A buyer's handbook for websites, AI software and SaaS
Buying software or a small online business from another person is not like buying from a shop. There is no returns desk. What you pay for is usually a bundle of files, accounts and permissions, and the seller knows far more about it than you do. This handbook collects the checks that close that gap for four common purchases.
Buying a portfolio or small-business website
Ten checks before you pay, from who really owns the domain to whether the contact form actually delivers email.
Buying an AI chatbot or AI tool
Nine questions that show whose model access it runs on, what each conversation costs and what happens when the model is retired.
AI app source code or a running SaaS: judging the price
Two very different purchases that often share a listing title, and how to put a sensible price on each.
Buying a second-hand software licence
What actually transfers with a perpetual licence, a subscription or a lifetime deal, and when you are only borrowing an account.
Three rules behind every guide
- Get the handover list in writing before any money moves. List every file, account, licence and domain the price includes. Anything not on the list is not part of the deal.
- Neither side should have to go first. If the buyer pays the seller directly, the buyer carries all the risk. If the seller hands over first, the seller does. With escrow, the payment is held by a third party while the transfer happens, and it is released once the buyer confirms they have what they paid for. How escrow works on Escrozon shows the steps.
- Change every credential after the handover. Passwords, API keys, recovery emails and connected apps. Until you have done this, the seller can still get in, whether they mean to or not.
Where these guides come from
They grew out of the questions buyers ask most often on Escrozon, an escrow marketplace where websites, AI software, templates and other digital assets are bought and sold. The advice is written to be useful wherever you buy: the same checks apply on any marketplace, forum or private deal.