Red flag explained · Traffic and platforms
One traffic channel above 60%: when a business runs on one source
Short answer: When one channel other than search brings more than 60% of traffic, the business depends on that channel staying as it is. Paid ads can get more expensive, social reach can fall, and referral partners can leave. Ask what is behind the channel and how durable it is.
When the checker raises it
Raised as medium severity when one traffic channel other than organic search (paid, social, direct, referral or email) is more than 60% of stated traffic. Organic search has its own flag.
Why it matters
Paid traffic is the most common case for ecommerce. If the store makes money only at today's ad costs, a rise in cost per click can remove the profit.
Direct traffic above 60% can be healthy, for example a tool people bookmark, but it can also be mislabelled traffic from apps or email.
A worked example
Composite example, not a real listing
Asking price: $40,000
Average monthly revenue: $14,000
Average monthly profit: $1,500
Business age: 2 years
Owner hours: 8 hours per week
Traffic or revenue sources typed in: Paid 72%, Organic search 10%, Direct 18%.
What the red-flag checker returns: payback of 26.7 months on average monthly profit, and this flag:
Medium Paid is about 72% of traffic
One channel carries most of the traffic, so the business depends on it staying as it is.
Ask: What is behind the paid traffic, and how durable is it?
The same example also raises: No connected data source mentioned, Concentration not disclosed.
What to check
- Ask what is behind the channel: which campaigns, accounts, partners or lists.
- For paid traffic, ask for ad spend, cost per acquisition and return on ad spend by month.
- Ask what happened in any month the channel dipped.
Questions to send the seller
- What is behind the paid traffic, and how durable is it?
- Which channel actually brings paying customers or revenue? Can you show sales or sign-ups by channel?
- What is behind your largest traffic source, and what would happen to revenue if it stopped?
- Do you buy any traffic or run paid ads, and is that spend in the P&L?
Related flags
Useful next
- Is buying a Shopify store worth it?
- Free red-flag checker: paste a listing and see which flags it raises.
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The checker is a set of plain rules, not an AI model, and its flags are prompts for questions, not verdicts. Composite examples are invented. Informational screening only, not investment, legal or tax advice.