Selecting the right marketplace is a crucial step in buying or selling an online business. With several options, understanding the differences between them is critical. With that in mind, this Empire Flippers vs Investors Club comparison highlights the key similarities and differences so you can decide which is right for you.
This comparison covers details that impact buyers and sellers like the types of businesses listed, fees, minimum requirements, price ranges, due diligence, migration, and more.
TLDR
| Features | Investors Club | Empire Flippers |
| Listing Fees | No | No |
| Seller Success Fee | No | Tiered starting at 15% |
| Buyer Fee | No | No |
| Vetted Buyers | Yes | Yes |
| Due Diligence Reports | Yes | No |
| Site Migration Service | n/a | Yes |
| Legal Documents | n/a | Not as standard |
| Exclusivity Period | None | 60 days |
To keep things simple, we’ll compare them on individual category levels.
First up…
Listing Categories
For sellers, whether a marketplace supports the sale of your digital asset type is the first thing to look for. There’s no point comparing fees, potential buyer pools, or added extras until you know the answer to this all-important question. But, as a buyer, unless you have a particular set of criteria, this factor is likely to have less impact.
Empire Flippers
The Empire Flippers marketplace supports a wide range of sites . Alongside content sites (like blogs and niche websites), you can also find FBA, Amazon Merch, SaaS, dropshipping, and e-commerce sites, as well as the occasional mobile app.
Given the scope of the offerings, buyers have the option to filter by monetization, price, or search by niche.
Although the number of acceptable site styles is high, all listings must comply with a strict set of requirements. These include:
- $2000/month net monthly profit minimum
- Track record of earning revenue for at least 12 months
- Google Analytics or Clicky installed for at least 3 months
- Content sites must have been on the same domain for at least 12 months
- No evidence of manipulation with penalties or redirects
- Service-based business cannot have more than 50% of their revenue from a single client
- Social profiles cannot have fake followers
- No sites related to adult content, gambling, hacking or payday loans, or selling products containing CBD or hemp oil.
Read our Empire Flippers review for more details.
Investors Club
Investors Club specializes in profit-generating content websites (affiliate marketing, display and direct advertising) and e-commerce sites (including Amazon FBA, dropshipping, print-on-demand, and more), but you can sell almost any type of online business.
Businesses must have at least 12 months of history and earn at least $30/month. Regardless of what kind of online business you are selling, Investor Club’s minimum requirements are more accessible than Empire Flippers’.
Fees
Once you’ve established whether a marketplace supports the site you’re looking to buy or sell, what fees they impose should be the next big question. And by big, we mean possibly the most important question you’ll ever ask, aside from perhaps “Will you marry me?”
That’s because, while a few % difference in fees might not look that big on paper, it can quickly add up — particularly when you start looking at sites in the 5+ figure range.
So how do the two compare? Well, both marketplaces have free listings for sellers, but that’s pretty much where the similarities end.
Empire Flippers
Empire flippers users a tiered success fee for sellers. The amount you pay on the sale of your online business depends on its final selling price.
- Under $700,000 — flat 15% commission on the sale price
- $700,000 to $5m — 15% commission up to $700,000 and then 8% on the remaining
- $5m and above — 15% commission on first $70k, 8% on the amount up to $5m, and 2.5% on the remaining amount
So as an example, on the sale of a site worth $6 million, a business owner would be charged a $474,000 commission.
(15% on $700k = $105,000 | 8% on $4.3m = $344,000 | 2.5% on remaining $1m = $25,000)
Related reading: Check out this list of top Empire Flippers alternatives.
Investors Club
On the other hand, Investors Club charges no listing fees and no success fees at all. Sellers can be confident that regardless of the final selling price, they have to pay absolutely nothing. Investors Club is allowing sellers to keep more of their money.
The table below shows the success fees of each platform at various price points.
| Comparison of Success Fees | ||
| Selling Price | Empire Flippers Fee | Investors Club Fee |
| $75,000 | $11,250 | $0 |
| $150,000 | $22,500 | $0 |
| $500,000 | $75,000 | $0 |
| $1,000,000 | $129,000 | $0 |
| $2,500,000 | $249,000 | $0 |
Buying
As a buyer or investor, some of the key features to look for in a website broker are the safety and security features they offer, customer service, and ease of use.
We’re going to cover customer service as its own topic later on, but here’s how the two look after buyers.
Empire Flippers
To access the key information about a site on the Empire Flippers marketplace, including the URL and detailed traffic/earnings reports, you’ll need first to unlock the listing through your Empire Flippers account.
To do this, you’ll need to provide proof of funds by either connecting your bank account or uploading financial documents. You’ll also need to verify your identity with a passport or government-issued ID. This gets you to “verified buyer” status up to a certain price range and gives you the option of unlocking up a certain number of listings in that price range. For more unlocks, you’ll need to contact the sales team.
With a listing unlocked, you also have the chance to ask the seller questions about the site. You’ll see an option to contact the seller with a question or schedule a call with the seller.
Once you’ve found a site, the buying process is simply a case of selecting ‘Buy Now’ and sending a wire transfer. If you don’t want to pay the full asking price, you can submit an offer. Empire Flippers operates on a “first in” policy , whereby the first full price wire received wins the purchase.
It’s worth noting that although buyers can offer a lower price, if it gets accepted by the seller, the offer is then circulated to other active “verified buyers” for 24 hours. So even if you’ve won the wire race, you could still see your offer sniped.
All sales on the Empire Flippers marketplace include a 14-day inspection period before releasing payment to the seller. The inspection period gives the buyer a chance to ensure that everything was represented accurately by the seller. If the gross revenue during the inspection falls by more than 50% (based on the advertised daily average), the buyer has the right to cancel the transaction or renegotiate.
New listings go live every Monday, but investors with smaller budgets may find the prices a stumbling block. Most listings fall within the 6 to 7 figure range, so it’s not as accessible for investors with budgets below $100,000.
Investors Club
Signing up to be a member of Investors Club’s marketplace is free.
However, buyers have an option to upgrade to our Premium membership. This is done via a subscription ($59/month, $390/year) and includes:
- Instant access to all listings (5 days before free members)
- Due diligence reports, traffic and financials, URL, P&L statements, and other business details
- Priority support
Although the Premium membership offers many advantages, it’s not required. Free members can contact sellers, place offers, and purchase through the online marketplace.
When you’re interested in a listing, you can easily submit and offer.
And if you have questions about the listing, you can contact the seller through the convenient form on the listing page.
For those with smaller budgets, the Investors Club marketplace includes an excellent selection of sites for sale below $100,000, with some listings as low as $5,000. Investors Club is one of the few marketplaces that offers curated listings in this price range.
Buyers love Investors Club because of the curated listings for all budgets and the benefits available through the Premium membership.
Due Diligence Reports
Buying a website, no matter the price point, is a big decision. As with any other investment, appropriate research should be undertaken. Due diligence reports can make your life a bit easier by compiling all the information into one place. So, what do the two platforms offer in the way of due diligence reports?
Empire Flippers
Basically, you’re on your own.
Empire Flippers vet listings to make sure the information is accurate, but after that, it’s up to the buyer to complete any due diligence they feel is necessary.
Investors Club
Investors Club offers some of the most detailed due diligence reports in the industry, free as standard to all Premium members.
While not all listings will include all the reports, some of the information you will see includes:
- URL
- Business name
- Financial details, graphs and charts (e.g. YOY revenue and profit trends)
- Traffic details, graphs and charts (e.g. traffic source distribution, and trends)
- Site information, including the domain strength, metrics, and spam signals
Save your valuable time with the help of the advanced due diligence reports available with a Premium membership.
Listing
We’ve already covered the all-important fees, but here’s what else sellers should know before picking one platform over the other.
Empire Flippers
Online businesses that meet Empire Flippers’ minimum requirements can apply directly through the website.
Their website states that sellers should expect an average of 3–4 weeks for a listing to go live; however, it can easily take much longer. Many sellers find the onboarding process with Empire Flippers to be long and cumbersome.
When listing, Empire Flippers asks sellers to agree to a two-month exclusivity period. If after two months a site hasn’t sold, you have the option of keeping it with Empire Flippers or delisting it and taking it elsewhere.
Investors Club
Investors Club does not require an exclusivity agreement. You can list at Investors Club, and elsewhere, at the same time.
Investors Club’s listing process is intuitive and quick. You can fill out a submission form in 10 minutes, and have your business listed in as little as 24 hours.
New sites are published as they become available, so there’s no waiting around to go live.
Valuation Factors
One important difference to note between the two platforms is the factors that go into valuations. Empire Flippers includes discretionary expenses, like the cost of links, content, etc., in their valuations.
Investors Club allows sellers do decide on the asking price.
Investors Club offers a streamlined process for getting your listing on the marketplace, plus no success fees.
Asset Transfer
Migrating a site to a new owner is more complicated than simply creating a new user account and changing passwords. Done incorrectly and you risk affecting the site’s traffic flow and ultimately revenue. Not to mention transferring ownership of content requires legal contracts to protect both parties. So, is this something the two platforms offer?
As it turns out, yes.
Empire Flippers
Once the funds from the sale have cleared, Empire Flippers take care of transferring the site to the new owner. It’s a service included in the sale, but they also offer sellers the option of handling it directly.
Once a site has transferred to the new owner, the seller is responsible for any additional support such as Skype calls or email support that may be required. However, the whole process is relatively quick, with the Empire Flipper’s website stating that it takes on average 1-3 weeks to go from sale to seller payment.
Investors Club
Investors Club offers a similar after-sale service to members too, but only to their “full service” sellers.
Once the free in-house escrow has been funded, Investors Club team of experts set about initiating the migration process. This includes the transfer of
- Domain name
- The site’s files
- Hosting
- Affiliate IDs
- Any additional assets included in the sale
Investors Club takes care of all the legal necessities, including drafting an Asset Purchase Agreement for both parties. As part of the service, we also include a 14-day inspection period which ensures that the average revenue falls within the acceptable range. If not, buyers have the option to back out before the funds are transferred to the seller.
Although sellers are asked to provide up to 30 days of after-sale support, the majority of the Q&A is handled by the Investors Club analysts. Any additional requirements would be laid out in the Asset Purchase Agreement before a sale is finalized, so a seller knows what to expect.
Start Your Journey with Investors Club
After reading this review of Empire Flippers vs. Investors Club, it should be clear why thousands of investors trust us to handle their website transactions.
Investors Club offers the lowest fees in the industry, 100% verified listings, and expert analysis as standard.
Explore the marketplace to see what online business opportunities are waiting for you, or get started listing your e-commerce or content website today.
Hannah Beazley
Hannah is a content marketing specialist at Investors Club and a freelance copywriter. When she's not busy behind the keyboard, you'll find her baking her signature salted caramel brownies or trying to sink that elusive hole-in-one.