Motion Invest vs Flippa: Which Website Marketplace Is Right for You?

Although Flippa (read our review here) and Motion Invest (read our review here) are both popular marketplaces for buying and selling websites, these two companies take significantly different approaches. You’ll need to know each platform’s ins and outs to decide which is right for you.

This Motion Invest vs. Flippa comparison covers all the essential details related to types of websites, prices, fees, services, user safety, and more. 

Motion Invest vs. Flippa Overview

Key differences between Flippa and Motion Invest include:

• Types of websites for sale: Flippa lists all types of websites and online businesses, while Motion Invest focuses exclusively on content websites.
• Verification: Flippa manually verifies listings above $50,000, but Motion Invest team members manually verify the traffic and revenue of every listing, regardless of price.
• Curation: The Flippa marketplace is open to almost any website or online business. Motion Invest is a curated marketplace where team members approve each business before it’s listed. 
• Number of listings: Flippa has thousands of active listings, while Motion Invest typically has fewer than 100.
• Fees: The fee structures of these platforms are vastly different (covered later in this article). 

Investors Club is a curated marketplace that lists all kind of online businesses – from content websites and e-commerce businesses (including FBA, dropshipping, etc.) to newsletter and social accounts. Investors Club does not charge any fees to sell a website.

Flippa Overview

When Flippa launched in 2009, it was the first marketplace of its kind. Although many other brokers and online marketplaces exist today for buying and selling websites, Flippa has more active listings than any of its competitors.

In addition to websites, you can buy and sell other digital assets like domain names and apps at Flippa, but this article focuses specifically on websites and online businesses.

While most other online business brokers and marketplaces have specific requirements for the websites or businesses that are sold on their platform, Flippa is much more open. You can buy or sell anything from starter content websites to well-established SaaS businesses, and everything in between, at a broad range of prices.

Flippa’s open approach comes with drawbacks. Buyers must browse a huge number of listings, including many that are low-quality, to find anything that interests them. And sellers are challenged to stand out from the crowd on such a busy platform. 

However, the most significant drawback is the reputation Flippa has developed for hosting scams. Overall, the platform is more appropriate for experienced buyers and sellers who can carefully navigate the process and avoid Flippa scams.

Related reading: Flippa vs. Investors Club

Motion Invest Overview

Motion Invest launched in 2019, a full decade after Flippa. Although many other brokers and marketplaces had already been established, this Flippa alternative has found its spot in the market by taking a niche approach.

You won’t find SaaS, e-commerce, or Amazon FBA businesses at Motion Invest. Instead, the focus is exclusively on content-based websites. And while you can buy content sites at other marketplaces, Motion Invest focuses on a price range often overlooked in the industry; most of their listings are below $50,000, with the majority even below $5,000.

Motion Invest is a curated website marketplace, which means all listings go through an approval process. The minimum income requirement is only $20 per month, so it’s a suitable platform even for small sites. But this curated approach allows Motion Invest to limit the number of listings and ensure that all listings are appropriate for the platform.

Another way that Motion Invest stands out is by manually verifying the traffic and earnings of each listing during the approval process. Where Flippa only verifies listings priced above $50,000, Motion Invest requires all sellers to provide evidence for traffic and revenue. As a result, Motion Invest provides better security for buyers, which also benefits sellers through improved buyer confidence.

Flippa vs. Motion Invest Comparison

Now, let’s look at how Flippa and Motion Invest compare in specific aspects.

Types of Websites and Businesses Listed

You can buy or sell almost any website or online business at Flippa. While the platform does host content sites, you can also find listings for e-commerce, SaaS, Amazon FBA, agencies, mobile apps, dropshipping, marketplaces, and more. Almost everything is welcome at Flippa, although they restrict websites with adult content, those selling weapons, and anything illegal.

Motion Invest focuses exclusively on content websites, including blogs and niche websites. Most sites sold at Motion Invest are monetized with display ads, affiliate programs, or both. 

Motion Invest isn’t right for you if you’re looking to buy or sell anything other than content sites. But if you’re in the market for content sites, you might find the platform’s niche approach appealing. While Flippa allows users to filter the listings to display only content websites, or other types of listings, there are still advantages to choosing a platform like Motion Invest with its niche focus. All of Motion Invest’s users are interested in content sites, so there’s a lot of familiarity. 

Typical Price Range

Flippa listings range from less than $100 to several million dollars. However, since Flippa is open to almost all websites, many sellers list sites at Flippa simply because they can’t list them anywhere else. As a result, most of Flippa’s listings are below $10,000. 

Motion Invest doesn’t have specific income or pricing requirements, but the majority of their listings are between $1,000 and $50,000, with most below $5,000. However, there are some higher-priced listings as well. 

Flippa and Motion Invest both publish mostly lower-priced listings compared to other brokers and marketplaces. Both offer some higher-priced listings as well, although Motion Invest’s high-end is much lower than Flippa’s.

You’ll also want to understand that Flippa and Motion Invest take different approaches to pricing. At Flippa, sellers determine the asking price (for classifieds) or the reserve price (for auctions). Flippa offers a valuation tool to help with the process, but ultimately, sellers determine the price.

Motion Invest decides on the list price and reserve price for its marketplace. Sellers have some input and they can choose to not list a site if they don’t like Motion Invest’s price suggestions, but sellers don’t have full control. 

Here is what the typical price range looked like at the time of writing:

Quantity of Listings

Flippa always has thousands of active listings. There are a few factors that contribute to this incredibly high number, including:

1. Flippa’s popularity
2. Its openness to all types of websites and online businesses
3. Its lack of minimum requirements

The high quantity of listings provides opportunities for buyers, while also presenting challenges. 

Potential buyers can’t possibly see or evaluate every listing, and finding the right one can be very time-consuming. For sellers, the high quantity of listings makes it difficult to get exposure.

Motion Invest typically has 50-100 active listings. The marketplace is active enough that buyers have plenty of options to explore, but not so active that buyers should feel overwhelmed. Sellers also have an easier time standing out on the platform, due to the limited competition for exposure.

Overall, Motion Invest’s quantity of listings is easier to manage, but Flippa’s high volume presents opportunities for buyers willing to browse and evaluate many sites in search of the best deals.

Quality of Listings

Flippa is known for hosting many low-quality listings and even some scams. Since it’s an open marketplace, sellers can list just about anything, including websites that don’t meet the requirements of other marketplaces and brokers.

Of course, Flippa also hosts plenty of high-quality listings, but buyers have to sift through a lot of junk to find the hidden gems.

Motion Invest takes a different approach. Each listing goes through an approval process before making it onto the platform. Sellers must prove their income and traffic details (more on that in the Verification and Vetting section), which helps protect sellers from potential scams. 

Sites that don’t meet Motion Invest’s requirements, and those that they feel are not a good fit for the platform, aren’t listed. 

Overall, Motion Invest offers higher quality listings, even though many of the sites fall into low price ranges.

Types of Listings

Flippa sellers can choose an auction or classified listing. With an auction listing, the seller can set a reserve price, the lowest price they will accept for the site. The highest bidder wins the auction as long as the reserve is met. If the reserve price isn’t met, the auction ends without a sale.

Classified listings include an asking price. Potential buyers can submit an offer for sites they want to purchase. The seller can accept, reject, or counter the offer.

Motion Invest uses a Dutch auction model for its listings. Each listing has an asking price and a reserve price. New listings display the asking price. Over the next month, the price drops every two days until it sells or reaches the reserve price. Buyers can purchase for the current price or submit an offer.

Seller Fees

The fee structure of any website broker or marketplace is an important consideration for sellers. Flippa’s fee structure is rather complicated because there are a few different fees and many options (see our article on Flippa fees for full details). Unlike most website brokers and marketplaces, Flippa charges a listing fee that’s non-refundable if the site doesn’t sell. Depending on the chosen package, the listing fee varies from $29-$699.

Flippa also charges a success fee for every listing that sells. The success fee varies from 3-10%, depending on the selling price.

Flippa also offers a brokered service for listings over $100,000. Sellers get help from an advisor with all aspects of selling their site. These sellers pay a $999 fee for a 9-month term, plus a variable success fee if the site sells.

Flippa also offers some optional upgrades, including:

• Confidential listing with signed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs): $199
• Legal document templates: $199
• Private listing: $599

Private listings aren’t displayed on Flippa’s website. Instead, their team members will approach specific potential buyers about your listing.

Motion Invest doesn’t charge a listing fee. Sellers pay nothing unless their site sells. The success fees vary from 5-20%, depending on the selling price. 

There are no additional or optional fees from Motion Invest. The confidentiality of listings is protected from visitors who aren’t logged in. However, anyone with a free buyer account can log in to the site and see the business name and URL of the listings. Motion Invest provides legal document templates at no cost. 

Investors Club does not charge any success fees or listing fees. Additionally, all listings are confidential (only premium buyers see the business names and URLs).

Buyer Fees

Flippa introduced its First Access program in 2023. Buyers can pay $49 per month to access listings 21 days before other users. While this is an optional program, buyers who choose not to enroll in it face a significant disadvantage because many of the best listings will be sold before the 21 days is up. 

What’s more concerning about First Access is its impact on sellers. Currently, seller fees at Flippa are the same as before First Access rolled out, but listings now receive much less exposure for the first 21 days. The reduced exposure may lead to fewer and lower offers.

Motion Invest doesn’t charge any fees to buyers. Anyone can sign up for a free account. 

Verification and Vetting

Flippa verifies the traffic and revenue of listings over $50,000. Listings below $50,000 go through an automated process that integrates with Google Analytics to verify traffic, but nothing is manually verified. Sellers enter the revenue and profit numbers, but listings below $50,000 receive no verification related to revenue or profit.

Motion Invest manually verifies the traffic and revenue claims of every listing, regardless of price. Even websites that make small amounts of money must provide proof of revenue to be listed on the marketplace. This verification process can take a few days, depending on their team’s backlog.

Overall, Motion Invest comes out ahead of Flippa in verification and vetting. Although Flippa does verify larger listings, the vast majority of listings on the site are below $50,000 and unverified. 

Investors Club curates their listings to ensure all listings are legitimate and there are no scams. Investors Club also provides detailed due diligence reports that show additional information about traffic and revenue on most listings.

Escrow 

Flippa offers buyers the option to pay through Escrow.com. They also offer their own service called FlippaPay, which is very similar to Escrow.com. The fees of both options vary depending on the selling price, of which they are usually a percentage.

Motion Invest provides a free escrow service for all transactions. Instead of integrating with Escrow.com or another provider, Motion Invest acts as the escrow agent. Buyers pay Motion Invest, and the funds are released to the seller after everything has been transferred. Deals over $50,000 have a 14-day inspection period before funds are released to the seller.

Migration Process

Flippa doesn’t provide any assistance with migration or site transfers. It’s up to the buyer and seller to handle the migration. 

Motion Invest offers free migration assistance for every transaction. Their team helps with transferring the site and monetization of the top 20 pages (help with additional pages is available for a fee). For example, they will handle changing affiliate links on up to 20 pages, if applicable.

Flippa Pros

• Big audience of potential buyers. Flippa’s audience is larger than any other marketplace of its kind.
• Open to almost any website or online business. You can buy or sell websites on Flippa that aren’t eligible for most marketplaces.
• No minimum revenue or profit requirements. Most brokers and marketplaces ignore smaller sites.
• Potential for a high selling price. Auction listings may lead to a high selling price if there’s enough demand from buyers.
• Potential for buyers to find excellent opportunities. Buyers willing to sift through a lot of listings may find under-priced listings.

Flippa Cons

• First Access program limits the exposure of new listings. The First Access program potentially hurts sellers by limiting exposure for 21 days.
• High volume of low-quality listings. Buyers have to weed through a lot of bad listings.
• Lots of competition for sellers. Sellers have a hard time standing out because there are so many listings.
• Listings below $50,000 are not verified. Unlike Motion Invest and Investors Club, Flippa does not manually verify listings below $50,000.
• Migration assistance and escrow not included. Flippa charges additional fees for escrow and offers no assistance with migration.
• Legal documents are an upgrade. Flippa charges $199 to use their legal templates.

Motion Invest Pros

• Focus on content websites. If you’re interested in buying or selling content sites, Motion Invest is an excellent platform. 
• Curated listings. Motion Invest ensures all listings are a good fit for their site, which improves the overall quality of listings.
• All listings are verified. Team members manually verify the traffic and revenue of each listing, which cuts down on scams.
• Free escrow and migration assistance. A free escrow service is used for each transaction, and Motion Invest also helps with transferring the site.
• Free legal documents. Unlike Flippa, Motion Invest does not charge an additional fee for legal documents.
• No minimum revenue requirements. Even small sites and starter sites can be sold at Motion Invest. 

Motion Invest Cons

• Only for content websites. The focus on content sites is a negative if that’s not what you want.
• Smaller audience. Although Motion Invest is an established marketplace, its audience is much smaller than Flippa’s.
• Few listings above $50,000. Motion Invest is best for lower-priced sites. The options above $50,000 are minimal.
• The confidentiality of listings is limited. Although site names and URLs are not displayed publicly on listings, they’re visible to any user logged in to a free account.
• High success fees. Motion Invest’s success fees for sites below $100,000 are fairly high.

Try Investors Club for No-Fee Selling

Motion Invest is a great platform for buying and selling content-based websites for $50,000 or less. It’s also appropriate for higher-priced content sites, but the selection of these sites is small and they have fewer buyers in this price range.

Buyers and sellers benefit from Motion Invest’s curated approach, and from the verification performed for every listing. Users also appreciate the free escrow service, migration assistance, and legal documents. 

Flippa offers a much broader selection than Motion Invest in terms of price and type of online business. Instead of focusing on content sites, you can buy or sell just about any website or digital asset on Flippa. 

Possibly the most significant drawback of Flippa relates to the lack of verified listings below $50,000. Flippa has a reputation for scams, and buyers and sellers must be careful.

If you’re looking for a curated online marketplace that charges no listing fees and no success fees, consider Investors Club.

Marc Andre

Online Business Builder & Content Strategist

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.

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