44% of 94 live business-for-sale listings raise a high-severity red flag

In one sentence: In the FirstPass Memo Listing Red-Flag Index 2026-W42, 44% of 94 public Empire Flippers listings raised at least one high-severity red flag, and none of them disclosed customer concentration.

Short answer: 44% of 94 public Empire Flippers listings we read (2026-10-14 to 2026-10-27) raised at least one high-severity flag, 54% showed a negative marketplace-reported revenue trend, and every one left customer or revenue concentration undisclosed. The median listing asked 2.4× annual profit, a payback of 28.8 months.

Edition 2026-W42 · First published 16 October 2026 · Updated 27 October 2026 (newest listing read) · 94 listings · 37 rules · Free to cite under CC BY 4.0 · By Joan Murphy (pen name) · How we check · Corrections

Check our work. Every number on this page can be traced back:

Changes since the first edition: 16 October, 88 listings and 33 rules. 24 October, 4 rules added for young, AI-built sites (why). The counts refresh as new teardowns go up, about two a day; today, 94 listings and 37 rules.

Free: the 37 red flags buyers miss, emailed to you, each with the question to send the seller, plus the 72-hour vetting plan and deal tracker.

FirstPass Memo offers a free red-flag checker for business-for-sale listings and a $79 first-pass memo on a specific listing you send, paid after delivery. Paste any listing below for payback, the asking multiple and its red flags. Nothing you paste leaves your browser. Open the full checker to unlock every flag with its seller question. Only know the price and monthly profit? Put them in the link and the check runs on its own: firstpassmemo.com/checker/?ask=45000&profit=1500.

SaaS has only 6 listings in this edition, so treat its medians as indicative only.

<a href="https://firstpassmemo.com/red-flag-index/"><img src="https://firstpassmemo.com/red-flag-index/chart.svg" width="760" alt="Most common red flags across 94 Empire Flippers listings, FirstPass Memo Listing Red-Flag Index 2026-W42"></a>

Suggested citation: FirstPass Memo, Listing Red-Flag Index 2026-W42, https://firstpassmemo.com/red-flag-index/ (CC BY 4.0).

We read each listing's public page data on Empire Flippers between 2026-10-14 to 2026-10-27 and ran it through the same rules as our free checker, with a human review of each flag. Each listing has its own teardown page (see also famous-deal teardowns) so every count can be checked. Figures are asking prices and seller- or marketplace-reported numbers, not sale prices or verified results. A flag is a prompt for a question, not a finding of wrongdoing. Information-only notes (for example, which data providers a listing shows) are not counted as flags. Our separate benchmarks cover $10k–$150k listings on other marketplaces.

The counts are rebuilt whenever a new teardown is published (about two a day), so the page always shows the date of the newest listing included. Rule changes and corrections are listed in the "Check our work" box at the top.

37, the same ones as the free checker, listed in rules.json. The first edition (16 October 2026) used 33; four rules for young, AI-built sites were added on 24 October.

No. Most flags mean something is missing or needs explaining. Use them as questions for the seller.

Yes: paste it into the free checker. Sellers can use the seller pre-check.

Paste the link; your memo arrives within 24 hours (Mon–Fri). $79, pay after delivery: we send the memo first, then a payment link. Human quick reviews cost $199–$390.

By sending, you confirm you're considering buying this business (not its seller or broker) and that the memo is informational screening, not advice. We use your email only to reply about this memo. Privacy. Not ready? Try the free checker. Already have your memo? Pay for it here.