In the past year, we have seen growth of buyers outpace the growth of sellers (at least for the good businesses) This is especially true for businesses making less than $100K per year.

The three main buyers of Amazon businesses we see are:

• Boutique private equity companies.

Small investment firms have popped up with increasing frequency over the past few years.  They raise anywhere from $2 million to $10 million from investors.  Then they’ll acquire a portfolio of businesses, streamline the operations and use their expertise to scale the businesses. 

For more information of PE firms buying Amazon businesses, this is a worthwhile read.

• Career changers

Amazon’s success is no secret and professionals from industry have taken notice. Typically these are people with a finance or engineering background who see the value in owning a small business and would rather work 3 hours per week and spend time with their family than pursue their current career.

In addition, many buyers based in the US are eligible to use assets from qualified retirement accounts to purchase businesses.  At Upward Exits, we always go the extra step to help buyers explore financing options.  This also helps the seller get cash offers and higher valuations.  You can read more about our buyer services here.

• Current Amazon sellers

We see a number of folks who are already selling on Amazon purchase additional businesses/ product listings.  They may only increase their workload 1-2 hrs. / week and can get a great return on their investment. 

In addition to Amazon, we also see this trend in lead generation and affiliate marketing businesses.