Why 'Open to Offers' Listings Kill Pre-Revenue App Sales on Marketplaces

Listing a pre-revenue app with no asking price and an 'open to offers' note is widely cited as the most common reason such sales fail, as it forces buyers — who have the least information — to do the pricing work themselves. Without monthly recurring revenue, there is no standard valuation multiple, leaving buyers with no default answer to the question of what the asset is worth. Industry data from micro-startup marketplace Microns shows roughly 90 pre-revenue projects sold over three years at an average of around $4,300, with its founder noting that buyers rarely pay well for pre-revenue SaaS. Analysts suggest valuing such products based on replacement cost — estimated developer hours multiplied by an hourly rate, then discounted 40–70% to account for unproven demand — with additional assets like a domain, waitlist, or user base pushing the price higher. Research in auction economics supports fixed or floor-price listings over open negotiations, particularly when asset valuation is highly uncertain, as competitive bidding tends to discover price more effectively than one-on-one bargaining.