Website Closers pricing, read firsthand August 2026

Website Closers fees: the commission structures they name, what they will not publish, and what each one costs

Website Closers does not publish a commission rate, a rate card, or a fee schedule anywhere on its site. What it does publish is the shape of the deal. Their seller FAQ, read in August 2026, states: "We operate on a 100% success-based model, meaning we only get paid when your deal closes." No upfront fees, no retainers, and fees they describe as tailored to your deal size and structure. Elsewhere their site names the specific structures they may use, including a flat fee, Straight Lehman, reverse Lehman and other variations. That is more disclosure than most brokers give, and still not a number you can budget against.

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There is one more source worth reading, because it is theirs. Website Closers publishes a resources article on M&A commission structures which states that a success fee typically ranges from 5% to 10%, that deals under $100 million sit in that 5% to 10% band, that a $5 million sale "might include a 6% fee", and that a $50 million sale "may only involve a 2%-3% fee". Those are their words about the market, not a quote for your business, and we are not treating them as one. The tables below take the structures they name, work out what each costs in dollars across ten sale prices, and set them against the three venues that do publish rates. Buyouts is a competing marketplace, so weigh the comparison accordingly.

Pure success fee with no retainer, but no published rate. The structures they name range from a flat fee to Straight Lehman, and the gap between those two can run into six figures on the same sale.

Every named structure, worked out in dollars

What each fee structure Website Closers names actually costs, at ten sale prices

Website Closers names flat-fee and Lehman-style structures without publishing which applies to you. These are the standard formulas computed across ten deal sizes so you can see the spread before you sign anything. Straight Lehman is 5% of the first $1M, 4% of the second, 3% of the third, 2% of the fourth and 1% above $4M. Double Lehman doubles each tier.

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Sale price	Straight Lehman	Effective rate	Double Lehman	Effective rate	Flat 10%	Gap, cheapest to dearest
$250,000	$12,500	5.0%	$25,000	10.0%	$25,000	$12,500
$500,000	$25,000	5.0%	$50,000	10.0%	$50,000	$25,000
$1,000,000	$50,000	5.0%	$100,000	10.0%	$100,000	$50,000
$1,500,000	$70,000	4.7%	$140,000	9.3%	$150,000	$80,000
$2,000,000	$90,000	4.5%	$180,000	9.0%	$200,000	$110,000
$3,000,000	$120,000	4.0%	$240,000	8.0%	$300,000	$180,000
$5,000,000	$150,000	3.0%	$300,000	6.0%	$500,000	$350,000
$10,000,000	$200,000	2.0%	$400,000	4.0%	$1,000,000	$800,000
$25,000,000	$350,000	1.4%	$700,000	2.8%	$2,500,000	$2,150,000
$50,000,000	$600,000	1.2%	$1,200,000	2.4%	$5,000,000	$4,400,000

The Lehman and Double Lehman formulas are long-standing industry standards, not Website Closers rates, and we are not claiming otherwise: Website Closers publishes no rate. The math is ours. The flat 10% column is shown because it is the common headline rate on small online-business deals and it is the expensive end of the range. Figures exclude legal fees, escrow and tax. Read in August 2026. Get any structure in writing, with worked examples at your expected sale price, before signing an engagement letter.

Side by side

What a $2,000,000 SaaS sale costs, where the rate is actually published

A fair look at what each does well. Both are useful. Here is where they differ.

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Feature	Buyouts	Website Closers	Empire Flippers
Commission rate published?	Yes. 5%, 4% or 3% by listing tier, on the pricing page	No. No rate card anywhere on their site	Yes. Full tiered schedule published openly
Fee at close on a $2M sale	3% on the $1,500 tier, so $60,000	Not published. Their own article cites a 5% to 10% market range, so $100,000 to $200,000	15% to $700k then 8%, so $209,000
Total seller cost on a $2M sale	About $61,500 including the listing tier	Unknown until they quote you	About $209,000, no listing fee
Upfront or listing fee	$149, $499 or $1,500 one-off by tier	None. They state no upfront fees and no retainers	None
Cost if it never sells	The listing tier fee only	Nothing. Pure success fee	Nothing
Fee structures used	One published percentage per tier	Flat fee, Straight Lehman, reverse Lehman and other variations by deal	A single published tiered schedule for everyone
Minimum commission floor	None	Not published	$10,000 flat below $66,666.66
Typical deal size served	AI SaaS at any size, self-serve	$1M to $1B, case studies $4M to $85M	Small to mid, up to $5M and above
Exclusivity required	None. List where you like	Not published	2-month exclusivity
Regulated entity	Marketplace, not a licensed brokerage	Six active Florida licenses, BBB A+ accredited since 11/25/2025	Not a licensed brokerage
What the platform verifies	MRR, ARR, growth and churn verified before listing	Full-service broker diligence and packaging	Vets and verifies seller financials
Who it suits	AI SaaS founders who want a published rate and no broker	Sellers above $1M who want a licensed broker and will negotiate	Sellers who want a known rate and a large buyer pool

Comparison reflects general, publicly understood positioning. Capabilities change, so check each marketplace for the latest. Trademarks belong to their owners.

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No published rate is a negotiating position, not a red flag

Plenty of legitimate M&A firms quote per deal, and Website Closers holds six active Florida licenses and a BBB A+ accreditation, so the absence of a rate card is not evidence of anything shady. It does mean the number is set in a conversation rather than read off a page. That cuts both ways. You cannot compare them against a marketplace before you talk to them, and you also have room to negotiate that a published-rate platform will never give you. Ask for the structure, the percentage, the minimum fee and a worked example at your expected price, all in writing.

The structure matters more than the percentage

On a $5,000,000 sale, Straight Lehman costs $150,000 and a flat 10% costs $500,000. Same broker, same sale, $350,000 apart, purely because of which formula the engagement letter names. Website Closers says it uses flat fees, Straight Lehman, reverse Lehman and other variations depending on deal size, so which one lands in your contract is the single most expensive detail in it. Read the formula before you read the rate, and make sure the tiers and the threshold above which the lowest percentage applies are written out.

Watch for the minimum fee and the tail

Two clauses do most of the damage in broker agreements and neither is a headline percentage. A minimum success fee overrides the formula: if the schedule computes $40,000 but the floor is $75,000, you pay $75,000. A tail clause keeps the fee payable if you sell to an introduced buyer after the agreement ends, sometimes for twelve to twenty-four months. Website Closers publishes neither term, which is one more reason to get the whole engagement letter reviewed rather than just the rate.

Good questions

Website Closers vs Buyouts, answered

They do not publish a rate. Website Closers states it works on a 100% success-based model with no upfront fees and no retainers, and that fees are tailored to deal size and structure. Their own resources article puts typical M&A success fees at 5% to 10% for deals under $100 million, but that is market commentary, not a quote for your business.

Unpublished. No percentage appears anywhere on their site as of August 2026. They name the structures they may use, including a flat fee, Straight Lehman and reverse Lehman, without attaching numbers to any of them. You will only learn your rate by asking them directly, which also means you can negotiate it.

No. Their seller FAQ states plainly that they operate on a 100% success-based model and only get paid when your deal closes, with no upfront fees or retainers. If the business never sells, you owe nothing. That is a genuine advantage over marketplaces that bill a listing fee whether or not a sale happens.

A tiered commission scale used across M&A. Straight Lehman charges 5% of the first $1 million of sale price, 4% of the second, 3% of the third, 2% of the fourth and 1% of everything above $4 million. It was designed so the rate falls as the deal grows. On a $2 million sale it produces $90,000, an effective 4.5%.

Straight Lehman with every tier doubled: 10% of the first $1 million, 8% of the second, 6% of the third, 4% of the fourth and 2% above $4 million. It is now the common default on lower-middle-market deals between roughly $1 million and $10 million. On a $2 million sale it produces $180,000 against $90,000 for Straight Lehman.

A scale that runs the other way, with the percentage rising rather than falling as the price climbs, so the broker earns more by pushing the price higher. Website Closers names it as one structure it uses. The term is used inconsistently across the industry, so do not assume you know what it means in a given contract. Ask for the exact tiers in writing.

Most small online-business deals land between 8% and 12%, and the flat 10% success fee is the common headline rate. Larger deals move onto Lehman-style scales where the effective rate drops with size. Website Closers own article cites 5% to 10% for deals under $100 million and 2% to 3% around $50 million.

Lehman, at almost every size above the first million. They tie at $1 million, where both Double Lehman and a flat 10% produce $100,000. Above that the scales pull apart fast: at $5 million a flat 10% costs $500,000, Double Lehman $300,000 and Straight Lehman $150,000. Below $1 million a flat rate and Double Lehman are identical.

A floor the broker collects regardless of what the percentage formula produces. If your schedule computes $40,000 but the engagement letter sets a $75,000 minimum, you pay $75,000. Almost every sell-side agreement contains one. Website Closers does not publish theirs, so ask for the figure before you sign rather than after.

Their site describes transactions from $1 million to $1 billion, with case studies in the $4 million to $85 million range. They do not state a hard floor, but the marketing is aimed well above the small end. A SaaS business selling for $50,000 to $300,000 is not their target, and a marketplace will usually be the cheaper route at that size.

Impossible to answer with certainty, because only one of them publishes a rate. Empire Flippers charges 15% to $700,000 then 8%, which is $209,000 on a $2 million sale. If Website Closers quotes anywhere inside the 5% to 10% range their own article cites, they come in between $100,000 and $200,000 and are cheaper. Get the quote before assuming.

Almost certainly, because there is no rate card to point at. Brokers who quote per deal expect a conversation. The levers worth pushing are the formula itself, the minimum fee, the length of the tail clause and the exclusivity period. A clean, well-documented business with verified financials gives you the most leverage.

No. Their FAQ states there are no upfront fees or retainers. That distinguishes them from many mid-market M&A advisors, who commonly bill a monthly retainer during the engagement and credit it against the success fee at close. With Website Closers the entire cost sits at closing.

The statements quoted here were read on websiteclosers.com in August 2026, including their seller FAQ and their resources article on M&A commission structures. The Lehman calculations are ours, applied to the standard formulas, not rates quoted by Website Closers. Brokers change terms, so confirm everything in your engagement letter.

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