3.1× The typical building material or hardware store for sale in the US asks 3.1 times its yearly cash flow.
We read 180 building material and hardware stores listed for sale on a major online marketplace and compared each asking price with the cash flow its seller reported.
The findings in eight sentences.
- The middle half of building material and hardware stores ask between 2.4 and 4.3 times their yearly cash flow.
- Building material and hardware stores ask more than the typical business for sale, which asks 2.6 times.
- The typical asking price for a building material or hardware store is $660,000.
- Measured against revenue, the typical building material or hardware store asks 0.6 times its yearly sales.
- 32% of building material and hardware stores for sale offer seller financing, against 22% overall.
- 68% of owners who say why they're selling are retiring.
- 11% of building material and hardware stores for sale show no revenue, cash flow or EBITDA, against 18% overall.
- 13% of the building material and hardware stores for sale are listed in Florida, 10% in New York and 9% in California.
Of the retail industries, building material and hardware stores ask the most.
Convenience stores ask the least, 2.1 times their yearly cash flow.
- Building material and hardware stores: median 3.1×, middle half from 2.4× to 4.3×
- Liquor stores: median 2.9×, middle half from 2.2× to 3.8×
- Clothing and accessory stores: median 2.6×, middle half from 1.9× to 3.7×
- Grocery stores: median 2.6×, middle half from 1.9× to 3.3×
- Furniture stores: median 2.6×, middle half from 2.0× to 3.3×
- Flower shops: median 2.3×, middle half from 1.8× to 3.1×
- Convenience stores: median 2.1×, middle half from 1.4× to 2.9×
fulkersonadvisors.com
58% of building material and hardware stores ask between two and four times their yearly cash flow.
28% ask more than four, and 14% less than two.
fulkersonadvisors.com
What a building material or hardware store like yours would ask.
The middle half of similar listings ask
$444,000 to $773,000
The typical one asks $577,000, 2.8× its yearly cash flow.
Based on building material and hardware stores with $100k to $250k of yearly cash flow. These are asking prices, not sale prices or appraisals.
After the close.
We write the software a newly bought business runs on, one process at a time, such as quoting, scheduling or billing, and the new owner keeps the code. How we work with buyers and operating partners.
The data.
We read the listings on September 24, 2026, and their full details from September 25 to 30, 2026.
Questions
What multiple of cash flow do building material and hardware stores sell for?
Building material and hardware stores listed for sale in the US ask a median 3.1 times their yearly cash flow (seller's discretionary earnings), and the middle half ask between 2.4 and 4.3 times. Sale prices usually come in lower.
How much does it cost to buy a building material or hardware store?
The typical building material or hardware store for sale asks $660,000, and the middle half ask between $299,000 and $1,400,000. Sale prices usually come in lower.
How many building material and hardware stores for sale offer seller financing?
32% of building material and hardware stores for sale offer seller financing, against 22% overall.
What multiple of revenue do building material and hardware stores ask?
The typical building material or hardware store for sale asks 0.6 times its yearly sales, and the middle half ask between 0.3 and 0.8 times.
Why are building material and hardware stores for sale?
68% of owners who give a reason are retiring. 14% are moving on to other businesses or interests, and 6% are relocating.
How we did it
We read every listing on a major US online marketplace for businesses for sale on September 24, 2026, and went back to each one from September 25 to 30, 2026 for its full details. This page covers the 180 established building material and hardware stores among them. 126 show both an asking price and a cash flow, and 106 of those are left after the exclusions below.
Older listings use a flat list of named categories, and newer ones a two-level list whose subcategories have no names. A listing without its own photo shows its category's default photo. Each default photo almost always shows up in a single newer subcategory, so each named category joins the subcategory where its photo appears.
A multiple is the asking price divided by the seller's discretionary earnings the listing reports. We left out multiples below 0.3 or above 20, and listings whose price includes the property. Prices and cash flows on this page come from the listings with a multiple. These are asking prices, and a business usually sells for less than it asks. The full method.
Cite this page
Fulkerson Advisors (2026). What building material and hardware stores for sale ask. From What Small Businesses for Sale Ask: 39,587 US Listings, September 2026. https://www.fulkersonadvisors.com/research/small-business-multiples/hardware-stores
Use any of these numbers or charts. Credit Fulkerson Advisors and link to this page. The data is under a CC BY 4.0 license.