How platform dependence changes what an online business is worth

The first two columns are live: non-demo sales whose source published a profit figure, and the median of sold price ÷ annual profit across them. A median is withheld below five sales. The last column is not data — it is the kind of platform that business type typically depends on, written here so the table can be read against this page.

What this table cannot do is isolate the platform. Asset types differ in size, age, venue and how their profit is stated as well as in where their traffic comes from, and our public figures are not broken down by traffic source or sales channel. So we do not publish a "platform discount", and you should be wary of anyone who quotes one without the sample behind it. What the table does show is that the categories differ — and the reasons on the rest of this page are among the ones a buyer weighs when they do.

• Search traffic. Rankings belong to the search engine, not the site. A ranking change can cut traffic without anything on the site changing, and the seller's history shows only how the site did under the rules that applied while they owned it.
• A single marketplace. A store selling only through one marketplace inherits that marketplace's fees, listing rules and account health. If the account is suspended, the business can stop earning entirely; and the seller's account standing may not transfer at all.
• App stores. Distribution, review, payment handling and the store's cut are all set by the store. An app that relies on one store for installs and billing has a single gatekeeper on both.
• Ad and affiliate networks. Rates are the network's to set, and an approval held by the seller is not always one the buyer inherits — some programmes require the new owner to apply afresh.
• Social and audience platforms. A following on someone else's platform is reach that platform lends you. Its algorithm decides how much of the audience sees each post, and handles do not always transfer cleanly.
• Infrastructure and APIs. A SaaS product built on a third party's API is exposed to that API's pricing, rate limits and terms. If the core feature is a wrapper, the business is a tenant.

1. Break revenue down by source. Ask what share of the last twelve months' revenue came through each channel, from the dashboards themselves — analytics acquisition reports, marketplace payout statements, app-store sales reports. How to verify a seller's revenue and profit covers where each figure lives.
2. Look at the shape over time, not the total. A month-by-month chart of each source shows whether a past platform change already hit and how quickly the business recovered. A cliff the seller does not mention is a finding.
3. Ask what transfers. Marketplace seller accounts, affiliate approvals, developer accounts and ad accounts each have their own transfer rules. Confirm, per account, whether it moves to you, has to be re-applied for, or stays with the seller. Transferring an online business after the sale walks through the handover.
4. Check account health directly. Policy warnings, past suspensions, performance metrics — most platforms show these to the account holder. Ask to see them on a screen-share rather than in a summary.
5. Price the bad case. Estimate what the business earns if its largest channel halves. If the price only makes sense when nothing changes, it is a bet on the platform, and you should be paid for taking it.

Dependence does not change the comparables; it changes where in their range a particular business belongs. Two businesses with the same stated profit are not worth the same if one earns it through a single untested channel and the other through several that have each survived a change. The first belongs lower in the comparable range; the second can argue for the middle or above.