Ask HN: Do websites really sell for ~1 P/E?

[meric]

I stumbled on to this website: http://www.websitebroker.com/ where people put sites up to buy and sell. Looking at the listings, I find some sites selling for $280, with $26 per month current profits. Another lists for $780 with $160 current profits, etc, etc. You'll make back the price in less than a year for most of those sites...

I feel tempted to buy one of those cheap ones and just collect passive income for a year. But then... why are they selling? Or is it all an illusion and everyone is trying to rip everyone off?

[imechura]

flippa.com is the one I am most familiar with. Some of these are legit. Others are propped up with paid and black-hat traffic to get the analytics and CPC up until after a sale it made.

[thedjinn → imechura]

How do you tell the difference before the sale? What are things to look for?