Business Broker Fees: What Sellers Pay in 2026

Typical fees by deal size

On a Main Street business, meaning one that sells for under about $1 million, the success fee is most often around 10%, and the range you'll see quoted is 8% to 15%. Most of these brokers also set a minimum fee, usually $10,000 to $25,000, so on a small sale the minimum ends up being what you pay.

Once the price gets past a few million dollars the percentage drops. Axial's survey data puts the average at a little over 4% on a $10 million deal and around 3% at $20 million. Minimums go up at the same time, commonly $50,000 to $150,000, and higher at firms that only take larger deals.

How the sliding scales work

On deals above $1 million a lot of advisors use a scale where the percentage steps down for each million of the price. The two you'll hear about most are the Lehman formula and the Double Lehman. In Axial's data about half of firms use some version of Lehman, about a third charge one flat percentage, and the rest use a scale that goes up with the price to reward a higher sale.

• Lehman: 5% of the first $1 million, 4% of the second, 3% of the third, 2% of the fourth and 1% of everything above that.

• Double Lehman: the same steps doubled, so 10%, 8%, 6%, 4% and 2%.

Run a $3 million sale through both and the fee lands somewhere between $120,000 and $240,000. At $5 million it's roughly $150,000 to $300,000. That's a $120,000 difference on the same sale, so get the full scale in writing before you sign.

Upfront fees and retainers

Most Main Street brokers don't charge anything upfront, and the ones that do usually ask for $2,000 to $5,000. In the lower middle market it's more common. Axial's 2026 numbers have about 7 in 10 firms charging some upfront fee, mostly a fixed retainer of $5,000 to $50,000 or a monthly retainer of $5,000 to $10,000. In most cases the retainer is credited against the success fee at closing, so ask whether yours is.

Other costs to plan for

• Valuation or appraisal: about $1,000 to $20,000 depending on the size of the business and who does it.

• Your lawyer: often $2,500 to $5,000 on a small deal, and somewhere around 0.5% to 2% of the price on larger ones once accounting is added in.

• Financial statements from a CPA if your books aren't clean: $1,000 to $5,000.

• A virtual data room: $1,000 to $25,000.

• Escrow: usually under 1% of the price, and often split with the buyer.

• If the building sells with the business, a real estate commission of 4% to 6% on the property.

Who pays the fee

The seller pays, out of the proceeds at closing. If the buyer has their own broker, that broker is paid out of the same commission or by the buyer, often a flat $5,000 to $25,000. A few brokers also charge the buyer 1% to 3%, which makes it harder to tell whose side they're on.

What you can negotiate

• The minimum fee.

• How much of any retainer gets credited back at closing.

• The tail period, meaning how long after the agreement ends you still owe a fee if a buyer they brought in closes. 12 months is typical and the range is 6 to 24. You can ask for it to cover only buyers named on a list.

• What counts as the sale price for the fee. Real estate, inventory, working capital, seller notes and earnouts can each be in or out.

• How long the exclusive listing runs. 6 to 12 months is standard, and a 30 day right to cancel is a fair ask.

• A cap on the expenses you can be billed for.

How Business Advisors of America charges

We work on a success fee that's paid when your business sells. If you want a sense of what your business could sell for before you talk fees with anyone, start with a free valuation.

Where these numbers come from

Checked on November 10, 2026: BizBuySell on broker fees and on the cost of selling, BizQuest on broker and M&A fees, Axial and M&A Community on fees by deal size, CT Acquisitions on minimums and buyer fees, and Aaron Hall on tail periods. These are ranges, and any one firm's fee depends on the deal size and how much work the sale takes.