These rules apply to everyone who submits or manages a business-for-sale listing on Buy a Business Ltd — whether you're the owner, a director, a broker, a representative or any other authorised party.
They exist to keep the marketplace professional, safer and more useful for the genuine buyers and sellers who use it. Reading and following them before you list is not just good practice — it protects you.
1. You Must Have Authority to List
The most basic rule: don't list a business unless you have the right to do so.
You may submit a listing if you are the owner, a director or authorised officer, a shareholder or partner with authority to act, a broker or adviser who holds written authority from the seller, or another representative who has been properly authorised.
Buy a Business Ltd may ask for evidence of authority at any time. Listings may be removed or paused where authority is unclear or cannot be confirmed.
2. Your Listing Must Be Accurate and Not Misleading
Every piece of information in your listing needs to be accurate, fair and not misleading. This covers asking price, revenue and profit figures, trading history, location, lease or premises position, staff summary, asset summary, stock treatment, reason for sale, growth opportunities, licences or permissions, what is included in the sale, and what is excluded.
Don't exaggerate. Don't hide important facts. Don't use claims you can't support.
Some wording is particularly risky and should be avoided unless it is genuinely accurate:
"Guaranteed profit" or "no risk" — no business sale carries guarantees
"Passive income" — if the owner is heavily involved, this is misleading
"Huge potential" — without specific, supportable explanation this is not a claim
"Fully verified" — unless it genuinely has been
"Licences included" — if a new buyer may need to obtain their own approval
"Staff will stay" — unless this is properly documented and agreed
Buyers make decisions based on what you write. Misleading them wastes time at best and creates legal risk at worst.
3. Financial Figures Must Be Supportable
If you include revenue, profit, EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, stock value, asset value or any other financial figures in your listing, you need to be able to support them with evidence when buyers ask.
That evidence might include accounts, management accounts, VAT returns, bank statements (where appropriate), EPOS or booking reports, payroll records, stock valuations, supplier invoices, an add-back schedule, or accountant-prepared summaries.
Buyers will request evidence during due diligence. Figures that can't be supported will undermine trust and can derail deals that might otherwise have completed. Don't use inflated or invented numbers.
4. Be Clear About What Is Included
One of the most common sources of confusion in business sales is an unclear picture of what is actually being sold. Your listing should make it clear whether the sale includes:
Goodwill, trading name, website and domain, phone number, social media accounts, Google Business Profile, customer records (subject to data protection rules), supplier introductions, equipment, vehicles, fixtures and fittings, stock, lease assignment, existing contracts, transferable licences, and handover support.
If something is not included in the sale, say so clearly. Surprises discovered later in the process are one of the most common reasons deals fall through.
5. Do Not Post Fake, Copied or Unauthorised Listings
You must not copy another business's listing without permission, advertise a business you don't control, use stolen images, use another company's financial figures, use false trading history, pretend a franchise or licence is transferable when it isn't, use fake testimonials, create duplicate listings to mislead buyers, or re-list a removed listing without resolving the issue that caused it to be removed.
Buy a Business Ltd may remove suspicious listings and restrict accounts where this type of behaviour is identified.
6. Protect Confidential Information
A public listing should not expose sensitive business information. The purpose of the listing is to attract genuine enquiries — not to hand over operational detail to anyone who finds the page.
Avoid publishing full customer names or lists, staff names, supplier pricing, full accounts, bank statements, tax references, passwords or access credentials, API keys, source code, trade secrets, personal data of any kind, details of sensitive complaints or disputes, and the exact location of the business if confidentiality is important.
Use staged disclosure. Share enough in the listing to attract serious buyers, then share more detailed information with screened, qualified buyers who have signed an NDA.
7. Handle Buyer Enquiries Professionally
How you respond to enquiries matters. Sellers should respond honestly and professionally throughout the process.
You should not pressure buyers to pay quickly, demand deposits without written terms, refuse reasonable questions, hide material issues, share sensitive data before screening a buyer, invite buyers to contact staff, customers or suppliers without a plan, misrepresent how much buyer competition exists, mislead buyers about finance availability, lease terms or licence positions, or make threats or abusive comments.
You can — and often should — ask buyers to sign an NDA, provide proof of funds or confirm their seriousness before you share detailed documents. That's a reasonable and professional approach.
8. Disclose Material Issues at the Right Stage
Don't hide important problems. Serious issues need to be disclosed to serious buyers and their advisers at an appropriate stage in the process.
Material issues that may need disclosure include falling revenue, tax or VAT arrears, supplier arrears, lease problems, staff disputes, customer disputes, legal claims or proceedings, regulatory issues, licence concerns, asset finance or charges, significant equipment problems, the loss of a major customer, insurance claims, data breaches, or any insolvency concerns.
Not every issue needs to appear in the public listing — that's what staged disclosure is for. But serious buyers and their advisers should be told about material matters before they commit. Discovering problems after a deal has been agreed is one of the most common causes of deals collapsing, renegotiation, and occasionally legal claims against sellers.
9. Follow Applicable Laws and Regulations
You are responsible for complying with the laws and regulations that apply to your business and its sale. This is a wide area that may include consumer protection and contract law, company law, employment law and TUPE, data protection, tax and VAT, intellectual property, licensing and regulatory requirements, health and safety, sector-specific regulation, franchise agreement obligations, lease obligations, and advertising rules.
Buy a Business Ltd does not provide legal compliance approval. Publishing a listing is not confirmation that your sale or your listing is legally compliant. If you're unsure, speak to a solicitor.
10. Handle Personal Data Carefully
Business-sale information frequently includes personal data — and personal data is protected by law. Personal data in this context may include customer records, staff information, supplier contacts, payroll data, tenant or patient or client data, emails, complaint records and ID documents.
The ICO is clear that data sharing must be considered as part of due diligence where a business transfer means personal data moves to a different or additional controller. In practice this means using anonymised summaries in the early stages, redacting unnecessary personal details before sharing documents, and taking data protection advice where the data involved is particularly sensitive.
11. Brokers and Representatives
If you are listing on behalf of a seller, additional obligations apply. You must have clear written authority from the seller, be transparent about your role and your relationship with the business, not mislead buyers about who you represent or what your fees are, ensure the seller can genuinely support every claim in the listing, not use copied content, and make clear who will negotiate and who will sign legal documents.
Buy a Business Ltd may request evidence of your authority to act before or after publication.
12. Prohibited Listing Content
Some listings will not be accepted under any circumstances. These include businesses that are illegal, fraudulent, or involve stolen assets; listings promoting counterfeit goods, misleading investment schemes, or unauthorised financial promotions; content that is adult, exploitative, or involves weapons or dangerous goods; listings that encourage tax evasion, fraud or illegal activity; and any other content Buy a Business Ltd considers unsafe, unlawful, misleading or unsuitable.
Buy a Business Ltd may reject or remove listings at its discretion, without obligation to explain every decision.
13. Listing Review, Edits and Removal
Buy a Business Ltd may take a range of actions in relation to listings: editing formatting, requesting clarification or supporting information, pausing or rejecting a listing, removing a listing, restricting account access, declining to publish certain content, adding disclaimers, or removing unsafe claims.
A listing being published does not mean Buy a Business Ltd has verified the business, its accounts, its valuation, its assets or its legal status. Buyers remain responsible for their own due diligence.
Seller Checklist Before Submitting
Before you submit your listing, confirm:
You have authority to list the business
The listing is accurate and not misleading
Financial figures can be supported with evidence
The asking price is realistic
Confidential information has been removed from the public listing
What is included and excluded is clearly stated
Material issues are not hidden
You have prepared buyer screening questions
You understand Buy a Business Ltd is a marketplace, not a broker
You will take professional advice before completing any sale
A Final Word
A strong seller is honest, organised and prepared. Clear, accurate listings attract better buyers, generate more serious enquiries and complete more successfully. Misleading listings waste time — yours and the buyer's — and can create genuine legal and financial risk.
If you need help preparing your listing, the Seller Checklist, Seller Document Pack Checklist and How to Write a Business-for-Sale Listing guide in the Knowledge Centre are good starting points.
*Buy a Business Ltd is a marketplace, not a broker, corporate finance adviser, M&A adviser, law firm, accountant, tax adviser, lender, valuation firm, fraud investigation service or investment adviser. Information, rules, policies, guides, templates and examples on this site are for general guidance only and do not constitute legal, tax, financial, investment, lending, valuation, employment, data protection, brokerage, corporate finance, M&A, fraud, cyber-security or regulated advice. Buyers and sellers must carry out their own checks and seek independent professional advice before sharing sensitive information, paying money, signing documents or completing a transaction.*