Selling Your Online Business — What You Need to Know!
Like many business owners these days, you probably have some sort of presence, and do some amount of business, on social media. You may even do business exclusively on social media — specifically on popular sites like Facebook and Twitter. What happens, though, when it comes time that you want to sell your business? Can you do this, or do the Facebook and Twitter terms of service agreements prohibit this kind of sale? Let’s take a look, and then discuss what you can do to transfer your business’s social media accounts to a buyer.
Facebook’s terms of service provide that you “own all of the content and information you post on Facebook.” Facebook Terms of Service §2. However, Facebook prohibits users from “transfer[ring]” accounts — both personal accounts and Pages used for businesses — to anybody without first obtaining Facebook’s written permission for such a transfer.
This appears to mean that, while you retain ownership rights for the content that you or your business posts to Facebook, your ownership rights are restricted. You cannot transfer your Facebook account or Page to another person or entity without first obtaining written permission from Facebook itself.
Similarly, Twitter has prohibitions on transferring accounts. Unlike Facebook, however, Twitter has implemented a much more stringent prohibition. Like Facebook, you own the content that you post to Twitter and it’s services. Twitter Terms of Service §3. Also like Facebook, Twitter provides that “[y]ou may not buy or sell Twitter usernames.” Twitter Rules. Unlike Facebook, however, Twitter does not carve out an exception to allow sales of usernames with their written permission. Put simply, this means that you cannot exchange money for the transfer of a Twitter username.
How to Sell Your Online Business
Violating the Facebook or Twitter Terms of Service may result in the account in question getting removed or banned entirely from the website. When trying to sell a business that is mostly (or exclusively!) conducted on these websites, having the page being in violation of the service’s terms of service would be catastrophic. However, there is a simple way to protect yourself and future-proof your online business, all while still keeping the avenue open to sell your business in the future. You should not operate your online business as a sole proprietorship, but rather establish a Limited Liability Company (LLC) to operate your business under. There are many other excellent reasons for organizing your business as an LLC which are outside the scope of this article. However, if your business is an LLC, and the LLC owns and operates the Facebook and Twitter pages, then you can sell the LLC itself instead of the social media account. Even if the LLC’s ownership changes, the LLC itself is still the owner of the Facebook or Twitter profiles.
To set up a new Facebook Business account, owned and operated by your new LLC, first log out of facebook from your personal account. Next, navigate to https://www.facebook.com/business. Then, create your account. When it asks you to log in, chose the option which says “I don’t have a Facebook account.” From their, enter your new LLC’s business email address, desired password, and all other required information. This will let you create a Facebook Page that is owned wholly by your new LLC, and not tied to your personal account.
If you already operate a Facebook Page linked to your new account, you will need to acquire written permission from Facebook to transfer this Page to your new LLC. We may be able to help you with that!
Neither Facebook nor Twitter can prohibit businesses with accounts on their websites from transferring or otherwise modifying their ownership. Thus, the account(s) will not have been “transfer[red],” in violation of Facebook’s Terms of Service, nor will the username have been bought or sold, in violation of Twitter’s Rules. This is because the transaction was for the LLC itself and not the social media account(s) only. This avenue provides you the ability to do business on Facebook or Twitter, protect yourself from personal liability, and sell the business later on — all without violating Facebook or Twitter’s terms or service and rules.
If you have questions about organizing a business structure, such as an LLC, or how to obtain Facebook’s written permission to transfer Pages to new entities, you should contact a registered attorney. We are pleased to offer our services, so please contact us to discuss your options!
Law Offices of John D. Gugliotta, P.E., Esq., LPA publishes this blog for educational purposes only, not to provide specific legal advice. By using this blog site you indicate that you understand there is no attorney-client relationship between you and the Law Offices of John D. Gugliotta, P.E., Esq., LPA. This blog should not be used as a substitute for obtaining legal advice from a licensed attorney. In addition, statements made on this blog represent the viewpoints of the individual authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Law Offices of John D. Gugliotta, P.E., Esq., LPA or any of our clients.