PewterFor established US business owners, regardless of status
AI developers may pay license fees for your firm's records, even if the business is winding down or closed.
Pewter serves firms that are operating, winding down or closed, provided their records remain. We assess your records, obtain a written offer from our licensing partner and manage the transaction through payment.
Indicative range
Example: a 100-person firm, 10 years in business. Move the sliders for yours.
A scenario, not a valuation. Many firms are offered less, and some receive no offer once their records are reviewed.
Get a real estimateRange from our licensing partner's payout model for US firms (October 2026), using headcount and years in business only. What your records hold, who owns them and what a buyer accepts decide the real number.
Roles and responsibilities
You make the decisions; we manage the work.
From estimate through payment, Pewter is your contact. Our licensing partner sets out the offer, enters the license with you and sends your payment.
Your part
A few hours of your time
- Respond to a few questionsTwo minutes, without files or logins.
- Join two or three callsEach takes around 30 minutes.
- Complete a brief data inventoryList your systems and how many years you've used them.
- Review a sample, then approve the termsYour lawyer reviews the agreement. Licensing cannot happen before your signature.
Our responsibilities
- SizingWe give you a direct view of whether your records are likely to sell.
- Offer and negotiationOur licensing partner presents the offer. We put it in writing for you and work through scope, exclusivity and price.
- Export and de-identificationWe coordinate with your IT person; identifying details are stripped out before delivery.
- Closing and paymentWe follow every agreement milestone until payment is made.
No offer means no cost
There is no charge to ask
Owners pay no fee at any point, and may leave the process whenever they choose. Before an offer, we may request permission to inspect a small sample for quality. We only arrange the full export after you approve the terms in writing. Our process for records.
Questions to consider first
Questions owners raise on their first call
Is this a genuine opportunity or just a pitch?
There is a real market. Our licensing partner says it has paid firms of 60 to 100 people $350,000 to $650,000, and a federal court filing records Google's $10 million winning bid for Spirit Airlines' records. These were deals involving other firms, not us. You receive your offer in writing before making any commitment, and many firms receive offers below those amounts.
What would I have to pay?
Nothing at any point. When a deal closes, our licensing partner pays Pewter a fee. No deal means no fee.
What are your roles, and who is your client?
Pewter identifies and qualifies the opportunity, assesses your records, presents the offer and coordinates the transaction. Our licensing partner makes the offer, signs the license with you and pays you; you find out its identity before signing anything. Since the partner pays our fee, we are neither your lawyer nor your agent. We are not a law firm or registered broker-dealer, and recommend having your own counsel review the agreement.
Does the data leave my control?
No. The license covers an agreed de-identified copy. Your original files remain yours, and your ownership is unchanged.
Could my clients or employees be identified?
Before delivery, names, contact details, account numbers, credentials and payment details are removed or replaced. Regulated, privileged or third-party records may be excluded. Every method leaves some risk, so you review the process and a sample before signing. Our records process.
Who can review records before I sign?
Only with your permission. We may request a small sample to assess quality before an offer, and Pewter or the licensing partner may examine it. You decide what the sample contains and may decline. We arrange the full export only after you sign.
Who uses the data, and for which purposes?
Authorized AI developers may use it to train and evaluate models, as your agreement specifies. Your approved terms set out exclusivity and permitted uses. Our free owner's guide, Before You Sell Your Data, covers the terms and questions to resolve before signing.
How much time will my team need to spend?
Your time commitment is a few hours: two or three calls plus a short inventory of your systems. If an export is required, your IT person or provider runs it while we coordinate. No one needs to create data or do cleanup.
What if I am unsure what data we hold?
That's true for most owners. Name the tools you've used over the years, such as email, shared drives, or your accounting or operating system, and we'll identify what's there during the call. Prefer to estimate it yourself first? Our free guide explains where to find the numbers in Google, Microsoft 365, Slack and a dozen other tools.
Why move now?
Labs are buying now. A single AI data company has committed $1 billion over the next twelve months. The value is in the history you still hold: when subscriptions end or a firm winds down, archives are deleted and that value is gone.
Request an estimate
Check whether your records could sell
Estimated range
$385K to $895K
Illustration: 100 employees · 10 years in business
- We contact you within one business dayLawrence or Troy will ask what you have and provide a realistic assessment.
- Handled confidentiallyNo files are requested. Your firm's details are shared only with our licensing partner, so it can prepare an offer.
- No offer means no costYou may leave at any time before signing.