Estate agent AML and other fees for selling

eddddy

Downthedrain said

We're also taken aback that photography and social media marketing is extra (?) requiring an upfront fee of £360 (minimum, for a basic marketing pack comprising a floor plan and photography with some video).

I've always avoided agents who add extra fees like this - especially if the fee is payable, even if they don't sell the property.

Downthedrain said

there's also an additional cancellation fee on top of £360 to cover their marketing costs.

Do you mean cancellation fee, or do you mean termination / withdrawal fee?

"Cancellation" normally means cancelling the contract during the first 14 days - the statutory "cooling off" period

"Termination" or "withdrawal" means ending the contract (after the minimum contract period) because the estate agent has been unable to find a buyer.

If an estate agent's contract specifies a Termination or Withdrawal fee, I wind up the agent by saying something like "You just told me that you can sell my property for £x. Now your contract is saying that if you're wrong and you can't sell my property for £x, you want me to pay you £360, because you failed to do what you said."