E-commerce and distribution sit on the same physical rails — inventory in, orders out — but trade on different risks: the brand's traffic mix on one side, the distributor's supplier relationships on the other. Both categories reward the same preparation: prove that the engine runs without the owner's daily hand on it.
Wide-banded starting ranges from the same table our free valuation calculator uses — a broker review narrows them after seeing real financials:
| Segment | Typical range | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| E-commerce | 2.5× – 4× SDE | Owned-traffic vs. paid-acquisition mix and SKU concentration drive variance. |
| Wholesale / distribution | 2× – 3.75× SDE | Supplier exclusivity + customer concentration drive band; broad-line distributors compress. |
Email lists, repeat-purchase rates, and organic search are assets; a P&L built on one ad account's CPMs is a variable the buyer prices against you. Documenting the split between owned and paid acquisition — and the trend — is the core of e-commerce sale prep.
A brand that is 90% one marketplace inherits that marketplace's policy risk, fee changes, and account-suspension tail risk. Multi-channel revenue, even modestly diversified, reads as durability.
Supplier exclusivity or protected territories are the moat buyers pay for; broad-line commodity distribution compresses. And the inventory aging report is read as closely as the income statement — dead stock is a price adjustment waiting to be found.
Marketplace and payment-processor exports, not accounting summaries. Returns, chargebacks, and promo-driven spikes are visible at the source and easy to smooth in a spreadsheet.
Exclusive agreements, pricing tiers, and credit terms often attach to the seller's entity or relationship. Confirm what survives the transfer before pricing the moat.
Physical count or cycle-count validation, aging analysis, and a hard look at how 'sellable' is defined. Inventory is the line item where small definitional differences become six-figure adjustments.
E-commerce businesses commonly trade around 2.5–4× SDE, with the owned-versus-paid traffic mix and SKU concentration driving variance. Wholesale/distribution businesses commonly trade around 2–3.75× SDE, with supplier exclusivity and customer concentration driving the band. The free valuation calculator gives a personalized starting range.
They price the platform risk: account health history, policy-violation record, fee trajectory, and what fraction of revenue would survive a suspension. Brands with meaningful owned channels (email, direct site, wholesale) defend their multiple far better in diligence.
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