Some version of a "Lehman" formula is common - 5% of the first $1 million involved in the transaction. 4% of the second $1 million. 3% of the third $1 million

I have been a buy-side advisor for 15 years and have worked with and successfully helped many of the Self Funded searchfunder type people find and buy a successful business. A couple of points, fees relate to the effort, so it depends on the size and type of business that you are hoping to buy. Most charge an upfront fee, as I do and if we don't get to the deal table, we work for literally very little $/hour. There is also a success fee as well. There are not very many pure buy side advisors out there, many sell side firms like to say that they can help a buyer, but in reality they do not specialize in the lower middle market self funded buyer market. If you would like a 3rd option, give me a call. If nothing else I can advise you on your options and if the costs are in line[redacted]Jeff

1/3 of my practice is buy-side. We are exclusive to the buyer, meaning the deal is found by us or the buyer. Focus is on maximizing deal flow, fair price (not low price) and risk-mitigates structure, reducing closing risks, maximizing buyer's post-purchase success. Fees are monthly retainer plus a success fee (Double Lehman variation). Buy-side is "very expensive" for M&A broker. b/c if a deal falls apart you start from scratch.

Also verify what you are paying the fees on - i.e. purchase price or total proceeds, do you pay fees on the employment agreement dollars if you have one negotiated, etc. Happy to speak too if you msg me.

Thank you everyone for the extremely helpful insights and offers to help!
For the contract at hand, my redlines/comments are less about balking at the fees (I do not work for free, why should they?) and more around specificity (^[redacted]‌'s point). This is a 3-page agreement (NDA is separate) and I'm likely overthinking as a result of my corporate world conditioning. My current exposure to contracts is with large, global companies, and our contracts are extremely granular.

As I've worked through some additional reading (from ^[redacted]‌), comments here, and a few 1x1 chats - buyer brokers are really building a future pipeline. Today's buyer is tomorrow's seller. Secondarily, a bank of serious and well-qualified buyers is an attractive asset for someone incentivized to close deals.

Based on the advice here, the fees and structure of this agreement seem inline.

In my experience, I have seen the industry and type of deal you seek can have an impact on the fee schedules as well. Something to take into consideration when in negotiations.

Great!