Sell Your Ecommerce Business Without a Broker

Brokers charge 10-15% of the sale price. On a $2M deal, that's $200,000-$300,000 walking out the door before you see a dollar.

For many sellers, that fee is worth it. But a lot of sellers pay it without asking whether they had to. This post is for the ones who want to know if they can skip it.

The short answer: yes. Selling direct is possible, it's done regularly, and it often closes faster than a broker-listed deal. The trade-off is that you take on the work a broker would handle: finding the buyer, structuring the deal, running the process. This post covers exactly how to do that.

I've reviewed over 50 e-commerce businesses as a buyer. I've bought deals direct and through brokers. Here's how the direct path actually works.

When Selling Without a Broker Makes Sense

Not every situation calls for going it alone. Start here.

Selling direct makes sense when:

You already know who the potential buyers are. If you've been in your niche for years, you know the operators, agencies, and aggregators in your space. A competitor who's expressed interest. An agency that manages accounts like yours. An operator looking to add a complementary brand. These relationships are your buyer network. A broker would charge you 12% to access a version of this.

Your business is clean and documented. If your financials are reconciled, your SOPs are written, and your P&L tells a clean story without heavy add-backs, you don't need a broker to make the business presentable. A prepared seller can run their own diligence process.

You're comfortable with the negotiation. Direct deals require you to negotiate price and structure without a middleman managing the conversation. If you've done business deals before or you understand your numbers cold, this is manageable.

Your valuation is realistic. Broker-listed deals often attract sellers who need price validation from a third party. If you've already done the math on what your business is worth (and you understand that the market in 2026 is 2-3x SDE for single-channel, 3-4x for multi-channel), you don't need a broker to tell you that.

When a broker is worth the fee:

You have no buyer network and no time to build one. A good broker at Empire Flippers, Quiet Light, or FE International has an active buyer list they can contact within a week. That access has real value if you're starting from zero.

Your business has complexity a buyer might discount. Unusual add-backs, platform risk, revenue concentration in one SKU. A broker can frame these and negotiate the story. A direct seller who isn't a skilled negotiator might give up more than the broker fee in a poorly structured deal.

You want a competitive process. Running multiple buyers simultaneously creates tension that drives up price. Brokers do this well. Running a competitive process yourself requires capacity most operators don't have while still running their business.

What You Give Up Without a Broker (Fees, Not Just Money)

The fee is the obvious cost. The less obvious costs are:

Time. A broker runs the process. You build the marketing package, field buyer inquiries, schedule calls, manage diligence, and track the pipeline. That's 15-20 hours per week during an active sale. If your business needs you full-time to run, a broker frees up capacity you don't have.

Buyer vetting. Brokers pre-qualify buyers before introducing them to you. A direct process means fielding unqualified inquiries, time-wasters, and people who can't fund the deal. Build a vetting step into your process (see below).

Process management. Keeping a deal from dying is a skill. From the LOI to close, there are typically 3-5 moments where the deal almost falls apart. A broker has seen all of them. If this is your first sale, you may not know how to hold a deal together when a buyer cold-feet or tries to retrade on price after diligence.

The honest trade-off: direct saves the fee but costs you time and some deal-management expertise. If your business is clean, your buyer is qualified, and you have time to run the process, the direct path saves real money.

How to Value Your Business Before Any Buyer Call

You cannot negotiate what you haven't calculated. Here are the three inputs that drive your number.

1. Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE) or EBITDA

For businesses under $1M in profit, buyers use SDE. Add back the owner's salary, personal expenses run through the business, one-time costs that won't recur, and depreciation. What's left is SDE.

For businesses over $1M in earnings, buyers use EBITDA and expect a management team to be in place. If you're the operator and the business stops when you stop, that's an SDE business regardless of revenue size.

A detailed breakdown of the math (and where most sellers go wrong on add-backs) is in my ecommerce business valuation guide.

2. The Multiple

In 2026, multiples look like this:

• Single-channel Amazon FBA: 2-3x SDE
• Amazon plus one other channel: 3-4x SDE/EBITDA
• Multi-channel (Amazon + TikTok Shop + DTC): 3.5-4.5x EBITDA
• Heavy owner dependency, single SKU, declining margins: floor of the range, sometimes below

Channel diversification is the single biggest lever. A brand that added TikTok Shop in the last 12 months and can show cross-channel revenue often justifies a 0.5-1x multiple premium over a comparable Amazon-only business.

3. Adjusted EBITDA, Not Gross Revenue

Buyers buy earnings, not revenue. A $3M revenue business with 10% EBITDA ($300K) is worth less than a $2M revenue business with 25% EBITDA ($500K). Revenue is a vanity metric in acquisition conversations. Know your adjusted EBITDA number cold before you talk to any buyer.

How to Find Qualified Direct Buyers

This is where most sellers who go direct stumble. The buyer pool is smaller than it looks.

Operators in your category. The most qualified buyers for an Amazon brand are usually other Amazon operators. They understand the platform, the P&L structure, and what they're buying. They don't need hand-holding through diligence. Start with people you know in your niche. Conferences, seller groups, agencies you've worked with.

Amazon agencies and service providers. Some agencies acquire brands to operate alongside their client base. Amazon management agencies that work across multiple accounts have visibility into where brands are headed and will sometimes move from service provider to acquirer when a client wants out.

Strategic acquirers. Brands in adjacent categories that want to add your customer base, supplier relationships, or category rank. If your brand competes with or complements an existing brand, the owner of that brand may be your most motivated buyer.

Family offices and private operators. High-net-worth individuals who want cash-flowing businesses without starting from scratch. These buyers move slower than aggregators but often have more flexible deal structures and fewer reporting requirements post-close.

Me, as a direct buyer. I'm actively acquiring e-commerce businesses with $500K-$5M in EBITDA. If your business fits that profile and you'd rather not go through a broker process, here's how to reach me directly. I move fast when the numbers are clean.

How to find buyers you don't already know: get specific in your outreach. "I'm exploring a sale of my [category] Amazon brand doing [$X revenue], [XX%] margins, [XX] SKUs, [X] years history. Are you or anyone you know in the market for this type of asset?" That's a message that gets a response. Vague outreach doesn't.

The Diligence Package: What to Prepare Before Any Buyer Call

Before you talk to a single buyer, build this package. Serious buyers will ask for it immediately, and having it ready signals a professional process.

Financial package:

• 3 years of P&L (monthly detail)
• Trailing 12 months of platform payouts (matching bank statements)
• SDE or EBITDA reconstruction with add-back documentation
• Any loans, outstanding liabilities, or inventory on credit

Platform and operations package:

• Seller Central account health screenshot (no open violations)
• Keyword rank report for primary ASINs (90-day trend)
• Advertising account summary (TACoS by ASIN, not just blended)
• Inventory report (current stock levels, incoming POs, storage fees)

Business documentation:

• SOPs for all repeatable processes (buying, PPC, customer service)
• Supplier list with names, MOQs, lead times, and relationship tenure
• Any contracts: employees, VAs, 3PLs, agency agreements
• Brand Registry status and trademark documentation

The acquisition checklist I use as a buyer covers every category above from the other side. Read it before you prepare your package. You'll know exactly what questions are coming.

Negotiating Direct: Where Sellers Leave Money on the Table

Not understanding deal structure options. Price is one number. Deal structure is the rest of the negotiation. An all-cash offer at $1.8M may be worth more than an $2.1M offer with 30% in earnout tied to performance you won't control after close. Know the trade-offs before you sit down.

Earnout traps. Earnouts favor buyers. The seller carries risk on performance they no longer operate. If a buyer pushes for a significant earnout, push back on two things: (1) the targets should be based on metrics the business has already demonstrated, not projections the buyer built; (2) the earnout period should be 12 months maximum, not 24. Every additional month of earnout is a month of risk you carry.

Retrades in diligence. Buyers sometimes use diligence findings as leverage to reduce the price after the LOI is signed. Some retrades are legitimate (a real problem surfaced). Many are negotiating tactics. Know the difference. If a buyer surfaces a "concern" that was visible in the financials you already shared, that's a retrade attempt. Hold the line or walk.

Not getting multiple buyers to LOI. One buyer at LOI means no leverage. Two buyers at LOI means you have a choice. Even if you prefer one buyer, knowing there's another qualified offer changes how you negotiate. Try to run at least two serious conversations in parallel before signing an LOI with anyone.

Misrepresenting add-backs. Sellers sometimes overstate add-backs to inflate SDE. Buyers find it in diligence. The deal either falls apart or reprices down. Your add-backs need to be clean, documented, and defensible. If you'd be embarrassed explaining an add-back to a skeptical buyer, remove it.

The LOI and Close Without a Broker

The LOI is where the deal becomes real. Without a broker managing the process, you'll receive or negotiate an LOI directly with the buyer.

What a standard LOI covers:

• Purchase price and structure (all-cash, earnout, equity rollover)
• Exclusivity period (typically 30-60 days while buyer completes diligence)
• Working capital peg (how inventory is handled at close)
• Transition period expectations (usually 60-90 days)
• Key representations (no undisclosed liabilities, no pending legal issues)

An attorney who handles small business M&A is not optional for this step. The LOI is non-binding, but it sets the framework the final purchase agreement will follow. Errors or omissions in the LOI cost money to fix later. Budget $5,000-$15,000 in legal fees for a transaction under $3M. That's a small fraction of what you're saving on broker fees.

After the LOI, diligence runs 30-60 days. You'll provide financial records, platform access (read-only), tax returns, and answer detailed questions. Be responsive. Deals die when sellers go quiet in diligence. The buyer is taking risk. Responsiveness is how you manage their confidence.

Close typically happens 60-90 days from LOI. Asset purchase agreements for e-commerce businesses follow a standard structure. Your attorney drafts or reviews it. You transfer the brand, inventory, platform accounts, and intellectual property. Buyer wires the funds. Done.

For a complete walkthrough of the process from the buyer's perspective, the how to acquire an ecommerce business guide covers every step from NDA to close.

The Bottom Line

Selling without a broker saves 10-15% of your sale price. On a $2M deal, that's $200K-$300K back in your pocket. The cost is time, process management, and some negotiation skill you'll need to develop or hire for.

If your business is clean, you have realistic valuation expectations, and you can identify 2-3 qualified buyers to approach, you don't need a broker. Most of the work a broker does is manageable for a prepared seller.

The key steps: know your SDE or EBITDA before any conversation. Prepare the diligence package before buyer outreach. Run at least two buyers in parallel before signing an LOI. Use an M&A attorney for the LOI and close. Don't agree to earnouts on metrics you won't control.

If you're ready to explore a sale and want to talk directly with an active buyer, here's how I approach deals and what I'm looking for. No broker required on either side. You can also review my acquisition criteria before reaching out.

And if you're still figuring out what your business is worth before starting any conversations, the valuation guide is the right place to start.