Forget Creating An App. Make Money Flipping Them Instead!

[Rickson9]

"In the crowded business of smartphone and tablet apps, the money might not be in building apps from scratch, but in flipping them. One way to get started is with Apptopia, a Cambridge, Mass.-based startup that enables developers, businesses and investors to buy and sell apps in online auctions. The site, which launched in April, provides everything from valuation to escrow services and intellectual property transfer."

Want to Get Into the App Business? Try Buying One | Entrepreneur.com

 

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[bernieshawn]

Anyone else think that this will eventually flood the market with shitty apps (think Flippa for apps)?

 

[verial]

How does one judge whether an app is worth buying. And on that topic, how do you know whether a Flippa auction is worth bidding on?

My line of thought is that if it makes you steady money, it's not worth selling.

 

[Rickson9]

If an asset pays you $1000 a month 'steady money' would you sell for $1m? $500k? What point would a person sell if they had a buyer? Vice versa.

 

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[damien275x]

The only time you would sell is when you can see the end is near, but nobody else can. You would then need to find a greater fool, just like USA's retarded "housing market", eventually someone is left holding the bag and loses everything. Do you really want to take that risk?

I say no deal. Create value, or piss off, nobody likes morons who get in between transactions and steal wealth, you might as well go work for JP morgan if that's your ultimate agenda. I would say half the people on here are trying to create legal skimming machines, to scoop off the cream at the top while relying on everyone else to do the grunt work, that's not helping anyone, and you're a lazy a$$.

 

[The-J]

The only time you would sell is when you can see the end is near, but nobody else can. You would then need to find a greater fool, just like USA's retarded "housing market", eventually someone is left holding the bag and loses everything. Do you really want to take that risk?

I say no deal. Create value, or piss off, nobody likes morons who get in between transactions and steal wealth, you might as well go work for JP morgan if that's your ultimate agenda. I would say half the people on here are trying to create legal skimming machines, to scoop off the cream at the top while relying on everyone else to do the grunt work, that's not helping anyone, and you're a lazy a$$.

There's value in helping people who do the grunt work get what they want out of it. There is indeed value in being a middleman whether you like it or not.

Although, you do make an interesting point: who would sell an app that is making them any money? Probably nobody. I'd say the majority of apps on here would be garbage (before looking at the site). You can't "transform" an app like you can a Web site. You can market the living hell out of it, connect it to Facebook if it lacks that capability, etc. but you can't do SEO on an application and changing the app would be wasting money.

I may be premature but as for what I know from the article, I'm gonna say no deal.

 

[DeletedUser2]

The only time you would sell is when you can see the end is near, but nobody else can. You would then need to find a greater fool, just like USA's retarded "housing market", eventually someone is left holding the bag and loses everything. Do you really want to take that risk?

People sell for hundreds of reasons, need money for...

fix the car
pay the rent
get son out of jail
save house from foreclosure
death
divorce
debt
distress in a thousand flavors.

anytime there is buying and selling in a market, it provides liquidity and lubricates many transactions that couldn't occur otherwise.

there alot of people who would sell apps or even whole portfolios of apps, that were making money. I see them on a regular basis. and as for how do you evaluate them to buy? well that's just putting a criteria list together of what your trying to do. and following that.


as for re-purposing an app. you would be surprised at what you can do with an app. maybe the base code is what your after or more importantly a user base.
you can also rework an apps graphics or user interface giving it a face lift and revitalizing the app. or you may make a strategic purchase for a industry and port the app form and structure over to a new use. There is alot more here than meets the eye.

 

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[damien275x]

I am always skeptical. If it were a true income producing asset, you would find other ways to pay off debt and hold onto it, not liquidate it. You would only liquidate to get back time. For websites and apps that do not require giving up time, it only makes sense to sell if you will get more in a lump sum than you expect to get over the next 3-5 years.

All of the ventures I've sold I saw issues in the future - shaky economy, currency likely to appreciate/depreciate destroying margins, but I didnt have much trouble passing them onto an idiot who assumes things will continue as they always have and nothing will change. Very often you will see sites/portfolios valued based on current earnings, and pie in the sky future predictions that never happen!! If you are going to get into the flipping business, do your due dilligence, or you will eventually get a nice expensive lemon. A rotton one that you can't make lemonade out of!

 

[andviv]

nobody likes morons who get in between transactions and steal wealth

who would sell an app that is making them any money? Probably nobody.

Are you guys serious?

Haven't you read the story of MJ DeMarco, the author of The Fastlane to Millions book?

This guy was making money.

And still sold his company.

I wouldn't call him a moron. Actually, I'd call him the opposite.

What about Elon Musk? Or any of the founders of eBay, or PayPal?

Anyway.....

And Rickson9, we do need that "stalker-mode' feature I mentioned... I really like pretty much everything you post. Thanks for bringing great topics to the forum.

 

[healthstatus]

You can't "transform" an app like you can a Web site. You can market the living hell out of it, connect it to Facebook if it lacks that capability, etc. but you can't do SEO on an application and changing the app would be wasting money.

I disagree with this. If the app logic is in place, a facelift is quite easy to do. Also, some brilliant programmers don't get the marketing aspect of an app. You cannot create an app and throw it on the app store and expect it to do well. But if you already have a stream of traffic in a specific niche, an email list in the niche and you could find a poorly marketed app for sale that would appeal to your niche, purchase it, give it a facelift and rebrand, then set it front of your stream of traffic and you could do really well with it.

 

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[oddball]

I disagree with this. If the app logic is in place, a facelift is quite easy to do. Also, some brilliant programmers don't get the marketing aspect of an app. You cannot create an app and throw it on the app store and expect it to do well. But if you already have a stream of traffic in a specific niche, an email list in the niche and you could find a poorly marketed app for sale that would appeal to your niche, purchase it, give it a facelift and rebrand, then set it front of your stream of traffic and you could do really well with it.

You can make simple small changes to an app and see a HUGE change in downloads/revenue. A kid I know went from averaging about 7-8k downloads a day to 60k+ a day by marketing it. He won't tell his secrets but its small things that can make a huge difference.

 

[DeletedUser2]

I am always skeptical. If it were a true income producing asset, you would find other ways to pay off debt and hold onto it, not liquidate it. You would only liquidate to get back time. For websites and apps that do not require giving up time, it only makes sense to sell if you will get more in a lump sum than you expect to get over the next 3-5 years.

I am assuming you have not bought many companies then

All of the ventures I've sold I saw issues in the future - shaky economy, currency likely to appreciate/depreciate destroying margins, but I didnt have much trouble passing them onto an idiot who assumes things will continue as they always have and nothing will change.

Noted, Nice to know your criteria of your buyers. Im thinking your deals you sold werent that high of value, or were pretty small.

Very often you will see sites/portfolios valued based on current earnings, and pie in the sky future predictions that never happen!!

yes, people hope to sell to idiots....

If you are going to get into the flipping business, do your due dilligence, or you will eventually get a nice expensive lemon. A rotton one that you can't make lemonade out of!

idiots don't due diligence.

Sorry to hear that you only feel like idiots are buyers, and sellers supreme schmucks, willing to sell junk.

Again, in my 20+ yrs of experience of being a buyer of stuff, I find people sell for all sorts of reasons. maybe after some more experience you will find the same.

or just more idiots...
Z

 

[The-J]

Are you guys serious?

Haven't you read the story of MJ DeMarco, the author of The Fastlane to Millions book?

This guy was making money.

And still sold his company.

I wouldn't call him a moron. Actually, I'd call him the opposite.

What about Elon Musk? Or any of the founders of eBay, or PayPal?

Anyway.....

And Rickson9, we do need that "stalker-mode' feature I mentioned... I really like pretty much everything you post. Thanks for bringing great topics to the forum.

"Any" money isn't what I meant. The only way you can sell a business is if it is making money or creating some sort of value. (General statement)

But I'm just saying that I'm skeptical of the potential of the apps that would be sold on this website. I'm assuming they are primarily iPhone/iPad apps, some sort of mobile app. I don't disagree that people will sell under value for extreme circumstances (or that they just can't put in the time anymore). I don't know what exactly is being sold here, either; I read that there will be a feature to transfer intellectual property and that would be interesting; I could see people making money simply by buying the names of growing apps.

I dunno, the law of lemons comes to mind when I see things like this, especially looking at the prices they are going for. How much does it cost (on average) to code a fully functional iPhone app? I don't think it only costs $500.

Of course, an intelligent investor can see what apps are 'lemons' and which are not. As for me, I'm uneducated in this space, so I'm gonna pass on the opportunity until I learn more about applications, their revenue streams and how to market them.

(If I made an app and it was making money, would I still sell it? Of course, even if I suspect it to grow. If it gets me to my goals faster, I'll do it. Especially if I feel like it would be too much work to grow it myself. But I wouldn't sell it at a fire-sale price like $500.)

 

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[Lionhearted]

You can make simple small changes to an app and see a HUGE change in downloads/revenue. A kid I know went from averaging about 7-8k downloads a day to 60k+ a day by marketing it. He won't tell his secrets but its small things that can make a huge difference.

The site gives you a lot of valuable info about each app. If you look at the downloads and revenue chart on any the apps for sale you can see where the trend for the app is going and if you read the reviews you can get a sense as to why the trend is occurring. I am not a programmer but neither was MJ when he started but he learned what he needed to learn and got it done. I can see revenue streams here but the question is, are you buying a job or starting an app company?

 

[Kari]

I'm actually currently in this position. Have an app business (one app, actually) that is generating $100k per year, with zero time spent on it. It's generating $6-8k per month at the moment with no marketing at all.

That said, I'd like to focus on new things and I feel like someone else might be able to take it further. Any here have recommendations on finding a potential buyer for it?

 

[theag]

I'm actually currently in this position. Have an app business (one app, actually) that is generating $100k per year, with zero time spent on it. It's generating $6-8k per month at the moment with no marketing at all.

That said, I'd like to focus on new things and I feel like someone else might be able to take it further. Any here have recommendations on finding a potential buyer for it?

Thats the stupidest thing I've ever heard. If its generating $100k per year with no work and no advertising, why do you want to sell it? Scale it up to $1M per year yourself.

 

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[Kari]

No need to get all aggressive. The main reason is that I want to focus on other things.

This is not my only source of income; I'm also doing corporate mobile consulting bringing in around $200k per year (for approx. 2-3 months of work). I live in Europe in a country with high income tax but low capital gains tax - making it more interesting to sell. I've also gotten the opportunity to join an established company as an equal partner doing more high profile, higher paid and more interesting technology 'stuff'.

Everyone has their reasons.

 

[Jake]

I'll bite. App name? iOS or Android?

 

[Kari]

It's an iOS app, specific niche app. Won't be posting the name for everyone to see, but happy to disclose specific information to a potential serious acquirer.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Won't be posting the name for everyone to see,

I'll bite. App name? iOS or Android?

I'm not responsible for any actions people take on this forum.

DO YOUR DUE DILIGENCE.

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/forum-news-updates-faqs/20271-i-am-not-responsible.html

BTW, the poster is has an Eastern European IP address and a GMAIL email address with no history other than threads purporting to a sale of a business that appears to be a cash cow.

 

[Kari]

Mj - happy to show you via PM/email that I'm legit. Also, I'm not based in Eastern Europe.

Edit: Can't send you a PM. Could you throw me an email?

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Mj - happy to show you via PM/email that I'm legit. Also, I'm not based in Eastern Europe.

Sorry to potentially derail this but my intent here is not to imply that you are not who you say you are, or that you have this app for sale, but to inform people that any business transaction needs a significant investment in due diligence.

 

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[Mike39]

with zero time spent on it

The main reason is that I want to focus on other things

Ya, that makes perfect sense.....

Well on a side note, recently my uncle who was a Nigerian prince passed away, leaving me about $20 million dollars in a bank account in Nigeria, the only problem is I don't have the means to get the cash out, Kari, I would be willing to give you 10% of the money once it is transferred in exchange for $300k up front for me to be able to transfer the funds to the U.S. This is not an open offer, Kari is the only person viable for this job, please, nobody else PM me about this amazing opportunity. Interested? :smx3:

 

[Yussef]

The only time you would sell is when you can see the end is near, but nobody else can. You would then need to find a greater fool, just like USA's retarded "housing market", eventually someone is left holding the bag and loses everything. Do you really want to take that risk?

I say no deal. Create value, or piss off, nobody likes morons who get in between transactions and steal wealth, you might as well go work for JP morgan if that's your ultimate agenda. I would say half the people on here are trying to create legal skimming machines, to scoop off the cream at the top while relying on everyone else to do the grunt work, that's not helping anyone, and you're a lazy a$$.

I don't know what has gotten into me but I agree with the first part of this post ..to a degree. But as I think about it (and I am not an economist), but isn't that how capitalism works? Someone or some entity is always positioning themselves to CAPITALIZE off of a part of the process of bringing goods and services to the end user, right? Grocery stores don't make everything that they sale and Microsoft doesn't own all of the retail outlets that sale it's products. So whether your the peon business guy like myself reselling 3 toed socks from tibet on ebay, or a 3rd world country like Amazon selling millions of books that just happen to be the thoughts and ideas of others we are all relevant.

 

[Kari]

This thread is totally getting derailed.

Let me clarify, what I meant was that I'd happily supply all the information to potential viable buyers who'd be interested in this. This means, people with access to sufficient capital.

Then, @mike39. It's not because an asset is generating a healthy cash flow that it makes sense to just keep it running at 10-20-30, ..% of its potential value. For someone who is interested in establishing him/herself in the app space this could be interesting. Or it could not. It depends on how you want to grow and/or expand your business. There is the potential for cross promotion between different established apps, thus increasing sales of both apps. There is also the potential of increasing operating profit through marketing, if you know how to do that.

 

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[Amail]

Kari, you should make an introductory post in the appropriate section and contribute a bit to other threads where you can provide value. The community is a bit leery of new people posting about things for sale, especially a "sounds too good to be true" thing. As you can imagine, this place is fertile spamming grounds and we are diligent about pulling weeds.

So, establish yourself as a bonafide contributor, don't get wrapped up in innuendo, and all will be well.

Of course, if you are here to spam, you'll be flushed out pretty quick.

 

[Mike39]

There is the potential for cross promotion between different established apps, thus increasing sales of both apps. There is also the potential of increasing operating profit through marketing, if you know how to do that.

Yes I am the type of 16 year old that understands "how to do that", just so there are no smoke & mirrors, I am not looking to buy, but if you could at least tell us the niche of the app and maybe a little back story, someone who might be interested would definitively more confident this is not a scam. My advice to anyone, unless your rolling in the dough and could care less to see 6 digits gone, don't do it

 

[GuestUser8117]

Now that is fastlane. Flipping apps lol, that's pretty cool.

 

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[leon]

Guys,

I'm a programmer who's trying to start a business selling software and the hardest part for me is marketing/sales. So that's why people might sell off apps that have potential. Even if I make a great looking app with awesome features there's no guarantee that I will be able to market it right so it becomes a commercial success.

So don't think that only shitty apps would be sold on such a market place because many nerd-types are just super bad at sales and marketing and couldn't make a penny from an otherwise great app.

 

[andviv]

don't think that only shitty apps would be sold on such a market place because many nerd-types are just super bad at sales and marketing and couldn't make a penny from an otherwise great app

great point.

Also, having a techie background I can tell you that in many occasions the developer focuses too much on adding functionality and software gets too complicated. I've noticed many times that going with less features usually helps to get more traction and 'better' users.

This may be a way to go. If you find an app that has 7 crappy features and 1 great one, take ownership, remove the crappy things and make the great feature the real core of the app, focus on that and make it look good.