Can I sell unexercised options?

Usually not directly — options are personal and do not transfer. Common solutions are exercising at close with the proceeds, or a forward structure, depending on the company. Exercised shares and RSUs that have settled into shares can trade where the company permits transfer.

Will the company find out I am selling?

Eventually, yes — almost every private company transfer needs the company to act (approve, waive a ROFR, update the ledger). What a careful process controls is when and to whom you are named: not to buyers until you agree to proceed.

What does a secondary broker cost?

A percentage of the trade, paid at close, quoted in writing for your specific file. There should be no fee to ask and nothing up front.

How long does a sale take?

An indicative price range usually takes a business day. The close commonly runs several weeks to a couple of months, set mostly by the company’s approval process, not the negotiation.

What is my position worth?

Start from the last round price, recent secondary prints where they exist, and the structure you hold (preferred and common price differently). A real indication comes from taking the position to buyers, which is what a desk does. Do not pay anyone for a "valuation" as a precondition to selling.

Is there a minimum size?

There is no fee to ask the desk at any size. Larger blocks get more routes (direct, SPV, forward); smaller positions depend more on the company’s process and sometimes fit inside a structure alongside others.

For shareholders, employees, founders and angels

How to sell private company shares

There are five real routes to liquidity, and the right one depends on your company’s transfer rules more than on you. Here is each route honestly, what the company controls, and what to check before you choose a broker — including us.

The routes

A company tender or buyback: The cleanest route when it is open: the company or a sponsor it invites buys shares at a set price, paperwork handled. The limits are the company’s: windows are infrequent, the price is not negotiated, and size is usually capped per holder. If a tender is open, understand it before doing anything else.
A secondary broker: A broker finds the buyer, negotiates price, and runs the company process — ROFR, approvals, structure — on your behalf. Most useful when the position is meaningful, the company’s transfer rules are real, or you want a negotiated price rather than a posted one. The broker is paid a fee at close.
A marketplace or platform: You list, buyers browse, the platform standardizes the paperwork. Works best in widely traded names with active bid lists. You run your own process and price discovery, and the company’s transfer rules still apply — a listing is not a sale.
A forward or a liquidity advance: Cash now against shares delivered at a permitted transfer event. Useful when direct transfer is blocked entirely, but the discount reflects the risk the buyer takes on, and some companies treat forwards as transfers. Read that contract against the company’s documents before signing.
Waiting for the IPO: Free, and sometimes right. The costs are time, concentration, and the lockup — typically about six months after listing before you can sell. A partial sale now against the rest at listing is a common middle path.

What actually controls the sale: the company

Almost every private company’s documents restrict transfer: a right of first refusal, board approval, sometimes a flat prohibition outside company-run windows. Whatever route you pick, the trade happens on the company’s terms. This is why a serious process starts with transferability — what can move, by what mechanism — and only then talks price. A quoted price on shares that cannot transfer is not a price.

How to choose a secondary broker

Verify the people on BrokerCheck: Every registered representative and broker-dealer has a CRD number on FINRA BrokerCheck — licenses, history, disclosures. A secondaries firm that cannot point you to its CRDs is telling you something. Ours are on the about page.
Ask who the buyers are: The useful question is not "can you sell it" but "who buys from you, and how many hands does the trade pass through." Every intermediary between you and the buyer adds fee and leak risk. Principal to principal is the standard to ask for.
Get the fee in writing: A secondary brokerage fee is a percentage of the trade, paid at close. Before you commit, you should know the number for your file, who pays it, and that there is nothing up front. Walk away from retainers.
Ask when you are named: You should not be named to any buyer until you agree to proceed. Ask directly: "at what point does my name attach to this?"
Ask what happens on a ROFR: If the company exercises its right of first refusal, it buys at the price your buyer negotiated — the sale still closes at that price. A desk that treats a ROFR exercise as a failure has not run many of these.

What this desk does

Premier Alternatives is an independent secondary brokerage, founded in 2017. You tell the desk the company, what you hold and roughly how much; we confirm transferability, take the position to our buyer network without your name on it, and come back with an indicative range, usually within one business day. Securities transactions are effected through FINRA-registered broker-dealers; both representatives and both firms are on BrokerCheck, with CRD numbers on the about page. There is no fee to ask, nothing up front, and the fee on a brokered block is quoted on the file in writing before you commit.

Selling a larger block as a sponsor, GP or fund? That process is its own page.

Common questions

Can I sell unexercised options?: Usually not directly — options are personal and do not transfer. Common solutions are exercising at close with the proceeds, or a forward structure, depending on the company. Exercised shares and RSUs that have settled into shares can trade where the company permits transfer.
Will the company find out I am selling?: Eventually, yes — almost every private company transfer needs the company to act (approve, waive a ROFR, update the ledger). What a careful process controls is when and to whom you are named: not to buyers until you agree to proceed.
What does a secondary broker cost?: A percentage of the trade, paid at close, quoted in writing for your specific file. There should be no fee to ask and nothing up front.
How long does a sale take?: An indicative price range usually takes a business day. The close commonly runs several weeks to a couple of months, set mostly by the company’s approval process, not the negotiation.
What is my position worth?: Start from the last round price, recent secondary prints where they exist, and the structure you hold (preferred and common price differently). A real indication comes from taking the position to buyers, which is what a desk does. Do not pay anyone for a "valuation" as a precondition to selling.
Is there a minimum size?: There is no fee to ask the desk at any size. Larger blocks get more routes (direct, SPV, forward); smaller positions depend more on the company’s process and sometimes fit inside a structure alongside others.

None of this is tax or legal advice; a sale of private shares usually deserves an hour with your tax adviser before it closes.

Sell a position Talk to the desk first

Two minutes, no account. You are not named to any buyer until you agree to proceed.