Sell your app privately, without a broker

What are my options for selling an app?

There are four, and they differ most on fees, speed, and who sees your numbers:

• A direct buyer (me, and others like me): no listing, no fee, one person to deal with. Fastest and most private, but one price rather than a bidding process.
• A marketplace (Flippa, Acquire.com, Microns, TrustMRR): broad exposure and competitive interest, with fees of roughly 6–10% and a public or semi-public listing.
• A broker (Empire Flippers, FE International and others): a managed process for larger deals, at up to 15% or a fixed minimum.
• A strategic buyer: a company that wants your users or your category. Rare, slow, and usually only for larger apps.

None of these is always right. Side by side on fees, speed and privacy: direct buyer vs marketplaces and brokers, or the wider view in where can I sell my app?

How does selling directly to me work?

1. You send two things: the store link and rough monthly proceeds and costs (average of the last 3 months). Downloads and a sentence about why you’re selling help, but nothing else is required. No data room, no deck.
2. I read it myself and usually reply within a few hours, with a question, a rough range, or a clear no.
3. An offer, with the reasoning: what pushed the multiple up, what pulled it down.
4. Checks. App Store Connect numbers, your costs, and anything unusual. Prepared sellers get through this in a day or two; the due diligence checklist is the seller’s side of it.
5. Escrow. The money is secured with a reputable escrow service before the app moves.
6. The transfer, through the official App Store app transfer or its Google Play equivalent, then the handover: source code, assets, accounts, and whatever context I need to keep the app running.

Which apps do I buy this way?

Mainly iOS apps that have been live for at least 6 months with steady revenue: utilities, productivity, business and everyday tools, from a few hundred dollars to $50K+ a month. I’m open to Android apps when the fit is right, and I don’t buy games, SaaS, or web-only products. The full list, including what doesn’t fit, is in my acquisition criteria, with the iOS-specific version in selling your iOS app.

What should I prepare before writing?

Less than you think. For the first message: your store link, average monthly proceeds and costs over the last 3 months, and roughly how much time the app takes you. For the checks later: App Store Connect or Play Console screenshots of the same period, your cost invoices, and a list of the accounts and services the app depends on. If you want to know your number first, the free app valuation calculator gives a range in about two minutes, and how I value an app explains what moves it.

When is a marketplace the better choice?

When your app is something I don’t buy (a game, SaaS, or a web-only product), when it’s worth less than about $10K and you’d rather take a quick small sale, or when price discovery matters more to you than speed and privacy and you’re willing to pay a fee and wait for it. I’d rather tell you that than waste your week. If you want a benchmark before you list, a direct offer costs nothing and gives you one.