Where to Sell My Business (2026)
Four places: a listing site, a broker, a buyer-matching service, or straight to someone you already know. Listing sites charge $60 to $200 a month. Brokers take 8% to 12% of the price.
Three things worth knowing before you pick one:
- The venue does not set your price. Competing buyers do. Pick whichever route produces three of them.
- Listing sites are public. Your staff, customers, and competitors can all read the same page a buyer reads.
- Digital businesses have their own places. Sending a plumbing company to a website marketplace wastes months.
The Four Places, Side by Side
Each one trades money against effort and privacy. Nothing here is free of all three.
| Where | What it costs | Who you reach | Is it public? |
|---|---|---|---|
| A listing site | $60 to $200 a month | Anyone browsing, screened by you | Yes |
| A broker | 8% to 12% of the price | Their list, plus the same listing sites | Usually yes |
| A matching service | Nothing, up to 6% | Buyers already hunting in your trade | No |
| Straight to a buyer | Legal fees only | People you already know | No |
Listing Sites, and What Each One Charges
These are the sites buyers actually browse. Fees come from a 2026 comparison of selling platforms, and every one publishes its own current pricing.
| Site | To list | Cut of the sale | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| BizBuySell | $66 to $200 a month | None | Main Street shops, widest audience |
| BizQuest | About $60 a month | None | Main Street shops and franchises |
| BusinessBroker.net | From $130 | None | Owners selling without help |
| LoopNet | $131 to $1,099 | None | Businesses whose value is the building |
| Acquire.com | $25 to $100 | 6% to 8% | Software and online businesses |
| Empire Flippers | Nothing up front | 2.5% to 15%, by size | Online stores and software |
| Flippa | $29 to $699 | Up to 10% | Websites, apps, small online brands |
Notice the split. The first four suit a shop with trucks and staff. The last three want online businesses and will do little for a trade.
What a listing costs you beyond the fee
- You screen everyone. Most inquiries come from people who cannot raise the money, and sorting them is now your evening job.
- Your sale is findable. Revenue, county, and trade are enough for a local competitor to name you.
- Nobody chases the deal. The site introduces you and then stops. Everything after that is yours.
When a Broker Is the Right Place
A broker is worth the money in two situations. You have no time, or you have no idea who would buy you.
What you get is a person who prices the business, writes the packet, works the phones, and pushes the deal to closing.
What it costs is 8% to 12% under $1 million, falling to 5% or 6% on the largest deals. See the full fee breakdown by deal size before you sign anything.
- Check the minimum fee. Most contracts carry one of $15,000 to $50,000, which lands hardest on the smallest sales.
- Check the exclusive period. Twelve months is common, and during it you cannot sell to anyone without paying.
- Check the tail. Many contracts still owe a fee if a buyer they introduced comes back a year after you part ways.
Matching Services and Direct Sales
These two are the private routes. Nothing gets published and you keep control of who learns your name.
A matching service
You describe the business once and get introduced to buyers already looking for something like it. Some charge nothing, some take up to 6% at closing.
The work of answering questions and pushing the deal along is still yours. What you are buying is reach, not a manager.
Straight to a buyer you know
The cheapest route, and the one where sellers most often leave money behind, because a single interested party sets the price.
Approach several at once and it becomes the best route instead. Our guide to running a quiet, off-market sale covers how.
Pick by Your Size, Not by the Ads
Size decides which buyers can reach you, and that decides where you should be.
Check These Before You List Anywhere
- Can a buyer get funded? Individual buyers lean on the government-backed loan program, which caps at $5 million. Above that your buyer pool changes entirely.
- Do three years of numbers tie out? Nothing kills a deal faster, on any platform.
- What happens if word gets out? If the honest answer is “my two biggest customers leave,” do not list publicly.
- Who signs the contract? A deal lawyer costs $5,000 to $15,000 and is the same requirement everywhere.
For scale on the market you are entering, 2,117 businesses changed hands in the second quarter of 2026 at a median price near $349,000.
Still deciding between routes rather than venues? See the six alternatives to a broker and our full guide to selling a business without one.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on size and privacy. Under $500,000, a listing site reaches the most buyers for the least money. Between $500,000 and $2 million, a matching service or a direct approach usually beats going public. Above that, an advisor earns the fee.
Roughly $60 to $200 a month on the main sites, with no cut of the sale. BizQuest sits near the bottom of that range and BizBuySell near the top. Online-business marketplaces charge less up front but take 6% to 15% at closing.
Yes. A buyer-matching service introduces you privately, and you can also approach competitors, suppliers, and your own managers directly. Neither route publishes your name, and neither one costs a commission.
For a small, simple business with nothing confidential at stake, yes. It has the widest audience and takes no cut. You pay $66 to $200 a month, you screen every inquiry yourself, and your sale is visible to anyone who looks.
Not on the Main Street sites. Acquire.com, Empire Flippers, and Flippa are built for software, online stores, and websites, and their buyers are looking for exactly that. Expect a success fee of 6% to 15% rather than a monthly charge.
A broker is worth 8% to 12% if you have no time or cannot name three plausible buyers. If you can list ten by name today, you are paying a commission for introductions you could make yourself in a couple of weeks.
Usually yes, and it costs you two monthly fees instead of one. Read any broker contract first, because an exclusive agreement often bars you from listing elsewhere or selling to a buyer you found yourself.
Six to nine months from start to closing for most small businesses, and nine to twelve for larger ones. Listing longer rarely helps. If nothing serious arrives in three months, the price or the packet is the problem.
Next Steps
- Decide whether your sale can be public. That single answer removes half the options.
- Write down every buyer you can name. Ten or more, and you do not need a venue at all.
- Price the business before you shop for a place to sell it, not after.
- Get a free valuation and private buyer introductions. No listing fee, no commission, no obligation to sell.