How do I sell my e-commerce business in Singapore confidentially?
Off-market. Nothing is publicly listed and nothing carries your name. Early materials use a reference code rather than your brand name, store links or anything else that would identify you, buyers see identifying details only after signing an NDA you have approved by name, and you decide when your team, suppliers and manufacturers are told. Online that discipline matters, because a brand known to be for sale invites copycats and unsettles suppliers.
What is my e-commerce business worth?
An online brand is priced off normalised earnings, not revenue. That means a market salary for every role you fill, market rent for any space you own, a realistic level of ad spend, and removing one-offs such as a viral month. Channel mix, repeat customers, margin after fulfilment and ad costs move the number most. Owner-operated e-commerce businesses in Singapore typically change hands at roughly 2 to 3 times normalised EBITDA, with up to about 4 times only for owned D2C brands with most sales on their own site, loyal repeat customers and competing buyers. We give you a valuation in writing, under NDA, for a fixed fee credited against our success fee if you sell with us.
Who buys e-commerce brands in Singapore?
Mostly strategic brands adding a product line or a customer base, distributors and retailers moving into direct sales, and individual buyers looking for a business they can run themselves. The aggregators that bought many online brands a few years ago have become far fewer and more selective in Southeast Asia since 2022, so it is wiser not to plan around them. Each buyer values the same brand differently, which is why a quiet, competitive process usually beats accepting the first approach.
What happens to my stock, platform accounts and ad accounts?
Stock is usually counted at completion and paid for at cost, on top of the price for the business, so it pays to clear slow and obsolete lines beforehand. Marketplace seller accounts, ad accounts and some apps have their own rules on transfers and changes of ownership, and some cannot be moved at all, which can decide whether a sale of shares or of the business and assets works better. Check each platform's terms with your lawyer early. Customer data generally needs to be handed over in line with the PDPA.
What does Clearmere charge to sell an e-commerce business?
Our sale fee is success-based and paid on completion: no sale, no fee. A written valuation is a separate fixed fee, agreed and paid before we start, and credited in full against our success fee if you sign with us within 6 months and the sale completes. The first conversation, a short questionnaire and our written recommendation on which valuation fits are free and carry no obligation.
Will I have to accept an earn-out?
Often part of the price is deferred, particularly where the founder is the face of the brand or sales have moved sharply in the last year. A buyer uses an earn-out or deferred payment to share the risk that sales fall once you step back. It is not automatically bad, but the terms matter: what is measured, who controls the ad budget and pricing during the earn-out, and how disagreements are settled. We push for as much cash at completion as the business supports, and for targets you can actually influence.
