Webhostingtalk.com will give you plenty of discussions on that. Depending on the quality, you should be paying from 1x on up; there are many factors. They sho

Webhostingtalk.com will give you plenty of discussions on that. Depending on the quality, you should be paying from 1x on up; there are many factors. They should have statistics, copies of bills from their upstream provider, bank statements showing X amount being deposited each month, etc. Try to get access to their ticketing system to get a feel for how much support (expensive) is needed each day/week/month. Who does their accounting or taxes? If a CPA, they should be able to pull together plenty of verifiable info. No CPA worth his salt is going to lie to you on something he puts on paper. For smaller operations, often you look at their online billing system (which can be checked out remotely as they are web-enabled) as well. Involve a lawyer to draft documents concerning the sale, have some hold-back or money placed in escrow which they don't receive until 90 days later.