There are many places to find businesses for sale online, but only a handful that matter. Buyers should be aware that there is very little to gain by searching all of the many sites that list businesses for sale. Sellers and brokers list businesses for sale on the top websites that have the most traffic.
In this article, we show you the best and worst websites to find businesses for sale based on Alexa rank, a combination of visitors and page views. We group our rankings of business for sale websites as follows:
- traditional businesses for sale
- franchises for sale
- real-estate websites that feature businesses for sale
- digital businesses for sale
Traditional Business for Sale Website Platforms
These business for sale platforms show traditional brick and mortar businesses from Main Street businesses under $1M in revenue (the majority of listings) to businesses with revenue exceeding million and even tens of millions of dollars in revenue. These sites typically list new franchise opportunities, franchise resales, business real estate, and digital business as well. However, their bread and butter is the traditional brick and mortar business with a physical location. Read about buying a business with real estate versus a lease.
By far, the number one source for traditional businesses for sale is BizBuySell. In my experience, over 95% of my buyer leads for main street businesses for sale come from BizBuySell. However, take note that Axial.net is focused on $1M+ revenue businesses and has always proven useful for listings in this range. Also note that BizBen.com is a platform just for CA businesses for sale. Here are the top platforms that list traditional businesses for sale ranked in order of traffic.
- BizBuySell.com
- BusinessesForSale.com
- BizQuest.com (now part of the same family of companies as BizBuySell)
- DealStream.com
- BusinessBroker.net
- Axial.net
- BizBen.com (California Only)
- GlobalBX.com
- BusinessMart.com
Franchises for Sale Website Platforms
Most of the traditional business for sale website platforms listed in the previous section also list franchises for sale, and they typically have more overall web traffic than specialized franchise for sale sites. However, the franchise for sale sites have more comprehensive services for franchise buyers, access to franchise experts, and articles specific to buying franchises. These sites are lead sources (you are the lead) for franchisors and franchise sales professionals selling new franchise opportunities.
We also highlight a few platform websites in bold on franchise resales. While the franchise resale sites have lower traffic than the more common new franchise sites, they can be very valuable to learn about even if you decide to go with a new franchise. The last franchise resale site, NationalFranchiseSales.com, does not have an Alexa rank. Here are the top platforms that list franchise opportunities ranked in order of traffic.
- FranchiseDirect.com
- FranchiseHelp.com
- Franchising.com
- FranchiseGator.com
- Franchise.org
- FranchiseOpportunities.com
- Franchise.com
- The FranchiseMall.com
- AmericasBestFranchises.com
- FranchiseSolutions.com
- AllUSAFranchises.com
- FranchiseResales.com
- FranchiseFlippers.com
- FranchiseForSale.com
- NationalFranchiseSales.com
Learn about the pros and cons of buying a franchise versus buying a traditional business.
Real Estate Platforms That Include Businesses for Sale
These platforms generally have a huge amount of traffic relative to all other categories in this article simply due to the sheer number of real estate opportunities. Because their focus is real estate, they typically do not provide features for business shoppers other than free saved searches and listings by email.
The leader by far is Loopnet which is owned by Costar Group, the leader in commercial real estate market information and marketplaces (Costar also happens to own two business for sale websites mentioned earlier – BizBuySell and BizQuest.) Here are the top real estate platforms that also list businesses for sale ranked in order of traffic.
- LoopNet.com
- Crexi.com
- TheBizEx.com
- Local MLS sites (no traffic data)
Whether a business listing ends up on a traditional business-for-sale platform or a real estate platform often depends on who the Seller has a relationship with, either a business intermediary or a commercial REALTOR®. Smaller main street businesses may even end up on local MLS systems because the business owner did not know where to turn and inquired with a residential REALTOR® about selling their business.
Click Here to read about the pros and cons of buying a traditional business versus buying real estate.
Click Here to read about buying a business with real estate versus a lease.
Website Platforms Featuring Online Businesses for Sale
Online or Digital businesses have taken off for many reasons. Probably the most significant reason is that the entry point can be significantly lower than buying a brick and mortar business. Some platforms list digital startups with little to no revenue or profit. Due diligence and closing are different than buying a traditional brick and mortar business. Read about the pros and cons of buying an online business versus a traditional business.
Flippa is the dominant leader in digital businesses for sale followed by EmpireFlippers.com. While Flippa has more listings and traffic, it has a wider range of listings than EmpireFlippers including very small online businesses. Flippa is an exchange while EmpireFlippers is a broker.
ExchangeMarketPlace is specifically for online businesses on the Shopify platform. Here are the top platforms that list online or digital businesses for sale ranked in order of traffic. BitsForDigits is not listed but is on the table since it is emerging with a relatively unique business model, although the model is similar to MicroAcquire.
- Flippa.com
- EmpireFlippers.com
- ExchangeMarketPlace.com
- MicroAcquire.com
- FEInternational.com
- Latonas.com
- WebSiteClosers.com
- DigitalExits.com
- WebSiteProperties.com
- BuySellEmpire.com
While the platforms mentioned earlier enable Buyers to contact Sellers, brokers act as intermediaries between Buyers and Sellers. These sites are provided by digital business brokers.
There are a significant number of brokers specializing in online businesses for sale. Their websites are not platforms per se, as they feature only the listings secured by that broker. These digital businesses tend to start at higher asking prices than the listings on the top digital business platforms. On the following table, the marketplaces that are not brokers are Flippa, MicroAcquire and BitsForDigits.
Online Platforms Selling Only Digital Businesses
| Niche / Description | Seller Fee | Buyer Fee | Other Broker Participation | |
| Flippa.com | Leading Marketplace for Online Businesses small (many) to large | 4-10% plus $49-$599/mo + options 0.89%-3.25% escrow fee | none | yes Sellers can eliminate monthly fees by working with a Flippa -approved broker. |
| EmpireFlippers.com | Leading Broker of Online Businesses small to large | 15% to $700K +8% to $5M +2.5% >$5M | none | no |
| ExchangeMarketPlace.com | Shopify only | 0.89% – 69% Shopify only | none Shopify only | no Shopify only |
| MicroAcquire.com | Startups to Large (mostly small) Not a Broker | none | Free or $390/yr or $780/yr | possible -launched a program? |
| FEInternational.com | Broker of larger SaaS, e-Commerce and digital businesses | 15% to $500K then tiered down | up to $1000 | no |
| BitsForDigits.com | $100,000+ revenue introduce parties, Not a Broker | none | Free or $399/6mo or $599/yr | possible |
Overview of the Business for Sale Website Segments
As you can see from this chart of all the sites mentioned in this article, grouped by niche, the leading digital business for sale platforms have more traffic than the traditional business for sale platforms. This is due to the wide availability of very small online businesses for sale. Some of these digital businesses have little to no revenue or profits, but are valued based on traffic.
Younger business buyers tend to be online more frequently, tend to have less capital to purchase physical businesses, and may be more comfortable with online business models. They also may be less interested in businesses that anchor them to a location or that require physical work or in-person customer interaction.
The real estate focused websites’ very high traffic numbers are skewed by real estate-only opportunities. Buying a business on one of these sites will typically involve working with a commercial real estate professional. Many of these professionals excel at facilitating real estate deals versus businesses for sale.
The category with the least traffic is franchises for sale. This is not due to the lack of interest in franchise opportunities. Whether new or resale, franchise opportunities listing are more spread out online. They are also available on most traditional business for sale websites as well as each individual franchisor’s site. There is a lot of ad money available in the franchise ecosystem, so many of the franchise for sale websites make money with ads paid by franchisors for lead generation.
Stand Out as Buyer looking to Acquire a Business
The overwhelming majority of business buyers that enter their information into one of these business for sale websites will never purchase a business. There are many reasons for this and you can read about them in this article on essential tips for buying a business.
After educating yourself and assessing your options, if you are still motivated to buy a business, you can take advantage of the features on these websites that help buyers.
Account: In exchange for some basic information including your email address, you will receive new business for sale opportunities delivered to your inbox. Alternatively, you will be offered a chance to save a search after you select filters and conduct a search. All categories of business for sale websites offer this. The real-estate focused sites typically don’t offer much more buyer engagement than this. Digital business for sale platforms often require an account in order to learn more about a listing or to contact a seller.
Buyer Profile: By filling out some more information and agreeing to make your profile or search criteria public, you can let business owners know about the type of businesses you are targeting. This is where new franchise opportunity websites make their money. They capture you as a lead for franchisors. Other than that, these sites typically don’t offer much more buyer engagement. Franchise resale websites and digital business brokers (not digital business-for-sale platforms) offer this feature. The only traditional business for sale website I have found that offers a Buyer profile feature is Axial.net.
Premium Member: Several of the traditional business for sale websites offer premium memberships, but benefits vary by platform. Usually for a fee, you can access the platform’s additional benefits which may include the following.
- seller contact information
- listing activity data
- market insights
- valuation reports
- highlighted inquiries to the Seller
- priority support from the platform.
Business Wanted: Serious buyers can describe the ideal business with a paid posting targeted toward sellers and brokers. DealStream and BizBen (California only) offer this service for hundreds of dollars per year.
The Hidden Market of Businesses Not Listed for Sale
To take it to another level, learn about additional opportunities to find business that are not publicly listed for sale. These are advanced techniques used by serial business buyers, acquisition teams, and brokers and intermediaries.
Best Sources to Find Business For Sale
Of the over 35 sites evaluated, here are our winners.
- Best for Main Street: BizBuySell
- Best for Over $1M Revenue: Axial.net
- Best for Online Businesses: Flippa
- Best for Online Startups: MicroAcquire
- Best for Retail with Real Estate: LoopNet
- Best for Starting a Franchise: FranchiseDirect.com and FranchiseHelp.com.
- Best for Franchise Resales: FranchiseResales.com and FranchiseFlippers.com
Also consider these sites for specific uses:
- CA businesses for sale: BizBen.com
- Shopify Stores: ExchangeMarketplace.com
- Setup Buyer Profiles: Axial.net, BizBen.com and Dealstream.com
Pro Tip On Searching Businesses for Sale
If you request information on a business for sale and do not get a response, there could be a few reasons:
- The listing is under contract
- The listing is expired
- The seller or broker is simply unresponsive
In all of these cases, try calling in addition to submitting your interest online. Sellers and Brokers field an incredible number of inquiries from prospective Buyers who never buy. To learn how to set yourself apart, read this article on essential tips for buying a business.
By now, you’ve probably come to realize that business for sale listings are not tightly governed in the same way residential real estate listings are by local MLS rules or REALTOR® associations that have strict guidelines on listing status updates (active-pending-sold). This can be frustrating for business buyers, but it presents an opportunity for the determined buyer.