One real question per page
Answers to Real Questions About Buying and Selling Stores
/answers is one real question at a time: a page per search a real buyer or seller types before they act, sourced from a ranked demand bank instead of a content calendar. Each page names its topic, from buying and selling to verification and valuation, and answers it first, details after. Kairos hasn't closed a deal yet, and this library says so instead of pretending otherwise.
What These Answers Cover
Every answer below sits under a topic: buying, selling, valuation, escrow and closing, verification, how the marketplaces compare, or Kairos itself. Each topic groups by task rather than by department, so a reader who wants to know what escrow release means finds it next to the questions about closing instead of buried in one general FAQ. The set is not written to fill a calendar. It comes from a ranked demand bank built off real search terms, and a question earns a page because people actually type it, not because a topic looked thin next to the others. Some pages compare marketplaces by name, some define a term, some walk through a task step by step, and a few work through what a specific kind of store is worth. Every one of them answers the question in its first paragraph, then backs that answer with the same sources and modules the rest of the site runs on. The grid below groups them by topic so you can jump straight to the one you came for.
How We Keep Them Honest
Kairos figures come from the same modules that price a deal or run escrow, so an answer and the pricing page cannot quietly disagree with each other. A market figure, like a multiple band or a competitor's fee, is attributed to the outside source it came from and dated, because a number nobody can check is not a fact, it's a guess wearing confidence. Every page also carries one real byline, Christopher Krassnig, the site's named author, rather than an anonymous voice reciting facts nobody checked. None of this claims Kairos has a track record to point to. It has closed no deals, so nothing here is written as if the answers reflect a history of transactions. What they reflect instead is a sourcing habit: state the number, name where it came from, and let a reader check it.
108 questions
21 questions
Buying a Store
Is It Safe to Buy an Online Store?
Safe when four things are in place: verified revenue, escrow, NDA-gated financials, and a record of every step.
Read the answerWhat Is the Best Marketplace to Buy an Ecommerce Business?
The best marketplace to buy an ecommerce business depends on your deal size and how much proof you demand.
Read the answerHow Do I Do Due Diligence When Buying a Shopify Store?
Reconcile the claims against the store's own order data, then check the traffic, the margins, and what actually transfers.
Read the answerHow Long Does It Take to Buy an Online Store?
Buying an online store typically takes two to eight weeks from accepted offer to completed handover.
Read the answerHow Much Does It Cost to Buy a Shopify Store?
Buying an established Shopify store costs a multiple of its annual profit: Kairos prices verified stores between 2.2x and 3.2x seller discretionary earnings.
Read the answerHow Do I Buy an Established Dropshipping Business?
Buy an established dropshipping business the way you would buy any store: verify the revenue from order data, then scrutinize the two things dropshipping adds, supplier dependence and ad dependence.
Read the answerWhat Are the Red Flags When Buying a Shopify Store?
A seller who stalls on data access, revenue that spikes right before the sale, and any push to pay outside escrow.
Read the answerHow Do I Avoid Getting Scammed When Buying an Online Business?
Three rules: never pay outside escrow, never accept a screenshot as proof, never skip reading the source data.
Read the answerHow Do People Finance Buying an Online Business?
Most online-business purchases are funded with cash, seller financing, or an SBA loan, and many deals mix all three.
Read the answerCan I Buy an Existing Shopify Store?
Yes, and established Shopify stores change hands every day.
Read the answerIs Buying a Shopify Store Worth It?
It is worth it when the price reflects profit you can prove and then keep.
Read the answerCan I Use an SBA Loan to Buy a Shopify Store?
Yes, if you are a US buyer and the store has documented, provable earnings.
Read the answerHow Much Down Payment Do I Need to Buy an Online Business?
How much you need to put down depends on which financing path you choose.
Read the answerWhat Is a Refundable Buyer Deposit?
A refundable buyer deposit is money held when you submit an offer, not a fee to look at a listing.
Read the answerHow Do I Buy an Ecommerce Business?
Screen on numbers you can check, sign an NDA for the financials, reconcile against the order ledger, then offer, fund escrow, and close on a checklist.
Read the answerWhat Do You Get When You Buy a Shopify Store?
You get the Shopify store account with its full order history, the domain, the ad accounts, the customer list and the social accounts.
Read the answerWhat Questions Should I Ask When Buying an Online Store?
Split your questions in two: what the store's order data can prove, and what only the seller can tell you.
Read the answerCan I Buy an Online Business with No Money Down?
Zero down means the seller carries the whole price. It is rare, and an unprompted offer deserves a harder look.
Read the answerHow Do I Make an Offer on an Online Business?
You make an offer on Kairos Exchange by naming a price and the terms around it, backed by a refundable EUR 250 deposit rather than a wire.
Read the answerHow Do I Tell If an Online Business for Sale Is Legitimate?
A business for sale is legitimate when three things hold up, not when a listing tells a good story.
Read the answerWhat If Revenue Drops After I Buy the Store?
Revenue can drop after you buy the store. A holdback, an earnout, and the reps in the purchase agreement price that risk before close.
Read the answer20 questions
Selling a Store
What Does It Cost to Sell a Store on Kairos?
Listing is free, and so is checking your numbers against real orders.
Read the answerWhere Can I Sell My Shopify Store?
Open marketplaces, curated brokerages, startup venues, or a marketplace built for Shopify stores. What each one suits.
Read the answerHow Do I Prepare My Shopify Store for Sale?
Preparation means making the numbers provable: clean order data, documented suppliers, and books that agree.
Read the answerHow Do I Prove My Store's Revenue to a Buyer?
Prove revenue by letting the buyer read the source systems, not documents you produced.
Read the answerCan I Sell My Shopify Store Without a Broker?
You can sell a Shopify store without a broker, and below EUR 100,000 most sellers should.
Read the answerWhat Do Brokers Charge to Sell an Online Business?
Brokers and marketplaces charge success fees from around 4 to 15 percent on online-business sales.
Read the answerHow Do I Sell My Shopify Store Fast?
Speed comes from provable numbers, a clean asset list, and a realistic price, not from a fire-sale venue.
Read the answerCan I Sell My Store Without Anyone Finding Out?
Yes. Anonymized listings, an NDA before anything identifying moves, and you choose when your team hears.
Read the answerWhat Documents Do I Need to Sell My Ecommerce Store?
Fewer than the checklists suggest: books, order and refund history, supplier agreements, and an asset list.
Read the answerMy Store Got Rejected by a Marketplace, Now What?
A rejection email rarely explains itself, and it is easy to read it as a verdict on your business.
Read the answerCan a Small or Young Store Still Sell If a Broker Rejects It?
Yes, a broker's minimum size and age thresholds only protect their own business model, not a verdict on whether your store is real.
Read the answerWho Can See My Store's Financials Before I Sell?
Nobody sees your real financials just by finding your listing.
Read the answerHow Do I Stop Unserious Buyers from Wasting My Time?
An NDA stops a leak, but it does nothing about a buyer who signs one, opens your full financials, and disappears.
Read the answerHow Do I Find a Buyer for My Ecommerce Business?
You find a buyer by listing where buyers with money already look, then letting a qualification gate sort them.
Read the answerHow Long Does It Take to Sell an Ecommerce Store?
Listing to money takes about three weeks at the fast end and three months at the broker end.
Read the answerDo I Pay Tax When I Sell My Online Store?
Yes, in almost every country selling your online store is a taxable event.
Read the answerBroker or Marketplace to Sell My Business?
Use a marketplace when your numbers can be checked and you will do the talking.
Read the answerDo I Need an LLC to Sell My Shopify Store?
No, an LLC is not what makes a store sellable.
Read the answerWhat Happens to My Suppliers When I Sell My Business?
A supplier contract does not automatically travel with your business when you sell it.
Read the answerCan I Sell a Shopify and Amazon Business Together?
Yes, you can sell them together, but Shopify and Amazon do not verify to the same standard.
Read the answer12 questions
Valuation and Multiples
What Multiple Do Shopify Stores Sell For?
Kairos prices verified Shopify stores at roughly 2.2x to 3.2x annual seller discretionary earnings, with strong brands reaching toward 4x.
Read the answerHow Much Can I Sell My Shopify Store For?
Take your last twelve months of profit and multiply by the going multiple: Kairos prices verified Shopify stores between 2.2x and 3.2x annual seller discretionary earnings, with strong brands higher.
Read the answerWhy Do Ecommerce Valuation Multiples Vary so Much?
Published multiples disagree because they measure different things: some quote multiples of monthly profit, some annual SDE, some EBITDA on bigger deals, and each source samples different deal sizes.
Read the answerWhat Is SDE When Selling an Online Store?
SDE, seller's discretionary earnings, is the store's profit with the owner's compensation and one-off personal costs added back: the cash one working owner actually takes home.
Read the answerHow Much Is a Business Worth with 1 Million in Sales?
The price does not come from sales, it comes from earnings.
Read the answerWhat Is a Subscription Box Business Worth?
A subscription box is worth 2.2x to 3.2x its annual SDE. Clean churn and cohort records move it up inside that band.
Read the answerWhat Is a Print on Demand Business Worth?
Print on demand value starts with SDE, then hinges on fulfillment lock-in and design ownership.
Read the answerWhat Is a One Product Store Worth?
One product carries every dollar, so the store prices at the 2.2x floor of the band.
Read the answerWhat Is a Store with No Profit Worth?
No profit means no multiple, so the store sells for the value of its parts.
Read the answerShould I Use EBITDA or SDE for My Ecommerce Store?
Price one store both ways, on SDE and on EBITDA, and you get two numbers. The gap between them comes down to the owner's salary.
Read the answerWhat Lowers a Shopify Store's Valuation?
The calculator prices the biggest drags with real numbers, and most of them are fixable before you list.
Read the answerIs Inventory Included in a Store's Asking Price?
The asking price usually covers the earnings engine. The stock is a second figure, added at cost, and the listing should say which one applies.
Read the answer23 questions
Escrow, Closing, and After
How Does Escrow Work When Buying an Online Business?
Escrow means a neutral third party holds the buyer's money while the store changes hands, and releases it when agreed conditions are met.
Read the answerWhat Happens After You Sell Your Online Business?
After the sale closes you hand over the store, support the buyer through a transition period, and get paid out of escrow.
Read the answerAsset Sale or Share Sale: Which One for an Online Store?
Nearly every online store below a few million changes hands as an asset sale: the buyer purchases the store, domain, accounts, and customer list, not the company that owns them.
Read the answerHow Do I Transfer Ownership of a Shopify Store?
Transferring a Shopify store means making the buyer the store owner in Shopify admin, moving the domain, payment processing, and ad accounts, and doing it in a sequence that protects both sides.
Read the answerWhat Is a Holdback in a Business Sale?
A holdback keeps part of the purchase price in escrow after closing, released once agreed conditions hold, usually that revenue stays near what the seller claimed through the transition.
Read the answerWhat Is a Letter of Intent When Buying an Online Business?
A letter of intent, or LOI, is the short pre-contract where buyer and seller record the proposed price, structure, and timeline before due diligence starts.
Read the answerDo I Need an NDA Before Sharing My Store's Numbers?
Real financials should only move after the buyer signs a non-disclosure agreement.
Read the answerWhat Is in an Asset Purchase Agreement for an Online Store?
The binding contract: what transfers, what it costs, what the seller promises, and what happens if a promise breaks.
Read the answerHow Does Seller Financing Work When Selling an Online Store?
Seller financing means the buyer pays part of the price up front and the rest over time, out of the store's own cash flow.
Read the answerHow Long Is the Transition Period After Selling a Store?
Most online-store deals include 30 to 90 days of seller support after closing: handover calls, introductions to suppliers, and help while the buyer learns the store.
Read the answerWhat Is a Non-Circumvention Clause?
A non-circumvention clause stops a buyer and seller who met through a marketplace or broker from cutting that introducer out and closing the same deal directly.
Read the answerHow Much Money Do You Put in Escrow When Buying a Business?
On a small business sale the escrow amount is normally the entire purchase price, not a deposit.
Read the answerWhat Percentage Does Escrow Take?
Escrow fees are a small percentage of the transaction that falls as the deal grows.
Read the answerWhat Are the Common Escrow Mistakes to Avoid?
The common escrow mistakes are all versions of one mistake: letting something move before the money is committed.
Read the answerWhat Is an Earnout in an Ecommerce Acquisition?
An earnout pays part of the purchase price after closing, tied to the store hitting agreed revenue or profit targets under the new owner.
Read the answerWhat Happens If My Financing Falls Through After an Accepted Offer?
An accepted offer is not a closed deal, and financing collapsing afterward is exactly the risk a refundable offer deposit exists to price.
Read the answerWho Does Due Diligence When You Buy a Shopify Store?
No marketplace does full due diligence for you automatically, Kairos included.
Read the answerWhich Escrow Service Should I Use to Buy an Online Business?
Escrow.com is the answer this page can actually name: a licensed independent escrow company, and the provider Kairos itself settles through.
Read the answerWhat Are Reps and Warranties in an Online Store Sale?
The seller's own signed promise, not the marketplace's: what a warranty can honestly cover in an online store sale, and what it cannot.
Read the answerDo I Have to Sign a Non-Compete When I Sell My Store?
Yes, most buyers ask for a non-compete before closing, and signing a reasonable one is normal, not a red flag.
Read the answerHow Long Does Escrow Typically Last?
Two to five weeks funding to release with no holdback, a much longer separate clock if there is one.
Read the answerWhat Is the Downside of Escrow?
Escrow adds three real costs: a fee split between buyer and seller, one to two weeks to fund it, and one to three weeks to transfer and inspect before release.
Read the answerHow Do I Transfer Ad Accounts and Supplier Contracts in a Business Sale?
Ad accounts transfer by platform rules, and supplier contracts move only if the supplier agrees.
Read the answer13 questions
Verification
How Does Kairos Verify a Store's Revenue?
Kairos verifies a store's revenue from its real order data, not its website traffic.
Read the answerHow Do Marketplaces Verify Store Revenue Before a Sale?
Most marketplaces verify little or nothing.
Read the answerWhat Does Verified Mean on a Business Marketplace?
Verified means something different on every marketplace: a connected integration, an identity check, or a reviewed profit and loss, depending on the venue.
Read the answerCan You Trust Revenue Screenshots When Buying a Store?
Treat revenue screenshots as marketing, not proof.
Read the answerDo I Need a Quality of Earnings Report to Buy a Small Store?
A full quality of earnings report is built for seven-figure deals and priced accordingly, from several thousand dollars up.
Read the answerWhat Does a Marketplace's Vetting Process Actually Check?
Vetting usually screens for whether a business is worth a marketplace's time: its age, its size, and whether it fits the catalog.
Read the answerHow Can I Verify an Online Business?
You verify an online business by reading its source systems yourself, not the seller's summary of them.
Read the answerCan You Look up the Revenue of a Business?
No, not the way you look up a public company: no register holds a single store's revenue.
Read the answerHow Do Online Marketplaces Verify Both Buyers and Sellers?
The two sides cannot be checked to the same standard: a seller's revenue sits in store data, and a buyer's money does not.
Read the answerHow Do I Know a Buyer Is Real?
You tell a real buyer apart by what they agree to, not by what they say.
Read the answerCan Shopify Order Data Be Faked?
Yes, an exported order file can be faked: a CSV, a spreadsheet or a PDF can be rewritten before it reaches you.
Read the answerHow Do I Verify a Store's Traffic Before Buying?
Ask for live analytics access rather than a screenshot: a screen you drive, inside the store's own account, over a date range you pick.
Read the answerHow Do I Verify a Store's Ad Spend Before Buying?
Ask the seller for read-only access to the ad account, then pull its own bill and check it against a bank or card charge for the same month.
Read the answer18 questions
Marketplaces Compared
What Are the Best Flippa Alternatives?
Empire Flippers, Acquire.com, Motion Invest, Website Closers, and Kairos - what each one is actually for.
Read the answerIs Flippa Legit?
Flippa is a legitimate company that has run a marketplace for online businesses for over a decade.
Read the answerWhat Happened to Shopify Exchange?
Shopify shut down its Exchange marketplace on November 1, 2022, telling merchants the app would be fully decommissioned with no exceptions, and giving no public reason.
Read the answerWhat Is the Difference Between Empire Flippers and Flippa?
One is a curated brokerage that rejects most submissions. The other is an open marketplace with reach.
Read the answerWhy Did Empire Flippers Reject My Listing?
Most submissions fail on minimum criteria: too young, too small, or numbers that cannot be evidenced.
Read the answerIs Acquire.com Legit?
Acquire.com is a legitimate marketplace, focused on SaaS and startup acquisitions rather than ecommerce.
Read the answerWhat Percentage Does Flippa Take?
Flippa's published success fee is 10 percent, and it is 10 percent on every package tier, read on 29 July 2026.
Read the answerIs Empire Flippers Legit?
Empire Flippers is a legitimate brokerage that has sold online businesses for over a decade and was unusually open about its screening.
Read the answerWhat Is the Commission Rate on Empire Flippers?
Empire Flippers charges no listing fee and a blended commission on the sale.
Read the answerWhat Happened to Boopos?
Boopos, a lender built for ecommerce and SaaS acquisitions, stopped accepting new loan applications in 2025 and joined Founderpath in an eight figure deal.
Read the answerHow Long Does Empire Flippers Vetting Take?
Small affiliate sites clear in about a week. Product based ecommerce stores can take up to four weeks.
Read the answerDoes Acquire.com Verify Seller Revenue?
Acquire.com's own homepage says it lists thousands of vetted online businesses and advertises more than 2 billion dollars in verified buyer funds.
Read the answerWhat Is the Best Acquire.com Alternative?
Empire Flippers, Website Closers, Flippa, and Kairos - the Acquire.com alternatives that actually fit an ecommerce or Shopify store.
Read the answerWhat Is the Best Website Closers Alternative?
Empire Flippers and Flippa for a store under seven figures, Acquire.com for SaaS, and Kairos for Shopify - what fits when Website Closers will not name its own commission.
Read the answerQuiet Light vs Empire Flippers: Which Should I Use?
Use Empire Flippers: it publishes its commission schedule, rejection rate, and vetting process on its own site, so you can check every number yourself.
Read the answerIs Motion Invest Legit?
Motion Invest is a legitimate marketplace: listing is free, it uses escrow on every transaction, and it runs a published diligence process.
Read the answerIs It Safe to Buy a Business on Empire Flippers?
Its vetting filters the catalog. It does not verify the specific listing you are looking at.
Read the answerWhich Marketplaces Catch Faked Revenue Claims?
Three venues publish a different check with a disclosed limit. Acquire.com discloses neither.
Read the answer1 question
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