ScreenTheDeal is red-flag screening for online-business acquisitions. Before you send an LOI or wire a deposit, we read the listing the way a skeptical buyer would, check the claims against the public record, and write down what does not hold up.
$99 per listing · written memo within 24 hours · unconditional 7-day money-back guarantee
We reviewed 36 live listings across the major marketplaces. Every pattern below is one we actually encountered, and every one is anonymized. We do not name a listing, a seller, or a buyer, ever. These are the patterns we screen for.
The transaction history shown to buyers as evidence of revenue was hard-coded into the site's own JavaScript bundle. There was no payment processor behind it and no real transactions to reconcile against.
What we screen for We read the front-end bundle and look for revenue that has no payment rail underneath it.
A prominent annual recurring revenue figure that does not reconcile with the monthly numbers printed further down the same page. The two versions of the business could not both be true.
What we screen for We reconcile every stated figure against every other figure the seller has published.
Testimonials and marketplace ratings presented as independent third-party proof, with no matching record on the platform they were attributed to.
What we screen for We go to the source and try to find each cited review where it is supposed to live.
Ad accounts, monetization approvals and platform audiences listed among the assets included in the sale, where the platform's own terms prohibit transferring them to a new owner. You would be paying for something you cannot receive.
What we screen for We check each headline asset against the terms of the platform it lives on.
In our calibration run on broker-vetted listings, the defects that actually kill deals sat on axes marketplace vetting does not cover: whether the earning accounts can legally transfer, and operator integrity.
A scan is a research exercise, not an accusation. We report what we saw, where we saw it, and how sure we are. Some listings come back clean, and that is a useful result too.
No account to create, no call to book, no onboarding. A scan starts with a link and ends with something you can forward to a partner or a lender.
Email us the link. That is the whole requirement. Tell us your deadline and what already worries you, and we will start there.
We work through the listing copy, the live product and its code, traffic and revenue claims, the platform terms behind every named asset, and anything the seller has published elsewhere under the same identity.
Each red flag, the evidence for it, how confident we are, and the questions we would put to the seller before you go any further. Plain English, no filler.
If the memo is not worth $99 to you, tell us within seven days and we refund it in full. No conditions, no form, no explanation needed. We would rather lose the fee than have you rely on work you did not find useful.
Payment is arranged by email once we confirm scope. There is nothing to sign up for on this page.
Email the listing URL. We reply with scope and payment details.
Not open yet. Join the waitlist and we will contact you when it is.
Availability is limited. Tell us the deal and the timeline.
We would rather be clear about the boundary up front than have you expect something we do not do.
Paste the URL into an email. We will tell you, in writing and within 24 hours, what does not hold up.
Request a scan