Business owners and prospective buyers rely on a diverse set of financial benchmarks to assess the value of a business. We have compiled data from current BizBuySell listings and sold businesses to provide insight into the business-for-sale market and important benchmarks for pricing and evaluating durable goods wholesale and distribution businesses relative to industry standards.
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Durable goods wholesalers and distributors listed and sold on BizBuySell operate businesses that purchase goods in bulk from manufacturers, and distribute them to retailers. Every non-perishable and non-consumable item stocked on store shelves passed though a durable goods wholesale and distribution business. The nature of the goods makes warehousing and transport less complicated than similar businesses working with food and other perishable goods, which often require refridgeration and expedited movement through the supply chain.
See also: Food & Nondurable Goods Wholesale & Distribution
| Median Sale Price | Median Asking Price |
| $800,000 | $840,000 |
| Average Sale/Ask Ratio | Median Days on Market |
| 0.97 | 219 |
| Median Revenue | Median Owner Earnings |
| $1,800,000 | $322,000 |
| Average Revenue Multiple | Average Earnings Multiple |
| 0.57 | 2.96 |
The median sale price of durable goods wholesalers and distributors sold on BizBuySell has been volatile over the past five years, peaking at $1,100,000 in 2025 before pulling back to $800,000 in 2025. Despite the year-to-year fluctuations, valuations have been supported by improving revenue and earnings of businesses listed, as well as resilient valuation multiples, even as most other industries see pressure from increased interest rates.
| Year | Median Sale Price | Median Asking Price | Average Sale/Ask Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $800,000 | $800,000 | 0.95 |
| 2022 | $592,000 | $685,000 | 0.93 |
| 2023 | $950,000 | $1,200,000 | 0.94 |
| 2024 | $1,100,000 | $1,050,000 | 1.06 |
| 2025 | $800,000 | $1,300,000 | 0.98 |
| Business transaction data based on durable goods wholesaler and distributor businesses sold on, and reported to, BizBuySell. | |||
Valuation, or pricing, multiples are financial tools that allow for comparisons between businesses that have different levels of revenue and earnings. They represent the sales price of a business relative to its financial performance, and given enough individual business sales data, they represent what the market is willing to pay for a business given its revenue and earnings.
Business values and associated multiples fluctuate over time, influenced by a variety of macroeconomic factors such as interest rates, inflation, consumer spending, and overall economic growth.
Valuation multiples of durable goods distributors and wholesale businesses have been resilient against recent macroeconomic factors, holding steady while most other industries see pressure from rising interest rates. Earnings multiples hit a recent high of 3.23 in 2024, before settling back to 2.98 in 2025, still above the five-year average of 2.96. Meanwhile, the average revenue multiple reached its highest point in 2025 at 0.63.
To determine how a business compares in terms of revenue and earnings relative to industry peers, it’s necessary to have some insight into industry standards. "Benchmarking" describes the practice of comparing a business’s financial performance to typical industry standards to determine where a business falls relative to other businesses in the same industry. These benchmarks can help guide owners and investors towards appropriate valuation multiples from the range above.
To that end, we have aggregated financial ranges useful for comparing an individual durable goods wholesaler and distributor to its peers in the market.
Revenue of durables wholesalers and distributors has been fairly consistent over the past five years, fluctuating around a median of $1,800,000. Discretionary earnings have similarly held steady, though 2025 saw a notable jump to $434,000, the highest in the five-year period. Profit margins, which had been under pressure from inflation through 2023 and 2024, rebounded strongly in 2025 to 24.6%, well above the five-year median of 17.9%.
For a more complete understanding of the market and valuation standards, consider comparisons across wholesale and distribution categories, as well as retail, when benchmarking these businesses. The chart and table below include key metrics from sales of wholesale and distribution businesses and non-restaurant retail businesses on BizBuySell between 2021 and 2025.
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