A deposit-buyer’s checklist · July 29, 2026

Before you wire a six-figure upfront deposit, run these 10 checks

Six-figure deposits — ‘refundable,’ ‘rebatable,’ or ‘re-earnable’ — are the signature structure of clinic business-opportunity offers. Some are legitimate. All of them deserve the same ten checks, in order, before any money moves.

This applies to any turnkey clinic or ‘licensor’ offer asking for a large upfront deposit — typically anywhere from roughly fifty thousand to a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Run every check regardless of how polished the offer looks.

1. Age the company and the domainLook up the LLC and the website registration date. A company selling six-figure packages that formed months ago is not automatically bad — it is automatically unproven, and the burden shifts to it.
2. Read what the deposit is ‘re-earned’ against‘Re-earnable’ through what? If you re-earn it by buying product from the seller, the deposit is a supply lock-in — you earn your own money back by spending more with them. Model that true cost.
3. Find the words ‘non-refundable’ and ‘binding’Read the refund, buyback, cure, and termination terms before signing anything — including documents labeled ‘MOU’ or ‘letter of intent,’ some of which are drafted to bind immediately.
4. Demand written substantiation for every numberAny earnings, retention, or margin figure quoted to you as a business buyer should come with a written substantiation file. Under the FTC’s business-opportunity framework, that is the standard the seller should already meet.
5. Visit the physical addressA virtual-office or registered-agent address is normal for a startup and abnormal for a company claiming an operating clinic network. Know which one you are looking at.
6. Verify any clinical or professional credentialIf a principal claims a license, get the number and confirm it with the state board yourself.
7. Call operators you choose, not references they chooseFrom any list provided, pick your own three. Ask each what they paid, what actually arrived, and what they would do differently.
8. Price the exit before the entranceWho owns the brand, the customer list, and the goodwill if you leave? The answer belongs in the agreement, not the pitch.
9. Check the entity against public recordsSearch the secretary of state, the BBB, and the court dockets for the entity and its principals before you wire.
10. Put the deposit in escrow if you proceedA seller confident in delivery should not object to milestone-based or escrowed payment tied to written acceptance criteria.

Take this further

• The full buyer-diligence filesDiligenceBeforeDeposit — reproducible checks on specific turnkey offers.
• If it is a franchise insteadFDDfacts — what the disclosure documents actually say.