Ask HN: How to sell a small side project?

[sircon]

I was approached to sell a small side project and made me think on how to actually do this.

In this specific situation, the price I wanted for the project was too much for the buyer and he suggested to pay in partial payments. I don't know this person and don't know how trustworthy he is.

How could I make that work? How can I protect myself? Selling a domain is easy using an escrow service, but how to send code and other assets safely and so on?

[muzani]

Get a lawyer to help with the sales agreement. Assume that they're not trustworthy (they rarely are). But they'll do the same with you.

Ensure that assets belong to you before the full payment, but also ensure that they get everything after full payment. Both of you should sit with the lawyer and discuss it.

[spdebbarma]

Take a look at Tiny Acquisitions[0]. I stumbled upon it on Product Hunt a few months back, and is possibly a good fit for your needs. All the best! [0]https://tinyacquisitions.com/home

[twobitshifter]

You would still need to set up some sort of escrow account that holds both the assets and the money. Once the payments are complete the escrow agent will hand over the IP, domain, etc.

[jimmyvalmer]

If your price is under 50k, and he wants to pay in installments, then I'd just close the discussion. Dude is your yanking your chain.

[altdataseller]

Even if it’s less than 500k, I would just ignore him. Totally not worth your time and headache

[jimmyvalmer]

I wouldn't draw the line that high. Mortgages still make sense for less.

[tacostakohashi]

That's because mortgages are secured by real property that can be foreclosed upon in the case of a default.

You cannot foreclose on a business.

[jimmyvalmer]

Putting OP's "small side project" aside, anything, including houses, that can sell for close to half a million USD is going to involve lawyers who will ensure the seller is made whole.

[dyeje]

There are some websites for this Flippa, MicroAcquire, FEI International, etc.