Selling your webshop... sometimes, after much deliberation, you're simply ready for it. For years, you've poured your heart and soul into your business, spending countless hours researching, curating collections, and dispatching orders. And now, you've simply run out of steam. Time for a new phase, a new challenge, a new plan, or simply: rest.
The first question that might pop into your head is: "What is my webshop worth?" Unfortunately, there's no ready-made answer, and it depends on many factors. Moreover, you can determine the value of a webshop in many different ways. Below you will find more information.
Do you want to sell a webshop?
What should you consider if you are going to sell? To determine a realistic value, you need to consider the following:
- number of unique visitors per month
- number of active customers
- average number of orders per month
- average spend per order
- annual turnover (average over 3 years)
- profit before tax (average over 3 years)
- any existing stock
- registered domain names
- registered (visual) brands such as the logo
- the webshop software used
- investments made
- social media reach (followers)
- social media vanity URLs
- newsletter database
- branding/house style
Webshop valuation and a formula
It is often advised to use 2 to 3 times the annual profit (average of the last 3 years) as a guideline. This can be used for a first rough estimate, but it is a bit simplistic.
This is one of many formulas to approximately calculate the value of your webshop:
2 x profit (average of 3 years)
+
0.8/1.2 times the turnover (average of 3 years)
= subtotal : 2 = result
There are more factors to consider. For example, a good image and a strong domain name have 'brand added value' to which you can attach a price. What about these variables:
- what does it cost to build a new shop from scratch?
- ranking (what does it cost to get close to that?)
- is there a Google Adwords campaign behind it, what would it cost to build one with the same 'history'?
- brand awareness, that is the most important thing!
To give a slightly more concrete answer: roughly speaking, it is quite useful to use 2 to 3 times the annual profit (of the average of the last 3 years) as a guideline. Ultimately, profit is what running a business is all about.
Ready to sell?
If you're going to sell your webshop, SYSO provides a great network for it. In our own search for a party to sell our webshop Applepiepieces (in 2018), we didn't find what we were looking for. Often it came down to a meagre and anonymous listing where you were just a number in a confusing anonymous list, or companies that charged between €5,000 and €10,000 for their services + a percentage of the sales price.
Selling your webshop: let's get started!
Are you, for whatever reason, ready to sell your webshop to a good, genuinely interested new owner? Are you looking for a place where your carefully built business will be appreciated and not be snowed under by hundreds of other offers? Then you've come to the right place. Many have gone before you (successfully).
