How Much Down Payment Do I Need to Buy an Online Business?
Written by Christopher Krassnig - Founder - Kairos Exchange and ZenoX Media. Last reviewed 11 August 2026.
How much you need to put down depends on which financing path you choose. A cash buyer needs the whole price. An SBA 7(a) borrower needs roughly a 10 percent equity injection, part of which can come from a seller note. A seller carrying part of the price typically carries 10 to 30 percent, so the buyer still funds 70 to 90 percent at close.
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The Three Paths, and What Each One Expects
Cash needs the full price, and it also negotiates the hardest discount, because certainty is worth something to nearly every seller in this market. An SBA loan needs about 10 percent of total project cost as an equity injection, with up to half of that allowed to come from a seller note. Seller financing typically carries 10 to 30 percent of the price on the seller's own note, which means the buyer is still funding 70 to 90 percent at close through cash, a bank loan, or both.
Why Sellers Price the Down Payment, Not Just the Total
A down payment is a signal, not just cash. A buyer who puts real money at risk has a reason to make the business work, and a buyer who puts almost nothing down has comparatively little to lose by walking away if the first few months are hard. Experienced sellers price that risk into the terms rather than the headline number, which is why two offers at the same price can carry very different odds of actually closing and actually getting paid.
What Strengthens Your Position Either Way
Provable numbers. The reasoning is simple: a verified order ledger gives a lender the documentation it already asks for, instead of a spreadsheet it has to take on faith. A seller extending credit trusts a buyer more when the store's revenue was already checked against its own data before the offer ever landed, because the thing they are betting on is no longer just your word against theirs.
Related questions
Checked against
- Pursuit Lending: SBA 7(a) equity injection requirements - read 11 August 2026
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