BreakThru Realty

Sell an E-Commerce Business in Florida

An established e-commerce business is sold on its trailing twelve months, its channels and what actually transfers: the brand, the domain and storefront, the marketplace accounts, the supplier relationships, the customer list and the inventory. Buyers range from individuals buying their first online business to aggregators buying brands, and each wants the numbers presented a particular way.

Find Out What My Business Is Worth · (786) 914-1017

Your first step: Confidential Business Exit Review

Start With a Confidential Business Exit Review

Your business represents years of decisions, relationships and work. Before anyone hears it might be for sale, know what it would sell for, what a buyer's lender will accept, and what you would take home. A licensed business broker prepares it and walks you through it privately.

What you receive

  • A recast of your earnings into seller's discretionary earnings, with the add-backs documented
  • A price range from closed sales of comparable Florida businesses, with the reasoning
  • The lease, staffing and financing issues that would move the price, and what to fix first
  • What a buyer's SBA lender is likely to accept
  • An estimate of what you would take home after the fee and any payoff

What happens next

  1. Answer a few questions about the business. Revenue and what you take home are enough to start.
  2. A business broker prepares the review from comparable sales.
  3. We call within one business day to walk through it, privately.
  4. Nothing is listed, and nobody is contacted, unless you decide to sell.

Free and confidential. The details you give us are seen only by the broker preparing the review. We do not contact your landlord, staff or customers.

Find Out What My Business Is Worth · How a business sale works

Trailing Earnings and Trends

Buyers value an online business on the trailing twelve months of seller's discretionary earnings, with the trend over three years and the seasonality laid out month by month. Advertising spend as a share of revenue, return rates, average order value and repeat-purchase rate are the metrics they test. Clean books that tie to the storefront and marketplace reports, with inventory accounted for correctly, are what let a buyer and a lender believe the figure.

Channel and Supplier Concentration

A brand that sells through one marketplace account is valued lower than one with its own store, several channels and an email list, because a single account suspension can end the business. Likewise one supplier for the main product is a risk a buyer prices in, and a documented second source raises the multiple. Where concentration exists, it is disclosed with the mitigations.

What Transfers

The brand and trademarks, domains, the storefront and its content, marketplace seller accounts (each platform has its own transfer rules), supplier agreements, the customer and email lists, social accounts, software subscriptions and the inventory. Each is listed and its transfer method confirmed before the business is marketed; a marketplace account that cannot be transferred changes the price and the structure.

Inventory and Working Capital

Inventory is counted and valued at closing, usually at landed cost, and often paid in addition to the business price. Slow or obsolete stock is written down. Buyers also look at the cash tied up in prepaid inventory and in marketplace payout cycles, because it is working capital they will have to fund.

Who Buys E-Commerce Businesses

Individual operators buying with SBA or personal funds; owners of complementary brands adding a product line; aggregators and groups buying brands at scale; and investors buying a managed business with a team in place. The business is marketed to the buyers that fit its size and channel, confidentially, and the full financials go only to buyers under NDA.

Questions you may be asking

Will my employees, customers or landlord find out?
Not from us. The review itself involves nobody but you and the broker. If you later sell, the business is marketed without its name or address, buyers sign a non-disclosure agreement and prove their funds before they learn who you are, and the landlord is approached only once there is an accepted offer.
What does a business broker charge?
A success fee paid from the proceeds at closing, set out in writing in the listing agreement before you sign anything. The review costs nothing.
My books are not perfect.
Few are. The review shows which add-backs a lender will accept and which records to tidy before a buyer looks, so the price holds through due diligence.
I only know my revenue.
Tell us the revenue and what you take home, even roughly. We work out the rest with you and ask for tax returns later, only if you want a firm range.

Find Out What My Business Is Worth

Tell us the type of business, the city, how long it has operated, annual revenue, owner benefit or seller's discretionary earnings, EBITDA if you track it, monthly rent and lease expiry, number of employees, how involved you are, why you are selling, your timeline and whether you would consider seller financing. A licensed BreakThru business broker prepares a confidential valuation from comparable sales and replies within one business day. Everything you tell us is confidential, the valuation is free, and nothing is listed or announced unless you decide to sell. Prefer to talk now? Call (786) 914-1017.

Questions Owners Ask

What is my e-commerce business worth?
A multiple of trailing twelve-month seller's discretionary earnings, adjusted for growth, channel diversity, supplier risk, brand strength and how much you do yourself, plus inventory at cost. A confidential valuation gives you a range from comparable online business sales.
Can my marketplace seller account be transferred?
Many platforms allow a transfer or a change of ownership on the account under their own rules; some do not. We confirm the method for each account before the business is marketed, because it affects the price and the structure.
Does an online business need to be in Florida to sell through you?
The owner or the entity usually is; the customers can be anywhere. Florida buyers are active in online acquisitions, and the business is marketed to buyers wherever they are.
What does a business broker charge?
Brokers selling small businesses usually charge a success fee paid from the proceeds at closing, commonly quoted in the market at around ten percent of the price, often with a minimum fee; larger sales are usually priced on a sliding scale. BreakThru's fee is set out in writing in the listing agreement before you sign anything, and the valuation costs nothing.

Also for Owners

Where Buyers Are Looking

Start Here

Sell by Business Type

Sell by Area

Recently Sold Businesses

Guides for Business Owners