Guide
Flippa review: fees, exclusivity and how selling works (2026)
The short answer
Flippa is an open marketplace for websites and online businesses: no minimum size, but you run the sale yourself. Its sell page now says the self-service success fee is 10% of the sale price, on top of a listing package of $29 to $699 (the pricing page shows two prices for the same packages). Terms updated October 22, 2026 add exclusivity for sites priced at $25,000 or more, for 90 or 180 days after you remove the listing, and the Terms name only Escrow.com and FlippaPay for payments.
What Flippa is and who it’s for
Flippa is an open marketplace. Anyone can list a website, app, online business or domain name, and anyone can browse. You write the listing, answer buyers and run the handover yourself.
According to Flippa’s sell page, its self-service packages are for businesses with an asking price “up to $100K”. Above that, Flippa Brokers handle “$100K to $50m+ businesses”, and a VIP Program is “For businesses worth over $10 Million.”
There is no published minimum for size, revenue or age. That is the main reason small sellers start here: a $2,000 blog can list the same day as a six-figure store.
Right for: owners of small sites who are happy to talk to buyers and move the site themselves. Buyers who want an open field of listings and will do their own checks.
Fees, with the math on a $10,000 and a $100,000 sale
A Flippa seller pays two things: a listing package up front and a success fee when the site sells. The success fee changed this month.
The success fee
Flippa’s sell page now says: “The success fee for self-service sales is 10% of the final transaction value.” In early October the same page said success fees “start from 5%”. No schedule by sale price is published.
The Terms of Service say the fee is a percentage of the total price paid by the buyer, including applicable taxes, and is “non-negotiable and non-refundable”.
Listing packages
The pricing page is inconsistent today, so treat these numbers as a range, not a quote:
- Entry $29 for 60 days, Boosted (marked “Most Picked”) $49 for three months, and a Premium package at $199 for 6 months.
- Standard, Premium and Ultimate packages for 6 months. One part of the page shows Standard at $49 and Ultimate at $599; a later part shows Standard at $129 and Ultimate at $699. That Premium package is $399.
- The readable text doesn’t say which packages go with which asking price.
So a self-service listing costs somewhere from $29 to $699. An NDA and Confidentiality add-on costs $199 on Entry, Most Picked and Standard, and is free on Premium and Ultimate.
Broker packages
“Brokered by Flippa” is a single upfront payment for a 6-month brokerage term plus a 10% success fee. The pricing page shows packages at $399, $499, $899 and $1,299, while the sell page says packages “start at $899”. Ask Flippa which applies before you pay.
Payment fees
Flippa lists FlippaPay “from 1%” and Escrow.com “from 1.2%”. Escrow.com’s own fee calculator shows the standard rate by deal size: 2.4% from $5,000.01 to $50,000 and 1.9% from $50,000.01 to $200,000. The 1.2% rate starts above $500,000. Buyer and seller agree who pays it.
The math
| Cost to the seller | $10,000 sale | $100,000 sale |
|---|---|---|
| Success fee (10%) | $1,000 | $10,000 |
| Listing package | $29 to $699 | $29 to $699 |
| Flippa total | $1,029 to $1,699 | $10,029 to $10,699 |
| Escrow.com standard fee, if you pay all of it | 2.4% = $240 | 1.9% = $1,900 |
| You keep (before escrow) | $8,301 to $8,971 | $89,301 to $89,971 |
The $100,000 sale sits right at the self-service ceiling. If Flippa moves you to a broker package, swap the listing line for the $399 to $1,299 package price. The 10% success fee is the same.
For buyers, browsing is free. A Premium buyer plan costs $49 a month or $490 a year.
How a sale works on Flippa
- Verify and list. You verify your identity and ownership of the site, choose a package and write the listing. Flippa says sellers “may need to supply financial information”.
- Answer buyers. Buyers message you, ask for traffic and income proof, and may sign an NDA first if you bought that add-on.
- Agree a price. By auction, offer or a fixed price.
- Pay into escrow. The buyer pays through Escrow.com or FlippaPay, the only two approved payment services in the Terms.
- Hand over. You move the site, hosting, domain and accounts to the buyer. There is no Flippa-run migration for self-service sales; Flippa’s buyer guide tells buyers to ask the seller for hand-off training.
- Release and fee. The buyer confirms, the money is released, and Flippa takes its success fee.
Flippa’s sell page says the median close time for businesses valued at $1M+ was 84 days. It doesn’t publish a median for small sites.
On the buying side, the work is yours. Flippa’s checks confirm who the seller is, not that the income is real. Ask for screen-shared access to analytics, ad and affiliate dashboards, compare them with the listing, and keep every message on the platform. If you want help, Flippa’s paid Due Diligence service is an option, or follow the steps in our checklist below. Never agree to pay a seller directly to “save on fees”: the Terms ban it, and you lose the escrow.
Vetting, escrow and protections
Flippa checks people more than it checks listings. Its sell page describes identity verification and KYC/AML checks (know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering), phone and IP verification and a “Global market integrity team”. It says it may restrict assets “such as cloned apps and fake-follower social media accounts”. It publishes no share of listings it turns down.
The Terms are clear on one point: “Flippa is not an escrow service and does not hold property on behalf of any person.” The money sits with Escrow.com or FlippaPay, not Flippa.
Other protections are paid extras. Flippa sells a Due Diligence service in three packages and shows SEMRush reports on listings. The Terms name optional Seller Protect and Buyer Protect insurance, with premiums on top of Flippa’s fees, but the pages we read don’t give their prices or terms.
Listing fee refunds: you get your money back if no qualified buyer contacts you within 30 days of going live, or if you take the listing down before it goes live or within 7 days “for any reason”. After that the fee is non-refundable. A listing that breaks the listing rules can be hidden without notice and without a refund.
Gotchas
- New exclusivity. The Terms updated on October 22, 2026 add exclusivity for assets with an asking or reserve price of $25,000 or more. Up to $100,000, you can’t use any other platform, brokers included, while listed and “for 90 days from the date you remove your listing.” Above $100,000 it is 180 days. A breach lets Flippa suspend the listing and close your account.
- No going around Flippa. “You must not circumvent Flippa.” If you sell to a buyer you met there, Flippa is owed the success fee, and if it can’t collect from the seller, “the buyer is liable to pay the success fee.” No time limit is stated.
- Payment pages disagree. The current Terms name only Escrow.com and FlippaPay (powered by Trolley and AscendantFX). The sell page still says “Choose from Paypal, Escrow.com or FlippaPay”, and an older how-it-works guide mentions PayPal for lower-value assets. Confirm with Flippa before you agree a payment method.
- Old help articles. A Flippa help article dated February 2019 describes a $5 card hold before bidding and a $500 hold on bids of $5,000 or more, and quotes Escrow.com rates that no longer match. Check current rules before you rely on it.
- Prices that disagree. The pricing page shows two prices for the same packages. Screenshot what you pick at checkout.
After the sale: what the buyer actually owns
A Flippa buyer takes over every running cost from day one. For a small WordPress site, our site-wide baseline is $432.60 over three years: Bluehost Starter at $3.99 a month on a 36-month term ($143.64, renewing at $9.99 a month), domain renewals of $36.96 and one Google Workspace inbox at $252.
The platform matters as much as the price. A self-hosted WordPress site scores 10/10 on our exit scores and moves to any host as files and a database. A Wix site scores 3/10 and has to change hands inside Wix. Read moving your website before you bid, and our buying checklist for the full due diligence list.
Who should use Flippa, who should not
Use Flippa if your site is small, has little or no profit history, or wouldn’t meet a broker’s minimum. It also suits buyers who know how to check numbers and want an open field.
Look elsewhere if you want someone else to vet, price and move the site, or if you want to list on several venues at once. The new 90 or 180 day exclusivity makes Flippa a bigger commitment for sites priced at $25,000 or more.
Alternatives
- Empire Flippers: a vetted broker for sites with $24,000+ a year in net profit, no listing fee. See Flippa vs Empire Flippers.
- Motion Invest: content and affiliate sites, with a commission that falls as the price rises.
- Acquire.com: SaaS and app founders.
- The full field side by side: buy and sell websites.
Questions people ask
How much does Flippa charge sellers?
A listing package of $29 to $699 (the pricing page shows two prices for some packages) plus a self-service success fee of 10% of the final sale price. On a $10,000 sale that is $1,029 to $1,699.
Does Flippa require exclusivity?
Yes, for assets priced at $25,000 or more since its Terms were updated on October 22, 2026. You can't list elsewhere while on Flippa and for 90 days after removal (up to $100,000) or 180 days (above $100,000).
Can I pay or get paid through PayPal on Flippa?
The current Terms name only Escrow.com and FlippaPay as approved payment services and ban paying outside the platform. Flippa's sell page still lists PayPal, so ask Flippa before you plan on it.
Does Flippa hold the money in escrow?
No. The Terms say Flippa is not an escrow service and does not hold property. Escrow.com or FlippaPay holds the funds until the handover is done.
Can I get my Flippa listing fee back?
Yes, if no qualified buyer contacts you within 30 days of going live, or if you remove the listing before it goes live or within 7 days. After 7 days it is non-refundable.
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