A free deal-checking desk
Every deal sounds good. Check anyway.
Second Opinion is for anyone who gets offered merchant-funding deals — you put money into a business advance and you're promised more back. Some are worth it. Some aren't. Write your rules once, add the deals you're offered, and see exactly which ones fit — and why — before your money moves.
Six real deals are already checked below — a fairly priced one, an ordinary one, and the shapes regulators have sued over. Scroll down and look before you type anything.
- Your deal data stays on your computer
- Free — no account needed
- You make every call
Six real deals, already checked6 deals
You didn't have to do anything to see this. These deals are already checked against the rules on the left, so you can see the whole thing working before you type a single number.
They aren't offers and nobody is selling them. Each one is built to terms that are documented in the public record — what regulators found when they looked, and what the going rate actually is — and each says where its numbers come from. No real business is named. Together they cover the range you'll actually be shown: a fairly priced deal, an ordinary one, and the three shapes that should stop you.
Change a rule on the left and watch every verdict move. When you're ready, clear these and put in the deal that's actually sitting in front of you.
| Business | You put in | Promised back | Over | Sales / mo | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dental practice, two locations Healthcare · Your bank's referral desk What a fairly priced deal looks like. Why this deal is hereRepresentative terms at the low end of the band the FTC describes: $1.22 promised back for every $1 put in — a 22% factor, against the 20% to 50% the FTC says is usual — paid over about nine months. Steady business, little existing debt, full paperwork. This is the shape of a deal that is not trying to hide anything. FTC — small business financing staff perspective, February 2020 | $60,000 | $73,200 | 270d | $148,000 | |
Family restaurant group Food service · Broker you've worked with before The ordinary middle of the market. Why this deal is hereRepresentative terms in the middle of the band the FTC describes: $1.32 back for every $1 — a 32% factor — over six months. For the restaurant that is roughly 65% a year at the simplest math. The FTC notes these advances can carry estimated yearly costs in the triple digits, so "normal for this product" is worth knowing before you decide it sounds cheap. FTC — small business financing staff perspective, February 2020 | $45,000 | $59,400 | 180d | $88,000 | |
Corner grocery, single store Retail · Cold call A business already carrying other advances. Why this deal is hereA 49% factor, at the very top of the range the FTC describes, on a business that has taken advances on top of advances — the debt it already owes is more than half a month of sales, and its payment history has slipped. The FTC's summary flags exactly this: businesses "desperate for quick funding" struggling to repay. Deals like this get sold hardest and fail most. FTC — small business financing staff perspective, February 2020 | $30,000 | $44,700 | 90d | $52,000 | |
Small construction contractor Construction · Online funding marketplace The paperwork doesn't match the pitch. Why this deal is hereBuilt on the pattern the FTC sued over: the business is told there are no upfront fees, then receives thousands less than promised — here about $42,500 of the $50,000 — while still owing the full $63,500. The FTC also found personal guarantees the contracts said would not be required. Nobody has shown you the signed documents. FTC v. RCG Advances — court order, June 2022 | $50,000 | $63,500 | 150d | $96,000 | |
Auto repair shop Auto repair · Text message from a stranger Big promised return, punishing cost to the business. Why this deal is hereHalf again your money back in 75 days. That is roughly 240% a year for the repair shop at the simplest math, and more once the daily paydown is counted. The SEC alleged Par Funding made advances "some of which charged more than 400% interest" — the return that looks best to you is the one the business is least likely to survive. SEC v. Complete Business Solutions Group (Par Funding), 2020 | $25,000 | $37,500 | 75d | $61,000 | |
Online gaming site Gambling · Introduced at a networking event Good numbers, wrong industry for you. Why this deal is hereA 29% factor, mid-range for this product, attached to a business in an industry many people rule out on principle. The numbers alone would pass. Your own no-go list is what stops it — which is the whole reason to write the list down first. FTC — small business financing staff perspective, February 2020 | $38,000 | $49,020 | 165d | $94,000 |
You'd put in
$130,000
Stays in your pocket
$120,000
Rough return †
20.7%
52% of $250,000 spoken for across 3 deals.
Worth a closer look
Sorted by how well each deal fits your rules and your limits. The final call is always yours.
| Business | Score | You put in | Rough return † | Why it fits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Family restaurant group Food service · Broker you've worked with before | 68Middle of the road | $45,000 | 24% | Strong on-time payment history. Modest debt next to its monthly sales. The return clears your bar with room to spare. |
Dental practice, two locations Healthcare · Your bank's referral desk | 66Middle of the road | $60,000 | 18% | Strong on-time payment history. Modest debt next to its monthly sales. |
Auto repair shop Auto repair · Text message from a stranger | 53Higher risk | $25,000 | 21% | Modest debt next to its monthly sales. The return clears your bar with room to spare. |
Doesn't fit your rules
Corner grocery, single store
Retail · $30,000
The business carries more debt than your rules allow.
Small construction contractor
Construction · $50,000
The paperwork isn't complete.
Online gaming site
Gambling · $38,000
This industry is on your no-go list.
† Rough return is a before-anything-goes-wrong number: the promised return, marked down for the business's payment history. It ignores defaults, fees, and life, and it is not a prediction. Second Opinion is a checking tool, not investment advice — it can't see the future and doesn't know the people involved. You do. Talk to a licensed professional before making investment decisions.
Where deals come from
Find deals — or let them find you, on your terms.
Most deals come through people you know. Two honest starting points: the government's public list of companies raising money, and a short note that tells your deal-bringers exactly what you're looking for.
Your “what I'm looking for” note
It spells out your limits in one paragraph, and asks for the business's consent and the full paperwork before anything lands on your desk. Copy it, or send it straight from WhatsApp.
Why this desk exists
Thousands of ordinary people were sold exactly this.
Not a warning we invented — these are cases the SEC and the FTC brought, and the numbers are theirs. Every one of these deals was pitched as safe.
1,200 people, nearly half a billion dollars
The SEC alleged Par Funding sold promissory notes to the public through unregistered sales agents, raising nearly half a billion dollars from an estimated 1,200 investors nationwide, while misleading them about the business and about who was running it.
SEC v. Complete Business Solutions Group, No. 9:20-cv-81205 (S.D. Fla., filed July 31, 2020)3,400 people, a third of them using retirement money
The SEC charged 1 Global Capital with defrauding at least 3,400 retail investors of more than $287 million. Investors were given bogus account statements, told the company had an independent auditor, and told its advances had low default rates.
SEC v. 1 Global Capital LLC, No. 18-cv-61991 (S.D. Fla., filed August 23, 2018)Banned from the business entirely
The FTC's case against RCG Advances ended in a permanent ban from the merchant cash advance industry and more than $2.7 million returned. A co-defendant, RAM Capital Funding, was banned and paid $675,000. Both were found to have promised no upfront fees and then taken them anyway.
FTC — RCG Advances, LLC, case 192-3252 (both 2022 orders)
How it works
The discipline professionals use, in plain words.
- 1
Write your rules
How much you're ready to invest, the most you'd put in one deal, the industries you won't touch. The things professionals decide before they look at anything.
- 2
Add the deals you're offered
Type them in, paste them from a spreadsheet, or estimate the numbers straight from the business's bank statements.
- 3
See what fits — and why
Every deal gets a score and a plain-English reason. Nothing is hidden, nothing leaves your computer, and the final call is always yours.
Who makes this
Second Opinion is built by ScaleMe, a small software studio.
We build careful, custom tools for businesses — clinics, law offices, funding shops — and we keep this desk free because everyone deserves the discipline professionals use. If you'd like it tuned to how you invest, or you want a tool like this for your own business, we're easy to talk to.