COMPARE · 9 MIN READ
Private sale platforms compared
Six ways to get your home onto realestate.com.au and Domain without paying commission, from $499 to $6,900. What each one costs, and what the cheapest price leaves out.
Short answer
Getting listed on the major portals is now the commoditised part, and it costs between $499 and $2,499 depending who you use. The cheapest package on this page does not include realestate.com.au. What actually separates these platforms is not the listing, it is what happens after a buyer enquires.
Key takeaways
- Six platforms, one-off fees from $499 to $6,900, all avoiding percentage commission.
- The cheapest package ($499) covers Domain but NOT realestate.com.au. Check the portals, not the headline price.
- A weekly plan can beat a one-off fee, but only if you sell quickly. The crossover is about seven weeks.
- Portal access is broadly the same everywhere. Support, tooling and licensing are not.
- A traditional agent is still the right answer for some sellers, and this page says which.
What these platforms actually do
Australian buyers search on realestate.com.au and Domain. Those portals do not accept listings directly from owners, only from agencies with a subscription. That single fact created this entire category.
Every platform on this page exists to put your listing on those portals for a fixed fee instead of a percentage. Beyond that shared purpose they diverge quite a lot, and the divergence is not really about price.
Getting onto the portals used to be the hard part. It is now the easy part, and it is priced accordingly. The difference between these platforms is what happens after the enquiry lands in your inbox.
Ben Williams, Founder
Every platform compared
Prices below were taken from each provider’s own published pricing page on 2026-08-18. They change, so check before you buy.
| Platform | Price | Options | realestate.com.au | Listing period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unreserved | $500 to $6,900 | 3 packages | From $900 | Until sold |
| Sale By Home Owner | $499 to $1,895 | 6 packages | From $795 | Until sold |
| For Sale By Owner | $799 | 1 package | Yes | Not stated |
| buyMyplace | $845 to $1,995 | 3 packages | Yes | Until sold |
| PropertyNow | $979 | 1 package | Yes | Until sold |
| helm | $349/wk to $2,499 | 2 packages | Yes | One & Done only |
Competitor figures captured 2026-08-18 and Unreserved’s on 2026-08-19, each from that provider’s own published pricing page. Unreserved is included on the same basis as everyone else: where a provider lists several packages the range runs from their cheapest to their dearest, and the realestate.com.au column shows the cheapest package that actually includes it.
Check the package, not the brandSeveral of these providers have four or more tiers, and what is included changes sharply between them. The figure that matters is what your specific package covers, particularly which portals and whether a signboard is included.
Before you compare fees, find out what you are actually selling.
Every platform on this page costs a fraction of commission. None of them tell you what your home is worth. A free AI valuation reads the comparable sales around your address and returns a defensible range in about a minute.
Get Free Instant ValuationThe cheapest price is not the cheapest listing
Sale By Home Owner’s Basic package at $499 is the lowest headline price in the category, and Unreserved Basic sits four dollars above it at $500 on the same Domain-only basis. It covers Domain and a set of smaller sites. It does not include realestate.com.au.
That matters more than any other single line on this page. realestate.com.au is where the majority of Australian buyers begin, and a listing that is not on it is invisible to most of the market. Their Standard package at $795 adds it.
Ben’s insightThis is the one genuine trap in the category, and it is not deceptive on their part: the package page states plainly what is included. It catches people because buyers compare the big numbers first and read the inclusions second. If you take one thing from this page, take this: confirm realestate.com.au is in your package before you pay.
Weekly or once: where it crosses over
helm is the only platform here offering a subscription. It charges $349 a week with a two-week minimum, or $2,499 once with the listing running until it sells.
Those two prices meet at 7.2 weeks, or about 50 days. Below that the weekly plan is cheaper. Above it, you would have been better off paying once.
| If your sale takes | Weekly at $349 | One-off | Cheaper option |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 weeks (minimum) | $698 | $2,499 | Weekly |
| 4 weeks | $1,396 | $2,499 | Weekly |
| 7 weeks | $2,443 | $2,499 | Line ball |
| 10 weeks | $3,490 | $2,499 | One-off |
| 16 weeks | $5,584 | $2,499 | One-off |
Arithmetic on helm’s published August 2026 pricing. The risk with any weekly plan is that the campaign you cannot control determines the price you pay.
This is worth thinking about honestly rather than treating as a gotcha. Plenty of homes sell inside a month, and for those sellers a weekly plan is genuinely cheaper. The question is what happens to your costs if yours does not, and whether you would feel pressure to accept a lower offer to stop the meter running.
What the money actually buys
Every platform here puts you on the same two portals. So the price differences are buying something else, and it is worth being clear about what.
| What varies | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Signage and photography | The bulk of the price difference between tiers on most platforms. A photo signboard and a professional photographer are real costs, and they are the main reason a $1,895 package costs more than a $795 one. |
| Who answers the phone | Some platforms forward enquiries to you and stop there. Others staff a phone line. This is the single biggest practical difference for a working seller who cannot take calls at 11am on a Tuesday. |
| Tooling after the enquiry | Offer management, inspection booking, buyer tracking and negotiation support. helm and Unreserved both invest heavily here and describe it differently. Most of the older platforms do considerably less. |
| Licensing | Whether you are dealing with a licensed real estate agency or an advertising service. It changes your recourse if something goes wrong, and who is obliged to act in your interest. |
The listing is the commodity. These four are where the real difference sits.
The two plans this page does not compare
One clarification before the recommendations, because it changes several rows above. Every Unreserved figure on this page is our $900 Lite plan.
Every comparison on this page uses Unreserved Lite at $900, because that is the like-for-like: a listing on realestate.com.au and Domain that you run yourself. We sell two others, and depending on your situation either may suit you better.
| Plan | Price | Portals | Who runs the campaign |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $500 up front | Domain only | You |
| Lite | $900 up front | realestate.com.au + Domain | You |
| Plus | $2,000 up front, then $4,900 on a successful sale | realestate.com.au + Domain | A licensed campaign manager |
All three charge zero commission at settlement and all three include the AI Inspection Agent, the valuation tools and every sale strategy. Captured from our own pricing page, August 2026.
- Basic is the cheapest way onto a major portal. $500, Domain only. If your buyers are local and you are comfortable without realestate.com.au, it is the sharpest price in this whole category.
- Lite is the one everybody compares. $900, both major portals, the full toolkit. Most sellers should be on this.
- Plus is the one that removes the work. $2,000 up front and $4,900 only if it sells, so the larger half is contingent on the result. A licensed campaign manager runs photography, copy, pricing, buyer follow-up and negotiation. You still open the door at your own open homes.
Ben’s insightThe reason Plus is split $2,000 and $4,900 rather than charged up front is that we think the bigger number should depend on the outcome. It is still a flat fee: it does not rise with your sale price the way a percentage does, so on a $1.2 million sale it is $6,900 against roughly $30,000 in commission.
Who each platform suits
Written to be useful rather than flattering. Each of these is genuinely the better choice for some sellers.
| Platform | Best for |
|---|---|
| Sale By Home Owner | Sellers who want the widest choice of package tiers, and regional sellers wanting a large photo sign delivered for self-installation. Cheapest route onto both portals at $795, provided you do not need the Basic tier. |
| For Sale By Owner | Sellers wanting a simple single residential package at $799 with call forwarding and extended support hours, without choosing between six tiers. |
| buyMyplace | Sellers who want a recognised name with a clear good/better/best ladder, and who like the all-inclusive $1,995 option with professional photography bundled in. |
| PropertyNow | Sellers who value human support most. An Australian-based team with long tenure, exposure across 10+ sites, and no time limit on the listing, at $979. The most established operator in the category. |
| helm | Sellers who want the newest AI tooling, particularly offer scoring and AI-assisted negotiation, and who either expect a fast sale (weekly plan) or want a single all-in fee with no thinking required. |
| Unreserved | Sellers who want licensed agent support behind a self-managed sale, at $900, plus auction and reverse-auction options that no other platform here offers. Best if you want the infrastructure of an agency without the percentage. |
We have included ourselves on the same terms as everyone else. If one of the others fits your situation better, use them.
When a traditional agent is still right
It would be easy to write this page as though commission is always indefensible. It is not, and pretending otherwise would make everything above less trustworthy.
- You genuinely have no time. Enquiries arrive during business hours, inspections happen on weekends, and negotiations move fast. If you cannot be available, someone has to be.
- Your property is genuinely hard to price. Unusual homes, unusual land or thin comparable sales. Getting the price wrong costs far more than any commission.
- Negotiating directly would cost you money. Some people negotiate badly with a buyer standing in their kitchen, and know it. Accepting $30,000 less to avoid the discomfort is worse than paying a fee.
- You need someone accountable. A single named person whose job is the outcome, not a platform, has real value for some sellers.
Ben’s insightThe honest framing is that commission buys time and delegation, not magic. If those are worth roughly $24,250 to you on a $700,000 sale, an agent is a reasonable purchase. If they are not, this category exists precisely for you.
Night and day vs an agent
“I’ve sold a property previously using an agent, and the contrast between them and Unreserved was night and day. We sold an investment property in Melbourne. The market was challenging, but we waited it out for the right buyer and sold for what we wanted. Can’t thank the team enough, and the app was really easy to use.”
Sarah B · Verified seller · Investment property, Melbourne
Start with what your home is actually worth
Before you choose a platform, get a free valuation with the comparable sales shown. No sign-up, no phone number, and no obligation to use us.
Get Free Instant ValuationCommon questions
What is the cheapest way to list on realestate.com.au without an agent?
Of the platforms compared here in August 2026, the cheapest package that includes realestate.com.au is Sale By Home Owner’s Standard at $795. Their $499 Basic package is cheaper but lists on Domain and other sites without realestate.com.au, which matters because realestate.com.au is where most Australian buyers search first.
How much do private sale platforms cost in Australia?
Between roughly $499 and $2,499 as a one-off, depending on the platform and package. Unreserved is $900, For Sale By Owner is $799 for residential, buyMyplace runs $845 to $1,995, PropertyNow is $979, and helm is $2,499 once or $349 a week. All are a fraction of a percentage commission, which on a $700,000 sale is commonly around $24,250.
Do these platforms actually list on realestate.com.au?
Yes, with one caveat. Every platform compared here lists on both realestate.com.au and Domain, except Sale By Home Owner’s entry-level $499 package, which covers Domain and other sites but not realestate.com.au. Always check which portals a specific package includes rather than assuming the cheapest tier covers both.
Are private sale platforms licensed real estate agencies?
Some are and some are not, and it is worth checking. A licensed agency carries statutory obligations around trust accounts, disclosure and professional indemnity, and gives you a complaints pathway to a regulator. A listing service that is not a licensed agency is an advertiser, and your recourse if something goes wrong is different.
Is it cheaper to pay weekly or once?
It depends how long your sale takes. helm charges $349 a week with a two-week minimum, or $2,499 once. The weekly plan costs more than the one-off after about 7.2 weeks, which is roughly 50 days. Australian homes commonly take around a month to sell, so a weekly plan can work out cheaper, but a slow campaign flips the maths.
What do these platforms not do?
Most of them stop at the listing. Getting your property onto realestate.com.au is the part that is now commoditised, and the price differences between platforms mostly reflect signage, photography and support rather than portal access. What differs far more is what happens after an enquiry arrives: who answers the phone, how offers are handled, and whether anyone licensed can advise you on a negotiation.
Should I use a private sale platform or a traditional agent?
A traditional agent is the better choice if you genuinely do not have time to run enquiries and inspections, if your property is unusual enough that pricing it is difficult, or if you would find negotiating directly with buyers stressful enough to accept a worse number. Otherwise the commission is a very large payment for work you can largely do yourself with the right tools.
Do I still pay commission if I sell privately?
No. Every platform compared here charges a fixed fee rather than a percentage, and none of them take commission on the sale price. That is the entire point of the category: selling costs on a $700,000 sale commonly run to around $24,250 once commission and marketing are counted, and the gap widens at higher price points because the fee here does not move.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ben Williams
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Ben spent 15+ years as a licensed estate agent and conducted over 2,000 auctions before founding Unreserved. He holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Property & Valuation) from RMIT and is licensed across VIC, NSW, QLD, SA, and WA.