Business owners, prospective buyers, and industry investors 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 smoke shop businesses relative to industry standards.
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Smoke shops listed and sold on BizBuySell are primarily locally owned and operated retail businesses that sell a variety of tobacco products and related items. They typically offer cigarettes and cigars, vape juices and vaping devices, chewing tobacco, hookah products, rolling papers, and accessories.
| Median Sale Price | Median Asking Price |
| $150,000 | $150,000 |
| Average Sale/Ask Ratio | Median Days on Market |
| 0.93 | 74 |
| Median Revenue | Median Owner Earnings |
| $420,000 | $95,500 |
| Average Revenue Multiple | Average Earnings Multiple |
| 0.45 | 1.88 |
The median sale price of smokes shops sold on BizBuySell has been increasing at a greater rate than most other industries, and despite pressure from rising interest rates. In the five-year period from 2020 through 2024, the median sale price has increased 36%, compared to the broader business for sale market which grew 23% in the same time period.
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.
Average valuation multiples of smoke shop businesses sold have been increasing, despite pressure from rising interest rates. Average earnings multiples have increased 40% from 2020 through 2024, while average revenue multiples have increased 48%.
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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 smoke shop business to its peers in the market.
Smoke shops listed and sold saw peak revenues in 2021, with sales falling off in more recent years. At the same time, discretionary earnings have grown, with smoke shops generating greater profit margins. In the five-year period from 2020 through 2024, median revenue of smoke shops sold declined 11% while owner earnings actually increased 27%. It's likely that inflationary pressures contributed to declining revenues while at the same time driving up retail prices and owner earnings.
| Year | Revenue | Discretionary Earnings | % of Revenue |
| 2020 | $414,500 | $75,671 | 18.3% |
| 2021 | $459,333 | $72,000 | 15.7% |
| 2022 | $435,000 | $107,500 | 24.7% |
| 2023 | $396,500 | $99,410 | 25.1% |
| 2024 | $367,903 | $96,000 | 26.1% |
| Average | $420,000 | $95,500 | 22.7% |
| Median reported financials of smoke shops sold on BizBuySell | |||
Discretionary earnings (used interchangeably with the terms "cash flow" and seller's discretionary earnings or SDE) is often the crux of business valuations, so it is important to benchmark it relative to other businesses traded on the market. Below you will find discretionary earnings ranges of smoke shop businesses sold over the past five years as well as recent for sale listings.
| Smoke Shop Business Discretionary Earnings | ||||
| Lower Quartile | Median | Average | Upper Quartile | |
| Recent Listings | $75,000 | $150,000 | $452,901 | $292,836 |
| Sold Businesses | $60,000 | $95,500 | $164,373 | $161,694 |
| Owner's discretionary earnings based on reported financials of smoke shop businesses sold during five years between 2020 and 2024. | ||||
Sales volume plays a large role in business valuation, as it measures the size of the potential income opportunity for new ownership. It's not uncommon for buyers to select an earnings multiple range based on overall revenue. The table below includes revenue ranges of smoke shops sold over the past five years as well as recent for sale listings.
| Smoke Shop Business Revenue | ||||
| Lower Quartile | Median | Average | Upper Quartile | |
| Recent Listings | $280,702 | $480,000 | $1,563,689 | $920,000 |
| Sold Businesses | $240,000 | $420,000 | $713,060 | $840,000 |
| Median revenue based on reported financials of smoke shop businesses sold during five years between 2020 and 2024. | ||||
Clearly higher levels of earnings lead to higher valuations, even given the same multiple. However, valuation multiples also tend to rise with business sales volume. Popular smoke shops that generate higher sales (and maintain reasonable profit margins) tend to sell for earnings multiples on the higher end. So, a vape shop consistently generating sales over $800k annually may sell for an earnings multiple above 2.2, where a smaller store with sales under $250k would likely sell for an earnings multiple closer to 1.2 or less.
This tendency for higher sales volumes to fetch higher valuation multiples is largely driven by the economics of business acquisition financing. Higher volume businesses give buyers more cushion to cover debt service obligations and still have enough left over to pay the new owner a reasonable income.
For a more complete understanding of the market and valuation standards, consider comparisons within the broader retail sector when benchmarking smoke and vape shop businesses. The chart and table below includes key metrics from sales of select retail businesses on BizBuySell between 2020 and 2024.
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