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Since the advent of the public internet in the 90s, there has been a number of online sites for listing a business for sale. While some are open to any business, others specialize in a certain industry or size of business.
When business owners approach us about listing their business, one of the first questions they ask is where can I sell my business. Our hope is that
this survey of listing sites will serve as a useful resource for future business owners as they navigate the listing process.
If you know of a business-for-sale service that is not on our list, please reach out.
General
If you are looking to buy or sell a brick-and-mortar business, these general business-for-sale websites can be useful for finding the best opportunity. They typically focus on more traditional small- and medium-sized businesses, rather than on a certain niche.
BizBuySell
BizBuySell advertises itself as the #1 online directory for businesses for sale. They’re not wrong. Founded in 1996, BBS has grown to dominate the online directory landscape. It’s currently owned by CoStar Group, the real estate behemoth.
One perk of listing with BizBuySell is their partner network, where they cross-list businesses to sites like Small Business Trends, USA Today Network, and WSJ Business.
Active listings: 45,000
Monthly traffic: 1M unique visitors
Listings starting at: $59.95 per month for 6 months
Experience: 3.5/5
BizQuest
BizQuest is BizBuySell’s younger sister site. Owned by CoStar as well, it boasts a similar range of businesses, including franchises. It has slightly less traffic and listings than BizBuySell, but still has one of the better experiences than some of the other listing sites.
BizQuest is part of the same partner network as BizBuySell, which can help increase traffic to your listings.
Active listings: 17,000
Monthly traffic: 300K unique visitors
Listings starting at: $59.95 per month for 6 months
Experience: 3.5/5
BusinessBroker.net
BusinessBroker.net is a favorite amongst business brokers, which is why only 6% of the listings are for-sale-by-owner. Unfortunately, this site lacks the more modern experience of BizBuySell and BizQuest. However, that has not stopped brokers from religiously using it.
Founded in 1999, BusinessBroker.net (BBN) is definitely ranks in the top 5 of business-for-sale sites. We hope that they'll upgrade the buying experience sometime soon. You shouldn't have to have add a listing to cart just to contact a broker!
Active listings: 17,200
Monthly traffic: 150K unique visitors
Listings starting at: $129.95 per month for 2 months
Experience: 2/5
BusinessMart.com
BusinessMart.com is a cheaper alternative to BusinessBroker.net. It doesn’t boast much better of an experience, but on the plus side, it’s nearly 6 times cheaper. Founded in 1998 by an internet holding company, BusinessMart provides a number of free resources and calculators in addition to the listing services.
Our recommendation to business owners is to use their resources but to list elsewhere.
Active listings: 21,000
Monthly traffic: 13K unique visitors
Listings starting at: $20.99 per month for 12 months
Experience: 2/5
BusinessesForSale.com
BusinessesForSale.com is one of the few that seems to have invested in transitioning out of the 90s. The experience is quite good. There are a number of filters for buyers to use when searching for businesses.
Although the site is an international marketplace, they still carry a high number of U.S.-based businesses for sale and offer a good set of guides and "how-to" articles for buyers and sellers, alike.
Active listings: 17,500
Monthly traffic: 330K unique visitors
Listings starting at: $59 per month for 6 months
Experience: 4/5
DEALSTREAM
DealStream is more than a business-for-sale site, as they allow owners of real estate, oil & gas opportunities and other ventures to list deals. However, their business-for-sale listings deserve highlighting in their own right.
With a broad range of businesses in both size, industry and price, DealStream has been growing year-over-year. We recommend DealStream for more unique businesses and those on a budget, as DealStream makes money by charging buyers for access.
Active listings: 13,000
Monthly traffic: 31K unique visitors
Listings starting at: Free!
Experience: 4/5
Software and E-commerce Businesses
If you are looking to sell or buy an internet business, you may want to consider some of the sites below. Given the relative simplicity of internet businesses, some of these listing sites offer a number of tools to make the sales process smoother (e.g. verification of traffic, Stripe earnings, or Shopify orders).
Flippa
Flippa is one of the best sites to buy and sell internet businesses. Whether you’re looking to buy a domain, a Shopify store or a blog, Flippa offers a network of over 300,000 buyers. Founded in 2009, they have the latest tools and verification processes to ensure transactions are honest and fair.
One difference between Flippa and other sites is that they have brokered sale offerings for owners who want a party to help with valuation, negotiation and handling buyers.
Active listings: 5,800
Monthly traffic: 118K unique visitors
Listings starting at: $49 for online businesses
Experience: 4.5/5
EmpireFlippers
Unlike the other sites, EmpireFlippers acts as a broker for all listings on their platform. They follow a variant of the Lehman Formula for their commission, where they charge as high as 15% for a business under $1M and as low as 2% for a business above $10M.
Similar to Flippa, EmpireFlippers integrates with analytics and transaction data to provide buyers with a detailed, verified view of the business’s fundamentals.
Active listings: 119
Monthly traffic: 73K unique visitors
Listings starting at: 2 - 15% success fee
Experience: 4/5
Microacquire
If you run a SaaS business, there likely is no better fit than MicroAcquire. With a focus on software startups, MicroAcquire has built a network of 30,000+ trusted buyers. By monetizing on buyers, business owners can list through their site for free.
The platform includes similar functionality to Flippa, insofar as verifying financial and operational details.
Active Listings: 500
Monthly traffic: 30K unique visitors
Listings starting at: Free
Experience: 4.5/5
Dental Practices
For owners of dental practices, there are a number of specialty sites. Even more so than internet businesses, the buyers of dental practices are a skilled and specific demographic. Advertising on general business-for-sale sites is likely not the best avenue to reach these buyers.
DentalTown
DentalTown is a publication focused on dentistry. Outside of magazine articles, the site has a message board, blog, and classifieds section. With over 250,000 registered members on Dentaltown.com, their classifieds are a good way to list a practice for sale.
Active Listings: 2,410
Monthly traffic: 24K unique visitors
Listings starting at: N/A
Experience: 2/5
DDSMatch
DDSMatch helps with dental practice transitions. They provide advisory services for practice sales, practice mergers, partnership agreements, office appraisals and real estate sales.
Active Listings: 891
Monthly traffic: 1K unique visitors
Listings starting at: N/A
Experience: 3/5
Car Washes
Car Wash Advisory
Car Wash Advisory is a broker and M&A advisor with a special focus on... car washes! Similar to EmpireFlippers, in that it brokers all listings on its site, CWA has deep expertise in car washes, so buyers and sellers can trust their dealing with an expert.
Active Listings: 17
Monthly traffic: 500 unique visitors
Listings starting at: N/A
Experience: 3/5
Accounting Firms
Accounting Practice Sales
Founded in 2002 by a team of CPAs, Accounting Practice Sales helps market accounting and tax practices across North America. They have a network of independent brokers who handle all of the listings on their site and provide free valuations to interested sellers.
Active Listings: 2637
Monthly traffic: 3.9K unique visitors
Listings starting at: N/A
Experience: 3/5
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Will founded Beacon with the mission to help the current generation of owners to retire while enabling the next to unleash their entrepreneurial spirit. He comes from a business background having graduated from the Wharton School with a B.S. in Economics.
Information posted on this page is not intended to be, and should not be construed as tax, legal, investment or accounting advice. You should consult your own tax, legal, investment and accounting advisors before engaging in any transaction.
Calder Capital
Sam Domino