YouTube channels are an excellent way to generate passive income. Just like content businesses, they’re not difficult to run. Once you’ve hacked the algorithm, all you need to do moving forward is create quality content. If you can afford it, you could get a scriptwriter, voiceover artist, and a video editor to do most of the heavy lifting.

In this guide, you’ll learn not only how to evaluate a YouTube channel but also how to dodge scams and the factors to consider when buying a YouTube account. Let's first address the legal aspects of buying a YouTube channel.

Can You Legally Buy A YouTube Channel?

Yes, you can legally buy a YouTube channel and gain complete ownership. Buying, selling, and transferring ownership of YouTube channels doesn’t violate YouTube’s Terms of Service. Your next question may be, “Then why do people say you can’t buy a YouTube channel?” Good question. The reason is that the YouTube platform doesn’t facilitate the transfer of channel assets.

Also, while YouTube isn’t against the transfer of ownership of YouTube channels, it doesn’t approve of transferring personal AdSense accounts and selling access to its services. YouTube may step in if the new owner violates policies like spam, copyright, or monetization abuse. That doesn’t mean you can’t buy a monetized YouTube channel.

Rather than buying/selling a personal YouTube channel, the account is packaged and sold as a limited liability company with all its assets. So technically, you’re buying a business, not a YouTube channel.

Before we walk through buying a monetized YouTube channel, it's crucial to understand which factors require careful consideration to help protect your investment.

Factors to Consider when Buying A Monetized YouTube Channel

The cost of a YouTube channel depends on its monthly revenue, content created, subscriber count, niche, and engagement rate. However, there are some overlooked factors you need to look out when buying a monetized YouTube channel to avoid getting burned.

Hacked accounts

Not every YouTube channel for sale is legitimate. Some sellers offer hacked accounts they’ve gained unauthorized access to the login credentials: you don’t want to buy one of these. 

Ask the seller to show proof of ownership of the account by sharing the Google account creation date and emails from the original recovery email. Look for any comments that mention the account being stolen. Watch out for fake numbers, like inflated views that are unverifiable. And if a seller tries to rush you into a deal, that’s a red flag. Finally, never pay for a channel with cryptocurrency, as that’s almost always a scam.

Due diligence

In the creator business, steady income is key. Double-check that the stats and claims the seller gives you are real. For buyers mindful of steady returns, ensure the channel has a loyal audience and generates good engagement.

Keep in mind that some channels either have been demonetized or have strikes or are facing legal issues that could get them banned soon. That’s why it’s important to always do your due diligence. Request proof that the channel is making money and is actually profitable.

Growth potential

Subscriber count is a great metric to consider when buying a YouTube channel. However, that won’t matter much if the growth is stagnant and the views are declining.

You want to see some consistency in the view rate of the channel, and that there’s growth potential. Consistency and good engagement are very important in getting on the right side of YouTube’s algorithm because a channel with a huge following and poor engagement rate will not be pushed as much as a smaller account with way better engagement.

Prioritise channels with growth potential.

Extra assets

Some YouTubers will have other assets, such as an email newsletter and a solid presence on other social media networks. These can make the account more valuable as you’ll have more distribution channels.

How to Buy A YouTube Channel

There are two ways of buying a YouTube channel: either directly contacting the owner or buying it on a marketplace.

Buying directly from a seller

There are many people on social media advertising their YouTube channels. While buying from these individuals may seem like the best option due to the flexibility to negotiate with the seller and avoid third-party fees, it comes with high risks.

The seller may not be the original creator or owner of the channel. So you stand a higher chance of getting scammed or buying a hacked account.

Buying from a marketplace

If you desire a structured approach to buying a YouTube channel, doing it on a marketplace like Microns.io is your best bet. Unlike buying directly from a seller, you have more options on our marketplace as there are lots of YouTube channels for sale. But most importantly, we do our due diligence to ensure that listings, as well as their metrics, on our database are legit.

Also, we have a native transfer service to ensure the safe exchange of assets. Not only do we support the sale of YouTube channels, we facilitate the buying and selling of lots of businesses in different niches, including micro-SaaS startups, web and mobile apps, ecommerce sites, newsletters, content businesses, etc. 

Why Buy a YouTube Channel?

Here are some of the benefits of buying a YouTube channel.

Save time and resources building the channel

Building a YouTube channel is difficult. Unlike other social networks where you can post low-quality content (including videos) and still grow a following, in 2025, just any form of content won’t cut it on YouTube. Also, you need 1000 subscribers and 4000 watch-time hours to monetize your channel. It could take a considerable amount of time (likely several months to years) to achieve this.

When you buy a YouTube channel, you skip a lot of the hard stuff in the beginning and save yourself a lot of time and resources.

Get a pre-validated idea

To build a successful YouTube channel, you need to research other YouTube channels and various niches, then start creating content and maintain consistency. This validation period can take several months to years to determine if people are interested in what you have to say. Buying a monetized YouTube channel helps you cut this circle short and start generating revenue from day one.

Expand your reach

If your goal isn’t to generate revenue from YouTube but to expand your business’s reach so you can get more brand visibility, acquire more business deals/customers, and build topical authority, then buying a YouTube channel also makes sense.

How to Value a YouTube Channel

Regardless of whether you’re buying a small or large YouTube channel, it’s a worthwhile investment. You can delete the entire existing contents or rebrand the channel if you want. But how can you evaluate a YouTube channel’s worth?

Determining how much a YouTube channel is worth isn’t straightforward. Aside from considering the number of subscribers and other metrics, you also have to consider the competitiveness of the niche as some are more valuable than others.

One way to value YouTube channels is the multiple valuation method. Typically, a YouTube channel will be valued at 12 - 36x its average monthly profit, with the specific multiple depending on engagement benchmarks. 

Value = monthly profit x 12-36 (+ engagement premium)

For example, a channel with an engagement rate above 10%, active comment sections, and regular audience interaction could justify a higher-end multiple, such as 30x or above. Conversely, channels with low engagement might only reach a valuation on the lower end of the spectrum, around 12x to 20x.

So if a channel makes an average of $1000 monthly, it can be sold for between $12000 to $36000, depending on a range of factors.

The top 5 most valuable YouTube niches and their revenue per mille (RPM) are thus;

• Make money online: $13.52 RPM
• Social media marketing: $12.41 RPM
• Finance and investing: $12.25 RPM
• Tech reviews: $10 - $20 RPM
• Beauty and fashion: $10 RPM

Transferring The Channel

We’ve established that YouTube doesn't support the transfer of channels. So the most secure way of transferring YouTube channels is by using an escrow service to protect yourself from scams. This was why we developed Transfer by Microns to handle all the logistics regarding the transfer of business ownership.

The transfer process typically involves several key steps. 

First, as the buyer, you’ll make an offer. Then we’ll automatically generate an agreement for you. When the seller accepts your offer, we’ll also generate an agreement for them. Then you’ll be required to make the payment, which we’ll hold in our escrow service. Afterwards, we’ll authorize the seller to transfer the assets to you. Once you confirm that you’re good with the purchase, we’ll release the funds to the seller and close the deal. This service is free for premium buyers, but we charge sellers a commission from the successful sale.

Wrapping Up

If you’re shopping for a YouTube channel, simply sign up to gain access to listings on our platform. We offer comprehensive vetting of all YouTube channels and businesses listed, ensuring authenticity and quality: that shouldn’t deter you from doing your due diligence. We provide robust support throughout the buying and selling process. 

Also, if you’ve got a YouTube channel or any other online business to sell, you can list it on our platform for free.