Investors Club and Acquire are both marketplaces for buying and selling websites or online businesses. While their aim is to serve both buyers and sellers, they each take very different approaches.
This article covers all the essential details of these two platforms so you can determine which one is right for you. Read on to see how these platforms compare in critical ways like security, selection, and services.
Investors Club vs. Acquire Summary
The differences between Investors Club and Acquire include:
- Curation: Investors Club is a curated marketplace with fewer listings than Acquire, which is a more open marketplace. The curated approach allows Investors Club to manage and maintain listing quality.
- Focus: More than half of the listings at Acquire.com are SaaS (software as a service) businesses, and only about 1% are content sites. Most of the listings at Investors Club are content websites and e-commerce businesses.
- Seller Fees: It’s free to create a listing a both marketplaces, but Acquire.com charges sellers a 4% success fee, while Investors Club does not charge a success fee. Although Investor’s Club offers a few optional upgrades, it’s possible to sell an online business completely free.
- Free Buyer Accounts: Both marketplaces offer free and premium buyer accounts, however, the functionality of a free buyer account at Acquire is extremely limited. It’s possible to complete an acquisition at Investors Club with a free account, but buyers at Acquire must have a premium account to contact a seller or submit an offer.
Investors Club Overview
Investors Club, launched in 2020, is a curated marketplace for buying and selling websites and online businesses. You can buy or sell content websites, e-commerce businesses, (including dropshipping, Amazon FBA, print on demand, etc.) SaaS, and more.
Businesses must have at least 12 months of history and earn at least $30/month to be listed at Investors Club. This differs from open marketplaces like Flippa and Acquire that accept nearly any website or online business.
The curated approach at Investors Club results in fewer listings, but higher quality. Buyers can browse the entire catalog of listings, which simply isn’t possible at Flippa or Acquire. This helps buyers save time while also providing sellers with better exposure than they might get at those larger marketplaces, where they are buried by thousands of other listings.
While some marketplaces and brokers ignore listings below $100,000, Investors Club does not. There are many listings priced at $20,000 – $100,000, which is ideal for individual investors and first-time buyers. Investors Club also offers some listings in the six-to-seven-figure range.
Investors Club stands out from competitors by offering free listings with no success fee. It’s one of the few marketplaces where you can sell an online business for free and keep all of the money from the sale. Sellers have the option to pay for premium marketing add-ons to get more exposure for their listing, but this is completely optional.
Investors Club offers free and premium buyer accounts. The free account allows potential buyers to contact sellers, submit offers, and complete acquisitions. The premium membership comes with perks like early access (five-day head start over free members), access to advanced data and details, free reports, and more. Premium membership cost $59/month or $390/year.
Acquire Overview
Acquire also launched in 2020, although it was known as MicroAcquire at the time. In January 2022, the company rebranded to Acquire. This popular platform promotes itself as being a marketplace for startups, although it doesn’t define what the company considers a startup.
More than half of the listings at Acquire are for SaaS businesses; e-commerce is the second-most popular listing on the platform. Other listings include agencies, apps, and content-based websites.
As an open marketplace, anyone can create an account and list their business for sale on Acquire.com. While the company reviews listings to some extent, their requirements are unclear and nearly any legitimate listing is allowed. They suggest not listing pre-revenue startups; however, you’ll find some pre-revenue listings on the marketplace. Acquire’s requirements state they’ll reject listings with unverifiable ownership, SSL issues, and coming-soon pages.
With almost 2,000 listings, Acquire is a massive marketplace. The sheer number of listings can present challenges for buyers who want to find the right opportunity but don’t have the time to browse thousands of listings. The number of listings also makes it difficult for sellers to stand out in a crowded marketplace.
While Investors Club takes a more hands-on approach, Acquire is less involved with buyers and sellers. Most of the verification process is automated, and there’s no assistance transferring the business from seller to buyer.
Head-to-Head Comparison
Now, let’s look at how these two marketplaces compare in specific areas.
Types of Websites and Businesses Listed
Investors Club primarily lists content and e-commerce websites. Content websites include niche sites, affiliate sites, and blogs. E-commerce websites include Amazon FBA, dropshipping, print on demand, and subscription boxes. However, you can list other business models like SaaS, agencies, and service providers.
SaaS businesses are the most popular listings at Acquire by number of listings. E-commerce businesses are also popular. Other types of listings include agencies, mobile apps, and content websites.
While content sites are the most common type of listing at Investors Club, they make up only about 1% of the listings at Acquire. And while SaaS businesses make up more than half of the listings at Acquire, there are relatively few (for now) at Investors Club. As a result, the type of website or business you want to buy or sell will significantly influence your choice between these marketplaces.
The table below shows the breakdown of business types at each marketplace at the time of writing:
| Types of Businesses Listed | ||
| Business Types | Acquire | Investors Club |
| SaaS | 55.7% | 0% |
| Content | 1.2% | 87.5% |
| E-commerce | 31.8% | 12.5% |
| Other | 11.3% | 0% |
Typical Price Range
To qualify to be listed on Investors Club, businesses must make at least $30 per month, plus have at least twelve months of history. This is significantly lower than the requirements of many other brokers and marketplaces, which leads to some lower-priced listings.
Investors Club includes a mix of listings below and above $100,000. The low end is around $10,000, with a sweet spot between $20,000 – $75,000. There are also a few seven-figure listings.
Many other marketplaces, like Empire Flippers, focus exclusively on six- and seven-figure listings. Investors Club stands out as an excellent resource for buyers looking to spend less than $100,000, while also offering options for buyers in higher price ranges.
Acquire currently doesn’t have minimum requirements for listings. Company founder and CEO Andrew Gazdecki posted on X (formerly Twitter) about possibly implementing a minimum annual revenue requirement of $25,000, but that isn’t in place yet. For now, sellers of pre-revenue startups and other non-revenue generating online businesses can use Acquire.
The range of prices at Acquire goes from a few thousand to a few million dollars,with many listings priced below $100,000. When comparing listing prices, you should be warned that Acquire sellers determine their own asking price, and some are unrealistically high (more details in the Valuation section).
The table below shows the breakdown of listing prices at each marketplace at the time of writing:
| Listing Price Ranges | ||
| Price Range | Acquire | Investors Club |
| Micro (less than $10k) | 12.9% | 2.3% |
| Small ($10k – $100k) | 38.5% | 63.6% |
| Medium ($100k – $1 million) | 34.4% | 27.3% |
| Large (over $1 million) | 14.2% | 6.8% |
Quantity of Listings
Acquire is a much bigger marketplace than Investors Club in terms of the number of active listings, but this comes with some drawbacks.
The high quantity of listings at Acquire (more than 1,000 listings) requires buyers to spend more time browsing the marketplace, interacting with sellers, and performing due diligence. Sellers also have a harder time standing out because there are so many listings competing for attention.
Seller Fees
Investors Club and Acquire both offer straightforward fee structures. This should be refreshing for experienced sellers who have been overwhelmed by the number of different fees and options on other marketplaces. For example, Flippa has a very complex fee structure.
Investors Club doesn’t charge a listing fee or a success fee, which means you can sell your online business for free and keep all of the money. Acquire also has no listing fees. The success fee is a flat 4%. So if your online business sells for $300,000 at Acquire, you’ll owe them $12,000 in fees.
Buyer Fees
Investors Club and Acquire both offer free accounts for buyers, as well as optional premium accounts. However, there are significant differences in the approaches of these companies.
At Investors Club, buyers can create a free account or upgrade to a premium account. The premium account provides:
- Access to listings five days before free members
- Unlimited access to advanced reports
- Downloadable profit and loss (P&L) statements
- Ad-free browsing
A premium membership costs $59 per month or $390 per year. This upgrade is completely optional. Buyers with free accounts can still view listings, contact sellers, make offers, and complete transactions.
Acquire offers a free buyer’s account, but the functionality is extremely limited. Free users can view basic listing details, but they cannot contact sellers, place offers, or buy businesses through the platform. Premium membership is needed for anything beyond browsing basic listing details.
Acquire offers two paid membership options: premium and platinum. A premium membership ($390 per year) allows buyers to access listings priced up to $250,000. A platinum membership ($780 per year) provides access to all listings, plus priority support.
Investors Club Pros and Cons
Investors Club Pros
- Sell for free: There are very few marketplaces where you can sell with no listing fee and no success fee. Investors Club is allows sellers to keep all the money from a sale.
- Curated listings: Investors Club accepts less than half of the listings submitted, resulting in a higher-quality marketplace.
- Manageable number of listings: Investors Club has enough listings to provide plenty of options without overwhelming buyers.
- Best for content and e-commerce websites: If you want to buy or sell a content or e-commerce website, Investors Club is an ideal platform.
- Free buyer accounts: Buyers who don’t want to pay for a membership can still contact sellers, make offers, and purchase websites, which is not the case with Acquire.
Investors Club Cons
- Smaller selection of listings: The smaller selection of listings may be a drawback for buyers wanting to browse through lots of listings.
- Limited inventory outside of content and e-commerce: Investors Club is open to SaaS, service-based online businesses, and more, but as of now, most of the listings are either content sites or e-commerce businesses.
Acquire Pros and Cons
Acquire Pros
- High number of listings: Acquire has more listings than almost any marketplace aside from Flippa.
- Best for SaaS: If you want to buy or sell a SaaS business, Acquire is ideal.
- Low seller fees: Sellers pay no listing fee and only a 4% success fee.
- Free escrow services: Acquire offers free escrow services through a partnership with Escrow.com.
- Identity verification for buyers and sellers: Every buyer and seller must verify their identity with Persona.
Acquire Cons
- High buyer fees: Free buyer accounts are only useful for browsing listings. Buyers must upgrade to a paid account to move forward, and the Platinum plan is priced significantly higher than Investors Club’s membership.
- Number of listings can be overwhelming: With nearly 2,000 active listings, buyers face a challenge to find the listings that interest them.
- Not ideal for content sites: Only about 1% of the listings at Acquire are for content sites.
- Inconsistent valuation and pricing: Sellers determine their own listing price at Acquire, and some are wildly off compared to industry standards.
Investors Club vs. Acquire: Final Verdict
Investors Club and Acquire are two of the leading marketplaces for buying and selling online businesses, but they take different approaches. The first consideration should be the type of business you want to buy or sell. Investors Club is excellent for content sites, while Acquire is not. Acquire is ideal for SaaS businesses, while Investors Club is not currently. Both platforms are suitable for e-commerce businesses.
If you’ve got a website you’d like to sell, please submit it here. And if you’re interested in buying a website, create your free account here.
Online Business Builder & Content Strategist
Marc has been building websites and online businesses since 2007. He’s built successful businesses in several industries, including web/graphic design, photography, travel, and personal finance. Marc is the founder of Flip My Site, where he writes about buying and selling websites.
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