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FE International vs Vetrix
FE International sells a business for a single success fee at closing, scaled to the asking price. Vetrix pays you to license a de-identified copy of operational records, and you keep the company. Use FE International when you want a buyer. Use a license when you want cash for the records without that sale.
Up to $150K · $0 cost · 3 days
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| What they do | FE International sells a business for a single success fee at closing, scaled to the asking price. A seller can run a self-serve listing, and the firm takes the deal from the first valuation through due diligence to close. |
| Who it is for | FE International is for people listing a startup, with a self-serve listing and a network of pre-qualified buyers. |
| Fee | A single success fee at closing, scaled to the asking price, with no hidden costs at any tier. Below $250,000: a 5% closing fee when you sell. From $250,000 to $1 million: 4%. Above $1 million: 3%. |
| Cost to the company | The closing fee is due when a transaction closes. It is a single success fee at closing: 5% below a $250,000 asking price, 4% from $250,000 to $1 million, and 3% above $1 million. |
The names identify the services. We are not affiliated with them.
What FE International does and how it works
FE International sells a business for a single success fee at closing, scaled to the asking price. A seller can run a self-serve listing, and the firm takes the deal from the first valuation through due diligence to close.
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.
FE International 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 FE International 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 cash for a de-identified copy and you do not want to sell the company.
Fees, cost, and where the money goes
Read FE International'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 | FE International | Vetrix |
|---|---|---|
| Fee | A single success fee at closing, scaled to the asking price, with no hidden costs at any tier. Below $250,000: a 5% closing fee when you sell. From $250,000 to $1 million: 4%. Above $1 million: 3%. | $0 to the company |
| Cost if nothing closes | The closing fee is due when a transaction closes. It is a single success fee at closing: 5% below a $250,000 asking price, 4% from $250,000 to $1 million, and 3% above $1 million. | $0 |
| Who is paid | FE International 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 | Sellers agree to pay the closing fee within five business days of closing a transaction the platform originated, facilitated, or supported. The fee is calculated on the total purchase price, including cash at close, holdbacks, escrow, earnouts, seller financing, and non-cash consideration. The seller pays the fee in cash even when part of the price is not cash. | 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 FE International 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
FE International'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.
Sellers pay the closing fee within five business days of closing.
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 FE International is a better fit
- You want FE International to sell the business, and you can pay a single success fee at closing that scales with the asking price.
- You agree to pay that fee within five business days of a closing the platform originated, facilitated, or supported.
Use FE International 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 cash for a de-identified copy and you do not want to sell the company.
- A closing fee on a sale of the business is a different bill from a license.
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.
Using both
FE International sells the business for a closing fee. A license of the records is a separate contract from that sale.
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.
- Flippa vs Vetrix
Flippa lists online businesses for sale. Licensing records is a separate choice.
- Quiet Light vs Vetrix
Quiet Light brokers a sale of the business. 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 FE International vs Vetrix
What closing fee does FE International charge sellers?
FE International's seller pricing page lists a single success fee at closing, scaled to the asking price. Below $250,000 the closing fee is 5% when you sell. From $250,000 to $1 million it is 4%. Above $1 million it is 3%. The page says there are no hidden costs at any tier. You pay that fee when a transaction closes. It is a percent of the sale, not a payout for a copy of records.
When does an FE International seller have to pay the fee?
The buyer and seller terms say sellers agree to pay the closing fee within five business days of closing a transaction the platform originated, facilitated, or supported. The fee is calculated on the total purchase price, including cash at close, holdbacks, escrow, earnouts, seller financing, and non-cash consideration. The seller pays the fee in cash even when part of the price is not cash. A license does not use that closing clock.
Does FE International's fee replace a license of the records?
No. FE International describes a sale of the business, including a self-serve listing and a path from valuation through due diligence to close. The fee is the cost of that sale. A license leaves ownership of the records with the company and pays for a de-identified copy. You can consider both only when the license does not hand the same records to a second buyer. They are different documents and different counterparties.
Who is FE International's seller pricing written for?
FE International says the seller pricing is for people listing a startup, with a self-serve listing and a network of pre-qualified buyers. That is a sale of the business to a buyer. It is not a shutdown filing and it is not a license of operational records. If the company is already closed, read whether a buyer still wants it before you assume the pricing page applies. A license asks a different question: whether the records can be licensed.
Sources
- FE International. Seller Pricing.
- FE International. Buyer Seller Terms of Use.