Once you decide to sell, the next question is where the deal actually happens. That choice sets the fee you pay, the buyers you meet, and how much of the work lands on your desk while you are still running the business. There are three doors: a full-service broker, a self-serve marketplace, or a direct deal you put together yourself. The right one comes down mostly to the size of your business and your appetite for running the process.
This is a spoke off our full guide to selling your Amazon business. If you have not priced yourself yet, start with what your business is worth, because every door below works better when you walk in knowing your number.
Full-service brokers: you pay for a process
A broker runs the sale end to end. They value the business, build the listing package, screen buyers, manage negotiations, and babysit the deal through to close. You pay nothing up front and a success fee when it closes.
Empire Flippers charges a tiered commission: 15 percent on the first 700,000 dollars of the sale price, 8 percent on the portion up to 5 million, and 2.5 percent above that, with a 10,000 dollar minimum. They also vet hard, turning away roughly nine in ten businesses that apply, which is part of why their buyer pool trusts the listings. Quiet Light works on a sliding scale that starts around 10 percent on the first million and steps down as the deal grows. Website Closers does not publish a rate card at all; the fee is negotiated per deal.
A broker fits best when your business sits roughly between 100,000 and 2 million dollars, you have no buyer waiting, and you cannot afford to let sales slip while you play dealmaker. The commission stings, but a competitive process with multiple offers routinely claws a good chunk of it back.
Marketplaces: cheaper, but you are the broker
Flippa is the big self-serve marketplace. You pay a non-refundable listing fee, anywhere from 29 dollars for small assets up to a few hundred for the tiers most real businesses use, then a success fee when it sells: 10 percent under 50,000 dollars, 7.5 percent up to 100,000, and 5 percent above that.
The trade is that you do the broker's job. You write the listing, field the tire-kickers, screen for proof of funds, negotiate, and keep the deal moving. The buyer volume is huge and the vetting is light, so the filtering falls on you. It is a sensible door for a smaller business a full-service broker would decline, or for a second-time seller who knows what a serious buyer sounds like.
Going direct: no commission, all of the work
Skip the middleman and you keep the 10 to 15 percent, and private deals often close faster. In exchange you own everything: the valuation, finding the buyer, NDAs, negotiation, the purchase agreement, a third-party escrow service to hold the funds, and the Seller Central account transfer.
Direct works when the buyer already exists. A competitor, a supplier, another seller in your niche, or, if your brand is big enough, one of the buyers we covered in who is still acquiring Amazon businesses in 2026. If this is your first exit and the buyer is a stranger from the internet, the saved commission is not worth it. One mispriced deal or one botched transfer eats the whole saving, and then some.
Whichever door you pick, buyers grade the same homework, so run the acquisition-ready checklist first.
The Canadian wrinkle
Nearly every serious buyer is American, so expect the offer in US dollars and the escrow to run through a US service. Before you sign with any broker, ask how many Canadian-incorporated sellers they have actually closed for. The account transfer and the legal paperwork differ from a US LLC deal, and you do not want yours to be their learning experience.
The bigger lever is one no broker controls: whether you sell the assets or the shares of your corporation changes your after-tax result far more than any commission. That is tax planning, so we hand it to our accounting firm, Jones and Cosman, and their exit planning guide for Canadian online sellers.
Frequently asked questions
Flippa or Empire Flippers for an FBA business?
Size decides it. Under about 100,000 dollars, Empire Flippers will likely decline you anyway and Flippa's fee structure is friendlier. Above that, Empire Flippers' vetted buyer pool and managed process usually produce a cleaner deal, and the tiered fee gets lighter as the price climbs.
Can I sell my FBA business without a broker?
Yes, and sellers do it every year. You need your own valuation, a buyer, NDAs, a purchase agreement, and third-party escrow. It makes sense when you already know the buyer. It rarely makes sense for a first exit to a stranger.
How much does it cost to sell through a broker?
Plan on 10 to 15 percent at typical seller sizes, sliding downward on bigger deals. Marketplaces run cheaper, around 5 to 10 percent plus a listing fee, but you supply the labor a broker's commission would have covered.
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