Agree what changes hands.
Before a transfer, document the included domain and assets, price, obligations, inspection process, payment arrangements and transition support. Identify platform restrictions and third-party permissions early. A buyer should be able to explain how they will operate the site after the handoff.
Make the transfer verifiable.
- Inventory the domain, repository, hosting, database, storage, analytics, email configuration and licenses. Identify shared accounts that must stay with the seller.
- Back up the included assets and document how to restore them.
- Confirm the agreed payment or escrow process through the provider’s verified channel. Do not rely on a payment screenshot.
- Follow the agreed transfer and inspection sequence. Set up buyer-owned provider accounts and replace credentials instead of publishing or sharing personal keys.
- Check the domain, deployment, core customer journey, admin access, backups and ownership permissions in the buyer’s environment.
- Record acceptance, payment completion and the start/end of any transition support. Remove seller access when appropriate under the agreed handoff.
This is an operating checklist. The eventual transaction’s specific contract and platform process determine the actual order and obligations.
Report the full result, including the work.
Keep business operating revenue separate from the one-time proceeds of selling the asset. Report the sale price, amount received, marketplace and payment fees, transfer costs, remaining obligations, total project expenses and owner hours. Never count the same shared subscription or cost twice.
Net sale proceeds = sale amount received − marketplace/payment fees − direct sale and transfer costs.
Whole-project cash result = operating receipts + sale receipts − refunds − project operating/build costs − sale/transfer costs, with each cost counted once.
Return on owner effort = whole-project cash result ÷ all recorded owner hours. If hours are missing, leave this unavailable. This is a before-tax project measure, not an hourly wage or a promise of future results.
Leave room for the part the numbers miss.
After the transaction—or a decision not to sell—ask: What was harder than expected? What do I miss? What am I relieved to have released? Did the new owner fit the hopes I had for the project? What can I now give my attention to? Write the answers when they are known, rather than deciding in advance that selling will feel good.
When the outcome is no sale.
Report the listing period, money and hours spent, actual inquiries, the most useful feedback and the decision to keep, improve, relist or stop. A listing that does not sell still produces evidence. It should not be retold as a successful exit.