For Sale: @@ HostRatings.com - Fully Developed Hosting Directory/Review site @@

brav0 · #1 08-02-2004, 11:06 PM

URL: www.HostRatings.com

The site was started about a year ago and the database currently holds ~2,500 hosting companies. It is listed in DMOZ and has PR5 with over 2,000 pages indexed by Google. It gets over ~2,500 visitors/month from Google searches alone (http://www.HostRatings.com/screenshots/sestats.gif). This is free traffic, not ppc. Overview of traffic stats for the month of July can be found here: http://www.hostratings.com/stats/

This is a fully automated directory/review web site, professionally programmed in PHP/MySQL using the Smarty template system, so it's easy to change/improve the interface. It has a very extensive administrative back end. You can manage just about any parameter/setting of this site from the admin interface. It can be hosted on a regular shared hosting account, there are no special requirements.

Admin I/F screenshots are here:
http://www.HostRatings.com/screensho...management.gif
http://www.HostRatings.com/screensho...management.gif
http://www.HostRatings.com/screensho...management.gif

The site does not produce much income because I have not done any marketing/promotion. Income varies between $200 and $400 per month from Google Adsense and Commission Junction. There are income opportunities available by marketing to the hosts listed, which I have not had the time to do.

I have no time to deal with this site and I'm looking to sell it. The asking price is $12,000, firm. No monthly payments are available, I am not a bank. Included in the sale are the site and its contents as well as the .com & .net versions of the domain name. The site is bug-free and is sold as-is. I will provide the contact info of the company that did the development/programming and you can deal directly with them if you need work done in future.

If you are interested, please contact me via PM or by email: sale (at) hostratings.com.

I would much prefer to answer questions privately through email/IM with interested individuals rather than post here. Please do not waste my time if you are not seriously interested. Solid references from a previous mid 5-figure transaction (through WHT) are available.

tcaim · #2 08-03-2004, 01:34 PM

How do you justify $12,000 when it only makes $400/month? That's like 2.5 years of revenue? It's a great site, and I am very interested, but I'm not sure that I understand what is being sold. Can you help me out a little please. I don't mind paying, but I just want to make sure I know what I'm getting :-)

brav0 · #3 08-03-2004, 02:12 PM

The cost is a bargain.

You get a nice-lookinbg, custom-developed web site that cost close to $7K to build, content, a great domain, visitors, access to hosting companies you can market to, DMOZ listing, heavy Google indexing and a ~$4K/yr income.

If I were any good in marketing, I would not sell the site. It has great potential, it just needs the right person to run it.