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Traditionally, it was a common practice for sellers to pay commissions for both their agents and their buyers’ agents. The traditional was a shared commission model, up until the changes resulting from an antitrust litigation, commissions payable to real estate agents in the purchase and sale of property (generally between 5% and 6%) were paid by the seller and split between the seller’s agent and the buyer’s agent, and that amount came from the sales proceeds paid to the seller.¹ Under the new rule followed by brokerages and real estate agents, commissions paid to the seller’s agent are no longer allowed to be split. Listing agreements must now specify the amount the seller will pay to the listing agent and the amount, if any, that the seller will pay to a buyer’s agent. Therefore, the seller has options – they could offer the same commission to both sides, unequal amounts, or the seller could opt to exclude any commission for the buyer’s agent. Sellers’ agents don’t advertise offers for sharing commission directly.²

Photo Credit: A flowchart showing how fees were paid throughout the real estate transaction. G2.com. Izabelle Hundrev, How Real Estate Commission Works: Who Pays What? G2 For Business (June 25, 2019). Accessed June 3, 2025, https://www.g2.com/articles/real-estate-commission

¹ Rebecca Blacker, Making Sense of the Changes to Real Estate Commissions,, U.S. News & World Report (March 4, 2025) accessed June 3, 2025, https://realestate.usnews.com/real-estate/pocket-listing/articles/making-sense-of-the-changes-to-real-estate-commissions

² Aly J. Yale, How Do Real Estate Commissions Work, U.S. News & World Report (February 6, 2025) accessed June 3, 2025 https://realestate.usnews.com/real-estate/articles/how-do-real-estate-commissions-work