WordHugger & rssHugger Acquired for $13,000

January 3, 2008 by Collin LaHay
Filed under: General 

As of this blog post, rssHugger and WordHugger are officially acquired for $13,000… but lets go back a few months.

I have been building websites for over a year now and in September I decided I wanted to develop a website that helped webmasters promote themselves. I wanted to use my past entrepreneurial experience to build a website and prove to everyone that you do not need venture capital or angel investors to build a great website. I wanted to help pay for my college tuition for when I go to the University of Wisconsin next Fall, and I wanted to help thousands of entrepreneurs through Kiva (a post on that later).

In November I launched rssHugger with the goal of promoting excellent blogs and getting around all of the spam filled trashy ones that exist. After a bumpy start, I took some advice from John Chow and the site has grown rapidly ever since.

A few days ago I listed the auctions on Sitepoint with a starting bid of $1000, and a buy it now of $12,900. I made a big mistake by setting the buy it now so low, as I had received 5 buy it now offers for that amount, as well as one private offer for $13500, and one private offer for $15,000. If I had just waited a few days I could have received $20,000, but I decided I did not want to cheat the first person who posted the buy it now offer, and so I kept my word by selling it to him.

I am not going to disclose anyones name for privacy issues, but I believe both parties are happy with the sale. I will be using the funding like I originally planned (college tuition), and I have also set a big portion aside to get a new, easier to read blog design developed. I will also be getting a custom logo for the blog.

Picture of the check:
check5.png

Whats in store for me now?
Well, my developers and I are keeping details private right now, but I can say that we are working on the biggest project we have ever taken on. If you thought these two sites of mine were big, you will love our new site in development. I will give all of my blog readers additional details when they are ready to go public.

My taxes are going to be a beast this year…

Comments

38 Comments on WordHugger & rssHugger Acquired for $13,000

  1. Tyler on Thu, 3rd Jan 2008 12:46 pm

    2. Congrats Collin.

    Do you mind if I blog about the sell at Startup Hustle?

  2. Link on Thu, 3rd Jan 2008 12:59 pm

    3. Congratulations on the sale.

    I’m also a huge Kiva fan. It’s really taken off in the last year. I was just toying around with the idea the other day of selling an ad on my blog each month that would fund a Kiva loan.

  3. Patrick on Thu, 3rd Jan 2008 1:03 pm

    4. Congrats Collin, you look like a great Internet Entrepreneur. Keep up the good work.

    Patrick

  4. Collin LaHay on Thu, 3rd Jan 2008 9:04 pm

    5. Everything on my blog is in public domain. Feel free. =)

  5. Ethan Christ on Thu, 3rd Jan 2008 10:38 pm

    6. This is envy!

  6. Sudarshan on Thu, 3rd Jan 2008 11:42 pm

    7. WOW hope All the best with your new projects

  7. Mike Huang on Fri, 4th Jan 2008 12:10 am

    8. WOW! You are the true motivation!

    -Mike

  8. Collin LaHay on Fri, 4th Jan 2008 12:34 am

    9. Thanks Mike, enjoy the beer via Paypal. =)

  9. turtie on Fri, 4th Jan 2008 4:51 am

    10. nice job!! keep it up. your blog is one of the few that i follow closely.

  10. dicky on Fri, 4th Jan 2008 6:12 am

    11. Hi, do you hire any web developer or designer to create rssHugger and wordHugger? May i know where can we find these people? I am looking forward to create some web service, but i need some web developers….

  11. Chris Jacobson on Fri, 4th Jan 2008 7:50 am

    12. How did the price arrive at 98 cents?

  12. Tjäna pengar online on Fri, 4th Jan 2008 8:06 am

    13. Wow real nice work. Keep up the good work with this blog please, also one of the few blogs i follow.

  13. Binh Nguyen on Fri, 4th Jan 2008 8:21 am

    14. Congrats Collin. But does that affect my blog listing on rssHugger?

  14. Collin LaHay on Fri, 4th Jan 2008 10:24 am

    15. I have one friend who does all my designs, one friend who does all the coding, and one friend that does the logos. I will make a post with all of my recommendations for you.

  15. Collin LaHay on Fri, 4th Jan 2008 10:25 am

    16. Escrow fees.

  16. Collin LaHay on Fri, 4th Jan 2008 10:25 am

    17. No, all current listings are permanent. =)

  17. Collin - De Ruyck on Fri, 4th Jan 2008 2:26 pm

    18. Sweet Job Collin!

    Really gives me hope for my media/networking site I am curently getting prices on getting built for me.Like you I am really pumped about it as I came up with the idea over the holidays and there are no sites like it from what I have found so far and it is something every blogger will want to be a part of.

    Keep my posted on your next project.

  18. Collin LaHay on Fri, 4th Jan 2008 9:13 pm

    19. Sounds good!

  19. James Pong on Sat, 5th Jan 2008 11:10 am

    20. Wow. Congrats!

  20. Mark Dykeman on Sun, 6th Jan 2008 11:15 am

    21. Congratulations on the sale of the two sites. Even though you may have gotten less than you wanted, it is still a milestone to celebrate!

  21. New Theme Preview - MMA version 2 | Mixed Market Arts on Sun, 6th Jan 2008 3:48 pm

    22. [...] WordHugger & rssHugger acquired. [...]

  22. Haroon on Mon, 7th Jan 2008 2:01 am

    23. Congrats Collin LaHay

    Keep up the good work Collin LaHay

  23. drt on Mon, 7th Jan 2008 4:47 am

    24. Congratulations Collin. I admire that you keep your promise and sold it to the first buyer. Looking forward to seeing your next project.

  24. Hans Link on Tue, 8th Jan 2008 7:26 am

    25. Collin, you’ve been up to a lot since we last talked. Way to go buddy. Good to see things are working out for you.

  25. Aaron Anderson on Fri, 11th Jan 2008 7:00 pm

    26. That’s awesome!

    Congratulations Collin.

  26. Shanti Braford on Mon, 14th Jan 2008 8:21 am

    27. Congrats, young entrepreneur!

    The next Bill Gates? :)

  27. The best time to join rssHugger is now! | Mixed Market Arts on Fri, 18th Jan 2008 11:20 am

    28. [...] WordHugger & rssHugger acquired. [...]

  28. rssHugger Removes Registration Fee - Promote Your Blog for Free | Mixed Market Arts on Fri, 18th Jan 2008 11:21 am

    29. [...] WordHugger & rssHugger acquired. [...]

  29. The Art Of Website Flipping | The University Kid on Mon, 28th Jan 2008 2:11 pm

    30. [...] – eBook sites are doing well for quite a few people these days while Colin at Mixed Market Arts sold RSSHugger and WordHugger (alright, the second one isn’t so unique, but the first one definitely is) for $13,000. [...]

  30. Lena Low on Tue, 5th Feb 2008 8:13 am

    31. Hi Colin

    I’ve just registered with rssHugger and now I discover that you’ve sold it. My registration is complete and I’ve done the review of the site as required. I know it no longer belongs to you now but could you tell me how to tell if my site has been listed? Thanks.

  31. Collin LaHay on Tue, 5th Feb 2008 1:35 pm

    32. Go to rsshugger.com/yourdomain.com. If you still need help, email me.

  32. Now It’s Time To Promote Your RSS with RSSHugger | A Beginner's Blog For Beginners on Wed, 14th May 2008 12:13 am

    33. [...] is the brainchild of Collin LaHay, the guy behind Mixed Matched Art. Though it was recently Acquired for $13,000, it is not your ordinary neighborhood RSS directory. If the curiosity gets the better of you, read [...]

  33. adda4u on Tue, 10th Jun 2008 7:42 pm

    34. Hello collin

    Any new projects ?

    And firstly congrats ….

  34. Collin LaHay on Tue, 10th Jun 2008 11:29 pm

    35. Yeah, I will make a post about two new ones in a few days, subscribe to the RSS :)

  35. Julie on Sun, 22nd Jun 2008 4:54 am

    36. my congratulations, Collin!!!

  36. Karan Goyal on Thu, 14th Aug 2008 12:28 am

    37. Thats a nice site and a great sale, congrats.

  37. small hosting on Fri, 31st Oct 2008 8:43 am

    38. Wow. That’s a lot of money. Congrats. Any tips for us here?

  38. D. Harris on Thu, 22nd Jan 2009 3:22 am

    39. I came across this post while writing a post of my own for rsshugger. You probably know that to get in at rsshugger you have to write a review or pay $20, any real blogger doesn’t even consider opening their wallet when a simple review will pay the check. Anyway doing a bit of research and ran across this post, great footnote to the review, imagine what the reviewer will make of that. Anyway not to be sneakily getting links (we all do it) but this time i think i almost have to because i would want to read the post with my post mentioned in it if i were you. Its not a kicka$$ review, just a review. How could i review rsshugger if i am still waiting for someone at rsshugger to review my review? Without looking like the biggest liar? Heres my attempt and now you are part of it. I am darius by the way. Review Link http://ihategurus.blogspot.com.....-part.html

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