There are no real limits to the amount of money that can be made flipping websites for profit. The only obstacle is time. For those willing to risk money to make money by outsourcing content for tens of websites at a time, the profits can be extremely substantial. But there is one question that ponders in the mind of all site flippers, and that question is: What is more profitable – to develop websites/blogs and sell them within days of creation, if not on the day of creation, or is it more profitable to keep and establish websites/blogs for weeks/months/years before selling them?
The reasons why this question arises so often are many. It comes from doubt that the time spent creating the websites is not generating the best profit possible, through inspiration of seeing a blog that is only a few months old selling for tens of thousands of dollars, or through that desire for instant cash. It all comes down to the personal status of the website flipper, such as whether or not they find it easy to have SEO done on a site or whether or not they have time to communicate readers of a blog they have established.
Obviously, there are both pros and cons for flipping new and established websites/blogs, so in order to come to the best conclusion on which type of flip is best I have listed out the pros and cons of each below.
The One-Day Website Flip
Pros
- Instant cash.
- No dealing with any questions from readers that will consume time.
- No time consuming tasks such as link building.
- They can sell for anywhere between $70 and $300 for a simple content blog.
- Only a low amount of articles need to be outsourced.
- The lower price can attract more buyers.
- No proof of traffic or revenue is required.
- No branding required, which means that domains can be content rich, which means higher bids.
Cons
- If outsourcing, because of no traffic or revenue, the profit after expenses can be little.
- There is no oppurtunity to take the website to its full potential on another level.
- The price will not exceed $300.
- Because the seller is dealing with a lot more newbies, the transaction process can become a hassle.
The Established Site Flip
Pros
- The website can achieve it’s potential, in branding, SERPS, traffic, revenue, design, and publicity.
- Prices are a lot higher.
- If the site is a blog and the owner forms a connection with the reader, the owner can release their own product which readers will buy, increasing revenue which adds a lot of value to the website. (Take a look at SiteFlipU.com and the release of the BlogFlippingBlueprint – Bryan ended up receiving an extra $30,000 for this).
- Being indexed and ranked can significantly boost the value.
Cons
- After months of work, many established websites may only sell for a few hundred dollars, only slightly higher than a one day flip which has no traffic, revenue or links.
- Time consuming.
- If the flipper loses interest in the site after a few weeks and it goes downhill, the hard work is put to waste.
- Expenses are a lot greater, especially if the owner buys SEO services or a custom design or something along those lines. (sometimes blogs sell for less than the price of the themes or scripts that run them).
After weighing up all of these pros and cons, in my opinion I feel that the optimum age to sell a site is one week after creation. This is because, one day flips have a much higher hourly working rate than established sites, but by leaving the site for a week to be indexed and by gaining some social traffic the value can be significantly increased without much work.
November 13, 2008
Very very good article Simon!
Here’s my take: why not do both? Flip the websites you don’t feel have much long term potential a couple of days after creation and if you have a killer idea that could eventually lead to a 10,000$ flip then work on that project in your spare time. I think it would be possible to have 1 or two long term projects and still flip a quick website every week 
What do you think?
November 14, 2008
You make some very good points. Sometimes you have to might want to flip quickly for short term reasons. Maybe you want/need the money or maybe you are saving up for something.
In my case, I am focusing on flipping one site per week for a few weeks. The reason is in the short term I am learning how to build websites. It is great practice to make them worry of being purchased. You learn a lot.
Also, I am saving to buy some resources that I have my eye out for one of my niche sites. This resource cost about $400 and I don’t want to dig into my pocket. I have done enough of that it is time to develop and use these skills to pay the bills.
Sometimes it just depends on what you want.
November 14, 2008
Great post. You brought up some very good questions and points. The only way this will work for a newbie is to systemize as much as possible and also to think of this as being a business like any other endeavor. Make end goals and work back from there to for how to approach this business.
November 14, 2008
@ Ben – I think it is possible – however, sometimes it may be hard to concentrate on building the quick flip sites when focusing on establishing a few other blogs. From my experience trying to full on promote more than 2 sites at once can seem hard.
In a few months or so though I am going with a long term site flip as I had a revolutionary idea 
November 14, 2008
I think its a matter of simply weighing up how you want to make money.
You can make money by selling these small content websites, but I think you can make just as much money by putting the same time and effort into one or two sites of your own and making money from them. It may take longer though, but if you can wait then I think the rewards would be similar.
November 14, 2008
Simon – I always go for flipping the established site. I feel that the time I spend on establishing traffic and revenue will pay off with a higher sell.
November 14, 2008
I’m hoping to start doing this soon; I plan to start with some quick turnaround projects and use them as a learning experience. I’d rather not invest a month or so in my first project and then screw something up.
November 15, 2008
Great topic and insights.
I’m a long term value building kind of guy…..holding out with the hopes and dreams of the big bucks…..but as you say, it’s all about each person’s personal goals/objectives.
November 15, 2008
Flipping a site all depends on the potential in which it can have in the future. If it is on a particular niche that has very low competition, flipping it after growing the site would be much better in my opinion. On the other hand, flip the competitive niches site asap to get some profit out of it.
Wei Liang
November 15, 2008
[...] The Website Flipping Dilemma – I actually really did enjoy reading this post. Simon made some very good points on the pros and cons of selling sites. Although some points are debatable due to what someone is willing to pay, it really is a good rough guide. The only downfall I can think of about the post is that someone getting into website flipping may be a little afraid to do so due to the risk of failure pointed out. The main thing you need to know is whenever you try to flip a website is that you take a risk of losing money if the site doesn’t sell. I do however recommend checking out that post as it really does list all you need to know about what you are getting into. [...]
November 17, 2008
Some really good thoughts there. I haven’t tried flipping an established website yet, but am really hoping to do so soon. Startup websites are good for a quick amount of small cash, but established sites have the potential to birng in so much more!
November 18, 2008
I personally think it is better to hold onto them for at least a year. I try to build up there SEO Page Rank and there traffic, neither happens over night.
November 19, 2008
I always wanted to try site flipping but I don’t know where to start or what topic i’ll go for.
November 20, 2008
Hmmm, you’ve given me a bit of food for thought considering that I’m pretty new in the business of site flipping. In any case, I agree that I’d prefer to flip a site that’s well indexed in SE.
Yan
November 20, 2008
The problem I have is not so much as what niche to concentrate on, because I try to stay within the range of my interests in which I have passion for. My challenge is finding enough venues to actually sell the website once I’ve gotten it developed.
November 21, 2008
I’m inclined to agree with Nerdizen, i could come up with one quality “flip” site every three days but i don’t think i would have the time to find someone who wants to buy it.
November 22, 2008
I did once tried to go in blog flipping but I failed. It’s just that am really lazy in updating the blog
November 26, 2008
A great post indeed – and some great comments as well.
A few pointers for people wanting to get started…
If you want to do a quick flip, bring your A game. The “startup” style flip is becoming increasingly popular and unfortunately 75% of the sites that are posted up in this category look like crap and have crappy content.
If you prefer the big money, but not as often.. then establishing a flip is the way to go. look at siteflipu, he built a blog, established it, created an info product made $11,000 and sold it for $35,000 – in 6 months. If you know what you’re doing and can generate sales and income everytime… then start 5 or 6 blogs, build them for 6 months to a year.. launch prouducts etc.. build subs.. and sell them all at the end of the year.. $50,000 – $150,000 easily…
If you’re lazy.. don’t get into site flipping..
Elijahs last blog post..Monday At The Office With Elijah
December 2, 2008
@Elijah Some good entrepreneurial ideas there. The skys the limit! It will take a lot of hard work, but if you are making $50K to $150K then I think its work getting off your ass and doing it!
December 2, 2008
It might not always be a good idea. As I looks at it, there may a lot of benefits, but only if you are short on time and looking for something that is available fully-loaded. On the other hand, it could be momentary for some, just in order to make a quick buck out of it. Not a bad idea at all…
December 10, 2008
I hope doing the same thing. Some projects still in a learning process. Hope it will doing great.
how tos last blog post..Travel sickness
December 12, 2008
Interesting post and definitely well thought of. I have not yet done any flips but have considered it. I think now its clear that I definitely will give it a shot. Thanks for this post!
Matt Helphreys last blog post..Develop a Link Building Strategy
January 3, 2009
I have enjoyed reading your site and the comments, but I must say that the picture obscuring the writers names and the first few words of the comment is a bit offputting. I really want to be able to read every word that people are putting so that I can learn as much as possible.
http://www.paullhamilton.com
January 4, 2009
This is a good post. There are a lot of pros and cons to selling established sites or new sites. I have sold sites in both categories, so I know that there are good things and bad things to both sides.