Selling a €369,000 ecommerce: trap or bargain?
A COD ecommerce with €369,000 generated and 8,000 orders is up for sale. Buyer distrust and the debate over profitable businesses.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
A €369,000 ecommerce for sale: the buyer's skepticism
A cash-on-delivery (COD) ecommerce project hits the market with an eye-catching record: 8,122 orders, €369,000 in total value generated, and a customer base of more than 2,000. The seller includes the ad creatives that performed best on Meta Ads and boasts an average order value of €45. The reaction among potential buyers is immediate and distrustful: "manipulated EBITDA", "a dump for sale, demonstrably". The skepticism has grounds, but it also oversimplifies.
The numbers that don't quite add up
The detail that makes the difference is the payment model: most orders were generated through EasySell's COD form, not Shopify's standard checkout. That means the actual revenue is not audited by the platform, and the buyer only has the seller's word about the history. Even if the 241,200 sessions and 8,122 orders are verifiable, the traceability of each sale is murky.
The old saying about the winemaker selling his boots
The skeptical stance boils down to an old saying: when the winemaker sells his boots, the harvest isn't going well. Applied to this case, anyone selling a business that generates cash regularly should be crazy or in urgent need of liquidity. The same logic is used with rental properties offering good returns or stocks paying solid dividends: if the asset is good, it isn't sold.
The counterargument: profitable businesses get sold too
Some argue that selling a profitable business is not a sign of failure. Diversification, entrepreneur burnout, or the appearance of a better opportunity lead people to sell what works. Selling a flat with a stable tenant or a dividend-paying portfolio is common practice. Demanding that every business for sale be in ruins is a bias that can make you miss real opportunities.
The underlying issue is information asymmetry: the buyer only audits what they are shown, and with COD ecommerce the seams are hard to spot. The offer may be a bargain or a hole, but neither automatic distrust nor the winemaker complaint answers the question: if it generates so much, why sell it?
A cash-on-delivery (COD) ecommerce project hits the market with an eye-catching record: 8,122 orders, €369,000 in total value generated, and a customer base of more than 2,000. The seller includes the ad creatives that performed best on Meta Ads and boasts an average order value of €45. The reaction among potential buyers is immediate and distrustful: "manipulated EBITDA", "a dump for sale, demonstrably". The skepticism has grounds, but it also oversimplifies.
The numbers that don't quite add up
The detail that makes the difference is the payment model: most orders were generated through EasySell's COD form, not Shopify's standard checkout. That means the actual revenue is not audited by the platform, and the buyer only has the seller's word about the history. Even if the 241,200 sessions and 8,122 orders are verifiable, the traceability of each sale is murky.
The old saying about the winemaker selling his boots
The skeptical stance boils down to an old saying: when the winemaker sells his boots, the harvest isn't going well. Applied to this case, anyone selling a business that generates cash regularly should be crazy or in urgent need of liquidity. The same logic is used with rental properties offering good returns or stocks paying solid dividends: if the asset is good, it isn't sold.
The counterargument: profitable businesses get sold too
Some argue that selling a profitable business is not a sign of failure. Diversification, entrepreneur burnout, or the appearance of a better opportunity lead people to sell what works. Selling a flat with a stable tenant or a dividend-paying portfolio is common practice. Demanding that every business for sale be in ruins is a bias that can make you miss real opportunities.
The underlying issue is information asymmetry: the buyer only audits what they are shown, and with COD ecommerce the seams are hard to spot. The offer may be a bargain or a hole, but neither automatic distrust nor the winemaker complaint answers the question: if it generates so much, why sell it?
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (17 replies).
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