Retirement

Retiring? Settle the future of your records first

Decades of job records, email and files normally leave with the keys, handed to a successor or sent for shredding. That archive now has buyers: AI companies license copies, and a long track record is part of the appeal.

Before you retire, find out whether yours has a buyer.

AI Data Offers research deskChecked against our methodology Updated October 28, 2026 2 min read 9 sources

In this guide

Pewter

Why a long history helps

Decades of work show how a business handled every kind of situation: slow years, busy years, staff changes, new systems. That depth is what makes an archive useful for teaching AI agents how a real company runs.

The headcount question

Headcount is what buyers measure, generally a minimum of 20 to 30, with a few setting none. Pewter will use your largest-ever team, so a company that shrank ahead of retirement can still point to its busiest era.

Three things to do before closing day

1Do not wipe, shred or cancel anything until you know whether it has a buyer.
2Collect written offers from a buyer or two. Expect a few days to a fortnight of waiting and roughly 1 to 3 hours of effort on your side.
3Tell your successor or acquirer, and agree who owns the records after you go.

Questions to put to any data buyer

Is this a license of a copy, or a sale of the records outright?
Is it exclusive, and for how long? Can I license the same data elsewhere later?
Which systems and date ranges are in scope, and can I leave folders or whole tools out?
Who removes names and personal details, how, and do I approve a sample before anything leaves?
When does payment arrive, and does the clock start at signing or at your acceptance of the delivery?
Do I pay anything, and does anyone in the chain take a cut?
How long do you keep the copy, and what happens to it if you are acquired?

FAQ

Questions, answered

Is my old business data worth anything?

It can be. Buyers mostly advertise $100K to $2M, and what they want is your procedures, playbooks, email and tickets, not your accounts.

We have fewer staff now than at our peak. Do we qualify?

Possibly. Pewter counts staff at your peak and a few buyers publish no minimum.

Do I pay anything to license?

Typically no. Direct buyers rarely charge sellers. Middlemen are different: brokers and marketplaces may keep anywhere from 8% to 30%. Have any fee written down before a sample changes hands.

Will customer and employee details go out?

Buyers say no. Client data may be excluded entirely, and a specialist removes names and personal information. Insist on that in the contract.

Find the buyers that fit your company

Answer a few questions about your size, tools and history. We show which buyers want a company like yours. Free, no files.

Match my company What is my data worth?

Keep reading

Sources

Every number on this page links back to one of these.

Spot something wrong? See our corrections policy. Some buyers pay us a referral fee. How we make money.