How Marcus saved $45K on an email automation tool
AcquiCheck uncovered inflated MRR and a critical dependency on a single API provider.
Marcus Webber
Solo acquirer, ex-product lead at Mailchimp - Austin, TX
SaaS
EmailFlow
Email automation for Shopify stores
MRR
$6,200
Multiple: 21.8x (negotiated down from 29x)
Asking / Final
$180,000
Final: $135,000
Outcome
Negotiated down
Score: 64/100
AcquiCheck Scores
Overall
64
Financial
58
Code
71
Traffic
72
Legal
55
The context
Marcus had been looking for a Shopify-adjacent SaaS for 4 months on Acquire.com. EmailFlow looked perfect on paper: growing MRR, loyal customer base, and a clean UI. The seller was responsive and shared a Stripe dashboard screenshot showing $6,800 MRR.
The challenge
The listing looked almost too good. Marcus had been burned before on a deal where reported numbers didn't match reality. He wanted hard data before making an offer, but didn't want to spend $8K on a traditional advisor for a sub-$200K deal.
What AcquiCheck found
Actual MRR was $6,200, not $6,800. The seller had included one-time setup fees in the recurring total. This alone reduced the valuation by $17K at the stated multiple.
23% of revenue came from a single enterprise client on an annual contract expiring in 3 months, with no auto-renewal clause.
The entire email delivery pipeline depended on a single API provider (SendGrid) with no fallback. A rate limit change or pricing increase would directly impact margins.
Two npm dependencies had known high-severity CVEs. Not exploited, but a compliance risk for enterprise clients.
Privacy policy was last updated in 2021 and didn't mention GDPR data processor obligations, despite having EU customers.
The result
Armed with the report, Marcus renegotiated the price from $180K to $135K, citing the revenue discrepancy and single-client concentration risk. He also negotiated a 90-day earnout tied to the enterprise client renewing. The deal closed in 2 weeks. Six months later, EmailFlow's MRR is at $8,400 after Marcus diversified the delivery infrastructure and fixed the compliance gaps.
“I almost wired $180K based on a screenshot. The AcquiCheck report paid for itself 100 times over. The revenue discrepancy alone would have cost me $17K in overpayment.”
Marcus Webber, Solo acquirer, ex-product lead at Mailchimp
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