3.1× The typical marketing or advertising agency for sale in the US asks 3.1 times its yearly cash flow.
We read 109 marketing and advertising agencies 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 marketing and advertising agencies ask between 2.5 and 3.8 times their yearly cash flow.
- Marketing and advertising agencies ask more than the typical business for sale, which asks 2.6 times.
- The typical asking price for a marketing or advertising agency is $645,000.
- Measured against revenue, the typical marketing or advertising agency asks 0.9 times its yearly sales.
- 37% of marketing and advertising agencies for sale offer seller financing, against 22% overall.
- 32% of owners who say why they're selling are moving on to other businesses or interests, and 27% are retiring.
- 13% of marketing and advertising agencies for sale show no revenue, cash flow or EBITDA, against 18% overall.
- 11% of the marketing and advertising agencies for sale are listed in Texas, 9% in North Carolina and 7% in Colorado.
Of the business service industries, marketing and advertising agencies ask more than most.
IT and software services firms ask the most, 3.6 times their yearly cash flow, and vending machine routes the least, 2.2 times.
- IT and software services firms: median 3.6×, middle half from 2.7× to 4.7×
- Equipment rental businesses: median 3.5×, middle half from 2.5× to 4.9×
- Waste management and recycling companies: median 3.4×, middle half from 2.0× to 4.7×
- Marketing and advertising agencies: median 3.1×, middle half from 2.5× to 3.8×
- Architecture and engineering firms: median 3.0×, middle half from 2.2× to 4.0×
- Websites and ecommerce businesses: median 2.9×, middle half from 2.0× to 3.7×
- Insurance agencies: median 2.8×, middle half from 2.0× to 3.6×
- Print shops and promotional products businesses: median 2.6×, middle half from 2.2× to 3.3×
- Accounting, tax and law practices: median 2.5×, middle half from 1.9× to 3.2×
- Vending machine routes: median 2.2×, middle half from 1.4× to 3.1×
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69% of marketing and advertising agencies ask between two and four times their yearly cash flow.
19% ask more than four, and 12% less than two.
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What a marketing or advertising agency like yours would ask.
The middle half of similar listings ask
$540,000 to $822,000
The typical one asks $676,000, 3.1× its yearly cash flow.
Based on marketing and advertising agencies of every size. Too few this size are listed. 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 marketing and advertising agencies sell for?
Marketing and advertising agencies 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 2.5 and 3.8 times. Sale prices usually come in lower.
How much does it cost to buy a marketing or advertising agency?
The typical marketing or advertising agency for sale asks $645,000, and the middle half ask between $258,000 and $1,325,000. Sale prices usually come in lower.
How many marketing and advertising agencies for sale offer seller financing?
37% of marketing and advertising agencies for sale offer seller financing, against 22% overall.
What multiple of revenue do marketing and advertising agencies ask?
The typical marketing or advertising agency for sale asks 0.9 times its yearly sales, and the middle half ask between 0.5 and 1.4 times.
Why are marketing and advertising agencies for sale?
32% of owners who give a reason are moving on to other businesses or interests. 27% are retiring, and 11% 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 109 established marketing and advertising agencies among them. 59 show both an asking price and a cash flow, and 59 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 marketing and advertising agencies for sale ask. From What Small Businesses for Sale Ask: 39,587 US Listings, September 2026. https://www.fulkersonadvisors.com/research/small-business-multiples/marketing-agencies
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.