Started in 2008, Press75 is one of the oldest WordPress theme shops. Jason Schuller has run the site for years, and according to the listing, it was once a half a million dollar per year business. Now it’s for sale.
Jason has been moving away from the theme business for some time. He’s created a couple of different CMS platforms, and his latest project is Cinematico, a CMS specifically for displaying Youtube and Vimeo videos.
Jason reports on the Flippa listing that the current monthly revenue is around $5,268 / month, with very little cost associated. However, sales have apparently dwindled significantly as his focus has gone to other projects.
What’s incredibly valuable to my mind in this auction are the following:
- The domain and brand value value of Press75 (PR6 still getting over 13,000 uniques per month)
- The email list of nearly 15,000 subscribers
- The existing partnership with WordPress.com
It’s sad to see another fairly prominent theme shop going up for sale, especially one with this much history and previous success. However, it’s understandable that Jason is looking for new projects with new excitement for him, and I wish him the best of luck in that.
Again, just like I felt with DevPress, I wish there was a different way to go about this than a public auction on Flippa. But hopefully, like happened with DevPress, someone within the WordPress community will pick it up and help Press75 thrive again.
I know one thing. Unless the reserve is ridiculously high, this website will sell, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it went for the low six figures.
This is an incredible opportunity for someone. An injection of new themes could set Press75 on fire again. I’m curious to see what it goes for.
Another scoop goes to poststat.us 🙂
You gotta respect Jason for letting go a proven money maker and going all-in with his new direction.
I wonder if one of the bigger existing theme shops grabs this or maybe a hosting company.
This has been an extremely hard decision for me, and I have talked with several potential buyers before listing it on Flippa, none of which have panned out as of yet. The Flippa listing is my last attempt at finding a respectable new owner before I close up shop completely. If I don’t find a new owner, I’ll most likely make most of the themes free and maintain a few that are dear to my heart under a new name.
Unfortunate news indeed.
If you don’t find the right buyer on Flippa, perhaps you would consider partnering with a qualified theme dev (or devs) to take over the site in a limited partnership with your guidance.
That way the site and brand stays intact and still allows you a way out.
Really nicely written (and important) post Brian – as Peter Knight mentions above: “Another scoop goes to poststat.us”! More to the point though, this really does seem like it could be a great opportunity for someone with the right skills etc. I too wish Jason all the best (just goes to show how crucial ‘interest’ is in expanding/maintaining this type of enterprise) and will be keeping an eye on flippa to see what this one goes for (and to whom – please let us know in a followup post if/when you find out)!
I wish them luck in the sale. Flippa may be a tough marketplace for this type of sale. I don’t know if they’ve used or thought about a business broker, like Sunbelt, but if they’re trying to sell their website as an operating business, that may be more appropriate. In any case, a buyer’s going to want to see tax records for proof of revenue (I ask for them at least), which I notice are taking a while to produce, so that may impact the sales price.
We have been looking at a number of theme co’s which are for sale in 2014 and the trend with all of them is the same. If you don’t launch themes on a regular basis then revenue falls fast – regardless of marketplace.
Personally I think this type of business model is not sustainable and we will see many more theme co’s up for sale in the not too distant future.