do not make any profit from the registration fee; the main purpose of the fee is to increase the likelihood that the client is sincerely committed to the purchase; in case they were not they would lose the registration fee after a certain length of time. The success fee is a percentage of the sale price. Prospect property buyers should know that there are two different arrangements mainly depending on market conditions: In markets where the average selling time of a luxury property is high, buying agents tend to split the fee with the selling agent and therefore the service has no additional cost to the buyer. This happens because the selling agent typically prefers splitting his commission with the buying agent rather than waiting longer to find another buyer and sell the same property. In case the buying agent sources a private deal then they charge up to the selling agent commission (for instance the full 5% in the French Riviera up to 2% in Spain. In very liquid markets (like London or Paris) the buying agent fee is charged on top of the selling agent fee, so the buying agent service comes at an additional cost to the property buyer unless the buying agent is able to find a property that is not sold by an agent. In that case depending on the market buying agents charge an amount up to the selling agent commission (which is generally higher than the buying agent’s fee). Some agents charge a success fee based on the purchase price - this is a fixed percentage. Alternatively other agents charge a fixed amount of money plus a percentage of the saving of the discount to the original asking price. All these conditions are well specified in the contract agreement that the client signs upfront. Buying agents often claim that they can get a higher discount on the sales price than a private buyer could manage because they better know the prices at which similar properties have been recently exchanged in the market and they make use of good negotiating skills. A full set of code of ethics is set out by The Property Ombudsman, which any respected buying agent would be a member of. See also International trade Personal shopper Selling agent Property finder Buyer brokerage References Real estate industry