Below about $250,000 of sale price the headline commission stops being the number that matters, because almost every firm has a dollar floor underneath its percentage and on a small business that floor, not the rate, is the entire price of selling.
Why the percentage misleads at this size
Empire Flippers publishes the clearest example: anything selling under $66,666.66 pays a flat $10,000. On a $50,000 sale that is 20%, not the 15% band above it. Main-street brokers work the same way with minimums that go unpublished, which is why the first question to any broker on a small business is the minimum in dollars rather than the rate.
What a self-service listing costs instead
Flippa's entry package is $29 for a sixty-day term with success fees starting from 5%; Acquire.com charges $25 a month to list below a $250,000 asking price with an 8% closing fee. On a $60,000 sale the difference between that and a five-figure floor is most of what you were going to walk away with.
What you take on in exchange
Writing the listing, answering every enquiry including the ones that go nowhere, assembling the documents a buyer asks for, and negotiating. On a small, simple business that is manageable. On one with staff, leases and licences to transfer it is a second job for several months.
Questions people ask about small business sale
Is it worth using a broker for a small business?
Only if the broker's buyer list reaches people you cannot. Run the minimum fee as a percentage of your realistic price first, and if it is above about 12% the arithmetic is arguing for a marketplace.
Do small businesses sell at all through marketplaces?
Online ones do, in volume. A small local service business with premises usually needs a buyer who will visit, and that is a broker's buyer list rather than a listing site's.
Will a broker take on a small business at all?
Many will, at their minimum fee, which is exactly the arrangement to check before signing. Run the minimum as a percentage of your realistic price first; that number is what you are agreeing to.