Question 1

What's included in this ecommerce valuation template?

Accepted Answer

The template includes 5 worksheets: an Assumptions sheet for entering revenue by channel, expenses, SDE add-backs, and key ecommerce metrics; an Income Approach sheet with capitalized earnings (SDE and EBITDA multiples) and a 5-year DCF model; a Market Approach sheet for entering comparable ecommerce transactions and calculating revenue and SDE multiples; an Asset-Based Approach sheet covering inventory, intangible assets (email list, SEO equity, brand, customer database), and liabilities; and a Valuation Summary that consolidates all three methods into a weighted average conclusion with sensitivity analysis. All formulas are pre-built — you enter your financial data once and the model runs all three approaches automatically.

Question 2

Does this work in Google Sheets?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The template is built in Excel (.xlsx) but is fully compatible with Google Sheets. Upload the file to Google Drive, open it with Google Sheets, and all formulas, formatting, and charts work without modification. This is useful for sharing with a business broker, acquirer, or investor who prefers to collaborate in a shared document rather than emailing files back and forth.

Question 3

Can I customize the valuation inputs and assumptions?

Accepted Answer

Every cell in the template is unlocked. You can adjust SDE multiples, discount rates, revenue growth assumptions, channel mix inputs, intangible asset values, and the weights assigned to each valuation method in the Summary sheet. You can also add expense categories, modify the DCF projection period, include additional SDE add-backs, or change the comparable transaction entries. The formulas are built to handle these changes without breaking.

Question 4

Is there a money-back guarantee?

Accepted Answer

Yes, we offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. If the template doesn't meet your needs, contact us for a full refund — no questions asked.

Question 5

What SDE multiple should I use for an ecommerce business?

Accepted Answer

SDE multiples for ecommerce businesses typically range from 2x to 4x, with most transactions falling between 2.5x and 3.5x. Multiples at the high end are justified when revenue is diversified across multiple channels (DTC website, email, organic search, Amazon, wholesale), customer cohort data shows strong repeat purchase rates (30%+ of revenue from returning customers), gross margins are above 45%, products are proprietary or branded, and the business operates with documented systems and minimal owner dependency. Multiples compress for Amazon-only FBA businesses (currently trading lower due to fee increases and policy risk), single-SKU brands with high concentration risk, and businesses where 70%+ of customer acquisition comes from paid social with no owned-channel assets. The Income Approach sheet includes a reference table of typical multiples by ecommerce business type to help you calibrate.

Question 6

How are intangible assets like an email list or SEO traffic valued?

Accepted Answer

Intangible assets are often a major component of ecommerce business value, particularly for DTC brands. An email list is valued based on its revenue productivity: take monthly revenue attributable to email campaigns and divide by list size to get revenue per subscriber per month. A list generating $1–2 per subscriber per month is highly valuable and can warrant explicit compensation above the earnings multiple. SEO traffic is valued by calculating the equivalent monthly paid traffic cost at a representative CPC for your keyword set — a site with $30,000/month in equivalent paid traffic value that would cost $360,000 annually to replicate with ads is a meaningful intangible. Social media following, owned domain authority, and customer database (with purchase history) are also captured in the Asset-Based sheet with separate input fields and estimation guidance.

Question 7

What's a good gross margin for an ecommerce business?

Accepted Answer

Gross margins for ecommerce businesses typically range from 30% to 55%, depending on the product category and fulfilment model. DTC brands selling proprietary products typically achieve 45–60% gross margins before marketing and operating costs. Amazon FBA businesses in competitive categories often run 25–40% gross margins after Amazon fees, FBA fees, and COGS. Businesses with below 30% gross margins typically have limited room to cover operating expenses and still generate meaningful SDE, which tends to compress multiples. Buyers examine gross margin closely because it determines operating leverage — a business with 50% gross margins can sustain much higher ad spend, returns, and overhead than one running at 30%. The Assumptions sheet calculates blended gross margin across all channels from your inputs.

Question 8

How is this different from a generic business valuation template?

Accepted Answer

Generic valuation templates use broad categories that don't reflect how ecommerce businesses are actually bought and sold. This template is built specifically for ecommerce with revenue broken out by channel (DTC, Amazon, wholesale, subscription), intangible asset sections for email lists, SEO equity, and customer databases, and SDE multiple benchmarks calibrated to ecommerce business types. The comparable sales section uses the same metrics that buyers and brokers at Flippa, Empire Flippers, and FE International use to analyze deals. You won't need to restructure a generic template to account for platform fees, marketplace dependency risk, or owned-channel asset valuation.

Question 9

When should I use the DCF method versus the SDE multiple method?

Accepted Answer

Use the SDE multiple method as your primary valuation approach when the business has 2+ years of stable or growing earnings and is being marketed to an individual buyer or small holding company. It's the most common method for ecommerce deals under $2M. Use the DCF method as a supplementary check or primary method when the business is growing rapidly (30%+ year-over-year) and trailing earnings significantly understate the forward earnings trajectory, when you're presenting to a strategic acquirer or private equity buyer who thinks in NPV terms, or when you need to model the impact of post-acquisition changes like increasing ad spend or reducing owner compensation. Both methods are pre-built in the template and run simultaneously from the same input assumptions.

Ecommerce Valuation Template

What's Inside This Ecommerce Valuation Template

Assumptions

Income Approach

Market Approach

Asset-Based Approach

Valuation Summary

Ecommerce Valuation Template Features

How to Use This Ecommerce Business Valuation Spreadsheet

How to Value an Ecommerce Business

Ecommerce Industry at a Glance

Revenue Drivers

Key Cost Categories

Typical Margins

Seasonality

Key Performance Indicators

Ecommerce Business Valuation Template FAQ

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