Here is a story on why & how was “Add & Replace Affiliate Links for Amazon” acquired.
Hi Mushfiq, can you tell us more about who you are and what your agency does?
Sure! My name is Mushfiq. Since 2008, I’ve run a private equity company that buys, grows, and sells digital online businesses, primarily content-based websites.
We find underutilizes, undermonetized websites, buy them, grow them over a 6-12 month period on average, and then sell them in the open market to investors.
Since 2008, we’ve done 190+ website transactions with multiple 6-figure exits.
Most of our websites we buy are monetized by digital advertisements, affiliate links, and digital products.
You’ve acquired “Add & Replace Affiliate Links for Amazon”. So, have you worked with a lot of clients who had affiliate links for Amazon or anything else related to Amazon?
Yes. Many of the websites we buy to grow and then sell utilize Amazon Associates as one of the monetization streams. This plugin allows the new owner to replace the Amazon Associate ID tag to their own so they start earning revenue.
What were your reasons for acquiring this plugin?
There were two main purposes: (1) brand recognition, and (2) lead generation. We run a dedicated newsletter and blog about buying, growing, and selling websites over at TheWebsiteFlip.com.
We bought the plugin to build up our portfolio of assets related to TheWebsiteFlip.com.
In addition, this is a plugin my team and I have used for many years now so it is something our industry overall appreciates. It was a no-brainer to add to our arsenal of assets to build up our branding.
What are your plans with the plugin? Do you have any new features in your backlog?
This is what we did immediately after acquiring the plugin:
- Updated to new WordPress as the previous plugin had been outdated for many years
- Clean up the settings UI to be more user-friendly
- Added instructions to guide the user
- Improved the WordPress repository page to explain what the plugin does exactly
- Added our lead generation advertisements on the sidebar of the plugin in the settings
The plugin itself is straightforward. We do not have plans to add any new features. We will just maintain it.
Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems that this plugin has only a free version. What is your expected type of ROI on it, more clients?
Our ROI can be measured based on how many people register for our newsletter. We will track that over time to see if we are getting any quality subscribers.
Do you have plans to introduce a premium version?
We plan to keep the plugin free-of-charge. We do not have plans for a premium version.
What was the process of acquiring this plugin?
Luckily, for this asset, I personally knew the creator of the plugin for many years. I reached out to him that I was interested in buying the plugin and explained why. He hadn’t maintained the plugin for years so he was ready to let it go.
This is what happened step-by-step:
- I contacted the owner via Twitter
- We discussed back and forth for a few days
- He let me know his number to sell the plugin
- We negotiated back and forth
- We setup Escrow.com transaction to protect both parties
- He added my WP account as an owner into the WP plugin repository
- I released the funds
That’s it. Very straightforward. Since there is no revenue or other assets, this process took nore more than 24-48 hours.
What would be your recommendations when someone wants to acquire a plugin?
Whenever acquiring any digital asset, this is what I recommend.
Perform detailed due diligence
- Verify daily active users and new registrations
- Verify if any trademark or copyright issues
- Verify revenues
- Verify any ongoing costs
Discuss Sale Price
- In negotiations, I never link to give out a price first. See if the seller has a price in mind and then work backwards from that.
- Most digital assets are valued based on a multiple of profit. The typical multiple is 3-4X annual profit.
Close The Deal
- Use Escrow services to perform the transactions. Do not use Paypal, or bank transfers.
- Draft up a sales agreement and e-sign it
- Make sure to have a 2-3 day inspection period where you can check if everything is working correctly
The process of buying a plugin is fairly straightforward. It’s a matter of really understanding what you are buying.
For further information, check out these guides;