Marketplaces and leasing solve different problems. Flippa, Empire Flippers and Motion Invest exist to sell websites that make money, and they price those sites on profit. Leasing exists for sites that still have traffic, links and a ranking brand but no longer earn anything because the business behind them closed. If your site is profitable, use a marketplace. If it is a dormant website, a lease-to-own deal usually fits better.
All three marketplaces below are reputable and useful. The point of this page is not that one route is good and the other bad, but that each is built for a different kind of asset.
Profit decides the route
Marketplace buyers buy cash flow. On Empire Flippers, the published pricing formula is 12 months of net profit multiplied by 1.7 to 5 or more. On Flippa in 2025, ecommerce stores sold for about 1.4x annual profit on average and content sites about 2.6x. Those numbers are healthy for running businesses. For a site whose profit is now zero, the same arithmetic gives a price close to zero.
A lease-to-own buyer looks at different things: whether the site is still indexed, how much organic traffic it gets, whether it has strong authority links and whether the brand still ranks. With us, payments typically run at roughly $300 to $500 per month per site until the agreed price is paid in full, and we take over hosting, renewals and upkeep from day one.
Three marketplaces and a lease, row by row
| Factor | Flippa | Empire Flippers | Motion Invest | Lease-to-own (The Blue Ocean Websites) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Built for | Wide range of online businesses | Profitable, established businesses | Profitable content sites and YouTube channels | Dormant sites of former real businesses |
| Upfront cost | Listings from $29 to a few hundred dollars per six months | No listing fee stated | No upfront fees | None |
| Fee on success | Success fee shown as 10%, plus about 1% or more in payment fees | 15% on most sales under $700K, $10,000 minimum | 20% on small sales, falling to 5% above $500K | None |
| Profit needed | None required to list, but buyers price on profit | $24,000 a year for at least 12 months | Profitable assets | None; traffic, links and brand matter |
| Typical time | Around 90 days for clean mid six-figure deals | 130 days on average | Not published; some listings run as falling price auctions | No listing period; set by checks and the written agreement |
| How you are paid | Lump sum through escrow | Lump sum | Lump sum | Monthly, roughly $300 to $500 per site |
| Who carries upkeep until sold | You | You | You | Us, from day one |
Sources for the marketplace rows: Flippa pricing, Empire Flippers seller terms and scoreboard, and Motion Invest with its published commission tiers.
What the fees look like on one illustrative sale
Percentages are easier to judge with a number attached. Suppose a small, profitable content site sells for $60,000. Using each marketplace’s published terms, and treating this purely as an illustration:
| Route | Fee on a $60,000 sale | What the seller keeps before escrow and tax |
|---|---|---|
| Flippa (success fee shown as 10%, plus roughly 1% payment fees) | About $6,600, plus the listing plan | About $53,400 |
| Empire Flippers (flat $10,000 below about $66,667) | $10,000 | $50,000 |
| Motion Invest (10% in the $50,000 to $100,000 band) | $6,000 | $54,000 |
For a profitable site, those fees buy reach, vetting and buyers who are ready to pay. They are usually worth it. The arithmetic changes for a dormant site. If the realistic price is small, a $10,000 minimum fee can swallow most of it, and a 20% commission on a small sale takes a large slice. That is not a criticism of the marketplaces; their fee structures are designed around businesses with profit to sell.
When Flippa wins
Flippa is the most open of the three. Anyone can list, so it suits owners who want to test the market themselves. Listings start at $29, with larger plans running a few hundred dollars per six months, and Flippa charges a success fee (shown as 10%) when the sale closes. Closing payments add roughly 1% or more in processing fees.
It wins for a running store, app or content site with real numbers to show, and for owners who are comfortable answering buyer questions and handling negotiation. It is also worth a try for an unusually strong domain, as long as you budget for the fees. Bear in mind that content site sales fell about a third on Flippa in 2025 while SaaS volume rose sharply, so demand varies by type.
When Empire Flippers wins
Empire Flippers wins for an established, profitable online business that clears its bar. It requires at least $24,000 net profit per year and 12 months of consistent revenue, and it vets listings carefully. Its scoreboard shows sites selling for 86% of list price on average and a typical (non distressed) multiple of 2.2x.
A dormant site with no current profit will not qualify. And even a business in decline should note that distressed businesses on Empire Flippers sell for about 1.1x annual profit, half the typical figure. If your site still earns well, though, Empire Flippers is a serious option.
When Motion Invest wins
Motion Invest focuses on profitable websites, especially content and affiliate sites, and YouTube channels. It charges no upfront fee and a commission of 20% on small sales, falling to 5% above $500K. For some listings it runs falling price auctions, where the price drops every 48 hours until the site sells or a reserve is met.
It wins for a small, profitable content site whose owner wants a simple process with no upfront cost. It is less suited to a closed store, app or local business site that no longer has income to show.
Two other names come up often. Founders of software startups sometimes look at Acquire.com, which charges a small monthly listing fee and 6% to 8% only if the startup sells, according to its seller pricing. It suits a startup that still has customers and revenue. Former Shopify merchants sometimes look for Shopify’s own option, but Shopify closed its Exchange marketplace for selling stores on November 1, 2022, so that route no longer exists.
When leasing wins
Leasing wins when the business is gone but the website still has what it earned: traffic, press coverage, links from associations, universities or suppliers, and a name people still search for. Those assets have value, but marketplaces have no clean way to price them without profit. We explain this in detail in why marketplaces reject most dormant sites.
It also wins on cost and effort. You pay no listing fee and no commission, and your hosting and renewal bills stop from the first month. You do not have to write a listing, field questions from strangers or wait out a two month exclusivity period. The trade-off is that you receive the money over time rather than at closing, and you deal with one buyer rather than an open market, so check that buyer as carefully as a marketplace would check you.
Can you do both?
Yes, in sequence. If you are unsure whether the site has any marketplace appeal, a low-cost Flippa listing is a reasonable test. If it attracts no serious bids, a lease-to-own deal remains open as long as the site stays online and indexed. The one thing to avoid is letting the domain lapse while you wait, since an expired domain loses much of its value quickly. Our page on letting a site expire versus leasing it explains the timeline.
Owners with several sites often split them: profitable ones go to a marketplace or a website broker, dormant ones go to lease. If you are weighing a broker, read broker vs direct buyer.
Which to choose
- Profitable for 12 months or more: compare Empire Flippers, Flippa, Motion Invest and brokers. Leasing will rarely beat a profit-based sale.
- Profitable but small and simple: Motion Invest or a self-serve Flippa listing.
- Closed, no profit, but indexed with at least 500 monthly organic visits (Ahrefs estimate) and two or three strong authority links: lease-to-own.
- Closed, no traffic and no strong links: neither route is likely to pay; consider keeping it cheaply or letting it go.
What to do next
- Pull the last 12 months of profit, not revenue. If there is real profit, get a quote from at least one marketplace before anything else.
- If profit is zero, test the site against the leasing basics with the free website value check.
- Send us your site for a free valuation; if a marketplace would serve you better, we will say so.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sell a website with no revenue on Flippa?
You can list it, because Flippa accepts self-serve listings from $29, but buyers on Flippa mostly price sites as a multiple of annual profit. A site with no revenue has nothing for that multiple to work on, so offers tend to be low or absent. It can still be worth trying for a strong domain, but go in with realistic expectations and count the listing and success fees.
Does Empire Flippers accept dormant or closed business websites?
Usually not. Empire Flippers publishes a minimum of $24,000 net profit per year and at least 12 months of consistent revenue, plus a two month exclusivity period. A closed business with no current profit will not meet those rules. If your site is still running and profitable, Empire Flippers is a strong option worth comparing with brokers.
Is leasing my website better than selling it on a marketplace?
It depends on profit. If the site earns steady money, a marketplace sale usually pays more because buyers pay a multiple of that profit. If the business has closed and the site keeps only its traffic, links and brand, leasing often pays more than a marketplace would, because a dormant site rarely attracts strong bids there. Leasing also removes your hosting and renewal costs from day one.
How long does it take to sell a website on a marketplace?
Empire Flippers reports an average of 130 days to sell on its public scoreboard, and Flippa says mid six-figure deals with clean books take around 90 days to close. Smaller or dormant sites can take longer or not sell at all. A lease-to-own deal with a direct buyer can usually be agreed faster, though it still needs checks and a written agreement.
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