How long does it take to sell a WordPress plugin? For a plugin with its numbers ready and a realistic asking price, most deals we see on FlipWP close within 60 to 90 days of listing. Some go much faster: sellers have had an offer the day their listing went out. Others sit for months, and it’s nearly always for the same few reasons. This guide sets out a realistic timeline, what slows a sale down, and what to do if your listing goes quiet.
How long does it take to sell a WordPress plugin, stage by stage
The sale has five stages. The time in brackets is what we’d plan for, not a promise.
| Stage | What happens | Typical time |
|---|---|---|
| Getting ready | Monthly revenue, costs and renewal rate pulled together; asking price agreed | 1 to 2 weeks |
| Listing | Listing form, our commentary, your preview, the next Monday email | 1 to 2 weeks |
| Enquiries | Buyers contact you, ask questions, look at the numbers | 1 to 6 weeks |
| Due diligence and the deal | Letter of intent, checks against the source, purchase agreement | 2 to 6 weeks |
| Handover | Escrow, WordPress.org, code, domain, customers and licences | 1 to 4 weeks |
The stage that varies most is the third. Everything else depends on how prepared you and the buyer are; that one depends on the price.
Getting ready
Buyers ask for the same things: monthly revenue for the last 24 months, renewal rate, refunds, costs and support volume. If you have these ready before you list, you’ll answer the first enquiry the same day instead of the following week. Our guide on how to sell your WordPress business has the full list.
Agreeing the asking price is part of this stage. Most WordPress product businesses we see sell for 1.5 to 2.5 times annual revenue, and our post on WordPress plugin valuation explains what moves a plugin up or down that range.
Listing
On FlipWP, once you’ve paid the listing fee you fill in our listing form. We write the listing up with our own commentary for buyers and send you a private preview to approve. Approved listings go out in the Monday email to buyer members, up to four at a time, so if more than four are waiting you’ll go in the following week.
Enquiries
Buyers contact you directly from the listing. Expect questions on the numbers first, then the code and the support load. How fast you reply matters here: a buyer who waits a week for an answer has usually moved on to the next listing.
Due diligence and the deal
Once a buyer is serious, they’ll usually send a letter of intent with a price and a period for due diligence. They’ll check your revenue against the payment or licensing platform, read the code and confirm you own what you’re selling. Two to six weeks is normal, and the more you prepared in the first stage the shorter it is.
Handover
Payment usually goes through an escrow service such as Escrow.com, which releases the money once the buyer confirms they’ve received the assets. The slowest part is often the WordPress.org plugin: under 10,000 active installs you can transfer it yourself, but above that the plugins team does it (see the WordPress.org transfer guide). Moving subscriptions between payment accounts can take longer than you’d expect too, so agree a plan with the buyer early.
What slows a sale down
When a listing sits for months, the reason is usually one of these:
- The price is set on past revenue. If revenue has fallen, buyers value the plugin on where it is now, not on its best year. A price that was fair 12 months ago can be twice what the business is worth today.
- The multiple is high without a reason. Three times revenue or more needs a strong case: a large install base, high recurring revenue or a clear fit for a buyer’s portfolio. Without one, buyers look and move on.
- The numbers aren’t ready. Revenue figures that mix in services or consulting, profit quoted as revenue, or no monthly breakdown all mean a buyer has to wait for answers, and many won’t.
- Slow replies. Members see a new listing in the Monday email, so the days after it goes out are when buyers are most likely to get in touch. An enquiry left for a week often goes cold.
- Something only you can run. Code nobody else understands, or a product that depends on your personal accounts, makes buyers nervous about the handover.
How to tell if your listing has gone quiet
Your FlipWP seller account shows each live listing’s days on market, views and enquiries. We also email you a check-in every two weeks in the first month and every four weeks after that, with one-click links to say it’s still available, mark it sold or remove it.
What the figures mean:
- Views but no enquiries usually means buyers are interested in the product but not at the price, or the figures raise questions the listing doesn’t answer.
- Enquiries that go nowhere usually means something came up in the numbers or the code. Ask the buyer what it was: most will tell you.
- Fewer views after the first weeks is normal, because members first see a listing in the Monday email.
What to do when your listing goes quiet
If a few weeks have passed without serious interest, there are two things we can do. Pick one at a time, so you can see which one worked.
- A listing spotlight. We send a dedicated email about your listing to all our buyer members, separate from the Monday email, and a shorter version to members whose membership has lapsed. It’s free and changes nothing about the listing.
- Reduce the price. Send us your new asking price and we’ll show the listing as reduced in the next Monday email. A reduction brings back buyers who looked once and passed. Price it on current revenue: a cut that still leaves the multiple well above 2.5x rarely changes much.
If you decide not to sell after all, you can remove the listing from your account at any time, and relist later. Our FAQ covers the other common questions.
Can you sell a WordPress plugin faster?
If you need the sale done quickly, you can shorten most stages yourself:
- Price at the lower end of the range. A plugin at 1.5 times revenue gets more enquiries than the same plugin at 2.5, and more enquiries means more chance of a buyer who can move fast.
- Have due diligence ready before you list: read-only access to your payment or licensing platform, a clean export of monthly revenue, and the code in a repository a buyer can read.
- Offer help after the sale. Thirty days of answering the buyer’s questions costs you little and makes a buyer more comfortable committing.
- List in more than one place. There’s no exclusivity on FlipWP, so you can list elsewhere or talk to buyers you already know at the same time.
Ready to sell?
Get your numbers ready, set the price on where revenue is now, and reply to buyers quickly: those three things decide most of the timeline. When you’re ready, list your business on FlipWP and we’ll help you set the asking price.
Iain Poulson
November 7, 2026