My Favorite Online Brokerage Sites

Very granular filtering function

Set your filters, check in for new deals daily, tinker with filters as you learn platform

I’d advise against the keyword function here, I’ve found it to be unhelpful

As a free user, I will copy & paste the keywords / descriptors of a listing that I am interested in into Google to take me to the direct listing

I haven’t used the embedded Virtual Assistant option which seems like an extremely cost effective way of scaling your search

Good UX, deal hiding function to avoid multiple looks at the same deal you’ve passed on

Set your filters, check in for new deals daily, tinker with filters as you learn platform

Highly recommend the keyword function on Kumo, very effective

As a free user, I will copy & paste the keywords / descriptors of a listing that I am interested in into Google to take me to the direct listing

I haven’t leveraged the AI & CRM capabilities, seems interesting; albeit, I will always prefer Microsoft Excel as my CRM for simplicity sake

Historically, I have steered away from BizBuySell as EVERYONE is on it. So it is really hard to get good deal flow on there when there are so many eyeballs; however, I have found it to be useful as a quick check on active deals in your niche (keyword search is highly effective here). By definition, it is not a formal deal aggregator site, but basically every small business broker will repost their listing on there to maximize reach.

1-3x/week visit site and enter highly specific keywords based on your criteria into the search bar and view active listings

BizBuySell Edge membership seems to include a lot for the price ($20/mo on annual plan; $25/mo on monthly plan) including personalized recommendations, buyer profile boost, and data analytics - that actually appears to be value-add including local demographic and real estate data and relevant acquisition comps. I personally have never heard of anyone using a paid account given the high functionality of the free tier; however, for the price it might actually be worth it.

Free tier (high functionality)

$20-25/mo for Edge membership (detailed above)

Probably the most popular site for online businesses

High functionality under Free account

The filters on this do not save (under free account), would recommend doing keyword searches and/or doing quick updates to filters 1x/week

Primary benefit for paid account is First Access on deals (21 day buffer before getting released to non-Premium members), which is definitely worth it, I just haven’t done it

Free tier (high functionality)

$49/mo for Premium (purchasing decision detailed above)

Acquire seems to have a high bar set for who they let on the platform (both Buyers and Sellers); Quality > Quantity

Very responsive team; have personally reached out to CEO, brokers, and legal team during an active deal (under LOI) as well as general listings; team has always been very responsive and actually value-add

All in all, this is the only brokerage platform I maintain a paid subscription for

Set up your criteria and leverage the ‘Browse’ tab as your main go to

I have leveraged the AI agent in the past, but have not had much with it. The tool feels like it will increase at a compounding rate as more users interact with it. 

Acquire Academy (full access included in membership) actually seems to be a very well thought out course; believe this would be a great resource and look forward to vetting myself in the future

You essentially need a paid account for Acquire.com, there are two accounts (couldn’t find the detail around Platinum, likely an upsell down the road vs initial option): 

Good deal flow volume, especially on the upper end of the market (>$50k/mo in cash flow)...essentially my go to for larger deals in the online space

Highly responsive and fast-moving team; brokers are actually value-add 

The filters on Empire Flippers are very solid, actually save, and are easy to navigate; would recommend quickly setting up your filters and saving your search to easily access

You will need to verify your identity & funds to speak to sellers; would recommend just knocking this out so you are ready to rock n roll when a listing piques your interest  

None to my knowledge; the platform is very simple & straight forward - no bells & whistles. Heavily focused on catering to sellers vs buyers.

Free to buyers

“Best in class” email notifications

Strong deal flow volume for quality listings

Create a free account and sign up for email notifications to get deal flow straight in your inbox. Contrary to most other platforms the email notification listing descriptions are very comprehensive…doesn’t feel like you need to “Click here to learn more”

Reach out to broker(s) on the platform to notify them of your deal criteria to ensure they are keeping you in mind (likely marginal benefit, but always a good idea)

Set up your criteria and leverage the ‘Browse’ tab as your main go to

Buyer’s Club: hard to tell what exactly is included in the membership other than prioritization on listings; however, potentially worth looking into further for resources & tools

Free tier - allows full access to listings; however, you are noticeably de-prioritized behind Buyers Club members as you have to sign deal specific NDAs before having full access which typically takes 1-3 days

Buyer’s Club - $50/mo 

High deal volume, mostly on the upper end of the market

Competent brokers, most of which have “been there, done that” on the sell side (selling a company as a founder/owner) and/or buy side (acquiring a company) which goes a long way vs a broker who has solely done advisory

Sign up for email alerts (no filter option) and periodically peruse website. Quietlight’s listings are relatively high quality compared to other online platforms, so the email notifications you get are likely worth taking a look at (aka the no filter option doesn’t present overload issues)

I’ve really enjoyed getting to know two of the brokers at Quietlight. I would recommend setting up a quick 30 min call for brokers that appear to consistently list businesses that are within your buy box. Establishing those relationships has actually felt to be worth my while.

Free - unaware of any paid membership options under Quietlight