Identity Verified
Definition
Identity Verified means a seller on Indiemaker has confirmed who they are through Stripe Identity, a check run by Stripe rather than by Indiemaker. It tells a buyer the person behind the listing is real and is who they say they are. It says nothing about the business, its revenue or who owns its assets.
Identity Verified means the seller behind a listing has confirmed their identity through Stripe Identity, an independent check run by Stripe rather than by Indiemaker.
What it confirms
It confirms a person. The seller photographs a government ID and takes a matching selfie on Stripe's own page, and Stripe tells Indiemaker whether the check passed. Indiemaker never sees the document. At six figures, knowing who is on the other side of the deal comes before everything else, and this settles it before the first message.
What it doesn't confirm
It doesn't confirm the business. A seller who is Identity Verified can still overstate revenue, leave out costs, or sell an asset they don't fully own. Identity and ownership are different questions, and the second is answered in the asset purchase agreement and the IP assignment, not by a badge.
It is also not the same as the escrow check. Once a transfer starts, Escrow.com checks the identity of both buyer and seller before any money moves, whether or not either is Identity Verified here.
Where it bites
The check is offered to sellers once they have a listing on the platform, and nobody is required to complete it. Its absence doesn't make a listing fraudulent, but a seller who declines it on a six-figure deal has told you something. Ask why before you spend a week on diligence.
Worked example
Two newsletters are listed at around $90,000 with similar declared revenue. One seller is Identity Verified; the other isn't and won't appear on video. The first conversation starts with the numbers. The second starts with who you are dealing with, and may end there.
Why it matters when you acquire
It removes the most expensive class of wasted week: the one spent on a seller who turns out not to be who they said.
Related: reviewed, due-diligence, ip-assignment, escrow
See what a business at this level is listed at.
Everything on sale between $50,000 and $150,000, on the same fields.