Online vs high street estate agents: when you pay and what you get
What separates the two models is when the fee becomes payable, whether it is owed without a sale, and who does the viewings and the negotiating.
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The short answer
Online vs high-street estate agents differ mainly in when you pay. Online agents usually charge a fixed fee, paid upfront or deferred, which may be owed without a sale. High-street agents usually charge a percentage, paid only on a sale.4 Purplebricks publishes £999 including VAT for homes up to £200,000,1 against £2,600 at Rightmove's 2025 average of 1.3%.5
The line between online and high street estate agents is looser than the names suggest. Some online agents use local staff for appraisals, and some high-street firms offer fixed fees, so go by the contract rather than the name. Fee levels are covered in more detail in estate agent fees explained. Letting services are left out.
The difference between online and high-street estate agents
The main difference between online and high-street estate agents is the payment trigger, the event that makes the fee due. The trigger decides whether the fee is owed if the home does not sell.4
When the fee is paid, and who carries the risk
In law, online and high-street agents are the same kind of business. Both must give you their fee terms in writing before you commit. Both must use the prescribed meanings if their contract says sole agency or sole selling rights.78 Between them sits a third model, networks of self-employed agents such as eXp UK. eXp UK describes every agent as self-employed and publishes no selling fee on its homepage.9
If you cannot be at home for viewings, price the online option with someone else hosting them, because that is the version you would be buying. On Purplebricks’ published package that adds £499, taking a £999 fee to £1,498 on a £200,000 home, which is still less than a 1.3 per cent fee on the same price.
Haroon Ali Author, The House Desk. Over 11 years in property and renovation When you pay: upfront, deferred or on completion
An agent's fee is paid upfront, on a deferred date or on completion, and the same headline figure carries a different risk under each. Find the payment trigger before you look at price.
| Trigger | Example from published terms | If the home does not sell |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront | Purplebricks pay now: £833 plus VAT, £999.60 at 20%, homes up to £200,0001 | Paid already. Check the terms for any refund |
| Deferred | Purplebricks pay later: £999, nothing upfront, pay in 10 months, allocated conveyancer required1 | The price page does not say. Read the agreement you are given |
| On exchange or completion | Typical percentage agent, paid from proceeds on completion4 | Usually nothing, subject to withdrawal fees and the agency type |
What is included: viewings, negotiation and sales progression
Viewings are the clearest service difference to check. Purplebricks' package includes photography, a floorplan, portal listings, a board, offers and sales progression, but charges £499 for assisted viewings.1 Its 28 May 2026 agreement adds a sales consultant, offer negotiation and progression to completion.3 Whichever agent you talk to, ask who hosts viewings and whether that is in the fee.
| Service | Purplebricks, published package | What to ask any other agent |
|---|---|---|
| Appraisal visit | Included1 | Who visits, and are they the person who will sell it? |
| Photography and floorplan | Included1 | Included, or charged? |
| Portal listings | Rightmove, Zoopla, OnTheMarket1 | Which portals, and for how long? |
| Hosted viewings | Add-on, £4991 | Who hosts, and on which days? |
| Negotiating offers | Included3 | Who negotiates, and do they check a buyer's funding? |
| Sales progression | Included1 | Who chases the chain after the sale is agreed? |
Are online estate agents cheaper?
On published prices, an online agent's fixed fee usually costs less than a percentage when the home sells. On a £200,000 home, Purplebricks' £999 is below any percentage in the published ranges, including the £2,600 a 1.3% fee would come to. Paid viewings narrow the gap.
Worked cost on a £200,000 sale, prices read 22 September 2026
These are The House Desk's sums. Rightmove describes its 1.3% for 2025 as including VAT. Purplebricks' comparison uses 1.3% plus VAT, which is why its high-street figure is higher.2 The 1.42% figure comes from TheAdvisory's 2018 survey of 2,137 sellers.6
What each option costs on a £200,000 sale
- Purplebricks, pay laterfixed fee £999 1
- Pay later with assisted viewings£999 plus £499 £1,498 1
- Percentage agent at 1.3%including VAT £2,600 5
- Percentage agent at 1.42%including VAT, 2018 survey £2,840 6
- Purplebricks’ own comparison1.3% plus VAT £3,120 2
None of these figures tells you the sale price each model achieves. We found no source with a published method that measures it, so we do not claim either model achieves more.
Pay later: is it a credit agreement?
A deferred agent fee can be a form of credit. Whether it is regulated credit depends on how it is set up. UK law exempts some interest-free agreements, subject to conditions.12
A single payment 10 months later may fall inside that kind of exemption. It depends on who provides it and on what terms.12
Purplebricks' current pages did not show us whether pay later involves a separate credit agreement or provider. Before you sign anything with a finance company, check who it is, when payment is due, and whether it is due if you withdraw or do not sell. A contract signed online can be cancelled within 14 days.13
Two online firms have profiles of their own, with their owners, their contracts in full and their public records: our Purplebricks profile and our Yopa profile.
Free and no-fee online estate agents
A free or no-fee online estate agent still has to be paid, so find out how. Agents can earn from referring you to conveyancers, brokers and other services. Sold.co.uk's homepage says selling is free and does not publish its fees or how it is paid.10 National Trading Standards guidance says agents should disclose in writing any referral arrangement, who with, and the amount.11 Watch for a free listing tied to a required conveyancer. If that conveyancer costs more than one you would choose, the listing has a price after all. What conveyancers publish, and what is in their bill, is in solicitor fees when selling.
Are online estate agents any good?
Online estate agents are the better buy for some sales and the worse one for others. Neither model is cheaper in every outcome. A fixed fee buys a known cost. A percentage moves the risk of no sale, and the viewings and negotiating, onto the agent.
Whichever model you choose, read the agency type and the tie-in, and ask whether a conveyancer is required. A 16-week minimum sole agency, as in one published agreement, limits when you can change agent.3
Fixed fee or percentage?
- Could you afford a fee for a sale that does not happen?
- Yes Can you host viewings and negotiate yourself?
- Yes Is the home in demand?
- Yes Lean towards a fixed fee If the fee is small against a percentage at your price. Read the contract for tie-in, agency type and any required conveyancer.
- No Lean towards a percentage The sale may be slow, and the agent carries the risk of no sale.
- No Lean towards a percentage The agent handles viewings and negotiation. What is included
- No Lean towards a percentage On no sale, no fee terms the agent carries the risk of no sale. Total cost, worked
Published prices can point to the cheapest online estate agent only in part, and cannot say which is the best online estate agent at all. Cheapest means the lowest total at your payment trigger. Take the fixed fee with VAT, add anything you would need on top, such as hosted viewings, and check whether the fee is still owed if the home does not sell.14 Best would also have to cover the price achieved and the service given, which no source we found measures by model, so we do not name one.
An online agent covers the whole country from one website, so looking for online estate agents near me is really a question about people. Ask who visits to appraise and who hosts viewings. A high-street agent is local by definition, and how to choose one is on the estate agents guide.
Put both kinds of quote through the estate agent fees calculator to see them on your own price.
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Sources
(13)
Numbers in the text link to these. Each was read on the date shown. How we research
- Our packages
- Purplebricks homepage
- Service Agreement (version dated 28 May 2026)
- Estate agent fees for selling your house
- How much are estate agent fees and how do they work?
- Estate Agent Fees: The Definitive Guide
- Estate Agents Act 1979, section 18: information to clients of estate agents
- Estate Agents (Provision of Information) Regulations 1991, Schedule: explanation of certain terms
- Local Estate Agents, eXp UK
- Sold.co.uk homepage
- NTSELAT referral fees guidance
- Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001, article 60F: exempt agreements
- Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulations 29 to 34: right to cancel