Ever Been Asked To Sell Your Site?

[Moonface]

I had someone join my board a few days ago asking if I would sell them my board, and as usual the answer from me was no. They are also not the first person to do so, since I've had a few people PM me about buying my forum from me ever since I moved it to MyBB. I never really get the point of just joining a site to immediately PM the owner and ask to buy it from them, since I doubt any site owner would sell their site to a complete stranger who comes asking. XD

 

[Cory]

I don't think I have, but a few times I've been asked to merge sites together.

 

[Kale]

Nope.

I always just shut my forums down and move on usually. I do not like transferring ownership at all as from my experiences new owner/owners of a forum doesn't go well and the forum will decline further.

I am more than willing to possibly sell the forum database and/or give it away to somebody, tbh. If the database is worth anything, that is.

 

[Cedric]

I had someone join my board a few days ago asking if I would sell them my board, and as usual the answer from me was no. They are also not the first person to do so, since I've had a few people PM me about buying my forum from me ever since I moved it to MyBB. I never really get the point of just joining a site to immediately PM the owner and ask to buy it from them, since I doubt any site owner would sell their site to a complete stranger who comes asking. XD

Did you also get an actual offer or just the question? I imagine 500USD would be a low offer, but what if an offer of 10.000USD would be given? That is a whole other question I imagine.

 

[Shortie]

Yes, I have. It was only one time and it was back when I had my general chat forum. I had been running the forum for around 5 years when I was approached by someone who took a liking to my forum and how active it was and wanted to buy it from me. Being that it was something I had worked so hard on for those 5 years and a further 3 years after that I refused to sell it and continued to own it myself.

 

[Smokey]

Yes, I have, i've been asked a handful of times to sell Revillution. I've turned them down every time.

 

[Kale]

Yes, I have, i've been asked a handful of times to sell Revillution. I've turned them down every time.

I honestly don't wanna see it sold to anyone anyway. The forum is fine as it is even if it's not as active as it had been.

I am not against a forum wanting to merge with mine if we are of the same genre/niche. If the owner wants to give me the database and whatever for free, then by all means. A gaming forum wanting to merge with my own gaming forum I'd maybe consider but have to think on it for a day or two.

Yes, I have. It was only one time and it was back when I had my general chat forum. I had been running the forum for around 5 years when I was approached by someone who took a liking to my forum and how active it was and wanted to buy it from me. Being that it was something I had worked so hard on for those 5 years and a further 3 years after that I refused to sell it and continued to own it myself.

Yeah, no wayyy. If I ran a forum for that long and somebody wanted to buy it from me I'd refuse too.

 

[Moonface]

Did you also get an actual offer or just the question? I imagine 500USD would be a low offer, but what if an offer of 10.000USD would be given? That is a whole other question I imagine.

Sometimes they'll throw an offer down, but not always. I can recall telling someone no who didn't provide any offer, who then thought pitching $300 would somehow change my mind.
As for whether I would take it for $10k, it's hard to say really. I have a lot of attachment to UG because I met my wife through it, as well as many people I would consider lifelong friends, and I wouldn't feel great selling everyone's data to somebody.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

I have on forums I've had in the past.

I always declined.

Nowadays, I would also decline because they're mainly to support my hobbies and passions.

I know many forum owners who will usually sell right from the start if asked. I've known one who would always use the same database of memebrs and posts and resell his forums over and over again which is wrong!

I've bought forums in the past. I bought a small one for $50 which turned out to be a waste of money.

I bought out my competition for a few thousand dollars when they wanted an exit. That was smart at the time but I wasn't smart about backing up the forum and a critical error caused me to lose that forum

 

[Arantor]

Have had offers over the years, never sold. It's never clear whether they're offering for the memberlist and all that data therein, or the members + content, or the customisations.

But one thing I have noticed is that few forums really ever survive a buyout, and it's usually better to just close rather than become a sellout.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

But one thing I have noticed is that few forums really ever survive a buyout, and it's usually better to just close rather than become a sellout.

I think the only way to truly survive a buyout is to keep the forum exactly like it is when you buy it out and keep the same moderation style.

It might take you a few months to join, research and learn it.

Then after the buy out, make changes that you want to make very carefully and slowly.

That might work!

 

[Henrywrites]

I think the only way to truly survive a buyout is to keep the forum exactly like it is when you buy it out and keep the same moderation style.

It might take you a few months to join, research and learn it.

Then after the buy out, make changes that you want to make very carefully and slowly.

That might work!

This is true. Making wholesome changes immediately after a buyout might not work for the people that are members of the forum. So, it is important to take it at a step before deciding on what exactly to change after some analysis.

 

[Kyng]

It has happened at least once, but I think only once.

Of course the answer was no .

 

[Heatman]

Did you also get an actual offer or just the question? I imagine 500USD would be a low offer, but what if an offer of 10.000USD would be given? That is a whole other question I imagine.

I think most of the time, they are just joking around because they never really make any offers. I saw someone do that on Gaminglatest.com earlier this year on the owners profile and I couldn't stop laughing. If he was serious, he could have gone to DM to talk business.