What a secondary broker charges, and how the fee works

The success fee: the only fee that should exist

A secondary broker’s fee is a percentage of the gross proceeds of your sale, owed only if the trade closes, paid at the close, out of the transaction. No retainer, no minimum, no monthly anything. The structure aligns the desk with you: if the shares do not sell, nobody is paid. Market practice for brokered private-share sales runs in the single digits as a percentage of proceeds; where your block lands inside that depends on the factors below. Premier Alternatives quotes its fee for a specific file, in writing, before you commit — never on a page, because the honest number depends on the file.

What moves the number

Four things, mostly. Size — larger blocks carry lower percentages; the work does not scale with the dollars. Liquidity of the name — a company with active secondary demand takes days to price; a thinly traded one takes a real search. Structure — a direct transfer is the base case; an SPV or forward adds engineering. Company process — a cooperative company with clean documents is cheap to close; a restrictive one with a contested ROFR is not. A quote that ignores all four is a number made up to win your signature.

The fee you don’t see: chains of intermediaries

Many private blocks pass through two, three, four brokers before reaching a buyer — each one paid, each payment ultimately priced into your trade as a wider gap between what the buyer pays and what you receive. The visible fee on your agreement can be the smaller part of the real cost. The question that surfaces it: who is the buyer, and how many hands does this pass through? A desk that deals principal to principal — the holder on one side, the buyer on the other — has one fee in the trade, and can say so plainly.

Structure costs are not the fee

When a trade needs a vehicle — an SPV because the company restricts direct transfer, a forward because nothing can move until a permitted event — the structure has its own costs: formation, legal, administration. Some desks absorb them, some pass them through, and a forward usually carries its economics inside the discount rather than as a fee at all. None of this is wrong, but it belongs in one all-in number you can compare across routes. Ask for it that way: net to me, after everything, under each structure.

Warning signs that should end the conversation

A retainer or any upfront fee

A secondary broker is paid for closing, at the close, from the proceeds. An upfront payment buys the broker an income whether or not you ever sell — which tells you where the effort will go. Walk away.

A paid "valuation" as a precondition

A real indication of value comes from taking the position to buyers, which is the broker’s job, not a billable study. Paying for a valuation report before anyone has shown the shares to a buyer is paying for a PDF.

A fee that only exists verbally

The number for your file, who pays it, and what it includes belong in writing before you commit to anything. A desk that resists putting its fee on paper is planning to renegotiate it at the worst possible moment — the week of your close.

Nobody can tell you how many hands are on the trade

Ask directly: "who is the buyer, and how many intermediaries sit between us?" If the answer is vague, assume each link in the chain is paid — out of your price.

And one affirmative check: every registered representative and broker-dealer has a CRD number on FINRA BrokerCheck — licenses, history, disclosures. Ours are on the about page.

Common questions

Who pays the broker’s fee — buyer or seller?

It varies by mandate. On a sell-side engagement the seller commonly pays, from proceeds at close; on buy-side work the buyer may pay; occasionally it is split. What matters is that your file states it in writing before you commit. In chains of intermediaries, both sides often pay without knowing it — through stacked fees and a widened spread.

When is the fee paid?

At close, out of the transaction. If you are asked for anything before close — a retainer, a processing fee, a valuation fee — that is not how brokered secondaries work. There should be no cost to ask, and no cost at all unless the trade closes.

How large is a typical secondary brokerage fee?

Market practice for brokered private-share sales runs in the single digits as a percentage of gross proceeds. Where a given block lands depends on size, how actively the name trades, the structure required, and how much company process is involved. Premier Alternatives quotes its fee for your specific file in writing, by reply — not on a page.

Is the fee negotiable?

The honest answer: the fee reflects the work, and the work varies. A large block in an actively traded name with clean transfer rules is less work than a small common position in a restrictive company that needs a structure. Ask for the number for your file and what it reflects; a serious desk can explain its own quote.

What does an SPV cost, and is that the same as the fee?

No — a special purpose vehicle has setup and administration costs (formation, legal, ongoing filings) separate from any brokerage fee, and they are sometimes passed through to the trade. Before agreeing an SPV structure, ask for the all-in number: fee plus structure costs plus anything recurring.

How does a forward’s pricing compare?

A forward often carries no visible fee at all — the economics sit inside the discount to today’s value, which compensates the buyer for taking settlement risk until a permitted transfer event. Compare a forward’s all-in discount against a brokered sale’s price-minus-fee; the visible fee is frequently the cheaper of the two.

Read next

• The process, step by step — what actually happens between “I want to sell” and the wire.
• The ROFR and company approval — the company’s turn, and why an exercise is still a close.
• Direct transfer, SPV or forward — why structure costs are not the fee, and the all-in number to ask for.
• Selling an LP interest — the fund position: GP consent, NAV pricing, the unfunded commitment.
• Every route to liquidity, compared — tender, broker, marketplace, forward, or wait.