I think first you need to separate doing an Assessment from doing Due Diligence. The Assessment looks at things like - The domain (does the seller actually ow

I think first you need to separate doing an Assessment from doing Due Diligence. The Assessment looks at things like - The domain (does the seller actually own it, can you legally own it - for example .au domains require an Australian business licence) - The site itself (is the copy unique, are there any violations of Google's Webmaster guidelines, does it rely on any third party apis etc) - The traffic (where does it come from and in what proportions, how dependent is the site on search, which sources convert, how sustainable are they etc) - The revenue (can the revenue sources be transferred - e.g. Paypal recurring subscriptions can't, does the seller have a special arrangement with the merchant / affiliate network that you won't have access to etc) - Operational Requirements (what are the costs / responsibilities / resources that HAVEN'T been disclosed, how much non-accounted for time (seller's time usually) does it take to run the business) - The Seller (what else do they own, do any of these properties potentially compete, do any of these properties contain useful backlinks to what you're purchasing etc) Due Diligence then covers verifying the information you have been given - Does the actual monthly revenue for the last 12 / 24 months accurately match what has been claimed in the P&L - Can you prove the transactions ONLY originated from the site being sold - Do the customers seem unique and genuine - Is the traffic genuine and spoofed - Are the mailing lists genuine and in good health - Are any supplier / contractor agreements in place - Has the business submitted tax returns? In the likely event they don't match the P&L, why? I've massively oversimplified both processes and doing them properly is more than a Hackner News post could cover. You can have someone do it for you professionally (https://centurica.com https://centurica.com) or you can go down the DIY route (https://exitplan.co https://exitplan.co).