How Do I Stop Unserious Buyers from Wasting My Time?
Written by Christopher Krassnig - Founder - Kairos Exchange and ZenoX Media.
Reviewed
- Checks in every memo8
- Automatic on day one3 of 8
- Read by handad spend and processor payouts
- Tracked ecom salesEUR 200M+ZenoX ad-management figures, not Kairos deal volume - Kairos hasn't closed a deal yet.
An NDA stops a leak, but it does nothing about a buyer who signs one, opens your full financials, and disappears. On Kairos, seeing the numbers requires verified funds, which is free, so the looker has already proved they can pay. A refundable deposit then sits on the offer, not on the look, so walking away from a bid has a cost.
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Why an NDA Alone Is Not Enough
An NDA is a promise not to leak what you see, and it works fine for that specific job. It does nothing about the more common problem: buyers with no real intent who unlock your numbers out of curiosity, then never respond to a message again. Every one of those costs you nothing in legal risk and real hours in hope and follow up.
What a Deposit Actually Filters
A deposit is cheap for anyone with real intent and genuinely annoying for anyone without it, which is exactly the split you want. Money held, even refundably, changes a buyer's calculation before they submit an offer: is this listing worth the friction, or am I just curious. Curious people mostly stop before they bid. The look stays free once funds are verified, because a lender or a bank statement already answered whether they can pay.
What You Can See on Your Own Dashboard
Every buyer who unlocked your listing, and whether they have gone quiet since. That visibility alone changes behavior, because a buyer who unlocks and vanishes is not invisible to you. Funds verification is the door. The offer deposit is the bid. You can see who opened the books and who actually put money behind an offer.
Answered. Now Get Your Numbers Proven
Sellers on the list go through verification first when we open. Reading up is step one. Having your revenue proven from your own orders is step two.