Buyer guide

Is Empire Flippers legit? A buyer's checklist from its own pages

Short answer: Empire Flippers is a broker that publishes how it vets listings, verifies buyers, holds funds and migrates businesses, and says it has migrated more than 2,000. Its pages also say buyers are responsible for their own due diligence, that all sales are final and that it makes no guarantees. Use its vetting as a filter, then check the business yourself.

Updated 7 October 2026 · About 6 minutes to read

What does Empire Flippers say it checks?

Its buyer FAQ describes a multi-step vetting process with automated tools and manual checks by two or more people. On the seller side, it checks whether the seller is a real person with permission to sell, whether their profiles match, and whether they disclosed traffic methods and link building. On the business side, it checks whether earnings can be verified and belong to the business, whether there are paid or undisclosed traffic sources, whether earnings per pageview are in line with similar sites, and whether the backlink profile is clean or disclosed.¹

It also says sellers send revenue updates at the start of each month, and that its team verifies them before updating the price.¹

What does Empire Flippers ask of buyers?

Before you can unlock a listing, Empire Flippers asks you to verify your identity, with a government ID and a video check run through Persona, and your liquidity, either by connecting an account through Plaid or by uploading a recent statement. Once verified, you can unlock businesses worth up to 1.5 times your verified funds.²

How do payment and handover work on Empire Flippers?

On Empire Flippers, a non-refundable deposit of 10% or $9,900, whichever is higher, holds a listing; offers, payment and migration then follow the steps below, taken from its own pages.

• Offers. If a seller accepts an offer below the list price, they can circulate it for 24 hours to buyers who had the listing unlocked, who may counter with at least 10% more.³
• Deposit. To hold a listing you can send a non-refundable down payment of 10% or $9,900, whichever is higher. Until it arrives, another buyer can still buy at the full price. Empire Flippers says it typically expects full payment within 7 business days.³
• Funds held during migration. It holds the buyer's funds "like an escrow account" while the business is transferred, and releases the seller's payout only after the migration is complete.³⁴
• Migration. A migration advisor works from a checklist of the business's assets. Empire Flippers says it has migrated over 2,000 businesses, that migrations generally take four to six weeks, sometimes longer, and that revenue earned during migration is owed to the buyer.⁴

What can Empire Flippers' vetting not tell you?

Empire Flippers says it does not provide due diligence reports, that each buyer is responsible for their own due diligence, and that all sales are final with no guarantees, expressed or implied. It names a third-party due diligence provider and says buyers can use whoever they like.¹ Vetting checks the past. It cannot tell you:

• whether traffic will hold through the next search update or platform change;
• whether the business needs more of your time than the listing says;
• whether a supplier, sponsor or affiliate program will keep the same terms with a new owner;
• whether the price suits your own goals and the return you need.

Empire Flippers is paid by the seller when a sale closes: no listing fee, and a commission of $10,000 on sales up to $66,666 and 15% up to $700,000.⁵ That is the usual broker model, and it is worth keeping in mind when you read any listing description.

What should you check before sending Empire Flippers a deposit?

Before sending a deposit on an Empire Flippers listing, read the unlocked listing in full, compare the last three months with the 12-month average, and work out payback after your own time.

1. Read the unlocked listing in full, including the seller's disclosures about traffic and links.
2. Compare the last three months with the 12-month average used for the price.
3. Ask the seller, through the listing, the questions that matter for this type of business. Our guides by business type list eight for each.
4. Work out payback after the owner's time and any costs not in the P&L with the true payback calculator.
5. Decide whether to pay for independent due diligence before the deposit, which is non-refundable.
6. Read the asset purchase agreement terms in Empire Flippers' Terms of Use, which its FAQ says contain its standard APA, and have a lawyer review them.¹

FirstPass Memo is independent, buyer-paid and not affiliated with Empire Flippers, and takes no referral fees. Facts are from Empire Flippers' public pages as read on the date shown and may change. This guide is not investment, legal or tax advice.

Sources

1. Empire Flippers, Frequently Asked Questions from Buyers, read 7 October 2026. Back
2. Empire Flippers, Why Do I Have to Get Verified to See Listings?, 3 October 2022, read 7 October 2026. Back
3. Empire Flippers, What is the Buying Process Like at Empire Flippers?, read 7 October 2026. Back
4. Empire Flippers, The Empire Flippers Migration Process, updated 11 April 2025, read 7 October 2026. Back
5. Empire Flippers, Frequently Asked Questions from Sellers, fees section, read 7 October 2026. Back