Fees read from each venue, buyer data from the IBBA and BizBuySell, September 2026
How to Sell a Business Without a Broker: Sell My Business Without a Broker, What It Costs and Where the Buyers Are
You can sell a business without a broker, and on a small deal it usually saves more than any other decision you make. A broker on the Double Lehman scale takes $100,000 on a $1,000,000 sale. Selling it yourself on a listing board, with a transaction attorney and escrow, comes to roughly $22,000 on the same deal. What you give up is the work the commission paid for: pricing, finding and screening buyers, keeping the sale confidential, and holding the deal together from letter of intent to close.
No broker, no exclusive, no tail clause · from $79 a month · 3% to 5% only when it sells
ARR (x12):
About per year
Multiple range
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Educational estimate only · not financial advice · no guaranteed price
The buyers are easier to reach than most owners think. The IBBA and M&A Source Market Pulse for Q1 2026 found that on sales under $500,000, 43% of buyers were first-time buyers and 28% were strategic buyers, often a competitor or a neighboring business, and 62% of buyers were within 20 miles of the seller. Those are people a listing board, a letter to your competitors or a conversation with your manager can reach without a middleman. Above $5 million the picture changes: 68% of buyers came from more than 100 miles away and 83% of deals drew three or more offers, which is where a broker running a competitive process earns the fee.
Buyouts is one of the ways to sell without a broker, for one kind of business only: AI SaaS. You list with a monthly plan, the platform verifies MRR, ARR, growth and churn before the listing goes live, only paying members can contact you, and you pay 3% to 5% when it sells, with no exclusive agreement and no tail clause. If you sell a restaurant, a landscaping company or a content site, this page still gives you the full cost comparison, and the right venue for you is in the table below.
The listings, metrics and deals shown across this site are illustrative product UI, and nothing on this page is legal, tax or investment advice.
Selling without a broker is not selling without help. You still need a price you can defend, buyers who can pay, a lawyer for the purchase agreement and a safe way to move the money. The only question is which of those you buy by the piece and which you bundle into a percentage of your price.
Where owners find buyers without a broker, read 22 to 27 September 2026
Where to find a buyer for your business without a broker
Every channel an owner can use without signing a broker agreement, what reaching buyers there costs, and how much of the sale you run yourself. Venue prices were read from each venue's own pricing page or terms; buyer-mix figures are from the IBBA and M&A Source Market Pulse Q1 2026 executive summary.
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| Channel | Who you reach | Cost to the owner | What you run yourself | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buyouts | Paying members who buy AI SaaS: individuals, holding companies and funds, $99 to $899 a month each | $79, $249 or $699 a month while listed, plus 5%, 4% or 3% at close; no exclusive, no tail | Conversations on Listed; a dedicated deal lead on Managed. Metrics verified by the platform | Sep 2026 |
| BizBuySell | The largest US audience for main street businesses; anyone can inquire | $74.95 to $199.95 a month on a six-month term; no commission | Everything: screening, NDAs, financials, negotiation, closing | Sep 2026 |
| BusinessesForSale.com | Main street and franchise buyers, US and international | $199 for one month to $399 for six; no commission | Everything | Jul 2026 archive |
| Acquire.com | Startup and SaaS buyers who paid from $390 for access | $25 to $100 a month plus 8%, 7% or 6% by asking price; escrow included | Conversations and negotiation | Sep 2026 |
| Flippa, self-serve | Online businesses under $100,000; above that Flippa sells only its brokered service | $29 to $699 listing plus 10% below $500,000 | Most of it; Flippa reviews stated financials above $50,000 | Sep 2026 |
| Rejigg | Vetted individual buyers for main street and software businesses | $0 to the owner; the buyer owes a Lehman formula fee at close | Conversations and negotiation | Sep 2026 |
| Baton | Main street buyers, valuation-led process | No listing fee; 6% at close | Less than a board; Baton runs parts of the process | Sep 2026 |
| Competitors and suppliers, contacted directly | Strategic buyers: 28% of buyers under $500,000 and 20% at $2M to $5M in Q1 2026 | Your time; an NDA before you share numbers | Everything, and the risk of tipping off a rival | IBBA Q1 2026 |
| Your manager, key employees or a customer | The buyer who already knows the business best | Your time, plus usually seller financing | Everything, including the financing conversation | IBBA Q1 2026 |
The buyer-mix column is from the Q1 2026 Market Pulse, which surveys brokers and M&A advisors about their own closed deals, so it describes brokered sales, not owner-run ones. It is still the best published picture of who buys at each size. Buyers located within 20 miles of the seller were 62% of deals under $500,000 and 37% at $2M to $5M; above $5M, 68% of buyers were more than 100 miles away.
Our arithmetic, applied to published rates
What selling costs with and without a broker on a $300,000, $1,000,000 and $3,000,000 sale
Every row includes a seller-side transaction attorney, which we set at $5,000, $10,000 and $20,000 by deal size from the ranges on our M&A attorney cost page. Rows without included escrow add Escrow.com's published standard fee for US-dollar transactions, read 27 September 2026: 1.5% from $200,000 to $500,000, 1.2% to $1,000,000 and 1.0% to $3,000,000, shown in full although buyer and seller often split it. Listing plans assume six months live. The two broker rows use the public Lehman and Double Lehman formulas, not any named firm's rate.
Swipe to see every column →
| Route | $300,000 sale | $1,000,000 sale | $3,000,000 sale |
|---|---|---|---|
| A buyer you already know, attorney and Escrow.com only | $9,500 | $22,000 | $50,000 |
| BizBuySell Basic for six months, attorney and Escrow.com | $9,950 | $22,450 | $50,450 |
| Buyouts Managed, $699 a month + 3%, escrow included | $18,194 | $44,194 | $114,194 |
| Buyouts Featured, $249 a month + 4%, escrow included | $18,494 | $51,494 | $141,494 |
| Broker on the Lehman scale, 5-4-3-2-1, plus attorney | $20,000 | $60,000 | $140,000 |
| Buyouts Listed, $79 a month + 5%, with Escrow.com | $24,974 | $72,474 | $200,474 |
| Acquire.com, monthly plan + 7% or 6%, escrow included | $26,300 | $80,300 | $200,600 |
| Broker on the Double Lehman scale, 10-8-6-4-2, plus attorney | $35,000 | $110,000 | $260,000 |
Two honest readings of this table. First, the cheapest way to sell is to a buyer you already have, and a listing board is almost as cheap; no percentage-based route comes close on price, ours included. You pay for the other routes with money instead of time and risk. Second, among the routes that bring you buyers, the plan choice on Buyouts matters more than it looks. Once you add the escrow that Listed leaves to you, Listed is the most expensive Buyouts plan on anything but a very small deal, and at $3,000,000 it costs as much as Acquire.com. Featured is the cheapest plan below about $270,000 and Managed is the cheapest above it. A valuation, from about $399 for a basic report to $3,900 for a full one, sits on top of every row.
Side by side
Selling on Buyouts against selling on your own or through a broker, honestly
A fair look at what each does well. Both are useful. Here is where they differ.
| Feature | Buyouts | Selling on your own or through a broker |
|---|---|---|
| Cost of reaching buyers | $79 to $699 a month while listed, plus 3% to 5% only if it sells | From $0 to your own network to $199.95 a month on BizBuySell; a broker takes 5% to 10% or more of the price |
| Exclusive agreement and tail clause | None. Cancel the plan when you like and sell to anyone | None when you sell alone; a broker agreement usually has an exclusive term and a tail period after it ends |
| Who screens the buyer | Only paying members can contact you, at $99 to $899 a month | You do, on a listing board where anyone can inquire; the broker does, if you hire one |
| Who verifies your numbers | The platform, from billing data, before the listing goes live | Nobody on a board; the broker and later the buyer's accountant |
| Confidentiality | Anonymized listing; one switch makes it off-market so only Acquirer members see it | Hard on your own: a listing detailed enough to sell is often detailed enough to identify you |
| Escrow and close | Included on Featured and Managed; arranged between you and the buyer on Listed | You hire escrow and an attorney yourself; a broker coordinates both |
| What it fits | AI SaaS with recurring revenue, nothing else | Any business; a board or a local broker is the better venue for a restaurant or a trades company |
| Where a broker wins | We do not run an auction across hundreds of private contacts | On larger deals: the Q1 2026 Market Pulse found 83% of sales above $5M drew three or more offers, and competition is what moves price |
Comparison reflects general, publicly understood positioning. Capabilities change, so check each marketplace for the latest. Trademarks belong to their owners.
Why founders and buyers pick Buyouts
One deal room built specifically for AI SaaS
The five jobs a broker does, and who does them when you sell alone
Take the broker away and five jobs are left on the table. Pricing: somebody has to turn your financials into an asking price a buyer's lender will accept. Marketing: somebody has to write the listing or the teaser and put it in front of buyers. Screening: somebody has to sort the buyer with a financing letter from the one collecting spreadsheets. Confidentiality: somebody has to keep your staff, customers and competitors from finding out too early. Closing: somebody has to keep the letter of intent, diligence, the purchase agreement and escrow moving to the same finish line. Selling without a broker means you pick up each job or buy it separately. A valuation report covers the first. A listing board or a marketplace covers the second. A marketplace that charges buyers to participate covers part of the third. An anonymized listing and a signed NDA before the numbers go out cover the fourth. Your attorney and an escrow agent cover the last. Owners who get into trouble usually skipped the third and fourth, not the paperwork.
Most buyers of small businesses are closer than you think
The Q1 2026 Market Pulse from the IBBA and M&A Source is the clearest published picture of who buys. Under $500,000, 43% of buyers were first-time buyers, 28% were strategic, meaning an existing company, and 24% were serial entrepreneurs; 36% said they were buying a job. At $1M to $2M the mix was 44% first-time, 33% serial and 16% strategic. Only above $5M did the buyers become mostly distant, with 68% more than 100 miles from the seller. That changes where to look. For a small main street business, the likeliest buyer is a local first-time buyer on BizBuySell, a competitor who wants your customers, or a manager who wants your job. For a software business the geography stops mattering and the buyer pool is holding companies, funded searchers and individuals who buy online, which is why marketplaces built for online businesses exist. Stanford GSB's 2024 search fund study found searchers signed 3.6 letters of intent on average and named databases and their own research as their main sources, ahead of brokers.
Expect seller financing questions before you expect an offer
BizBuySell's Q2 2026 Insight Report, which tracked 2,117 US businesses that changed hands in the quarter at a median sale price of $349,250, found that 90% of buyers expect seller financing to be part of their acquisition, while only 29% of owners plan to offer it. The Market Pulse put seller financing at roughly 10% to 16% of the price on most deals in Q1 2026. When you sell without a broker, nobody is in the room to explain that gap to you, and it is the most common reason an owner-run sale stalls after the first call. Decide your answer before you list. If you will carry a note, know the amount, the rate and whether a lender will require it to sit on standby. If you will not, say so in the listing so you stop spending weeks on buyers whose plan depends on it. Either answer is defensible; finding out halfway through due diligence is what costs deals.
Where Buyouts fits in a no-broker sale, and where it does not
Buyouts is built for one situation: an owner of an AI SaaS business who wants buyers without signing a broker agreement. The platform does the parts owners most often skip. It verifies MRR, ARR, growth and churn before the listing goes live, so the first buyer call is about the business and not about whether the numbers are real. Only paying members, at $99 to $899 a month, can contact you. The listing is anonymized, and one switch in the seller panel takes it off the public board so that only Acquirer members see it. There is no exclusive term and no tail clause, so a buyer you find on your own owes us nothing. If what you sell is not AI SaaS, use the cost table above to choose between a listing board and a broker, and treat our fee comparison as a reference. Run the valuation estimator at the top of this page if you sell software; it gives you an asking-price range before you talk to a single buyer.
Keep reading on the parts of a deal this page touches: ten places to list a business for sale and what each charges the owner, what a business broker would have charged, with the Lehman formula worked out, the broker agreement clauses to read if you do sign with a broker, website broker commissions for online businesses, the companies and funds that buy SaaS businesses, what goes into the asset purchase agreement you will sign, the tax on the sale, estimated before you set a price, every cost of selling a SaaS business, line by line, how a SaaS listing runs on Buyouts from intake to close.
Good questions
Selling a business without a broker, answered
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The deal room for AI SaaS, not a yard sale
Buy with verified metrics, published multiples and escrow-backed closes, or list your AI SaaS to a pool of vetted, capital-qualified buyers.
Listings, metrics and buyers shown are illustrative product UI · valuation content is educational, not a guaranteed sale price or return · trademarks belong to their owners