--- title: "How do you verify a mobile app's revenue before buying it?" url: https://firstpassmemo.com/answers/how-to-verify-mobile-app-revenue-before-buying/ updated: 2026-10-30 publisher: FirstPass Memo (hello@firstpassmemo.com) --- Answers # How do you verify a mobile app's revenue before buying it? Short answer: Ask for a live view of the App Store and Google Play dashboards and 12 months of payouts, then match those payouts to bank deposits. Confirm whether the listing quotes revenue before or after store commission and refunds, and check how many subscribers renew rather than just how many sign up. Take any paid install spend off before you apply a multiple. Updated 30 October 2026 · Figures checked against their sources on 30 October 2026 · By Joan Murphy (https://firstpassmemo.com/about/joan-murphy/) (pen name) · How we check (https://firstpassmemo.com/methodology/) · Corrections (https://firstpassmemo.com/editorial-policy/) ## Check a listing now, free FirstPass Memo offers a free red-flag checker for business-for-sale listings and a $79 first-pass memo on a specific listing you send, paid after delivery. Paste any listing below for payback, the asking multiple and its red flags. Nothing you paste leaves your browser. Open the full checker (https://firstpassmemo.com/checker/) to unlock every flag with its seller question. Only know the price and monthly profit? Put them in the link and the check runs on its own: firstpassmemo.com/checker/?ask=45000&profit=1500 (https://firstpassmemo.com/checker/?ask=45000&profit=1500&via=box). ## Why is app revenue easy to misread? A mobile app's revenue passes through the app stores before it reaches the seller. The stores take a commission, refunds come later, and subscription revenue can look strong in one month and then fall away when free trials end. A screenshot of a revenue chart tells you very little on its own. You want the numbers the stores themselves report, and you want to see how many subscribers stay. ## What should you ask for? - Live, read-only access to the store dashboards (App Store Connect and Google Play Console), or a screen-share where the seller opens them while you watch. - Twelve months of payouts from the stores to the seller's bank, so you can match what was earned with what was paid. - Revenue split by type: subscriptions, one-off purchases and in-app ads, since each carries a different risk. - Subscription data from the store or a subscription tool: active subscribers, trial-to-paid conversion and how many cancel each month. - Ad spend on user acquisition, by month, if the app buys installs. ## How do you check the numbers? - Match gross to net. Store dashboards may show sales before commission. Confirm which figure the listing quotes and work from what the seller actually receives. - Tie payouts to the bank. Monthly payouts should line up with deposits; gaps or extra deposits need an explanation. - Look at renewals, not new sales. If most revenue comes from first payments and few subscribers renew, revenue depends on a steady flow of new installs. - Compare revenue with install spend. If installs are bought, work out profit after that spend and check what happens to revenue in months when spend was lower. - Check what transfers. Apps move between developer accounts under each store's own rules; confirm the app, its reviews and its subscribers can move with it. ## What are the red flags? - Revenue shown only as screenshots, with no live dashboard view. - A recent spike from a feature, a trend or a burst of paid installs, averaged into the asking price. - High cancellation rates hidden behind strong new-subscriber numbers. - Gross sales quoted as revenue, before store commission and refunds. - Dependence on one store or one featured placement for most installs. ## What does a composite check look like? This is a composite example, not a real deal. A subscription app lists $6,000 a month in revenue, asking $150,000. The store dashboard shows that figure is before commission; after commission and refunds the seller receives about $4,900. Half of each month's revenue is from first payments, and only about 40% of subscribers renew after the first month. The seller also spends $1,200 a month on paid installs. The buyer restates monthly profit at about $3,000 after install spend and running costs, and offers about $80,000, with a holdback tied to subscriber numbers three months after the transfer. Run the listing through the free red-flag checker (https://firstpassmemo.com/checker/) first, then see how to value a mobile app (https://firstpassmemo.com/answers/how-to-value-a-mobile-app/). ## Frequently asked questions ### Is a screenshot of App Store Connect enough proof? No. Screenshots are easy to edit and leave out context. Ask for a live view of the dashboard and match it to bank payouts. ### Does the listing price include the store's commission? Often it is unclear. Always ask whether quoted revenue is before or after commission and refunds, and value the business on what the seller receives. ### Do subscribers move with the app? That depends on the store and how the transfer is done. Check each store's current transfer rules before you agree a price. ## Sources - FirstPass Memo, red-flag checker rules (https://firstpassmemo.com/flags/), our own rules, published as /rules.json - FirstPass Memo, seller question bank, October 2026 (general checklist) (https://firstpassmemo.com/get/seller-questions-general), our own questions - FirstPass Memo, free buyer calculators (https://firstpassmemo.com/tools/), our own calculators; the formulas are on each page ## Related - Free red-flag checker (https://firstpassmemo.com/checker/) - How to value a mobile app (https://firstpassmemo.com/answers/how-to-value-a-mobile-app/) - How to tell if listed revenue is fake (https://firstpassmemo.com/answers/how-to-tell-if-a-website-listings-revenue-is-fake/) - What churn rate is good (https://firstpassmemo.com/answers/what-is-a-good-churn-rate-for-a-saas-you-want-to-buy/) - How to run a cohort retention check (https://firstpassmemo.com/answers/how-to-run-a-cohort-retention-check-before-buying-a-saas/) - Red flags when buying an online business (https://firstpassmemo.com/answers/red-flags-when-buying-an-online-business/) - Red flag: revenue concentrated in a recent spike (https://firstpassmemo.com/flags/revenue-concentrated-in-a-recent-spike/) - Red flag: depends on a platform (https://firstpassmemo.com/flags/depends-on-a-platform/) - Glossary of listing terms (https://firstpassmemo.com/glossary/) - More questions buyers ask (https://firstpassmemo.com/answers/) Composite examples are invented and labelled. Figures from other sites are quoted with a link and the date we read them; FirstPass figures are asking prices and seller-stated profit, not sale prices. Informational screening only, not investment, legal or tax advice. ## Looking at a specific listing? Get a full memo — $79, pay after delivery. Paste the link; your memo arrives within 24 hours (Mon–Fri). $79, pay after delivery: we send the memo first, then a payment link. Human quick reviews cost $199–$390. --- FirstPass Memo is informational screening, not investment, legal, tax, accounting or valuation advice, and not an audit. Seller figures are not independently verified. HTML version: https://firstpassmemo.com/answers/how-to-verify-mobile-app-revenue-before-buying/