Commission is the headline number in a listing agreement and rarely the number that decides your cost. Of the US firms read at their own pages for the record on this site, three print a rate and five do not, and where the price is small a minimum fee governs instead.
Get quotes to sell my business
What is actually published
The published figures run from 5% to 15% of the sale price. Flippa's success fees start from 5%. Acquire.com prints three bands: 8% below a $250,000 asking price, 7% to $1m and 6% above. Empire Flippers prints a ladder from 15% up to $700,000, falling above that. All three sell online businesses; the main street firms print nothing.
Why the minimum governs
A firm quoting 10% with a minimum of twenty five thousand dollars charges 10% only above two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Below that the minimum decides, and on a small business it can be a quarter of the price. Ask for it in writing at the first meeting, because it is the number that sets your effective rate.
The other terms
Whether marketing charges are extra and payable regardless of outcome. Whether the commission is calculated on the price or on total consideration including assumed debt. Whether deferred amounts are fee bearing at closing or on receipt. And the tail, limited to buyers actually introduced and named in writing when the agreement ends.
Questions people ask about business broker commission
Is commission negotiable?
The minimum and the tail more often than the rate. Those are also the terms that matter most to a seller at the smaller end.
Do I pay if the sale falls through?
Not usually the commission, which is contingent on closing. Marketing charges and any retainer are not refunded, and a tail can still apply later.
Why do so few firms publish?
Because rates are negotiated per mandate and firms prefer not to anchor. The consequence is that comparison means asking three in writing.
What is the difference between brokerage fee and commission?
In this trade they are usually the same thing said two ways, a percentage of the sale price payable on completion. What differs between firms is the minimum fee, whether marketing charges are extra, and whether the percentage is taken on the price or on total consideration including assumed debt.