What it means
A non-compete is a clause in which the seller agrees not to build or operate a competing business for a defined period after the sale. In website deals it usually covers launching a site aimed at the same niche and audience, and often extends to soliciting the email list or customers being handed over. It is standard in any sale where the seller's knowledge is part of what made the business work.
Why buyers insist on it
The person best placed to compete with a site is the person who just sold it. They know the audience, the keywords, the affiliate contacts and the content that performed. Without a restriction, a buyer's worst case is paying for a business and then facing its author as a competitor six months later, starting from a better position than any other new entrant. The clause prices that risk out of the deal.
Reasonable scope
The clause should be specific enough to be fair and narrow enough to be enforceable. Name the niche or subject rather than the industry, set a period of two to three years, and where a geography is relevant, state it. Broad restrictions that prevent a seller from working in their field at all are both unreasonable and, in many jurisdictions, harder to enforce, which serves neither side.
What it does to the price
The presence of a sensible non-compete supports the valuation; its absence reduces it. If you have a genuine reason not to sign one, say so early and expect the price to reflect it, because a buyer cannot ignore the possibility. Conversely, offering one proactively on a business where you are the visible operator is one of the cheaper ways to remove a buyer's objection.
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