SBA loans for electronic shopping and mail-order houses

7,201 SBA 7(a) loans since 2010. What they were for, how big, how long, and how often they went wrong.

Loans made

7,201

2010 onward

Typical loan

$100k

median approved

Typical term

8 yr

Default rate

8.3%

all industries 5.7%

How this industry compares

defaulted within 7 years

Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses

8.3%

Typical industry

5.3%

All industries

5.7%

Default rate is not a judgement on the industry. It tells you how a lender will price your risk, and how much cushion you should build in.

When borrowers got into trouble

share of failures by year

Year 1

Year 2

10%

Year 3

14%

Year 4

21%

Year 5

17%

Year 6+

36%

Trouble rarely arrives in year one. It arrives when the opening cash is gone — which is an argument for borrowing more working capital, not less.

What this means for your application

A typical loan here runs $100k over 8 years. If you are asking for far more than that, expect harder questions and a longer file. If far less, check which lenders will even take it — many won't go below $150,000.

Find lenders by smallest loan → Check the numbers work →

Source SBA 7(a) FOIA, NAICS 454 Released 2026-06-30 Loans 7,201

SBA 504 lending in Other Direct Selling Establishments

504 FOIA record

Where a 7(a) loan covers working capital and general use, the 504 program funds the owner-occupied property and heavy equipment side — a bank first mortgage plus a fixed-rate second through a Certified Development Company. Here is the 504 record for other direct selling establishments.

504 loans since 2010

661

$537.0M in SBA seconds

Median project

$1.1M

bank first + 504 second

Default rate

4.3%

all 504 5.0%