Your situation
My business didn't sell
A marketplace or a broker brought no buyer, and no sale agreement was signed. The company still holds the records. A data license is not a second attempt at that sale. It does not move the shares, the customers, or the brand. Decide whether you still want a buyer for the whole company as its own question.
Up to $150K · $0 cost · 3 days
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Ownership | The company has not signed a sale, so the right to license is unchanged. The end of a listing is not a transfer of the records. |
| Exclusivity | The license is exclusive. A later listing, or a later buyer, has to live with that promise. |
| Marketplace fees | Fees already paid to a marketplace stay under that marketplace's rules. A data license does not refund them, and they are not a credit against a license. |
| Status | The company can still be winding down or still operating. The trigger is the failed listing, and both statuses can enquire. |
| Signer | The company signs because it did not sell. The person who ran the listing is not the signer by default. |
| Who to tell | Tell anyone still marketing the business that a data license, if signed, is exclusive, before they take the listing back up. |
The situation in plain words
The listing ended without a buyer, or it is still up and quiet. Either way, no sale agreement was signed. A data license does not transfer the shares, the customers, or the brand. It is a right on a de-identified copy. That is a different promise from the one a marketplace listing makes, which is why the people still marketing the company need to hear about it before a new buyer books a call. Fees you already paid to be listed stay under that marketplace's own rules. Read those rules for what the fees cover. The company can be winding down or still operating. The person who wrote the listing copy signs only if they are an officer of the company.
Who can decide, and who signs
The broker does not become the applicant by having written the listing, and the marketplace does not become the applicant by having hosted it. An officer of the company sends the enquiry.
A later buyer of the whole business inherits an exclusive license. That is why the people still marketing the company should hear about it before a new process starts.
Money you already paid to be listed is a marketplace question. It is not a credit you can apply to a data license, and a license does not refund it.
What is possible
No buyer for the whole company does not decide the records question. The company can enquire while it is winding down or while it is still operating. Eligibility is about staff at peak, years of records, daily-use systems, and the right to license. A quiet listing does not change those rules, and it does not transfer the records.
Timing
Keep the systems up while you decide. Taking the listing down is not a reason to delete the tools the same week, because a read-only check needs them reachable. Tell the marketplace about exclusivity before you refresh the listing, not after a new buyer is in a meeting. The fit decision is a yes or no within three days of the enquiry. It does not restart the sale process, and it does not require you to pull the listing on the day you ask.
What to do next
Confirm in writing that no sale agreement was signed, so the right to license is still the company's.
Before you refresh any marketing, tell the broker and the marketplace that a signed license would be exclusive.
Keep the systems available if you want a read-only check. Ending the listing is not a reason to delete them the same week.
Have an officer of the company send the enquiry. The person who wrote the listing copy does that only when they are that officer.
Choose separately whether you still want a buyer for the whole company. Selling the shares is not the license.
If a sale is not available, read how to recover value from a closing company.
To weigh marketplace fees against the other ways out, start with exit options compared.
Where to go next
For the wider job, read how to sell a failed startup. For every other position, see what to do with your company's records in your situation.
Does your company qualify to sell its data? Confirm that before you treat a license as available. Before a system is connected, you approve what is shared and never shared.
If the company is in a different position, start here:
For the same decision seen from your role, read options for a business that didn't sell.
Related
- Your situation
What changes for your records in eight company situations.
- Selling a company
How to sell a failed startup, and the options when a company cannot be sold as a whole.
- Eligibility
Staff, records, daily-use systems, and the right to license, plus a checker.
- What's shared
Which records can be licensed, which details never leave, and what you approve.
- After an acquisition
Who must agree before records of an acquired company are licensed.
- Bankruptcy or ABC
Authority questions when company data sits inside a bankruptcy or an assignment.
- Business brokers
What a broker tells a seller after a listing does not sell. No referral fee.
Questions about a business that did not sell
My business didn't sell. Can the records still be licensed?
They can be considered. No sale was signed, so the right to license is unchanged. A quiet marketplace is not a transfer of the records. The company can enquire while it is winding down or while it is still operating. Eligibility is still staff at peak, two years of records, daily-use systems, and the right to license. A failed sale does not guarantee a yes, and it does not block the question.
Does a failed listing transfer ownership of the data?
No. The end of a listing is not a transfer. The company still owns the records because it did not sign a sale. The broker does not take ownership by having marketed the business, and the marketplace does not take ownership by having hosted the listing. Keep the sale documents, if any were drafted, with your lawyer so you can show that nothing closed.
What do we tell the marketplace if we later sign a data license?
Tell them, before the listing goes back up, that a data license is exclusive. A later buyer of the whole business has to live with that promise. Say it to the broker as well, if a broker is still marketing the company. Do not wait until a new buyer is in diligence. The company signs the license. The marketplace does not sign it for you.
Where do Acquire.com and Flippa fees come from?
From those companies' own pricing pages. Fees you already paid stay under that marketplace's rules. A license does not refund a listing fee, and a listing fee does not buy a license. Read the marketplace's own terms for what you already paid, including any fee that applied only if a buyer had closed. Ask us about the records. The marketplace's price list is the marketplace's.
Is a failed listing the same problem as selling a failed startup?
No. Selling the whole company is a different decision, with its own menu of exits. A failed listing is the trigger for the records question: the company still controls the records, and a license would be exclusive. Use how to sell a failed startup when you are choosing among a sale, a shutdown, and other paths. Use the records path when the question is the operational history, not the shares.
Sources
- Vetrix Labs. Vetrix Data Licensing.
- Vetrix Labs. Company data license agreement terms.