What sellers are actually paying commission for
Marketing, negotiation, process and risk sit in the same percentage. Unbundle them and the argument changes.
Ask a seller what they paid for and many will say “the agent”. Ask what that included and the list gets long: a price opinion, photography, portal fees, copy, open homes, phone tag, an offer process, and someone to blame if it goes slowly.
Some of those items have a clear market price. Portal placement is invoiced. Photography is quoted. A Saturday roster is labour. Negotiation is harder to meter — which is why it is convenient to leave it inside a percentage of the sale.
Agentless models tend to itemise. Traditional agency tends to bundle. Neither is automatically cheaper once you add time, mistakes and a bad price. The useful public conversation is which line items still belong together.
