Design directory, CSSVault, has reportedy been sold to HostGator, a leading webhosting company. Ahmed broke the news at techsoapbox:
While I helped facilitate this sale a while ago (and there was a bit of a ‘quiet period’ going on with it), the go ahead to go public with it is here.
CSSVault, the venerable CSS directory was sold by BloggyNetwork to HostGator Web Hosting for a smooth $100,000.
Revenue and traffic are not going to be disclosed, but lets say the strong brand and strong (actual, and not wishful) potential was a big reason HostGator purchased it.
CSSVault, a directory of cool design stuff, averages about 12,000-17,000 pageviews a day with over 5,000 unique visitors daily. But with a very rare natural PR9 domain the $100,000 price tag could probably be one of the largest sale of this kind.
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Just a few clarifications:
1. The traffic data is old. *VERY* old
2. I have an interview coming up soon, but the basic gist is that CSSVault will refer enough business within 3-4 years to make the acquisition worth it. It is the equivalent of buying out a super-affiliate.
3. Interview soon with more details.
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My info is that BN sold this way back, as soon as it hit PR9.
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It has been PR9 for a while actually.
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Yup. When was the sale negotiated?
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It is just a matter of PR than any other thing. Hostgator has been searching for other showcases with 10 times those statistics.
http://cssmania.com/blog/2007/03/12/keep-on-trying.php
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Mark, the site has been PR9 for over a year (you can check archive.org for the ‘major’ link). HostGator purchased the site (my mind may be playing slight fuzzy tricks here) roughly 2-4 months.