Bucket 3 · Independent service, not affiliated with any franchise brand, the FTC, the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, or the Minnesota Department of Commerce.
How do I check a franchise before I buy it?
Start with the brand's Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD), which franchisors must give you at least 14 days before you sign or pay. Compare at least two years of Item 3 (litigation), Item 19 (financial performance, if given) and Item 20 (openings, closures and transfers), then call current and former owners listed in the FDD. This dossier pulls recent FDDs from free state filings, compares those items, adds court records and gives you questions to ask owners.
How it works
- Pay US$99 at checkout, then email us the brand name and, if you have it, the FDD the franchisor sent you.
- We find the brand's recent FDD filings in public state databases such as Wisconsin DFI, California DFPI and Minnesota CARDS.
- We extract Item 3 (litigation), Item 19 (financial performance) and Item 20 (outlet openings, closures and transfers) for each year found.
- We compare the years side by side and flag changes, such as rising closures or a dropped Item 19.
- We search public court records and owner reviews for the franchisor and its parent company.
- We write questions to ask current and former owners, based on what the documents show.
- You receive the dossier by email within 48 hours, with a page citation for every figure.
What you get
- Links to the FDD filings we used, with the state and year of each
- Item 19 summary and year-over-year comparison, or a note that the brand gives no Item 19
- Item 20 table: openings, closures, terminations and transfers by year
- Item 3 litigation summary with case names as stated in the FDD
- Public court record search for the franchisor and its parent company
- Common themes from public owner reviews, quoted with links
- Questions to ask current and former owners
No subscription and no extra fees. Delivered by email within 48 hours of your order. Covers one franchise brand.
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Who it's for
For people seriously considering a specific franchise brand who want the public facts compiled before they sign. It suits buyers who will still talk to owners and their own attorney or accountant, and want a clear starting file.
What it isn't
- Not legal, tax, financial or investment advice, and not a recommendation to buy or avoid a brand.
- Not a review of your franchise agreement by an attorney.
- We do not contact the franchisor or negotiate for you.
- Not useful for brands with no public FDD filing in any state database; we tell you if that is the case.
Sample excerpt
Questions
What is a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD)?
An FDD is the disclosure document that the FTC Franchise Rule requires franchisors to give buyers at least 14 calendar days before signing or paying. It has 23 numbered items covering fees, initial investment, litigation, bankruptcy, outlet counts, financial statements and the franchise agreement. Several states also require franchisors to file it, which makes many FDDs publicly searchable.
Where do you get the FDDs?
From public state databases where franchisors file their FDDs, mainly Wisconsin DFI, California DFPI and Minnesota CARDS. These filings are free to download but often run to hundreds of pages per year. We link every filing we used, so you can check any figure against the page it came from.
Why do Items 3, 19 and 20 matter most?
Item 3 lists litigation involving the franchisor, Item 19 holds any financial performance figures the franchisor chooses to give, and Item 20 shows how many outlets opened, closed, were terminated or changed hands. Compared across years, they show whether the system is growing or shrinking and whether disputes are rising, which a single year cannot show.
What if the brand does not provide Item 19?
Item 19 is optional, and many franchisors leave it out. If so, the dossier says so clearly and gives more weight to Item 20 outlet trends, Item 3 litigation and owner reviews. We also add questions about typical sales and costs to ask current owners, since they are then the main source of earnings information.
Is this investment or legal advice?
No. The dossier reports facts from public documents, each with a citation, and does not say whether you should buy. Bucket 3 is not a law firm or a financial adviser. Before signing, have a franchise attorney review the agreement and an accountant review your numbers, and use the dossier as their starting file.
Which brands can you cover?
Any brand with an FDD filed in a public state database, which includes most franchisors selling in Wisconsin, California or Minnesota. Smaller or newer brands that do not file in those states may have no public FDD. If we cannot find one and you cannot send it, we tell you and you get a full refund.
How fast is delivery?
Within 48 hours of receiving your brand name. Most of that time goes into extracting and comparing Items 3, 19 and 20 across several years of filings and searching court records. If we cannot deliver within 48 hours, you get a full refund under our refund policy, as stated on this page.
Refunds
Full refund if we can't deliver: if we can't produce your pack, or it arrives later than the stated delivery time, you get all your money back. We don't control decisions made by other companies (for example a platform's review team or a card network), so the refund covers our delivery, not their decision.
Contact
Email james@bucket3.ai. We reply within one business day. Bucket 3 sells fixed-price digital packs; see all products, refunds and contact.