Online Businesses For Sale Under $5,000 [2024] • Touchdown Money

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Billionaire Warren Buffett famously said, “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.”

Think about that as you browse Flippa, Motion Invest, and Empire Flippers for online businesses for sale under $5,000.

Yes, you want something affordable. But the goal here is to make big money by investing in quality.

Beyond price, you want to look for a company you can fix up.

Look for an existing online business that is great at something – it has a head start on anything you could build yourself – but your skills, knowledge, or team can make it much better.

And there’s another clever strategy when looking for online businesses for sale under $5000 that I’ll share in a moment.

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Table of Contents

Where To Find The Best Online Businesses For Sale Under $5,000

There are plenty of online businesses for sale under $5,000, but they won’t come to you. You’ve got to find them.

The average online business owner spends $35,000 in their first year.¹ As a buyer, you get to zoom past that painful initial phase.

Now, I’ll share another insider tip for looking for online businesses for sale under $5,000:

You can get a great deal when the seller is in distress. This means the seller doesn’t want to sell – they have to. For example, the seller might desperately need a big sum of money right now instead of collecting their regular profits each month.

This can be tough to find. An easier scenario might be if the seller has lost interest in their business. This happens more than you might imagine.

Many online business owners have multiple projects. They might sell off one of their online businesses – even if it’s profitable – so they can put all their focus and energy into another one they’re more excited about.

Here are the best places to find online businesses for sale under $5000.

Flippa

Flippa is an online marketplace with lots of businesses for sale for under $5,000. In fact, the site’s homepage has a whole list of options to “get a fast start under $2,500.” So, this is the perfect marketplace for anyone who’s starting out on a tight budget.

Here’s the process for buying a business on Flippa:

Use the search bar to search for a certain type of online business (fitness blog, Shopify store, etc.)
Use the filters to narrow your search. There are filter categories, including profits, page views, and price.
Select a business and check out the details. Flippa gives you in-depth statistics to help you understand how a business is performing. It’s like looking at the back of a baseball card!
Contact the seller or make an offer through the Flippa platform.

You’ll have to create a Flippa account to see all the stats about each business. Signing up is completely free.

Flippa has a free marketplace of online businesses for sale under $5,000. — Flippa has listings for affordable online businesses, including plenty that cost less than $5,000.

Here are more examples of the most profitable online businesses.

Motion Invest

Motion Invest is another marketplace with online businesses for sale under $5,000.

The search feature with Motion Invest is super simple. You can narrow your options with these filters:

Niche
Listing type
Monetization (how the business makes money)
Price
Income multiples
Articles posted

So, let’s say you’re looking for an affordable hiking blog that makes money through affiliate marketing. Just set the niche as “outdoors,” the monetization as “Commission Junction,” and the price range as $0 – $5,000. And voila! You’ll see if there are any sites like that available.

The more specific you get with your search, the less likely you are to find listings. If your search comes up empty, turn off a few of the filters to see what comes up. You might not find exactly what you’re looking for, but you could stumble on a similar site that piques your interest.

To see the specific URL for each site, you’ll need to create a Motion Invest account (which is completely free to do).

Once you’ve selected a site, the buying process goes like this:

You pay a $1,000 deposit.
You sign the purchase agreement.
You wire the rest of the purchase price to Motion Invest.
Motion Invest helps you set up the website.
They give the money to the site’s former owner – and the site is officially yours!

Motion Invest makes it easy to find online businesses for sale under $5,000. — Motion Invest has an especially simple search feature, making it easy to find online businesses for sale under $5000.

Empire Flippers

The people at Empire Flippers are proud to be the “#1 curated online business marketplace” – the key word being “curated.” They won’t put just any site on their platform. This is for buying and selling businesses that are confirmed to be legit.

That pickiness means you can trust the businesses listed on the platform, but it also limits the number of listings.

As I write this article, I can see that there are only 138 total listings on Empire Flippers. And sadly, for entrepreneurs on a budget, there aren't any online businesses for sale under $5000. In fact, the cheapest business I could find was listed at over $42,000.

So, Empire Flippers might not work when you’re starting out, but it’s a good platform to keep in mind for the future. Because, again, the sites on this platform are real-deal money-makers.

Close your eyes, and imagine you’ve already made tens of thousands of dollars – and you’re looking for your next project. In that world, Empire Flippers will be a valuable resource.

Already got that kind of money now? Then, head directly to Empire Flippers.

Empire Flippers is a free marketplace that makes it easy for investors to find online businesses for sale under $5,000. — Empire Flippers is a curated marketplace, which makes it a great place to find legit online businesses.

Types of Online Businesses For Sale Under $5,000

Before you go hunting for an online business for sale, you should know what type of business you want. After all, “online business” is a pretty vague term.

You can categorize online businesses according to how they make money.

Here are popular categories of online businesses for sale under $5,000:

Affiliate Marketing. You’ll post content on your website (articles, videos, etc.), along with links to different companies’ websites. When people click the links and buy something, you’ll get a share of the profits.
E-Commerce. You’ll run an online store to sell digital or physical products. Feeling craftsy? You could sell homemade wares. More of a Jeff Bezos type? You can buy in bulk from wholesalers and run a retail store.
Dropshipping. This is a form of e-commerce where you partner with suppliers, who send their products directly to customers. So you don’t have to deal with shipping anything. You’re just the middle-person helping the supplier market their goods.
Software as a Service (Saas). You’ll offer some sort of digital tool. People or companies will pay you a subscription fee for the right to use it.

Adding affiliate programs to your online business can be really lucrative. I worked for a small business that made millions of dollars just with affiliate marketing.

Their key was to make $100 to $800 per sale. Most programs don’t pay that much. So choose wisely.

For the best affiliate programs, check out my

Affiliate marketing is a legit way:

Deciding on a business type is half the battle. You also need to pick a niche or a specific topic your business will focus on.

For example, let’s say you love dogs. And maybe you’re a talented writer who would love to craft dog-related articles.

You could buy a website for dog owners that includes affiliate links in its content. The business type or monetization strategy would be affiliate marketing, and your niche would be dog owners.

If you’re thinking you’d rather start from scratch, check out my article on how to start a pet care blog.

Want more help brainstorming? Read Low-cost business ideas with high profit.

Extra Point: Diversify your income streams by investing in real estate, too. Get started with my guide on How to invest 5k in real estate.

What To Look For When Buying an Online Business

The internet is full of businesses for sale under $5,000, and buying the right one could be a really good idea.

But you know what’s a really bad idea? Buying a random online business without looking into the details.

You wouldn’t buy a used car without knowing the mileage, right?

Online marketplaces like Flippa, Motion Invest, and Empire Flippers give you important stats for all their business listings. So, before you make an offer, you can know exactly how the business has been performing.

But what does each stat mean? And which ones are especially important?

Here are the key stats to consider when analyzing online businesses for sale under $5,000:

Revenue. This is how much money the business brings in. Obviously, the higher, the better, but you should also be looking for trends. Are revenues in the middle of a steep decline? Then, there could be a societal factor that’s working against the business. And don’t forget about seasonal fluctuations. An online ski shop might not see much revenue in June – but how about in December?

Profits. This is how much the business owner actually makes (after taking losses and earnings into account). If you don’t have direct access to this stat, you can find a way to calculate it yourself. Just subtract the net expenses from the net income.

Website traffic. You need to know how many people are coming to view the business’s website. Specific stats could include page views and organic traffic (the amount of traffic that comes from “unpaid” sources like search engines). You could boost these stats yourself after buying the business by using digital marketing platforms (check out my Kartra vs ClickFunnels comparison).

Domain authority. This stat shows you how likely the website is to appear on search engine result pages (SERPs). The higher the number, the more visible the site will be.

Obviously, the ideal online business would have high revenue, impressive profits, tons of website traffic, and excellent domain authority.

But if everything was that great, the owner wouldn’t want to sell it. And if they did, it certainly wouldn’t be for under $5,000.

When you’re dealing with online businesses for sale under $5,000, the key is to find a site that’s imperfect but promising.

Maybe the site gets lots of traffic but doesn’t make much money. Think you could implement new monetization strategies to get the cash flowing?

Or maybe the revenues are okay despite abysmal traffic stats. Could you boost traffic to send profits through the roof?

Ultimately, this is all about strategy. There are lots of online businesses for sale under $5,000. Your job is to find one that’s a good deal and matches your particular skill set.

Sometimes an online business needs a better system for attracting leads, nurturing those leads, and then selling to them. I review lots of software that helps with that:

Commonly Asked Questions About Online Businesses For Sale Under $5,000

Why Should You Buy an Online Business?

Here are the main reasons to buy an online business:

You don’t have to build the business up from scratch.
There should be revenue right from the start.
The initial investment is reasonable (there are online businesses for sale under $5000).
You’ll already have an established brand.
You could earn passive income.

An online business also lets you work behind the scenes, which is perfect if you’re a private person. (Speaking of privacy, read up on How to avoid using home address for LLC.)

What Is The Fastest Online Business To Make Money?

Dropshipping might be the fastest online way for a business to make money, because you can scale quickly without worrying about shipping or inventory.

You could also buy an existing business instead of building your own. You can even find online businesses for sale under $5,000.

If you’re looking for how to make money fast, check out my articles:

Another quick way to make money is with peer-to-peer (P2P) lending. Here's my Lenme review to help you get started.

Online Passive Income Business For Sale?

You can use marketplaces like Flippa and Motion Invest to find online businesses for sale under $5,000. These platforms also provide key statistics about each listing, so you’ll know how a business is performing before you buy it.

Online Business For Sale Under $1,000?

You can find an online business for sale under $1,000 through online marketplaces like Flippa and Motion Invest. Just create an account with the platform, then set the maximum price as $1,000 in the search filter.

What Is The Best Small Business To Start Online?

The best online small business for you is the one where you have an edge over most other people. Think: where do you have a special skill? Where do you have special knowledge?

For example, I worked for a small business owner who was amazing at finding cheap travel AND was great at branding. So he started a travel blog.

I worked with another small business owner who had a lot of knowledge of the gig economy. So, he created an online course to show others how to do it, too.

Here’s my article on how to make money online for beginners.

What Is The Best Platform To Sell Online Small Business?

Flippa, Motion Invest, and Empire Flippers are all great platforms to sell an online business.

Small Business For Sale?

Check out Flippa, Motion Invest, and Empire Flippers to find a small business for sale. These platforms are important middlemen. They get you the inside information on each business. And they handle the financial transactions.

Best Online Business For Sale?

Flippa, Motion Invest, and Empire Flippers all list online businesses for sale. The best online business is the one you can improve.

You want to look for a business that’s successful but, with your special skills, could be even more successful. Maybe you can improve the business with your advertising skills, writing skills, management skills, or your ability to monetize the business better.

Another strategy is to find an owner who really participates in hobbies to make money. But you will come in and run it like a true business – investing money, being consistent, improving marketing and sales.

Online Business For Sale Under $10,000?

Flippa, Motion Invest, and Empire Flippers are the best places to find online businesses for sale under $10,000.

Buying and improving an online business is one of the best ways how to turn 10k into 100k.

If you’d rather build a business from the ground up, see the best business to start with 10k.

Related:

Sources:

1 – https://www.business.org/finance/loans/the-cost-of-starting-a-business/