It might be a stretch to call them startups. Often it's just a domain name with an idea attached to it. It might come with a proof-of-concept weekend project if you're lucky, but you'll probably need to rewrite that app anyway.

A few thousand dollars doesn't sound bad for a decent domain name and an interesting idea into which someone has put a few days' worth of time and effort. A functional webapp would be nice but not strictly necessary.

I've sold a few projects like this, ranging from $1,000 to $20,000. Some were a week or two of my time, versus the $20,000 exit was 3 years that I'm sure in this market would have been worth 3x that amount (such is life).

I don't have time to devout 40 hrs/week to projects, but can spend a few hours here and there. So for me, if I can turn some free time into cash and scratch that itch, all the better.

I sold my tiny project on microacquire marketplace, last time I checked there were even more low priced projects there, indeed it's an awesome way to experience an "EXIT" on a smaller scale :)

Something feels off if I need an account to even see their listings. I cannot tell if they are legit, or just a landing page for someone trying to get rolling.

I also looked on indiemaker and flippa, but microacquire was the only one where you dont need to pay to list your project and talk to potential buyers.. big plus

not just an email, your linkedin profile is required too.

Everything I've seen around here has been from the seller's perspective.

Has anyone here bought a tiny startup/project like that?

If not, is there some demographic not represented on HN who is buying these?

I’ve purchased several websites on empireflippers.com in the $10-30k range. Happy to answer any questions.

What kind of projects are these?

I'd say that $10-30k range is blogs with high search positions and established affiliate partnerships, but that's just my uneducated guess.

BTW: empireflippers.com seems to be down right now, possibly due to all the hype caused by HN audience.

Yes that’s correct. Usually strong search position with a few keywords. One I bought and later sold had an affiliate partnership already set up.

What's your main line of business, and what went into the decisions to buy those sites?

Did they all have revenue, and the owners just couldn't be bothered with the upkeep, and you figured you could? (Just going off OP's story here.)

They all had revenue and vetted by empire flippers (and myself).

I figured that I could either increase traffic or use simple strategies to increase revenue and then resell them at a higher price. I’m not sure what the owners motivation was for selling. Usually to buy something bigger is my guess.

Edit: forgot to answer one question. I had just quit being a minor partner in a VC and wanted to learn about online marketing, and also realized how much I valued freedom over my time over making more money. I tried buying, holding/improving and then selling websites for a couple years. I didn’t really love it - Google’s unpredictable behavior carries way too much weight.