale prices depending upon user needs and goals.

Are there any additional fees when using either of these platforms?

Empire Flipper’s commission is only based on the sale of a web property which ranges from 2.5-15%
Flippa has a minimum $29.00 listing fee and optional services for additional fees.

Is it safe to buy businesses through these platforms?

Empire Flippers and Flippa have measures in place to ensure the safety of transactions, such as a vetting process and customer support. In my experience, Empire Flippers is safer and better for bigger deals, while Flippa is better for smaller transactions.

What other Brokers are there besides Empire Flippers and Flippa?

Motion Invest is a website broker that you can consider if you are looking for a content site.  They have a more curated website selection than Flippa and lower prices than Empire Flippers.  Click here for the full Motion Invest Review.

The Casual Capitalist is enrolled in the Empire Flippers Affiliate Program that help support the time and research that goes into each article.