How to sell your online business without a public listing.

1. Decide how you want to sell: broker, aggregator or direct buyer

There are three common routes. A business broker markets your business to many buyers and is paid a commission by the seller, which suits founders who want competing offers and are comfortable with a listing. An ecommerce aggregator is a company that buys and runs several brands, often Amazon brands, with its own criteria and review process. A direct buyer such as Cadence buys the business itself: one conversation, no listing and no commission.

None of these is right for everyone. The questions that decide it are simple: do you want an auction or a private sale, how much of your time can the sale take, and how much do you need at closing compared with over time.

2. Get your numbers ready

Most of a sale's speed comes down to how quickly you can show what the business earns. Before you talk to anyone, put together:

• Twelve months of profit and loss by month, with your own pay and one-off costs shown separately so a buyer can see what the business really earns.
• Sales by channel: your own store, Amazon, wholesale and anything else, month by month.
• Repeat customers: the share of revenue from returning buyers or subscriptions.
• Ad spend by channel, and what happens to sales when you pull it back.
• Inventory and suppliers: what you hold at cost, lead times, and the terms you buy on.
• Your week: what you actually do, so a buyer knows what has to be handed over.

Keep the first contact light. Your business name or category and rough annual revenue are enough to find out whether a buyer is a fit. Share the detail only after a mutual NDA is signed.

3. What a buyer checks

Every buyer reads the numbers differently, but the same questions come up. Is the profit real and steady, or did one good quarter carry the year? How much depends on one product, one channel, one supplier or one ad account? Do customers come back without a discount? Are the product claims and labels clean? Can the store, listings, domain, email list and supplier relationships move to a new owner without breaking? The clearer your answers, the stronger the offer.

4. How a letter of intent works

Once a buyer has seen the numbers, the next step is a letter of intent: a short written outline of the price, how and when it is paid, what is included (inventory, domains, accounts), the timeline, and the conditions that still need checking. It is usually not binding on price, but it sets the shape of the deal before anyone pays for lawyers. Read how much is paid at closing, how much later, and what the later payments depend on.

5. Seller financing explained

With seller financing, part of the price is paid at closing and the rest is paid over an agreed term, usually monthly with interest, under a note. It lets a buyer pay based on the profit the business actually makes rather than on what a bank will lend against it. The protections matter more than the headline price: how the note is secured, what happens if a payment is late or missed, and whether you get the business back if the note goes unpaid. All of that should be in writing before you commit. How Cadence pays.

6. Due diligence and the purchase agreement

After the letter of intent, the buyer confirms what you've shown: bank statements against the P&L, platform reports, supplier terms and any legal or compliance questions. The purchase agreement then sets out exactly what is sold, the price and payment terms, the handover, and what each side promises. It is worth having your own lawyer read it.

7. Transferring a Shopify store or Amazon account

Each platform has its own transfer steps. A Shopify store moves through Shopify's ownership transfer once any Shopify Capital or Shopify Credit is closed out and Shopify Balance is emptied. More on selling a Shopify store. Amazon businesses move account, listings, brand registry and inventory in an agreed order. More on selling an Amazon brand. Supplement brands have extra paperwork: the manufacturing agreement, certificates of analysis and label files. More on selling a supplement brand.

8. Keep it confidential

A sale that leaks can cost you staff, suppliers and customers. Share numbers only under a mutual NDA, keep the brand name out of anything public until you're ready, and ask any buyer or broker how your details are handled.

9. How long a sale takes

Most of the time goes into three things: gathering twelve months of clean numbers, the buyer's checks after the letter of intent, and the platform transfers. A seller with a monthly P&L, platform reports and supplier terms ready moves faster at every step. Ask for the timeline in the letter of intent.

10. Why sales fall apart

Profit that doesn't match the bank statements. Dependence on one product, ad account or supplier that wasn't raised early. Open Shopify Capital, Amazon account issues or label claims that surface late. A seller not ready to hand over. Raise anything awkward before the letter of intent, not after.

11. What is my online business worth?

A buyer prices what the business reliably earns: profit after your own pay and one-off costs, how steady it is month to month, how much comes from repeat customers, how dependent it is on one product, channel or supplier, and how cleanly it can change hands. How the price is paid matters as much as the headline number, so compare offers on the amount at closing, the note terms and how the note is secured.

12. Questions to ask any buyer

• Who signs the purchase agreement and owns the business after closing?
• How much is paid at closing and how much later?
• How is the note secured, and what happens if a payment is missed?
• How long do you need me after closing?
• What will you change in the first 90 days?

13. Taxes and your adviser

How a sale is structured, as an asset or share sale, and how payments are timed changes what you owe. Speak to your accountant and lawyer before you sign the letter of intent.

14. Selling a small or single-founder store

Most online brands are run by one or two people. That's normal, not a weakness, as long as the work is written down. List the weekly tasks, the apps and logins, the supplier contacts and reorder points, and the ad accounts. A buyer pays more for a business that runs from a document than one that runs from your head.

A handover checklist worth building before you talk to anyone:

• Store, domain and hosting logins
• Email and SMS platform, with the list
• Ad accounts and pixels
• Supplier contacts, terms and reorder points
• 3PL or warehouse agreement
• Product files, labels and claims files
• A current inventory count at cost
• Every paid app and subscription the business runs on

Selling to Cadence

Cadence buys ecommerce and online product brands directly from the founders who built them, usually with seller financing paid from the business's profit. A short note, a mutual NDA, the numbers, a written offer, then close and handover. Some purchases are made with partners or co-investors, and the letter of intent sets out who signs and how you are paid.