Answers

What questions should I ask a seller before buying a website?

Short answer: Before an offer, ask for what proves the numbers and what transfers: 24 months of profit and loss, read-only access to revenue and traffic, owner hours, the top customer or channel share, the reason for sale, and which accounts move to you. Our free question bank holds 153 questions sorted by business type and stage.

Updated 7 October 2026 · Figures checked against their sources on 7 October 2026

What should I ask in the first message?

Ask the questions that are cheap for an honest seller to answer and that tell you whether the numbers will hold. These ten come from the shared, highest-priority group of our question bank, which applies to every business type.

1. What is the asking price, and exactly which assets, accounts and terms does it include?
2. Can you share a monthly P&L for the last 24 months, with revenue and every cost line?
3. Can you list every recurring cost, including hosting, tools, contractors, payment fees and software subscriptions?
4. Does the P&L include any pay for your own time? If not, what would it cost to replace you?
5. When did the business first make revenue, and can you show every month since?
6. What share of revenue comes from the top 1 and top 3 customers, partners or programs?
7. Which channel actually brings paying customers or revenue? Can you show sales or sign-ups by channel?
8. Have any of the business's accounts ever had a warning, suspension or policy strike?
9. How many hours a week do you and any contractors spend, and on which tasks?
10. Why sell now, and what would you do with the business if it does not sell?

None of these needs an NDA. A seller who will not answer them in writing is telling you something.

What should I ask once the seller is engaged, before an offer?

These requests take the seller time or give you access, so ask them once there is a real conversation and before any letter of intent.

1. Can you give read-only access to the payment processor and analytics, or exports that match the P&L?
2. Is the largest customer or partner under contract, when does it end, and do they know about the sale?
3. Can you share 16 months of Search Console clicks and impressions, including any drops around Google updates?
4. Can you share 12 to 24 months of analytics with the traffic split by source?
5. Which accounts transfer with the sale, and are any in your personal name or tied to another business?

How many questions are there for my type of business?

The bank holds 153 questions: 53 shared by every type and the rest specific to one or more types. 117 are first-message questions and 36 wait until before a letter of intent. Each type has its own printable checklist, free to download with no email needed: for example SaaS, content sites, Amazon FBA and any business type.

FirstPass seller question bank, October 2026. Each type's checklist also includes the shared questions.

How do I read evasive answers?

• A summary instead of the source. "Revenue is steady at about $3k" in reply to a request for 24 monthly figures. Ask again for the months.
• Access deferred to after the offer. Reasonable for a full data room, not for read-only access to revenue and traffic.
• A vague reason for sale. Common, and not proof of anything, but follow it up: see why would someone sell a profitable website? and the generic reason for sale flag.
• Owner hours that do not match the work. If the content, support or ads clearly take time, ask who does it and whether that cost is in the profit.

Every flag in the red-flag checker links to the question that resolves it, so running the listing first tells you which of these to lead with. For a SaaS, continue with small SaaS due diligence.

Sources

1. FirstPass Memo, seller question bank, October 2026 (general checklist), our own questions
2. FirstPass Memo, red-flag checker rules, our own rules, published as /rules.json

Related

• Due diligence for a small SaaS
• Red flag: generic reason for sale
• Why would someone sell a profitable website?
• Red flags when buying
• Free red-flag checker
• Glossary of listing terms
• More questions buyers ask

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.