Best place to sell profitable single-product skincare store?

[OdelF]

Hey I own a single-product Shopify store (skincare niche, specifically dandruff) that did £58,345 in adjusted net profit in the last tax year.

But due to a health issue that limits my focus, I'm looking to sell so I can focus on something else.

The problem is I make the product myself at home.

I do have a manufacturer lined up, and am taking quotes from larger ones… but It presents an issue that any buyer would need to set this up (unless they plan on making it at home too), rather than just immediately buying more stock from the manufacturer to send to a fulfilment center.

Would this massively affect my ability to list on places like Rightbiz or Flippa, or is there a better path? I am willing to fulfill orders and deal with customers for a couple months until they're ready.

Since the store has many loyal customers after 3 years of business, and since it's profitable (the £58k net profit figure is also despite £90k of "bad" advertising costs due to running Google Ads with broken tracking from Jul-Nov) it doesn't make sense to close it.

Thanks,

D

 

[NickZ]

What is the problem?
You looking for someone partnering up or taking over?

 

[OdelF]

What is the problem?
You looking for someone partnering up or taking over?

A partnership isn't something I'd considered, but the original post is about taking over.

 

[StrategyDoctor]

Rightbiz vs Flippa?

• Flippa buyers are looking for online businesses, I suspect they will want supply chain inplace? So they’ll run away or discount hard if supply chain is “to be set up later”.
• Rightbiz is broader UK brokerage — you might still find a buyer, but the same risk issue applies.

So honestly, where you list matters less than whether the business is actually sellable (transferable, de-risked, financeable).

Made at home won’t stop you listing on Rightbiz or Flippa — but it will narrow the buyer pool and usually pulls the valuation down unless you can remove the founder-made dependency and make it supplier-led and transferable.

Remember most buyers don’t want to 'buy a job'. They want to buy a proven, repeatable system.

If you haven't already - some things to think about before you list (value-maximising):

• Lock in manufacturing and prove it works
• Don’t just “have a manufacturer lined up” — ideally sign terms and run at least one proven production batch.
• Agree supplier terms: for example MOQ, lead time, QC, packaging specs, pricing, and who owns the formula/process.
• Build a small buffer of stock - even 4–8 weeks of inventory reduces the “handover cliff edge” and makes fulfilment smoother during transition.
• Make it diligence-proof
• Document SOPs (ordering, QC, fulfilment, customer service, returns).
• Clean tracking (so ad performance is believable).
• Prepare a simple, robust financial pack (for example : 12-24 months of P&L, balance sheet, cash flow models, prove any add-backs, basic production unit costs and margins).

If you list now, expect these buyer demands

• Lower multiple (because they’re taking execution risk on manufacturing)
• Earnout / holdback (they’ll want protection if performance drops post-handover)
• Transition services (and buyers will ask the hard question: what can you realistically support given your health and focus constraints?)

Have you considered approaching a competitor or adjacent product supplier?If you’ve built a real brand and have repeat customers, consider approaching:

• competitors in hair/scalp/skincare,
• adjacent product companies with existing manufacturing/fulfilment,
• aggregators who already understand ops.

They’ll often value it more highly because they already have some of the tacit capability and infrastructure.

Hope this helps.

What’s your biggest gap right now: manufacturing, inventory, or clean numbers?

 

[fisicx]

@OdelF has the product undergone testing? Do the certificates just cover the UK?

 

[pentel]

£58,345 in adjusted net profit in the last tax year.

Is that after paying you a market wage?

 

[Mark T Jones]

You could start by asking the manufacturer you have lined up.

'Adjusted net profit' which any astute buyer does open a few questions will be quick to ask.

 

[fisicx]

And are there any patents or trademarks? Can the manufacture be automated?

If it’s just you, raw materials, a mixer and a box of glass jars for filling surely anyone could replicate the product and set up a new business leaving you with nothing.

 

[OdelF]

Rightbiz vs Flippa?

• Flippa buyers are looking for online businesses, I suspect they will want supply chain inplace? So they’ll run away or discount hard if supply chain is “to be set up later”.
• Rightbiz is broader UK brokerage — you might still find a buyer, but the same risk issue applies.

So honestly, where you list matters less than whether the business is actually sellable (transferable, de-risked, financeable).

Made at home won’t stop you listing on Rightbiz or Flippa — but it will narrow the buyer pool and usually pulls the valuation down unless you can remove the founder-made dependency and make it supplier-led and transferable.

Remember most buyers don’t want to 'buy a job'. They want to buy a proven, repeatable system.

If you haven't already - some things to think about before you list (value-maximising):

• Lock in manufacturing and prove it works
• Don’t just “have a manufacturer lined up” — ideally sign terms and run at least one proven production batch.
• Agree supplier terms: for example MOQ, lead time, QC, packaging specs, pricing, and who owns the formula/process.
• Build a small buffer of stock - even 4–8 weeks of inventory reduces the “handover cliff edge” and makes fulfilment smoother during transition.
• Make it diligence-proof
• Document SOPs (ordering, QC, fulfilment, customer service, returns).
• Clean tracking (so ad performance is believable).
• Prepare a simple, robust financial pack (for example : 12-24 months of P&L, balance sheet, cash flow models, prove any add-backs, basic production unit costs and margins).

If you list now, expect these buyer demands

• Lower multiple (because they’re taking execution risk on manufacturing)
• Earnout / holdback (they’ll want protection if performance drops post-handover)
• Transition services (and buyers will ask the hard question: what can you realistically support given your health and focus constraints?)

Have you considered approaching a competitor or adjacent product supplier?If you’ve built a real brand and have repeat customers, consider approaching:

• competitors in hair/scalp/skincare,
• adjacent product companies with existing manufacturing/fulfilment,
• aggregators who already understand ops.

They’ll often value it more highly because they already have some of the tacit capability and infrastructure.

Hope this helps.

What’s your biggest gap right now: manufacturing, inventory, or clean numbers?

Good info, thanks -

I understand why not having a manufacturer in place makes it a difficult buy, so I was intending to sell it at a much lower price, but I see two other good options in your post:

1. Simply set up the manufacturing by buying a first batch (easy since I have a manufacturer lined up).
2. Simply sell the product and company assets like email list to an existing skincare business.

Best,

D

 

[OdelF]

@OdelF has the product undergone testing? Do the certificates just cover the UK?

Yes, the legal requirement to sell a cosmetic product in the UK is a CPSR safety assessment - it has that. This allows the product to be sold anywhere (though it must first be listed on the relevant country's portals. This product is listed on the UK and EU portals.)

The trademark is a UK name mark for the company name (which also covers the product, which also features the company name).

For your last question, the manufacture can be "automated" by simply purchasing from a manufacturer instead of making it yourself. The product has its own unique formula - of course anyone can create the product (under a different brand and product name as this is trademarked) if they know the formula (or they come up with a similar one), but this applies to any cosmetic product, or even any supplement. The value here is the company has been running for 3 years and is profitable.

 

[OdelF]

Is that after paying you a market wage?

That's the net profit, so that figure is with my salary and dividends added back in. Operating profit is about £35k.

 

[OdelF]

You could start by asking the manufacturer you have lined up.

'Adjusted net profit' which any astute buyer does open a few questions will be quick to ask.

Yes, that is an option - thanks.

Absolutely - the adjusted net profit (or SDE) is the operating profit (about £35k) but with items like my salary and dividends added back in.

 

[StrategyDoctor]

Good info, thanks -

I understand why not having a manufacturer in place makes it a difficult buy, so I was intending to sell it at a much lower price, but I see two other good options in your post:

1. Simply set up the manufacturing by buying a first batch (easy since I have a manufacturer lined up).
2. Simply sell the product and company assets like email list to an existing skincare business.

Best,

D

Reading the other replies, it seems like you know what you are doing. Message me if you need a sounding board on any next steps - I have a lot of experience in this area.

Good luck, I hope it works out well for you

 

[OdelF]

Reading the other replies, it seems like you know what you are doing. Message me if you need a sounding board on any next steps - I have a lot of experience in this area.

Good luck, I hope it works out well for you

Thanks