I've sold houses and businesses in UK, and when an agent takes on your property or business, their advert in a trade magazine / /paper would always attract the sharks.

That is they would phone you up enquiring as to its' availability and offer you the best service in the world to help yu sell. No problem with that, it can be handled.

However here in Thailand, the selling business is not handled so professionally, and my concern is the ease with which a buyer can con the seller out of paying the 3% commission to an undeserving bystander.

In other words , if I shove a For Sale sign on my land, then some idle layabout can gather up some interested parties who may buy, and then he is entitled to a 3% payout. ( on completion of course )

What's the trick to stop paying this 3% when not justified ?

After all the buyer could also introduce a third party just to get a share of the 3% and thus reduce his layout.

You might want to think that plan of action through very carefully, especially with a Thai agent and if selling a house...

Apart from all the other stuff that can go wrong, the business is protected by the Thai Civil and Commercial code.

In short what it says is: If you accept an introduction from an estate agent and their prospect proceeds with the purchase, you will be legally obliged to pay that agent a commission at the market rate (3%), regardless of what you thought of their performance and, yes, even if there is no licensing requirement.

Welcome to the Wild Wild East.

If you want to cut out all the local middle man BS, do it properly and use a respected international firm.

Bottomline: If you are selling property and dont want to pay commission, dont use an agent.

But if they found you a buyer, when you couldn't, pay them.

3% does sound excessive.

I am in the middle of a sale in the UK and the commission is 1.25%.

Well it might sound excessive in a market where values are as high as they are in the UK but by Thai property values, its peanuts.

In some Asian markets commissions are payable by both sides (buyers and sellers!!). Also consider that in Phuket you can be looking at 5% coms.

Just like any industry, rates and practices vary the world over.

It's completely up to you what percentage you pay. When you get an agent you agree on the percentage, and other terms such as time limits, this should all be in writing in a contract between you and the agent.

If you have an easy to sell property at good price the agent may even accept a fee of less than 1%, it's all up to you and what the agent agrees to. You hire the agent and decide how much to pay him, up to him to accept or not.

If an outsider turns up with a buyer you can either agree a finders fee with him or tell him to get his fee from the buyer, no contract with the agent means no obligations.