SOP #60 — Comparable-Sales Pricing

SOP #60 — Comparable-Sales Pricing

Don't accept a multiple in a vacuum. Price against what similar assets actually closed for.

1. Gather 5+ recent SOLD comps in the same niche and revenue band — closed prices, not askings.
2. Normalize each to its trailing-monthly-net multiple so they're comparable.
3. Adjust for quality: content type, traffic source, link profile, owner-dependency. A clean asset earns a premium.
4. Build a range: the low comp (risky assets) to the high comp (clean, diversified ones).
5. Place your target inside that range based on its audit score, not the seller's pitch.
6. Document where it lands and why — this becomes your negotiation justification list.

A multiple is only fair relative to the market for comparable assets. Anchor to the data.

Save this — run it every deal.