Top 10 Franchise Sales Sites For 2026

As a franchise system grows, inevitably some franchisees will have the desire to exit and sell their franchise.  Sometimes this is because the franchise isn’t super profitable and they want out.  Sometimes the business is profitable but it requires more time and work than the franchisee wants to put into it.  For some brick and mortar franchises, sometimes franchisees are staring down the barrel of signing another 5 to 10 year lease and they don’t want to obligate themselves for that.  Or, in many cases franchisees just want to sell their business to take profits or retire.

For myself, I sold 2 of my franchises because they were geographically too far from where I live and hard to operate so I just wanted out.  So, I’ve been there myself (it turns out I’m much better at marketing and selling franchises than running them).

We run franchise resale campaigns for many of our clients’ brands.  So, here’s a list of the Top Franchise Resales Sites we’ve found:

#1 – Outbound Text Messaging

This one is less of a “site” and more of a strategy.  When I sold my cookie store in Indianapolis, I did it by using the outbound SMS texting service of my POS Square.  Basically, instead of sending out a text message about that week’s cookies, I sent out a text message about Franchise Opportunities available in that local area.  I included a picture of a franchisee standing outside the store of one of the cookie stories and kept it generic so that it didn’t explicitly say that I was selling my store.  I only had 3 people fill out the form on the landing page that I drove people to.  But, one of them purchased my cookie store for $314,000.  Best text message I ever sent out.

I firmly believe that sending out a solid text message to your existing customer base that already knows and loves your brand is the cheapest, easiest way to sell your franchise.  There are some nuances to what to write in the text message and on the landing page.  If you have questions on it, feel free to reach out and I can walk you through the script that I’ve used for myself and clients.

#2 – Meta Ads

This is where I would recommend putting most of your budget.  Usually, you’ll want to spend somewhere between about $1,000 – $2,000 / mo. on ads for a period of about 2-6 months.  If the franchise must be owned and operated locally, then you’ll want to keep your budget a bit lower at around $1,000 / mo.  Otherwise, you’ll burn through your local audience too quickly.

If you have more of an absentee model that someone can own and operate from anywhere, then you should crank it up a bit to around $2,000 / mo. since it’s probably unlikely or impossible to burn through an audience.  Going much higher than $2,000 / mo. is usually cost prohibitive because you don’t want to eat into your profits from selling the business too much.

Again, make sure you have a good landing page where people can fill out a form to give you their Name, Email, and Phone Number.  Confirming that they have enough liquid capital / net worth to buy the franchise is also not a bad idea.

If you do choose to go down the Meta Ads road, feel free to reach out to us.  We have a lot of experience with franchise resales and while we don’t typically work with 1-off franchisees, if there are multiple franchisees that would be interested in exiting from a brand, we could probably figure something out.

#3 – BizBuySell

Most franchise portals are absolute junk in my opinion.  It’s hard enough to sell franchises from semi-qualified lead sources such as Google Ads and Meta Ads.  But, if it usually takes 50-100 qualified leads from Meta Ads or Google Ads to sell a franchise, then you’re typically looking at 200-400 leads from franchise portals to sell a franchise.

BizBuySell is different, however.  Usually on a franchise sale / resale you’re only going to get a handful of leads.  But, most of those people will have done their research, they like your opportunity, and they’re genuinely interested in having a conversation and discussing the opportunity.

Be prepared to share with them your P&L and basic financial information.  While all franchise sales are an emotional purchase, BizBuySell leads tend to be much more interested in the ROI as they evaluate the opportunity.

#4 – National Franchise Sales

This site is pretty cool.  It’s a bit like BizBuySell or Craigslist.  They have a Listings Directory that you can post your franchise sales opportunity on.  The site gets quite a bit of traffic and is pretty simple.

I’d recommend playing around with it and looking at the posts of businesses that have already sold so you get an idea of what the general vibe is and how you can make your business listing stand out.

#5 – Franchise Resales

This site is pretty similar to National Franchise Sales.  The interface is a bit different, but it’s a directory specifically for people looking to sell or buy franchise resales.  On the franchise development side of things, we run into prospective franchisee candidates regularly who decide not to move forward because of how much of a pain it is to build out a brick and mortar store.

Experienced business owners oftentimes hunt on sites like Franchise Resales to find underpriced, solid opportunities that they can either grow or flip by taking that business to the next level.

#6 – Google Ads

Lead volume will be the challenge here.  But, it’s possible to run ads on Google Ads locally that will show up for people who are looking for exactly what you are selling.  For instance, I could have ran some ads in Indiana for people that were searching for:

• Cookie Store Franchise
• Cookie Store Business
• How To Start A Cookie Store

I would probably recommend doing Google Search only campaigns around the match types [Exact] and “Phrase”, trying to stay away from Broad Match.  I would also avoid Google PMax (Performance Max) campaigns and Display Campaigns.  Those are an easy way to spend a lot of money and drive junk traffic.  We try to avoid PMax campaigns like the plague.

#7 – Franchise Direct

My experience has been that there’s a pretty big dip in performance from BizBuySell to other franchise portals.  But, of the remaining ones, Franchise Direct is still probably better than most of the others.

I’d still probably put my money into Meta Ads over Franchise Direct, but if you’re used to franchise portals, you could try giving them a call and seeing if they would do a listing for a franchise resale.  Usually, they like more “evergreen” offers where franchisors are generically selling a franchise opportunity, but occasionally franchisees are able to either work with the franchisor or with portals to figure something out to help get leads around that franchise resale opportunity.

#8 – Indeed

Again, this one is more of a resource.  But, sites like Indeed might be worth looking at and seeing if there’s someone locally who is a Business Broker who can help you sell your franchise.

#9 – Internicola

This is a website that I frequent regularly.  The main page that I go to is actually this one called “How to Find Franchise Disclosure Documents“.  I go there and then click on the Wisconsin state link and download FDDs for various brands to see how many units they have, what their sales revenue and gross profits look like, etc.

This is a good resource to look at so that you understand some of the legal nuances of selling your franchise.  Most likely, you’ll need to retain a lawyer of some sort to help make sure that there’s nothing funky in the deal.  Remember that oftentimes it’s going to be an Asset Purchase Agreement as opposed to selling your entity itself.  Most buyers prefer to just buy your equipment, assume your leases, and take over the Franchise Agreement rather than buy a business that might have a bunch of legal problems or law suits that they would be liable for.

#10 – Fast Lane

While hiring an FSO to sell a single franchised location does make a ton of sense, Fast Lane has some really good articles and resources on their website that are worth taking a look at so that you have a better understanding of the industry as a whole and the mindset of what it takes to sell franchises.

Franchise Sales: How to Market and Sell a Franchise Resale Successfully

Selling a franchise—even a single unit—poses unique challenges: emotional attachments, legal complexity, brand reputation, and buyer expectations. Whether a franchisee is stepping down to retire, freeing time, or simply moving out of state, a thoughtful strategy can make the difference between a drawn‑out listing and a clean, profitable sale. Below are what I believe are the most effective channels and strategies to market, list, and ultimately sell a franchise resale successfully in 2026.

Why Franchise Resales Happen

There are many reasons franchisees decide to sell:

• The business is earning but requires more time or effort than desired.

• The franchise is geographically inconvenient.

• A new lease is coming due (often for 5–10 years) and owner wants to avoid long obligations.

• Life events—retirement, relocation, or simply wanting liquidity.

Understanding the seller’s motivation is important, because it shapes what buyers will care about: profitability, effort required, assets included, lease terms, etc.

Key Principles in Selling a Franchise

Before selecting where to list your franchise or which tools to use, there are several principles to follow:

1. Transparency and Financials
   Buyers nearly always want to dig into the P&L, lease terms, equipment, etc. If you can present clean financials and clear legal documentation, you build trust.

2. Marketing That Reaches Qualified Leads
   Not all portal traffic is equal. Many leads from generic listings will be “window‑shoppers.” It’s more efficient to focus on channels that deliver buyers who have already done some research and have realistic expectations.

3. Good Landing Page / Lead Capture
   Wherever you advertise—on social, Google, portals, etc.—you need a landing page or form that captures name, email, phone, plus critical info such as whether the buyer has sufficient capital or meets other requirements.

4. Use Multiple Channels
   Blending direct outreach, paid advertising, franchise portals, and legal/official resources gives better reach and gives options in case one channel underperforms.

 

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