Selling a YouTube Channel

TinHatRanch

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I'm looking into the feasibility of selling my YouTube channel and all related accounts. The channel has 80k subscribers and 8 million views. It makes money and has a good business model. I googled the topic a bit and it is very confusing and I have a bunch of questions-

  • ToS basically say you need google's permission to sell the channel. I guess I won't be selling the channel but access to the channel.
  • Where/how to sell?
  • Valuation. Say the entity makes $3000+ a month, how do you value the channel? A typical business would bring a multiple of the monthly revenue, say 12-24 months. If I stopped making videos today, the channel would continue to make money without expense in time or dollars.
Are you aware of anybody doing this? I can't believe with the millions of channels I can't find more information.
 

Famous

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Typically investors look for a 10%/year ROI for tangible assets. But your channel isn't tangible and doesn't make $3k a month, so the "entity" you're selling... is a business? And you want to sell the channel with the business? Your analytics show continued growth each month, which an investor would like to see, but your channel is you and like happened with FRED, change the host and the analytics change too. Without doing more than a cursory glance I'd say you're channel could be worth anywhere from $2k to $10k to an investor ($6k, if you need a more specific target) but that's just my personal opinion.

Typing "Selling My YouTube Channel" into google provided a plethora of information, including forums dedicated to the purchase and sale of YouTube channels as well as websites and businesses that exclusively deal in the purchasing of YouTube channels. Which I couldn't read without thinking, "We buy ugly YouTube channels".
 

DanAwesomeStuff

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I've never heard of anyone selling a YouTube channel, sorry. I'd be interested to see how you get on though.
 

TinHatRanch

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Typically investors look for a 10%/year ROI for tangible assets. But your channel isn't tangible and doesn't make $3k a month, so the "entity" you're selling... is a business? And you want to sell the channel with the business? Your analytics show continued growth each month, which an investor would like to see, but your channel is you and like happened with FRED, change the host and the analytics change too. Without doing more than a cursory glance I'd say you're channel could be worth anywhere from $2k to $10k to an investor ($6k, if you need a more specific target) but that's just my personal opinion.

Typing "Selling My YouTube Channel" into google provided a plethora of information, including forums dedicated to the purchase and sale of YouTube channels as well as websites and businesses that exclusively deal in the purchasing of YouTube channels. Which I couldn't read without thinking, "We buy ugly YouTube channels".
It is indeed a tangible asset. It isn't only the youtube channel itself that makes money. Like I said, the channel and all other related accounts. It IS a tangible business entity, the state and federal government sees it as a "business". It has its own tax ID. If the channel stopped making videos, an investor could sit back and collect money for a good period of time. If I am selling it because I'm not going to make videos any longer, and it is only worth $2k to an investor, I might as well keep it and sit back and do nothing. I'll make 20-30x that before the well runs dry without making another video.
 

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A house is tangible, a car is tangible, the chair you're sitting in is tangible. Your YouTube channel and related accounts may be a profitable business entity, but they're not tangible. A business, by definition, is an intangible object. But intangible objects can be sold and that's the basis of your query.

As far as value... you can only get an answer as accurate as the information provided. You asked about the value of the channel, not the value of the "entity". Without knowing what all the "entity" is or includes, it could be worth anywhere between $3k and $325k. What you're going to run into is "how" the value of either is calculated by each individual investor. Valuing just the channel as it's the on topic asset:

Total views divided by monetization amount divided by total video months times 12 equals one value.
Last gross monthly income multiplied by 12 months will get a higher value.
And using all previous months income to plot projected future income will give an even higher value.

Even further... your channel is both intrinsic and speculative in nature. It's intrinsic value will change with each investor... a purchaser of YouTube channels my find the value different than an institutional investor. And it's speculative because the income is not guaranteed. It may continue to rise, it could have a natural arc and taper off in the future, or something could happen at any time that would cause the income to stop completely. Which is something every investor will consider.

Keeping the channel and enjoying the residual income is an option, but so is contacting one of the YouTube purchasing businesses or internet forums found by typing "Selling My YouTube Channel" into google. The former would provide you with the most accurate valuation of your channel and the best idea of what options you want to take advantage of.

Either way, from what little bit I saw, your analytics are pretty impressive given your channels size. You did a great job there.
 

TinHatRanch

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A house is tangible, a car is tangible, the chair you're sitting in is tangible. Your YouTube channel and related accounts may be a profitable business entity, but they're not tangible. A business, by definition, is an intangible object. But intangible objects can be sold and that's the basis of your query.

As far as value... you can only get an answer as accurate as the information provided. You asked about the value of the channel, not the value of the "entity". Without knowing what all the "entity" is or includes, it could be worth anywhere between $3k and $325k. What you're going to run into is "how" the value of either is calculated by each individual investor. Valuing just the channel as it's the on topic asset:

Total views divided by monetization amount divided by total video months times 12 equals one value.
Last gross monthly income multiplied by 12 months will get a higher value.
And using all previous months income to plot projected future income will give an even higher value.

Even further... your channel is both intrinsic and speculative in nature. It's intrinsic value will change with each investor... a purchaser of YouTube channels my find the value different than an institutional investor. And it's speculative because the income is not guaranteed. It may continue to rise, it could have a natural arc and taper off in the future, or something could happen at any time that would cause the income to stop completely. Which is something every investor will consider.

Keeping the channel and enjoying the residual income is an option, but so is contacting one of the YouTube purchasing businesses or internet forums found by typing "Selling My YouTube Channel" into google. The former would provide you with the most accurate valuation of your channel and the best idea of what options you want to take advantage of.

Either way, from what little bit I saw, your analytics are pretty impressive given your channels size. You did a great job there.
Maybe I should provide a bit more information to make things clear. The YouTube channel is part of a an "entity" that includes a facebook page, website, twitter, and amazon associates account, etc. It is all owned by the corporation. I would have to sell it as a whole because the income is integrated and each source drives and feeds off the other. While you can look on social blade and see what the YouTube channel should make, it is really the sum of all the parts, and that can be quite substantial. I understand that the concept of the channel is not "tangible", but the accounts themselves and the income history are, I can actually go to the bank and withdraw the money and hold it in my hands. Frankly, that is what I am selling, money. There is a certain amount of income, while not guaranteed, that should be generated if you just left it on autopilot. Then there is the fanbase itself which has potential. While I haven't contacted any of those sites you mention, I have looked around and people appear to just be selling YouTube channels. What I am trying to do is a bit more complex.
 
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Selling your business as a whole isn't that complex, just involved in relation to the fact that each website you have an account with requires transfer approval. If one doesn't allow the transfer, it devalues the whole portfolio, because, as you said, each site depends on the others for support. I understand you want to sell it as a whole, but contacting a few companies that buy YouTube channels and getting a valuation... not selling mind you, just inquiring... could give you a more accurate idea of that channels value, which you can then extrapolate across your other income producing media streams to determine their value. If they value your YouTube channel at "X" with "Y" income and another stream in your business generates "Z"% more income, then X times Z equals the second streams value, and so on, until you've got a total for your entire portfolio and a much better picture of whether it's more lucrative to sell or retain. Additionally, as you're incorporated, that means contacting a few lawyers to try and assess the cost of drawing up your sale contracts or reviewing the contracts presented by a buyer, which is going to be the second largest financial factor in the keep/sell decision. Then comes googling "how to sell a social media business", which I'm not saying to be rude... I'm saying it because an entirely social media based business is going to be very difficult for a typical investor to obtain capitol for because banks want tangible assets they can take from them and resell if they default...something you don't have, which means private investors (or investor pools) who maintain their own capital.
 

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The usual benchmark figure for selling a website business is 10-30 times the monthly profit. So for example, if a website's monthly profit is 1,000 USD, then it's considered to be worth 10,000 - 30,000 USD The value will be near the lower end of the range if the future earnings aren't very predictable and more risky.

It could be argued that the future earnings of a YouTube channel aren't very predictable due to various reasons (new owner might not have the skills, YouTube's falling RPM etc) The biggest problem with a YouTube channel as a business is that YouTube has ultimate control of the domain name and servers hosting the content (not the business owner) and so it's all by YouTube's rules, TOS etc. YouTube could be sold tomorrow, a channel could get terminated for no reason, YouTube might decide to stop the partner program etc, they could change the algorithm that kills a certain niche etc etc. All of that is out of the business owner's control.

I'd say that that added risk means that the value of a YT channel puts it at the lower end of the 10x-30x guideline.
 

TinHatRanch

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The usual benchmark figure for selling a website business is 10-30 times the monthly profit. So for example, if a website's monthly profit is 1,000 USD, then it's considered to be worth 10,000 - 30,000 USD The value will be near the lower end of the range if the future earnings aren't very predictable and more risky.

It could be argued that the future earnings of a YouTube channel aren't very predictable due to various reasons (new owner might not have the skills, YouTube's falling RPM etc) The biggest problem with a YouTube channel as a business is that YouTube has ultimate control of the domain name and servers hosting the content (not the business owner) and so it's all by YouTube's rules, TOS etc. YouTube could be sold tomorrow, a channel could get terminated for no reason, YouTube might decide to stop the partner program etc, they could change the algorithm that kills a certain niche etc etc. All of that is out of the business owner's control.

I'd say that that added risk means that the value of a YT channel puts it at the lower end of the 10x-30x guideline.
Thanks, I know this might sound insane, but the reason I'm selling is I just don't want to deal with the types of issues you are listing. Not really getting banned as I don't do anything that would get me banned. The "social medial business" I have makes a good amount of money...but it's just not worth it any longer to me. I'm personally sick and tire of chasing the machine. Effort doesn't equate to dollars. Instead, the tools used to make money today completely change with tomorrow's algorithm change. YouTube is slow to react compared to the others, you can make quality videos that retain your audience and YT seems to be somewhat consistently happy with the results.

The other methods of money are a different story. Adsense, Amazon, other affiliates, etc. One day you are sailing along making decent money then boom, it all goes in the crapper and you are left guessing what changed. I started this endeavor because I like making videos and I heard you could make money doing so. Now, you spend most of your time looking at analytics and trying to figure out how the machine screwed you today and how you are going to circumvent the challenges while staying within the terms of service.

Frankly, I think these challenges are going to destroy the diverse creation of information by individuals we've seen from the web in short order. Why would anyone get into this with little to no reward? But alas, so goes the world.

I've maintained my entities earnings at the exact same level for three straight years, yet in that time period I've quadrupled subscribers, views, website visits, clicks, etc. I've watched folks with other entities like mine earnings dwindle in that time period. I'm tired of adapting as it takes away from creating.

Why anyone would buy into this after reading the above is beyond me, but I doubt there are potential buyers here anyways. For either of you wondering, these are the reasons I want out. If I can get out now I might be able to make enough to start another business in which I have more control.
 
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Thanks, I know this might sound insane, but the reason I'm selling is I just don't want to deal with the types of issues you are listing. Not really getting banned as I don't do anything that would get me banned. The "social medial business" I have makes a good amount of money...but it's just not worth it any longer to me. I'm personally sick and tire of chasing the machine. Effort doesn't equate to dollars. Instead, the tools used to make money today completely change with tomorrow's algorithm change. YouTube is slow to react compared to the others, you can make quality videos that retain your audience and YT seems to be somewhat consistently happy with the results.

The other methods of money are a different story. Adsense, Amazon, other affiliates, etc. One day you are sailing along making decent money then boom, it all goes in the crapper and you are left guessing what changed. I started this endeavor because I like making videos and I heard you could make money doing so. Now, you spend most of your time looking at analytics and trying to figure out how the machine screwed you today and how you are going to circumvent the challenges while staying within the terms of service.

Frankly, I think these challenges are going to destroy the diverse creation of information by individuals we've seen from the web in short order. Why would anyone get into this with little to no reward? But alas, so goes the world.

I've maintained my entities earnings at the exact same level for three straight years, yet in that time period I've quadrupled subscribers, views, website visits, clicks, etc. I've watched folks with other entities like mine earnings dwindle in that time period. I'm tired of adapting as it takes away from creating.

Why anyone would buy into this after reading the above is beyond me, but I doubt there are potential buyers here anyways. For either of you wondering, these are the reasons I want out. If I can get out now I might be able to make enough to start another business in which I have more control.

Diversifying the income so you're not relying totally on ad revenue is definitely the way forward. Affiliate marketing can be quite lucrative if you find a good offer that pays and converts well. Digital products / subscriptions usually have very good margins.