“No Sale, No Fee” Estate Agents – Are They Worth It?

Yup, Online Estate Agents are continuing to gather momentum – and to the utter disappointment of most high-street agents – it doesn’t seem like they’ll die a painful death anytime soon.

So, for now, we still have the luxury of choosing between ‘traditional’ and ‘digital’, or ‘cheaper’ and ‘expensive’ – depending on how you look at it – when selling our home.

Both methods have their own set of pros of cons, which you’re probably already familiar with. One of the major criticisms of the online model is that we have to pay a fee- usually upfront- regardless of whether we sell our property or not. Meanwhile, traditional high-street agents only charge a fee, a substantially greater fee in comparison, once the property has been sold.

For all intents and purposes, that’s a pretty good reason not to use an online agent, even if they are considerably cheaper.

High-street agents 1, Online estate agents 0!

In the spirit of keeping the fight alive, many of the online agents have started to swing their arms a little more aggressively in an attempt to even up the score. Yup, they’ve started offering ‘No sale, no fee’ packages, which means sellers don’t need to pay upfront fees until a sale is achieved.

High-street agents 1, Online estate agents 1!

List of recommended ‘No Sale, No Fee’ Online Estate Agents

No Sale, No Fee Online Estate Agent Packages

Estate Agent	Rating	Duration	Includes / Notes	Price
PurpleBricks	Rating 3.7 TrustPilot Reviews	Duration 6 months	Includes / Notes Free package Key features Zoopla listing Negotiation For sale sign In-person valuation No sale, no fee 13 weeks Sole Agency contract App - manage viewings, offers & communication with buyers *YES, Purplebricks now offer a 100% free house-selling service, no strings attached.	Price Free *Free	Visit WebsiteBook Free In-Person Valuation
Griffin Property Co	Rating 4.4 TrustPilot Reviews	Duration 12 months*	Includes / Notes Pay on Completion package Key features Rightmove listing Zoopla listing OnTheMarket listing No sale, no fee *term of 12 months or until the sale has exchanged, whichever is the sooner. Should the Property sale fall through for any reason, Griffin Property Co will remarket the Property without charging any further fees for a period of 12 months from the initial listing.	Price£595 Inc VAT	Visit Website
99Home	Rating 4.8 TrustPilot Reviews	Duration 3 months	Includes / Notes NSNF-Bronze package Key features Rightmove listing Zoopla listing OnTheMarket listing Negotiation No sale, no fee 12 weeks Sole Agency contract	Price Discount available £949.05 Inc VAT (Normal price: £999)	Visit Website5% Discount Code: HomeCPIP5
Yopa	Rating 4.5 TrustPilot Reviews	Duration 12 Months	Includes / Notes No Sale, No Fee package Key features Rightmove listing Zoopla listing Photograghs Floorplan Negotiation For sale sign In-person valuation No sale, no fee 16 weeks Sole Agency contract *Yopa don't disclose the price for this package, they state "ask your agent for details, as prices vary." But bear in mind the base price for their service is £999.	Price*On Request	Visit WebsiteBook Free In-Person Valuation

The Elephant in the room – Purplebricks free service!

After Purplebricks got acquired by rival online estate agent Strike (and merging both companies into one, operating solely under Purplebricks.co.uk), they’ve been offering their core house selling service for absolutely free. And yes, the offer does indeed stick out like a sore thumb, and for good reason. They break the “No Fee, No Sale” mould by offering a “No Fee, No Fee” deal instead.

I’ve already covered Purplebricks free service in depth, so to cut a long story short, I will say that their offer is legit, there’s no catch!.

Purplebricks free house-selling service is open for business – you can get started by booking a free in-person valuation with one of their local agents.

THE CATCH with using most “No Sale, No Fee” online estate agent…

With the exception of Purplebricks freskish free service, there does seem to be a catch when it comes to using “No Sale, No Fee” online estate agents!

That is, they come at a premium – for the privilege of paying on completion (i.e. when your property is sold), and that means you can find the exact same packages (with identical features) for a lot less!

Here’s what the same packages offered by the same agents charge when you pay upfront…

Estate Agent	Rating	Duration	Includes / Notes	Price
Griffin Property Co	Rating 4.4 TrustPilot Reviews	Duration 12 months*	Includes / Notes Sell Your Property package Key features Rightmove listing Zoopla listing OnTheMarket listing *Rightmove listing is included for the first month, but after that there is an optional renewable listing for £50pcm. So if you end up advertising for 12 months on Rightmove, that's an additional £550 (£245 + £550 = £795).	Price£245 Inc VAT	Visit Website
99Home	Rating 4.8 TrustPilot Reviews	Duration 3 months	Includes / Notes Combo package Key features Rightmove listing Zoopla listing OnTheMarket listing Photograghs Floorplan Negotiation For sale sign	Price Discount available £569 Inc VAT (Normal price: £599)	Visit Website5% Discount Code: HomeCPIP5
Yopa	Rating 4.5 TrustPilot Reviews	Duration 12 months	Includes / Notes Core package Key features Rightmove listing Zoopla listing Photograghs Floorplan Negotiation For sale sign In-person valuation 16 weeks Sole Agency contract *Selling fee of £1,499 in a few specific London postcodes.	Price*£999 Inc VAT	Visit WebsiteBook Free In-Person Valuation

My very initial thoughts? It’s terribly appealing to only pay a fee if a sale is achieved, even if it costs a little extra. I can see why people would, and do, opt for the eye-candy.

But then.

I actually thought about the situation for more than 10 seconds, and I realised… that’s all it is, eye-candy! While I wouldn’t discourage anyone from opting for a “No Sale, No Fee” package, I have to say that it rubs my tits the wrong way that these agents are charging a whole lot more for a package without actually adding a single iota of extra value.

You seem to get the same bang for your buck in terms of service, despite paying a shitload more.

Nope, not even an insulting novelty fun size toy that’s worth pennies to help absorb the blow. Of course, a shitty toy imported from China wouldn’t make me feel any better, but at least they’d be trying. As it stands, you’re literally having to agree to paying nearly DOUBLE if a sale is achieved. Seems like daylight robbery to me.

From the business perspective, I get it. However, from the consumer perspective, it’s bullshit, and I don’t give a crap about the business perspective.

Aren’t they simply saying, “Pay us extra for doing our job, or pay us less in case we don’t do our job”?

Should you opt for a ‘No sale, no fee’ package?

Once again, I must stress that Purplebricks free service is the exception here. So if their service seems right for you, it’s a no-brainer, otherwise…

If you only want to pay a service charge to an agent when you actually sell your property and you don’t mind being temporary locked into a “sole agency contract” (which almost all high-street agents will lock you into), then absolutely, go for it. You have nothing to lose.

However, my only word of caution is to be wary; do the maths first, because in some cases, depending on the value of the property and which online agent you choose, it can actually be cheaper to use a high-street agent, who provide a ‘No Sale, No Fee’ model as standard.

Traditional high street estate agent fees drastically vary, typically between 1% – 3%, some even charge less.

The whole point of using an online agent is to save considerably on fees, so if you’re not doing that, you may want to reconsider your plan of action.

List of online estate agents

If you’re interested, here’s a more complete list of online estate agents, which allow for better comparisons.