Definition
The asking price is the price a seller or broker puts on a business when it is listed for sale. It is an opening position, not a valuation, and it may include or exclude stock, working capital, property and equipment. Final sale prices often land below asking prices, and the terms of payment can matter as much as the headline figure.
A business broker markets businesses for sale and manages the process on the seller's behalf. The broker is usually paid by the seller, mostly when a deal completes.
Working capital is the money tied up in running a business day to day, mainly stock and money owed by customers, less money owed to suppliers. A sale needs to agree how much of it comes with the business.
Worked example
Fenwick Street Café is a fictional Irish business listed at €450,000 "plus stock at valuation", with SDE of €150,000. The implied multiple is 3 times SDE.
A buyer checks what the price covers. Stock adds about €30,000 on top. The lease has two years left to run, and the coffee machines are leased rather than owned. The buyer offers €380,000 including stock, with €50,000 of that as seller finance.
Seller's discretionary earnings (SDE)
Seller's discretionary earnings is the yearly financial benefit a business gives one full-time working owner, before financing costs, non-cash charges and one-off spending.
Seller finance is when the seller lends the buyer part of the purchase price, to be repaid with interest after completion. It is also called vendor finance or a seller note.
Why buyers care
An asking price tells you what the seller hopes to achieve and sometimes how the broker reads the market. It does not tell you what the business is worth to you. Before you compare it with other listings, check the basis: which profit figure the implied multiple uses, which period that figure covers and what the price includes.
On a listing in the Loupe feed, "Check the asking price" opens the valuation tool with the listed figures already filled in. Where the figures allow, a note says whether the asking price sits below, within or above the indicative range. Treat that as a starting point for questions, not a verdict. The comparable listings shown alongside are also asking prices, not sale prices.