Top 10 Online Business Marketplaces to Purchase from in 2024

Entrepreneurship is a journey filled with challenges and uncertainties. Starting a business from the ground up can be a daunting task for new small business owners. From developing a product and choosing a business model to finding your target audience and managing startup costs, the process requires a significant time commitment and dedication. However, for those who are interested in owning a business but don’t want to start from scratch, there is an alternative option: buying an already established business.

Buying an existing business doesn’t mean it’s less work; it simply means you don’t have to start from ground zero. There are various ways for aspiring business owners to purchase an established business that is ready to go. One popular option is to explore online marketplaces that specialize in buying and selling online businesses. These platforms provide a range of businesses for sale, allowing buyers to browse, evaluate, and compare different opportunities.

Here are the top 10 marketplaces for buying an online business:

1. Flippa: Flippa offers a variety of online businesses for sale, including SaaS companies, ecommerce brands, blogs, and affiliate sites. Buyers can view monthly revenue and monetization methods for each listing.

2. Empire Flippers: Empire Flippers is a marketplace and brokerage that features businesses for sale in different niches. Buyers can filter listings by monetization style and price.

3. Side Projectors: Side Projectors specializes in sharing side projects, such as SaaS businesses, ecommerce brands, and mobile apps. Prices tend to be more affordable on this platform.

4. Niche Investor: Niche Investor focuses on listing blogs and profitable websites for sale. Listings include background information, monthly revenue, and monetization methods.

5. Motion Invest: Motion Invest offers websites in various niches and industries for sale. Buyers receive hands-on support from the Motion Invest team throughout the purchasing process.

6. Business Exits: Business Exits showcases highly profitable businesses for sale across different industries. Buyers can compare revenue and yearly income for each listing.

7. Latona’s: Latona’s is a brokerage that allows buyers to browse listings for sale with detailed filtering options.

8. Acquire.com: Acquire.com connects buyers and sellers in the SaaS and startup spaces. Buyers can track startup metrics and evaluate future potential before making a decision.

9. BuySellEmpire: BuySellEmpire features hundreds of listings in various categories, including ecommerce stores, SaaS membership businesses, affiliate sites, and Amazon FBA businesses.

10. BizBuySell: BizBuySell is the largest online business for sale marketplace. Buyers can specifically search for online businesses or franchises and browse listings by location.

Buying an online business can offer several benefits, including a stronger foundation, easier funding, a pre-established customer base, brand awareness, a ready-to-go team, solved problems, and reliable income. However, there are also cons to consider, such as a large upfront sum, renegotiated contracts, unknown reasons for sale, and difficulty making a mark.

When buying an online business, it’s essential to look for consistent financials, an existing reputation, current operations, consistent traffic, future potential, future customer base, and general feedback. Common types of online businesses to consider buying include SaaS brands, ecommerce companies, dropshipping brands, affiliate sites, mobile apps, productized services, blogs/content sites, subscription businesses, and digital product businesses.

To get a great deal on an online business, buyers should look far and wide, rate opportunities quickly, do due diligence, and negotiate with sellers. It’s crucial to carry out thorough research, speak to past customers and employees, check financials, consult a solicitor or lawyer, ignore aspirational pitches, find out why the business is for sale, and speak to suppliers.

In conclusion, buying an online business can be a rewarding investment, but it’s essential to approach the process with caution and thorough research. By utilizing reputable marketplaces and following best practices for due diligence and negotiation, aspiring business owners can find a successful online business to purchase and grow.