E559: Is It Better to Sell or Hold Onto Your E-Commerce Business in 2024?

The Ecomcrew Ecommerce Podcast

Dave and I discuss the reasons why e-commerce valuations have significantly decreased this year, Mike's run at the World Series of Poker event, and the potential valuation of content websites.

Today's episode is sponsored by Clearco, a company that provides ecommerce businesses with working capital to fund inventory, marketing, shipping and logistics, and more! Check them out today!

It's been almost a year since I last sold off one of my e-commerce businesses.

Since then, a lot has changed.

Amazon's new fees were implemented, interest rates have skyrocketed, and FBA Aggregators are few and far between.

I invited Dave over today to discuss how Amazon may or may not have had a hand in directly affecting the valuations of e-commerce businesses, and why the market hasn't recovered from 2 years ago. Here are some of the big takeaways from this episode:

The Big Takeaways

• E-commerce valuations have decreased mainly due to the uncertainty caused by Amazon's fees and policies. Who knows when Amazon will come out with more fees that'll impact profitability?
• Google's latest algorithm update has hit a LOT of content websites, leading to decreased traffic for everyone involved which directly impact its valuations.
• If your e-commerce business is sold at a 2x multiple, it might not be enough for you to retire. Wouldn't it be better to hold onto your business instead?

Timestamps

• 00:00 - Introduction and Sponsor
• 02:56 - Mike's Run at the World Series of Poker
• 08:13 - E-commerce Valuations
• 20:07 - Valuations for FBA Businesses
• 21:06 - Valuations for Off-Amazon Brands
• 22:01 - Uncertainty in Content Site Valuations
• 28:14 - Decision to Hold onto a Profitable Business
• 31:08 - Dave's Funny Story
• 34:21 - eBay's Attempt to Change

As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, reach out to us at [e-mail] if you're interested.

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Thanks for listening!

Until next time, happy selling!