28 September 2026 · 6 min read · Oscar Markham
Justifying your fee when the vendor has three quotes
A vendor sitting with three proposals is looking at three broadly similar services at three slightly different percentages. Unless something in yours explains what the difference buys, they will do the obvious thing. Fee conversations are lost long before the meeting, in the absence of anything that makes the comparison about value.
Never defend the percentage
The moment the conversation is about the number, the cheaper agency has already framed it and you are arguing from behind.
The useful reframe is the amount, not the rate: what a fee difference actually comes to in euro against what a difference in achieved price comes to. Vendors are frequently comparing a modest saving against a much larger variable and have not seen it put that way.
Show achieved against asking
The most persuasive number an agency has is what its listings actually sell for relative to what they were listed at, and how long they take.
Agencies rarely publish this, usually because nobody has ever assembled it. It takes an afternoon with your own records and it is worth more than every adjective on the website.
Say what the marketing actually is
'Full marketing package' means nothing. Professional photography, floor plans, video, which portals, what social advertising, how many hours, who writes the description.
Itemising it does two things: it makes your proposal comprehensible, and it makes a cheaper competing proposal look like what it often is, which is the same list with things missing.
Be explicit about who does the work
Vendors assume the person who valued the house will run the sale. Frequently they will not.
Saying plainly who handles viewings, who negotiates and who they ring on a Tuesday removes a real anxiety and distinguishes you from agencies that leave it vague because the answer is unflattering.
It has to be findable before the meeting
Vendors shortlist before they invite anyone in. If your evidence only exists in the appointment, it does not affect who gets the appointment.
Achieved prices, time to sale, what the marketing includes, who does what — on the website, where somebody comparing three agencies at ten at night can read it. That is the part almost every Irish agency is missing, and it is the part that decides the shortlist.
Written by Oscar Markham, founder of Dublin Growth Digital. We run lead generation for Irish estate agents and trades, reported every Friday in enquiries and booked work.