The agency can put any percentage he wants in the mandat, and publish the house in his shop window for the 'inclusive price' that is also on the mandate. If a house is 1 million euros and he decides to take only a decent 1.5%, he can publish the house in his window for 1,015,000 euros. This is the price that is also in the mandat. The buyer is not concerned with the amount of commission, just with the total acquisition price. If you work for an agency, Jane, you should know that it is not the buyer who pays the commission of the agent. The buyer often has no obligation whatsoever to the agent. The seller has signed a 'mandat', so it is the seller who has agreed to pay the commission. The fact that the seller usually makes the buyer fork over the fee, does not change the legal facts. What it comes down to, is that the agents commission deminishes the total negociation 'play' that both buyer and seller enjoy. If the owner wants 100,000 for his house, it will usually be put up for sale for 116,000 (including 6% for the agent plus 10% negocation room). If the buyer has a maximum budget of 100,000, the sale will not be made. Because even after using up the negociation margin, the house will still be 6.000 over budget. The buyer will have to go down to 94,500 (plus 6% makes 100,000) or the buyer must pay more. Without the agent the house would have been put up for 110.000 and after haggling would have been sold for 100,000. Agreed, sometime an agent will lower his fee a little to make the sale happen after all. But whichever way you turn the story, the agent makes the sale more expensive. This is why it is easier to sell without. Of course, if you live in England and you can't go to France to show the house to interested parties, it is handy to use an agent. Or a friend or neighbour for that matter. But this is still no reason to sign an exclusive contract. Just have three keys made an give one to each of the agents of your choice. Let them compete. They might work harder and you still have the liberty to find your own buyer through a 'for sale by owner'-site and save 6%.