Since launching in 2012, Empire Flippers has become one of the most popular marketplaces for buying and selling websites and online businesses. However, despite its popularity, it isn’t ideal for every situation.
This article covers some of the best Empire Flippers competitors you, as either a buyer or seller, may want to consider. These platforms all have some similarities to Empire Flippers, as well as key differences. Read on to learn more and see which options are most suitable for you.
Why You Might Want an Empire Flippers Alternative
Here are some of the most common reasons for considering alternatives to Empire Flippers.
Listing Requirements
Empire Flippers has very specific requirements that businesses must meet to be listed in their marketplace. Those requirements include:
- Minimum of $2,000 monthly net profit over the past 12 months
- At least 3 months of traffic data from Google Analytics or Clicky
- At least 12 months of revenue
- AdSense, Amazon Associates, affiliate, and advertising sites cannot have changed URLs within the past 12 months
- No evidence of manipulated rankings (i.e. manual penalties, deleted accounts, 301 redirects)
- Service-based businesses cannot generate more than 50% of their revenue from one client
- Businesses cannot have fake social media followers
If your website or business falls short of one of these requirements, selling through Empire Flippers isn’t an option. Additionally, meeting these requirements doesn’t guarantee approval. In some cases, Empire Flippers rejected businesses even though they met all the requirements.
Fees
Empire Flippers’ fee structure is a bit convoluted (we cover full details in our Empire Flippers review), but their success fee is a flat 15% for any sale below $700,000. Although this fee is within the industry’s normal range, it’s at the high end.
Some competitors charge success fees similar to Empire Flippers, but there are also lower-cost options to consider. For example, at Investors Club we do not charge any listing fees or success fees.
Sellers wanting to minimize fees to maximize their profit may consider some of Empire Flippers’ competitors with lower fees.
Time-to-List
One common complaint from Empire Flippers’ sellers is the amount of time it takes for a listing to go live. Empire Flippers is known for requiring a great deal of information and documentation from sellers. They suggest sellers expect the verification and vetting process to take 3-4 weeks, but it can often take longer.
Sellers who want a faster process may look elsewhere. For example, new listings submitted to Investors Club are typically reviewed within a few days.
Listing Quantity
Empire Flippers is an active marketplace with several new listings added each week. That could be a pro or a con, depending on your perspective. Some buyers and sellers prefer a smaller marketplace that gives more exposure for each listing. If that’s the case for you, this article includes several you might like.
| Number of Listings | Typical Price Range | Types of Listings | Success Fee | |
| Empire Flippers | 100+ | $100K – $3M+ | Content, ecommerce, SaaS, lead gen, service | Up to 15% |
| Investors Club | ~50 | $20K – $500K | Any | 0% |
| Motion Invest | ~75 | Under $50K | Content | Up to 20% |
| Quiet Light | ~30 | $500K – $5M+ | Content, ecommerce, SaaS, lead gen, service | Not listed |
| Flippa | 4,000+ | Any price | Any | Up to 10% |
| FE International | ~10 | $100K+ | Content, ecommerce, SaaS, lead gen, service | Not listed |
| Website Closers | ~100 | $100K+ | Content, ecommerce, SaaS, lead gen, service | Not listed |
| Website Properties | ~10 | $100K+ | Content, ecommerce, SaaS, lead gen, service | Not listed |
The Best Empire Flippers Alternatives
Here are some of the best Empire Flippers competitors to consider.
1. Investors Club
Investors Club, like Empire Flippers, is a curated marketplace. Only Premium members get access to all of a listing’s details. We take these steps to ensure a safer marketplace and minimize the chance of fraud or scams.
One of the major differences between Investors Club and Empire Flippers is that Investors Club accepts most of high-quality profit generating websites with proven track history of earnings. The lower requirements allow us to serve many clients who don’t meet Empire Flippers’ minimum requirement of $2,000 per month.
Not only can we accommodate some sellers who don’t meet Empire Flippers’ income requirements, but we also serve buyers looking for websites below the six- or seven-figure range. The vast majority of listings at Empire Flippers are priced above $100,000. At Investors Club, we have many listings from $1,000 – $100,000, while still serving the six and seven-figure market.
Investors Club also stands out by offering the option to sell with no fees. Like Empire Flippers, we don’t charge sellers a listing fee. We also do not charge any success fees when a business sells. The table below shows how our success fees compare at several different 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 |
Read Investors Club vs. Empire Flippers for more details
2. Motion Invest
Motion Invest is a curated marketplace that focuses exclusively on content-based websites. Although Empire Flippers lists content sites, e-commerce businesses are more prevalent in their marketplace. Buyers and sellers specializing in blogs and niche websites may prefer Motion Invest.
One of the noteworthy differences between Empire Flippers and Motion Invest is the price range of listings. While almost all of Empire Flippers’ listings have six or seven-figure valuations, Motion Invest mostly deals with four- and five-figure businesses. They do sell some six-figure websites as well, but these listings are in the minority.
The table below shows the breakdown of listing prices at the time of writing.
| Under $10K | $10K to $100K | $100K to $500K | $500K+ | |
| Empire Flippers | 0% | 15% | 58% | 27% |
| Investors Club | 3% | 66% | 22% | 9% |
| Motion Invest | 69% | 27% | 4% | 0% |
Sellers who don’t qualify for Empire Flippers may find Motion Invest to be a suitable alternative.
However, you should be aware that Motion Invest’s success fees in the lower price ranges are pretty high:
- Under $20,000: 20%
- $20,000 – $50,000: 15%
- $50,000 – $100,000: 10%
- $100,000 – $500,000: 7%
- Over $500,000: 5%
3. Quiet Light Brokerage (QLB)
Quiet Light is a website broker that, like Empire Flippers, lists a wide range of online businesses for sale. Their listings include content, e-commerce, Amazon FBA, SaaS, membership sites, and more.
Unlike Empire Flippers, Quiet Light doesn’t publicly list specific requirements for websites or businesses. However, the platform is best suited for established, profitable businesses.
Like Empire Flippers, Quiet Light lists very few businesses below $100,000. As a result, it’s not an ideal option for businesses needing to escape Empire Flippers’ income requirements.
One of the main differences between Quiet Light and Empire Flippers involves the higher-priced tier of their listings. Empire Flippers has very few listings above $3 million, but Quiet Light regularly lists businesses above this price point, and even into eight-figure amounts.
The table below shows the breakdown of listing prices at the time of writing.
| Under $10K | $10K – $100K | $100K – $500K | $500K – $3M | $3M+ | |
| Empire Flippers | 0% | 15% | 58% | 26% | 1% |
| QLB | 0% | 3% | 45% | 35% | 16% |
| Investors Club | 3% | 66% | 22% | 9% | 0% |
4. Flippa
Flippa is the only open marketplace covered in this article. While the platform does have some identify verification requirements, nearly any online business or digital asset can be listed for sale at Flippa. There are no minimum income requirements, no length of time in business needed, and very few limitations (you can’t list websites with adult content, those that promote weapons, or anything illegal).
Many sellers turn to Flippa because their website or internet business doesn’t meet other brokers’ or marketplaces’ minimum requirements. As a result, a high percentage of Flippa’s listings are in lower price ranges. The table below shows the percentage of listings in specific price ranges at the time of writing.
| Under 10K | $10K – $100K | $100K – $500K | $500K+ | |
| Flippa | 36% | 42% | 15% | 7% |
| Empire Flippers | 0% | 15% | 58% | 27% |
| Investors Club | 3% | 66% | 22% | 9% |
Although Flippa’s lack of requirements and limited verification allow sellers to quickly list nearly anything for sale, there are some drawbacks.
First, Flippa has a reputation for hosting scams. Although the platform itself is not a scam, users need to be cautious since Flippa doesn’t verify listings below $50,000.
Second, that Flippa allows any seller to list their business results in a high volume of low-quality listings. Buyers have to sift through many of these to find hidden gems.
Third, sellers may have a hard time standing out on a marketplace with thousands of listings. A smaller, curated marketplace often provides better exposure.
5. FE International
FE International is an online business broker dealing with content, e-commerce, SaaS, apps, and service-related businesses. Most of their listings have seven-figure valuations or higher, so they overlap with the upper end of Empire Flippers’ listings.
Compared to Empire Flippers, FE International hosts relatively few listings. At the time of writing, Empire Flippers had 120+ active listings, while FE International had only nine. With fewer listings, each one gets more exposure without quickly getting buried beneath new listings.
FE International could be a good Empire Flippers alternative for businesses with seven-figure+ valuations, or buyers looking to acquire businesses in the technology sector in this price range.
6. Website Closers
Website Closers is similar to Empire Flippers in some ways, but different in others. At the time of writing, Website Closers had 100+ active listings, which isn’t far off from the 120+ at Empire Flippers.
The active listings at Website Closers range from $300,000 to $300,000,000. The low end of that range ($300,000 – $3,000,000) overlaps with Empire Flippers, but Website Closers clearly works with many businesses that exceed Empire Flippers’ range.
7. Website Properties
Website Properties is an online business brokerage with a smaller marketplace (by number of listings) than Empire Flippers. At the time of writing, there are 11 active listings at Website Properties and all are e-commerce, including some Amazon-based businesses.
The asking prices of the current listings range from $100,000 – $500,000,000, with most in the six or seven-figure range. While Empire Flippers lists a few businesses below $100,000, the vast majority of their listings fall into the range supported by Website Properties, but Website Properties’ listings also go much higher.
Like Quiet Light and FE International, Website Properties may appeal to buyers and sellers preferring a smaller marketplace with fewer listings.
For Zero Fees and Listings in Your Price Range, Consider Investors Club
Whether you’re a buyer or seller, you have many options for finding a marketplace that caters to your business. Although Empire Flippers is a popular marketplace, the alternatives we’ve discussed in this article may be more suitable for you, depending on your situation.
If you’re a business owner looking to sell, Investors Club “zero fee” structure might make a huge difference. Get a free valuation to see what your site might be worth.
For buyers, we offer a smaller marketplace with a more manageable number of listings, plus many sites priced below $100,000. Create your buyer account to get started.
Marc Andre
Marc has been building websites and online businesses since 2007. He's built successful businesses in several industries, including web/graphic design, photography, travel, and personal finance. Marc is the founder of Flip My Site, where he writes about buying and selling websites.