Has anyone ever offered to buy your forum?

A 3.5x multiplier isn't that bad to walk away from it all. I'd have to see the non-compete to finally agree to it.

Cause, if you're that much into your content, there are always other platforms (WordPress for example) to publish content where users can still comment on, etc.. I'm sure they might not have put that in the clause because they want to own community-generated content, it seems, but ignoring the fact that you generated pretty much "blog" content.

Sure, it's starting over, but it's 100,000 to float a year, 45,000 to reinvest in work for a year, and 100,000 to add to a 401K (after taxes, assuming US, which you might get a break on if you add the latter to a 401K; I'm no CPA)
 
frm said:
A 3.5x multiplier isn't that bad to walk away from it all. I'd have to see the non-compete to finally agree to it.

Cause, if you're that much into your content, there are always other platforms (WordPress for example) to publish content where users can still comment on, etc.. I'm sure they might not have put that in the clause because they want to own community-generated content, it seems, but ignoring the fact that you generated pretty much "blog" content.

Sure, it's starting over, but it's 100,000 to float a year, 45,000 to reinvest in work for a year, and 100,000 to add to a 401K (after taxes, assuming US, which you might get a break on if you add the latter to a 401K; I'm no CPA)
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I agree, that offer isn't really that bad. My thing is that I actually enjoy running the forum enough that they would have had to offer me a lot more than that to sell it, because I would be giving up something that to me, is more than just a business.

I could always start over, yes. But I wouldn't feel right unless I got some ridiculous amount for it I think.

I guess at this point in my life I just don't need the money enough to settle for that amount. Maybe if I was planning to retire, but since I'm 36, I figure I've still got some good years left in me ;)
 
PumpinIron said:
but since I'm 36
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If I did my math correctly and you took the less risky route, sticking $100K into a 7 year CD would be $123K the first term, $152K the second, $187K the third, and by the time you're able to withdraw Social Security, $231K the 4th.

You then stick that $231K into a savings account and withdraw $10K a year on top of SS's approximately $24K a year and be better off than a lot more elders right now.

And, you still have 30 more years to add to those figures where retirement could be $100K a year like you're used to living if you worked hard on it from now till you get back in the groove of things.

If it were me, I would ask for a 5x and walk with a 4.5x multiplier to cover taxes and then have a bit more to reinvest in content creation that you can spin on your own, a great domain name that has established traffic and backlinks already, and then be able to retire at 66 with a tad bit more than that (or earlier than 66 ;)).
 
frm said:
If I did my math correctly and you took the less risky route, sticking $100K into a 7 year CD would be $123K the first term, $152K the second, $187K the third, and by the time you're able to withdraw Social Security, $231K the 4th.

You then stick that $231K into a savings account and withdraw $10K a year on top of SS's approximately $24K a year and be better off than a lot more elders right now.

And, you still have 30 more years to add to those figures where retirement could be $100K a year like you're used to living if you worked hard on it from now till you get back in the groove of things.

If it were me, I would ask for a 5x and walk with a 4.5x multiplier to cover taxes and then have a bit more to reinvest in content creation that you can spin on your own, a great domain name that has established traffic and backlinks already, and then be able to retire at 66 with a tad bit more than that (or earlier than 66 ;)).
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Well that definitely doesn’t make it sound as bad ;)
 
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PumpinIron said:
I would say 70% of the revenue is from Amazon, 10% from Google, 10% from eBay, and 10% from supporting member upgrades.
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That's an amazing amount of revenue - good work :). I'd be really interested to read your advice on monitizing forums, if you're interested in writing a thread on it.
 
woody said:
Same reason I've turned down offers for my forum....it's been my passion for 30 years, fulltime for 10+. And thus far, no one has come close to my sell price ;)
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I hear ya, we all have a price, but it would have to be enough to where you'd never look back and regret it. I've managed to turn mine into my career, and it's nice to have a career that is also my passion / hobby.
 
PumpinIron said:
I hear ya, we all have a price, but it would have to be enough to where you'd never look back and regret it. I've managed to turn mine into my career, and it's nice to have a career that is also my passion / hobby.
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Hopefully you've been able to travel as part of the "job"....we've spent 8 weeks on the road thus far in 2019 with at least one more week planned. PLUS a couple weeks not "business" related ;) Summers in Ouray doesn't suck ;)
 
woody said:
Hopefully you've been able to travel as part of the "job"....we've spent 8 weeks on the road thus far in 2019 with at least one more week planned. PLUS a couple weeks not "business" related ;) Summers in Ouray doesn't suck ;)
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Not yet, but the only think keeping me from traveling at the moment is some very little kids (three of them). Once they get a little older, I plan on taking them on these adventures (y)

Wish I lived closer to Utah, that's for sure!
 
About 15 years ago or so, I had a couple of people express interest (the person who runs city-data.com, and maybe Internet Brands?), but they wouldn't name a price. I don't run my forum as a business, and didn't know how to value it. The only revenue at the time came from donations, and maybe the occasional banner ad from someone who approached me. Even with very heavy traffic, and 300+ good posts/day and growing (at the time), revenue x 3.5 would still result in something under $1,000. I threw out a number ($40K?), and never heard back from them.

I got a couple of unsolicited offers a few years back. They were ridiculously low; $1,000 or $2,000. I know the worth of a Web site doesn't consider the user-generated content, or the work I put into it. I'm not going to let it go for the price of a 15 year old Kia Rio, though. The site is un-monetized, so I still wouldn't know how to value it. Zero times 3.5 is zero.

Has anyone set up their site as a 501c3 (USA non-profit) or community-owned site? What's the legal mechanism? If something happens to me, I'd like the forum to continue on.
 
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Dan Blather said:
Has anyone set up their site as a 501c3 (USA non-profit) or community-owned site? What's the legal mechanism? If something happens to me, I'd like the forum to continue on.
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That's a whole separate topic.

I have prints in a safe and electronic outlines of how to access my 2FA registrars (domains and servers) so that billing can be updated if need be.

There was a famous domainer that passed away that did not include these steps. Unfortunately, some of his valuable domains dropped for others to pick up for peanuts. I learned from that, and, everything I do is now logged and frequently updated in our Standard Operating Procedures.

While I may not make a hundred thousand a year yet on my forum projects, combined, I wouldn't want to lose that for my next of kin.
 
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