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Empire Flippers vs Vetrix
Empire Flippers sells online businesses. There is no fee to submit one, and you pay a commission if it sells. It asks for an exclusive listing of at least 2 months. Vetrix pays you to license a de-identified copy of operational records, and you keep the company.
Up to $150K · $0 cost · 3 days
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| What they do | Empire Flippers is a marketplace for buying and selling online businesses and websites. It walks a seller through the sale and transfers the business to the buyer. |
| Who it is for | Empire Flippers lists websites and online businesses for sale, including Amazon FBA, YouTube, affiliate, newsletter, ecommerce, and Amazon KDP. |
| Fee | There is no fee to submit a business for sale. You pay a commission if Empire Flippers sells the business. The commission is blended. Under $700,000, the commission is a flat 15% of the sale price. On the value from $700,000 to $5,000,000, the commission is 8%. On the value above $5,000,000, the commission is 2.5%. |
| Cost to the company | There is no fee to submit a business for sale on the marketplace. You pay a commission if Empire Flippers sells the business. |
The names identify the services. We are not affiliated with them.
What Empire Flippers does and how it works
Empire Flippers is a marketplace for buying and selling online businesses and websites. It walks a seller through the sale and transfers the business to the buyer.
Empire Flippers describes customers around the globe who have bought and sold online businesses on the marketplace.
Vetrix's path is six steps. Vetrix runs steps 1 to 3 and stays with you through the rest.
- Tell us what you have.
- We confirm fit.
- We check your systems.
- You sign an NDA.
- You receive an offer.
- You sign, and get paid.
Read how company data licensing works for the step detail. Nothing is uploaded in the first step.
Empire Flippers finishes the job in its own description. A license is finished when you sign with the data partner and the copy is prepared. You can still be operating, winding down, or already closed, if you meet the staff and records rules.
Bring the question you actually have. If the question is the job Empire Flippers describes, stay with that service and read the fee. If the question is whether the records can be licensed while you still own them, that service does not answer it by itself. You want to keep the company and be paid for a de-identified copy of the records.
Fees, cost, and where the money goes
Read Empire Flippers's fee as they state it, then read what a license costs the company. The two numbers are not the same kind of money.
| Question | Empire Flippers | Vetrix |
|---|---|---|
| Fee | There is no fee to submit a business for sale. You pay a commission if Empire Flippers sells the business. The commission is blended. Under $700,000, the commission is a flat 15% of the sale price. On the value from $700,000 to $5,000,000, the commission is 8%. On the value above $5,000,000, the commission is 2.5%. | $0 to the company |
| Cost if nothing closes | There is no fee to submit a business for sale on the marketplace. You pay a commission if Empire Flippers sells the business. | $0 |
| Who is paid | Empire Flippers is paid its fee. A purchase price, if a buyer pays one, is paid to you. | You, up to $150,000 (US pricing, 250+ staff at peak). |
| What you give up | Empire Flippers asks you to list the site with them for at least 2 months, and not with other brokers, on forums, or on other marketplaces. | You give the data partner the right to use your records, with personal details removed, for AI research. The license is worldwide, permanent, and only for them. |
Use the fee Empire Flippers states on its own site, in the fee table. Read it as the cost of that service. It is not a payout for a license, and it is not what you pay Vetrix. A listing ad, a broker's commission, a shutdown invoice, and a license payout are different kinds of money. Match the bill to the job before you treat one number as the winner.
What Vetrix pays is not a success fee. The data partner pays Vetrix's fee, not you. If no agreement is signed, nobody pays anything. The amount depends on staff at peak and on the US pricing band. It is not a percent of a sale price, because there is no sale of the company.
Timing
Empire Flippers's clock is how long its own process can take. Vetrix's clock is a yes or no within 3 days, which is a fit decision, not a closing date.
Empire Flippers asks for an exclusive listing of at least 2 months.
A fit decision in 3 days does not mean the records are licensed that week. After a yes, there is a read-only check, an NDA with the data partner, an offer, and a signature. Those later steps take as long as the check and your lawyer need. They are not a promise that a buyer will appear.
Do not put the two clocks on one calendar and call the shorter one faster. A sale can be the right outcome and still take months. A license can be the wrong product even when the first answer is quick. Decide which clock you need: a buyer, or a decision on the records.
What you keep
Under a license you keep ownership of your data and full use of it in your business. You sign an NDA and the licensing agreement directly with the data partner, not with Vetrix.
Read what the company keeps under a data license before you treat the two offers as the same promise.
Read what is shared and never shared. Personal details are removed before a copy leaves.
Where Empire Flippers is a better fit
- You want Empire Flippers to sell an online business, and you can give them an exclusive listing of at least 2 months.
- You pay a commission only if they sell the business. There is no fee to submit it.
Use Empire Flippers when the job those points describe is the job you have. Do not force a license into a contract that does a different job.
Where licensing records fits
- You want to keep the company and be paid for a de-identified copy of the records.
- An exclusive broker listing is the wrong tool for a license of records.
The license fits when those conditions are true and the company meets the staff and records rules. It is not a substitute buyer, and it does not file a dissolution. You can estimate the payout before you start the check.
If you are weighing a broker, a shutdown, or a license, compare exit options for a company. If no buyer is in sight, read exit options when a company cannot be sold. If the listing did not sell, read What to do when a listing did not sell.
Using both
Empire Flippers asks you not to list the same site with other brokers or marketplaces during its exclusive. A license of the records is a separate contract from that listing.
You agree not to license the same records to anyone else. A later buyer of the company has to be told. You can pursue a sale and a license when the license does not hand the same records to someone else, and when the sale documents can live with that promise.
If the buyer will want those records exclusively, say so before you sign the license. If you only want the records licensed and you do not want a buyer, do not pay a listing fee while you wait for a sale you are not seeking.
Related
- Compare
Exit options compared: sell, broker, shut down, or license records.
- Selling a company
How to sell a failed startup, and the options when a company cannot be sold as a whole.
- FE International vs Vetrix
FE International advises on a sale of the business. Licensing records is a separate choice.
- Flippa vs Vetrix
Flippa lists online businesses for sale. Licensing records is a separate choice.
- License terms
The four license terms: what you give, keep, agree, and sign.
- What's shared
Which records can be licensed, which details never leave, and what you approve.
- Estimate
US payout bands by staff at peak, and the estimator that uses them.
Questions about Empire Flippers vs Vetrix
What commission does Empire Flippers charge a seller?
Empire Flippers says there is no fee to submit a business. You pay a commission if it sells the business. Under $700,000 the commission is a flat 15% of the sale price. From $700,000 to $5,000,000 the commission is 8% of that band. Above $5,000,000 the commission is 2.5% of that band. The commission is blended across those bands. You do not pay it if the business does not sell.
Can I list the same site with Empire Flippers and another broker?
Empire Flippers asks you to list the site with them for at least 2 months, and not with other brokers, on forums, or on other marketplaces. That exclusive is about the sale of the site. A license of operational records is a different contract. If a later buyer will want those records for themselves, say so before you sign a license. Do not sign two licenses of the same records.
Which online businesses does Empire Flippers say it lists?
Empire Flippers says it lists websites and online businesses, including Amazon FBA, YouTube, affiliate, newsletter, ecommerce, and Amazon KDP. It describes customers around the globe who have bought and sold on the marketplace. A walk-in shop is not the category it names. A license is also a different category: it pays for a de-identified copy and leaves the company with you, whether or not a buyer appears for the site.
If Empire Flippers does not sell the business, what have I paid?
Empire Flippers says there is no fee to submit a business for sale. The commission is due if it sells the business. If there is no sale, that commission is not owed. You have still given the exclusive listing for at least 2 months. That is time, not a monthly ad bill. A license has its own cost, which is $0 to the company, and it does not depend on a buyer closing.
Sources
- Empire Flippers. Buy and Sell Online Businesses and Websites.
- Empire Flippers. Can I list my site concurrently elsewhere?.
- Empire Flippers. What are the fees to list my site with you?.