Founder guide
How to sell a failed startup (and actually get paid for it)
Founders assume a startup that didn't take off is unsellable. It usually isn't. There is a real, active market of operators and indie hackers who buy stalled products for the head start they provide.
Here's how to figure out what yours is worth, price it, and actually close.
What a failed startup is actually worth
Value doesn't come from your revenue alone. Buyers pay for what would take them months to build from scratch:
- A working, shipped codebase — the biggest time saver.
- An aged, brandable domain that's already indexed.
- Existing users, an email list, and early SEO.
- A validated (or invalidated) market they can pivot inside.
How to price it
If you had revenue, a common starting point is a multiple of monthly revenue — small, profitable products often trade around 2–4× MRR, though a stalled one sits lower. If you had no revenue, price on assets: what would it cost a buyer to rebuild the code, buy the domain, and acquire the users?
When in doubt, list it open to offers and let the market tell you. You'll learn more from three real offers than from a month of guessing.
Who buys dead startups
Operators who want cash flow without zero-to-one risk. Indie hackers hunting for a codebase to relaunch. Founders in an adjacent space who want your users or your domain. They're not looking for perfection — they're looking for a shortcut.
Build buyer trust
The listings that sell are the honest ones. Show real screenshots, real metrics, and the true story of what happened. If you had revenue, verify it — on Saasgrave you can connect a read-only Stripe key to prove MRR, and the listing gets a verified badge. Trust is what turns a browser into a buyer.
Close the deal
List it, take offers directly from buyers, accept or counter, then transfer the domain, code, and accounts. On Saasgrave, listing a startup for sale is a one-time $9 fee and there's zero commission on the sale — the money is yours.
Turn a dead product into a real exit.
List it for sale on Saasgrave — $9 once, 0% commission, and you keep 100% of what it sells for.
Frequently asked
Can I sell a startup with no revenue?+
Yes. Zero-revenue startups sell on their assets — code, domain, users, and market. Price on what a buyer would otherwise spend to build it.
How much does it cost to sell on Saasgrave?+
Listing a startup is free. Opening it for sale is a one-time $9 fee, and Saasgrave takes 0% commission on the sale itself.
How do buyers pay and transfer?+
Buyers make an offer through your listing. You accept or counter, then handle the transfer of domain, code, and accounts directly.