Published November 2026. This document is currently under legal review and may be updated following that review.
Listing and Evidence Policy — Online Business Exchange
Last updated: November 2026. Contact: info@onlinebusinessexchange.com | 1-866-561-2688.
This Policy governs every listing on Online Business Exchange (“OBE”). The Terms of Service incorporate it. If this Policy and a listing disagree, this Policy governs how the listing is labelled and may be corrected, suspended, or removed.
1. The venue principle
OBE advertises businesses and introduces parties. The seller is responsible for every representation in their listing. OBE’s evidence system exists to tell readers where a figure came from — it never converts a seller’s claim into an OBE fact, and it never certifies a business, a valuation, or an outcome.
2. The three evidence definitions (exact)
Every financial and operating figure in a listing carries exactly one of these labels, applied per figure, not per listing (a single listing may carry all three on different figures):
- Seller-stated — provided by the seller, not independently verified.
- Evidence supplied — documentation provided — receipt of a document is not review or verification of it.
- Data-connected — from a connected source, with source, period, last sync and limitations identified.
Rules for applying the labels:
- Seller-stated is the default. Every figure starts here and stays here unless the seller supplies documentation (tier 2) or a source is connected and read (tier 3).
- Evidence supplied means OBE received a document the seller provided (for example, a platform report export or a statement). It does not mean OBE audited, reconciled, or confirmed the document, and the label must never be displayed as “verified”. Where a document has been opened and checked only for what it is (type, period, business name), the listing may state that fact plainly — e.g., “Platform report supplied by seller, covering Jan–Dec 2025” — without upgrading the claim.
- Data-connected applies only to the specific metric read from the connected source, only while the connection and its period are as stated, and the listing must show the source, the period, the last sync date, and known limitations (for example, “Google Analytics, trailing 12 months, last synced [date]; excludes direct/untracked traffic”). At launch, data connection is a manual, reviewer-recorded process where offered — OBE does not claim automated platform integrations that are not operational.
- The word “verified” may be used on this site only in the sentence-level sense defined here for a Data-connected metric (the data came from the named source for the named period). It is never a badge for a whole listing or business, and never a statement that a business is sound, profitable, or a good purchase.
- A business may be described as “profitable” only where its supplied financial information supports that description, with the basis (profit or SDE) and period shown beside the claim, labelled by tier.
3. What every figure must show
Beside or directly under each figure: the amount, the currency, and the period (for example, “USD — trailing 12 months ending October 2026”), plus its evidence label, plus — for profit — the basis (profit or SDE) exactly as the seller stated it. A figure without a period, currency, or label may not publish. Missing information is shown as “Not disclosed” — never as zero and never estimated by OBE or by OBE AI.
4. Seller certification and documents
4.1 At submission, the seller certifies the statements in Terms §4.2 (ownership/authority, accuracy to the best of their knowledge, documents are their own and not falsified).
4.2 Sensitive financial documents are NOT collected through public forms. Public forms never request tax returns, profit-and-loss statements, bank statements, or processor exports, and sellers must not attach them to a public listing. Listing images and descriptions are public; documents are not. If OBE later operates a separate evidence process, it will use restricted, authenticated access, documents will never be attached to the public listing or reachable by a public URL, buyers will receive only the specific documents the seller authorizes for that buyer, and retention will follow the Privacy Policy schedule.
4.3 Sellers must not publish another person’s personal information, customer lists, or credentials in a listing.
5. Prohibited claims
A listing may not contain: guaranteed or promised returns; “passive income” or effort-free claims; a valuation presented as certified or appraised by OBE; growth presented as fact rather than as a seller-stated opportunity; traffic, revenue, or profit figures the seller knows to be false or materially misleading; or the OBE name/logo used to imply endorsement. Breach may result in correction, suspension, or removal without notice where the claim is materially misleading.
6. Moderation, complaints, and correction
6.1 Every listing is manually reviewed before publication, and the seller approves the final text. Review checks completeness, internal consistency (for example, monthly × 12 against a stated annual figure), category fit, prohibited claims, and that every figure carries its label, currency, and period. Review is not an audit.
6.2 Anyone may report a listing. On a substantiated complaint, OBE may annotate, suspend, or remove the listing and will record the outcome. OBE does not mediate the parties’ transaction or decide what a business is worth.
6.3 A seller who discovers an error in their listing must correct it promptly; a material correction returns the listing to review and requires the seller’s approval of the revised text before republication.
7. OBE AI and this Policy
AI-assisted text is labelled as AI-assisted where it is presented as a demonstration or a draft (see the OBE AI page). The seller approves AI-generated listing text before publication — approval of the exact version is recorded. OBE AI does not certify financials, guarantee valuations, or promise investment outcomes, and AI output never raises a figure’s evidence tier: a figure’s tier changes only when the seller supplies documentation or a source is connected, as defined in §2.
8. Changes
We may update this Policy. The current version is posted here with its date. Changes to the evidence definitions apply to new listings immediately and to existing listings at their next review or correction.