What's actually different about buying a business through a receiver instead of from the owner directly?

The biggest difference is what you're relying on for protection. Buying from an owner directly, you can negotiate representations, warranties, and indemnities the way you would in any ordinary business purchase and sale, and the owner remains personally involved and accountable for what they've told you. Buying through a receiver, the sale is generally made on an "as-is, where-is" basis, with little or no representations or warranties from the receiver about the condition of the assets or the business's history — the receiver is selling to maximize recovery for creditors, not standing behind the business the way an ordinary owner-seller would.

In exchange for that reduced protection, a receivership sale often comes with a process advantage an ordinary purchase doesn't offer: the possibility of a court-approved sale with a vesting order, which can convey the assets to you free and clear of many prior claims. The owner also typically loses control once a receiver is appointed, so you're negotiating with, and relying on, the receiver rather than the person who actually built the business.