# WiseExit

> WiseExit helps eCommerce founders sell their brand at the right price: free valuation in 24 hours, zero upfront costs, commission only at closing, NDA before your brand name is shared.

Key facts, in WiseExit's own words:

- What is WiseExit? WiseExit helps eCommerce founders sell their brand at the right price: valuation, preparation and sale to qualified buyers. It works on the sell side, for founders of eCommerce and direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands.
- Who is behind WiseExit? WiseExit was founded by Max Schipilliti, who has been in eCommerce since 2019 and has bought and sold several stores himself. Every deal is followed personally by Max Schipilliti.
- Which businesses does WiseExit work with? eCommerce and direct-to-consumer brands on Shopify, WooCommerce, Amazon and other platforms. What matters most is a track record of profit the founder can show, ideally 12 months or more. Smaller stores are welcome.
- How does a sale with WiseExit work? Valuation, preparation of numbers and accounts, a confidential search for qualified buyers, offers and negotiation, the buyer's due diligence, then agreement and payment.
- How much does WiseExit cost? The valuation is free, with an answer in 24 hours and no commitment to sell. There are zero upfront costs: WiseExit earns a commission only at closing. The percentage depends on the size of the deal and is given in writing before signing anything. If the store doesn't sell, the founder doesn't pay.
- How does WiseExit keep a sale confidential? The brand name stays private until a buyer signs an NDA. Until then, the numbers circulate only in anonymous form.
- Where does WiseExit find buyers? WiseExit are Verified Flippa Brokers: a brand can be presented on Flippa, the international marketplace for buying and selling online businesses, as well as to WiseExit's direct network of qualified buyers: funds and aggregators, eCommerce operators and companies in the same industry.
- What doesn't WiseExit promise? A price, a multiple or a timeline before reading the numbers. Valuations are estimates based on the data the client provides. They are not an appraisal or a guarantee of sale or price. WiseExit doesn't give tax or legal advice.
- How do I contact WiseExit? Request a free valuation at https://wise-exit.com/sell-your-store or use the contact page at https://wise-exit.com/contact.

## Key pages

- [WiseExit at a glance](https://wise-exit.com/about/facts): who WiseExit is, what it does, how fees work, confidentiality and contacts, in one page
- [Free valuation](https://wise-exit.com/sell-your-store): request a free valuation of an eCommerce store: answer in 24 hours, no commitment to sell
- [How it works](https://wise-exit.com/sell): the six steps of a sale, from valuation to agreement and payment
- [About](https://wise-exit.com/about): the founder, Max Schipilliti, and what WiseExit believes about a real Exit
- [FAQ](https://wise-exit.com/faq): valuation, costs, process, confidentiality, payment and what happens after the sale
- [For buyers](https://wise-exit.com/buy): register interest in buying a profitable eCommerce brand
- [Blog](https://wise-exit.com/blog): guides on valuing, preparing and selling an eCommerce or DTC brand
- [Contact](https://wise-exit.com/contact): write to WiseExit

## Blog: Valuation

- [eCommerce valuation multiples: what actually moves yours](https://wise-exit.com/blog/ecommerce-valuation-multiples): The multiple is how many years of verified profit a buyer will pay for today, and it measures risk. It rises with a long, stable track record, several products and channels, repeat customers and little dependence on the founder. It falls with one recent spike, one ad channel, one supplier and accounts that don't transfer cleanly.
- [Add-backs: what you can and can't add back when you sell your store](https://wise-exit.com/blog/ecommerce-add-backs): Add-backs are costs in your accounts that a new owner won't have, like your salary, personal expenses or a one-off rebrand. Each one raises the profit a buyer values, but only if you can prove it with an invoice, a bank line and a reason. Costs the business needs to keep its revenue are not add-backs.
- [SDE vs EBITDA: which profit number buyers use for your store](https://wise-exit.com/blog/sde-vs-ebitda-ecommerce): SDE (seller's discretionary earnings) is the profit one owner-operator takes out of the business, before their own pay and personal costs. EBITDA assumes a paid manager runs it. Smaller owner-run stores are usually valued on SDE, larger brands with a team on EBITDA, and the two numbers take different multiples.
- [How much is my Shopify store worth? A plain-English guide](https://wise-exit.com/blog/how-much-is-my-shopify-store-worth): A Shopify store is valued on the profit a buyer can verify, not on revenue. Buyers take 12 to 24 months of cleaned-up profit and apply a multiple that reflects how reliable and transferable that profit is. Two stores with the same revenue can be worth very different amounts.

## Blog: Preparing to sell

- [Suppliers and inventory: what buyers check before they buy your brand](https://wise-exit.com/blog/suppliers-and-inventory-in-a-sale): When you sell an eCommerce brand, inventory is either included in the price at an agreed normal level or paid on top at landed cost, counted close to closing. Buyers also check your suppliers: written terms, single-supplier risk, who owns designs and moulds, and whether the relationship survives without you. Agree the inventory mechanism in the letter of intent.
- [Selling a brand that lives on Meta ads: how buyers see the risk](https://wise-exit.com/blog/selling-brand-dependent-on-meta-ads): If most of your sales come from Meta ads, a buyer is buying channel risk: rising costs, creative fatigue, a disabled account. They'll check acquisition costs over time, contribution margin after ads, account history and how much revenue comes from elsewhere. You can't remove the risk, but a second channel, repeat customers and clean account ownership reduce it.
- [When is the right time to sell your eCommerce business?](https://wise-exit.com/blog/when-to-sell-your-ecommerce-business): The best time to sell an eCommerce business is when it's growing or holding, has at least 12 months of numbers that hold up, and you don't need to sell. Founders who wait until they're tired usually sell late, after the numbers have started to slip. Business timing matters more than market timing, and you control it.
- [How to clean up your P&L before selling your eCommerce store](https://wise-exit.com/blog/clean-up-pnl-before-selling): A clean P&L for a sale is monthly, built on cash actually collected, with landed product costs, ad spend by channel and no personal expenses mixed in. It must reconcile with your bank and payment payouts. Without it, every doubt a buyer has becomes a discount.
- [Owner dependence: why a store that runs through you sells for less](https://wise-exit.com/blog/owner-dependence-business-value): Owner dependence is how much of your store only works because you're there: supplier relationships, ad accounts on your profile, creatives you make, knowledge in your head. Buyers price it as risk and as a cost to replace you, through a lower multiple, a longer handover or more of the price paid later. It can be reduced in months.
- [How to prepare your eCommerce business for sale: a 12-month plan](https://wise-exit.com/blog/prepare-ecommerce-business-for-sale): Preparing an eCommerce business for sale means making its profit easy to verify and easy to take over. Start about 12 months out: separate your money and build a clean monthly P&L, move every account into the company's name, write down how the business runs, reduce what depends on you, and keep the numbers moving until closing.

## Blog: The sale process

- [How long does it take to sell an eCommerce business?](https://wise-exit.com/blog/how-long-to-sell-an-ecommerce-business): Selling an eCommerce business usually takes months, not weeks, and nobody honest can promise a date. The time goes into preparation, finding the right buyer, negotiating offers, due diligence and closing, then a handover. Clean numbers, a ready data room and accounts in the company's name are what shorten it most.
- [Letter of intent: what to check before you sign an LOI for your store](https://wise-exit.com/blog/letter-of-intent-business-sale): A letter of intent sets out the main terms of a sale before due diligence: price, structure, what's included, exclusivity, timetable and conditions. Most of it isn't binding, but exclusivity and confidentiality usually are. It's the last moment you have full negotiating power, so vague terms here become arguments later.
- [eCommerce due diligence: what buyers check and how to prepare](https://wise-exit.com/blog/ecommerce-due-diligence-checklist): In eCommerce due diligence the buyer checks everything you've stated: revenue against bank statements and payouts, costs against invoices, add-backs against evidence, plus accounts, contracts, trademarks, suppliers and customer data. It usually takes weeks to months. Sellers who build the data room before going to market answer faster and give buyers fewer reasons to renegotiate.
- [Lowball offers and re-trades: how buyers cut your price, and how to stop it](https://wise-exit.com/blog/lowball-offers-and-retrades): A lowball offer is an opening price set low to test your reaction; a re-trade is a price cut after the letter of intent, usually during due diligence. Both work best when you have no alternative and your numbers have gaps. Competing offers, clean numbers, early disclosure of bad news and a specific letter of intent are what protect the price.
- [How to sell your eCommerce business without anyone finding out](https://wise-exit.com/blog/sell-your-business-confidentially): A confidential sale works in stages: an anonymous teaser with no brand name, an NDA and buyer screening before the name is shared, then numbers, then the data room, with supplier and team details last. An NDA helps, but the real protection is sharing less with fewer people, later. Plan in advance who on your team learns about the sale, and when.

## Blog: Deal terms

- [Asset sale vs share sale: what changes for an eCommerce seller](https://wise-exit.com/blog/asset-sale-vs-share-sale): In a share sale the buyer buys your company, with its accounts, contracts and history. In an asset sale they buy selected assets, like the brand, store, domain and inventory, and your company stays with you. Share sales are usually a cleaner exit for the seller but come with more warranties; asset sales let the buyer leave the history behind. Taxes, accounts and employees work differently in each.
- [Earn-outs explained: when part of the price comes later](https://wise-exit.com/blog/earn-out-explained): An earn-out is the part of a sale price that's paid later, only if the business hits agreed targets after closing. Buyers use it to bridge a price gap and share the risk of future results. For the seller it's uncertain money: the metric, the period, the accounting rules and how much control you keep decide whether it's ever paid.

## Blog: Ways to sell

- [How WiseExit works: from free valuation to closing](https://wise-exit.com/blog/how-wiseexit-works): WiseExit is an M&A advisor for eCommerce and DTC founders who want to sell their brand at the right price. The process runs from a free valuation, with an answer in 24 hours, through preparation, a confidential search for qualified buyers, negotiation and due diligence, to closing. There are zero upfront costs, the commission is paid only at closing, and every deal is followed personally by Max Schipilliti.
- [How to choose an eCommerce business broker: 12 questions to ask](https://wise-exit.com/blog/how-to-choose-an-ecommerce-business-broker): Choose an eCommerce business broker on how they value, how they're paid, who works on your deal, how they protect confidentiality and where their buyers come from. Ask for everything in writing before signing. Red flags: a high price promised before seeing your numbers, a firm closing date, large upfront fees and a long exclusive mandate with vague terms.
- [Selling your eCommerce business on your own: what you take on](https://wise-exit.com/blog/sell-ecommerce-business-without-broker): Selling an eCommerce business without a broker saves the commission, but you take on the valuation, preparation, finding and screening buyers, confidentiality, negotiation and due diligence, while still running the store. It can work for simple deals or when a buyer has already approached you. The risks founders underestimate: a first offer with nothing to compare it to, leaks, and terms accepted in a hurry.
- [Flippa, Empire Flippers, Acquire.com or a broker? How to choose](https://wise-exit.com/blog/flippa-vs-empire-flippers-vs-acquire-vs-broker): Flippa is an open marketplace where you list and manage the sale yourself; Empire Flippers reviews businesses before listing them and supports the sale; Acquire.com is a marketplace with a subscription-style listing fee, popular with startups. A broker prepares the business, approaches selected buyers and negotiates for you. The right choice depends on your size, readiness, time and how much confidentiality you need.

## Blog: After the exit

- [What happens to your team when you sell your store?](https://wise-exit.com/blog/what-happens-to-employees-when-you-sell): In a share sale, employees usually stay employed by the same company, with the same contracts. In an asset sale, the rules depend on the country: in the UK and the EU, employees generally transfer to the buyer with their terms protected, while in the US the buyer usually chooses whom to hire. Freelancers and agencies depend on their contracts. Plan who you tell, when, and how you keep key people through the sale.

## Optional

- [Full text of the key pages and articles](https://wise-exit.com/llms-full.txt): everything above in one plain-text file
- [RSS feed of the blog](https://wise-exit.com/blog/rss.xml)