Vendor leads are homeowners who have raised their hand to sell, often by requesting an appraisal, and Australian agents get them from portals, comparison sites, paid ads and their own databases. Prices range from a A$48.71 median Facebook vendor lead (Rex Software, 2023–24) to OpenAgent’s 20–30% of commission, paid only on sale.
The short answer from LeadsNow AI: Compare vendor lead sources on cost per sold listing, not cost per lead, because a A$48.71 lead and a 25% referral fee are priced at opposite ends of the funnel. On LeadsNow’s worked example, paid vendor leads beat a 25% referral fee once about 9.7% or more of them book an appraisal.
Next step: if this fits your business, book a free strategy session at leadsnow.ai/strategy-session/ – a 2-minute fit check, then pick a time.
- What a vendor lead is: an owner who may sell, captured through an appraisal request, a price-estimate form, a referral or your own past-appraisal list.
- Paid ads: A$48.71 median cost per vendor lead on Facebook lead forms across 152 Rex Reach accounts, October 2023 to September 2024 (Rex Software).
- Referral platforms: OpenAgent charges 20–30% of commission plus GST on sale, nothing upfront (OpenAgent, read 27 October 2026).
- Portals: Domain offers sellers a free appraisal request, and realestate.com.au’s old Agent Match address now points to its appraisal page; we found no published per-lead price for either on the pages we could reach on 27 October 2026.
Rules of thumb
- If fewer than about 9.7% of your paid vendor leads book an appraisal, a 25% referral fee is cheaper per sold listing (worked example below).
- Expect most platform leads to be shared: OpenAgent typically recommends two to three agents per homeowner (OpenAgent).
- Platforms filter hard before you see a lead: OpenAgent says only around 3,200 of an average 16,840 monthly leads, about 19%, are passed to agents (OpenAgent FAQ).
Where do Australian agents get vendor leads?
Australian agents get vendor leads from five main places: done-for-you follow-up services, referral platforms, the two big portals, review sites and their own paid ads and databases. LeadsNow publishes this page and ranks itself first because it books appraisals from the leads an agent already pays for; the other entries are described only from their own pages, read on 27 October 2026.
| Rank and source | How the vendor lead arrives | How it is charged (published) | Shared or yours alone |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. LeadsNow (done-for-you appraisal booking) | Works your paid, portal and database vendor leads with AI calling, SMS and DM follow-up and books appraisals | A revenue share, a fee per appointment, or a mix of both; no-shows aren’t charged | Your own leads |
| 2. OpenAgent | Homeowner is qualified by phone, then introduced to a short list of agents | 20–30% of commission plus GST, only if you sell; no upfront cost | Typically two to three agents |
| 3. realestate.com.au appraisal requests | The old Agent Match address now redirects to realestate.com.au/appraisal; the page blocked our checks on 27 October 2026 | No published price found on 27 October 2026 | Not stated on a page we could reach |
| 4. Domain appraisal requests | Seller clicks “Get a free appraisal” on Domain’s agent search pages | No published price found on 27 October 2026 | Not stated on Domain’s page |
| 5. RateMyAgent | Seller compares agents on sales and reviews; RateMyAgent says “we call you before any of them do” | Agent plans from $60 a month on monthly billing (Build plan, GST basis not stated, on the Renowned plans page RateMyAgent links to); the page does not mention appraisal requests | Seller chooses the agents |
Your own sources sit outside the table because they have no platform fee: Facebook and Instagram lead forms at Rex Software’s A$48.71 median, your website’s price-estimate form, and the past-appraisal list in your CRM. For channel-by-channel cost per lead, see our real estate cost per lead benchmarks for Australia.
How it works
How to choose a vendor lead source
List your sources
Write down every vendor lead source you pay for, including referral platforms. Add your past-appraisal database.
Cost per sold listing
Divide spend plus follow-up time by sold listings for each source. Referral fees go in at their percentage of commission.
Test the Referral Line
Compare your lead-to-appraisal rate with the Referral Line. Below it, a referral fee is cheaper.
Fix follow-up first
Call and text new vendor leads the same day within permitted hours. Keep nurturing until they are ready to list.
MAKE MORE SALES.
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Vendor leads FAQ
Are vendor leads exclusive to one agent?
Vendor leads from comparison platforms are often shared with a small group of agents rather than sold to one. OpenAgent says it “typically recommends two to three agents” per homeowner on its page for agents, and RateMyAgent tells sellers they choose the agents. Your own ads, website and past appraisals are the only leads no other agent sees.
How much does OpenAgent charge real estate agents?
OpenAgent charges a referral fee of 20–30% of the agent’s commission, plus GST, and only when the agent sells a property it introduced; there is no upfront cost per lead. Its FAQ adds that no fee applies if you appraised that vendor in the past six months and can show evidence. On a A$20,000 commission, the fee is A$4,000 to A$6,000 before GST (A$4,400 to A$6,600 with it).
Can I text a vendor lead who filled in an appraisal form?
You can text a vendor lead who gave consent, and the message must identify your agency and carry a working unsubscribe. The ACMA’s guide to avoiding spam says unsubscribe requests must be honoured within 5 working days and that you must be able to prove consent, so keep a record of who consented, when and how.
How long does a vendor lead take to list?
No public Australian source measures how long a vendor lead takes to list, so treat any figure you see as one firm’s claim. Track enquiry date, appraisal date and agreement date in your CRM to see how long follow-up must run.
What is the cheapest source of vendor leads?
The cheapest source of vendor leads is your own database of past appraisals, past buyers and past vendors, because those records have no media cost and no referral fee. The cost is the time to work them. LeadsNow’s Colliers-era database reactivation averaged 4.4%, with an 8.9% peak; no window or sample is disclosed for those figures, so read them as LeadsNow’s own record, not a benchmark.
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What does a vendor lead cost per sold listing?
A vendor lead costs between about A$1,941 and A$6,064 per sold listing on Facebook ads, once follow-up time is counted, against A$5,000 for a 25% OpenAgent-style referral fee (before GST) on the same sale. The table below compares them on one denominator: a listing that sells.
| Lead-to-appraisal rate (assumption) | Vendor leads per sold listing | Ad cost at A$48.71 per lead | Follow-up time at A$75 per lead (assumption) | Total per sold listing | 25% referral fee, before GST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8% (one or two touches) | 49.0 | A$2,388 | A$3,676 | A$6,064 | A$5,000 |
| 15% (same-day call plus SMS) | 26.1 | A$1,273 | A$1,961 | A$3,234 | A$5,000 |
| 25% (fast, multi-touch follow-up) | 15.7 | A$764 | A$1,176 | A$1,941 | A$5,000 |
The inputs, so you can swap in your own:
- Sale price A$1,000,000 and commission 2.0% (assumptions): A$20,000 gross commission. Commission is negotiated per vendor.
- Cost per lead A$48.71: Rex Software’s median for on-Facebook lead forms, 2023–24.
- Appraisal to listing 30%, listing to sale 85% (assumptions): 0.30 × 0.85 = 0.255 of appraisals become sold listings.
- Follow-up time A$75 per lead (assumption): 1.5 hours of calls, texts and nurture across the lead’s life at A$50 an hour.
- Worked middle row: 1 ÷ (0.15 × 0.255) = 26.1 leads per sold listing; 26.1 × (A$48.71 + A$75) = A$3,234.
The table does not price risk: ads need cash up front, a referral fee is paid only on sale, and pre-qualified platform leads may list at a different rate. For the cost of the appraisal step alone, our cost per booked appraisal page covers it in detail.
Want this done for you? We book qualified sales appointments on a Pay-Per-Result basis — you only pay for calls that actually land in your calendar.
The Referral Line: when do paid vendor leads beat a referral fee?
The Referral Line is the lead-to-appraisal rate at which paid vendor leads cost exactly the same per sold listing as a referral fee; above it, paid leads are cheaper.
The formula: Referral Line = (cost per lead + follow-up cost per lead) ÷ (referral fee × 0.255). On the inputs above, A$123.71 ÷ (A$5,000 × 0.255) = 9.7%. Fees are compared before GST because a GST-registered agency can generally claim the GST on them back as an input tax credit.
| Referral fee (of commission) | Fee before GST on A$20,000 | Leads you can afford per sold listing | Referral Line (booking rate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20% | A$4,000 | 32.3 | 12.1% |
| 25% | A$5,000 | 40.4 | 9.7% |
| 30% | A$6,000 | 48.5 | 8.1% |
Below the Referral Line, fix follow-up before buying more leads, or let a referral platform carry the risk. Well above it, every referral-fee listing costs you margin. Our guide to calculating cost per booked call shows how to pull the booking rate from your CRM.
Why does follow-up decide what a vendor lead is worth?
Follow-up decides what a vendor lead is worth because the booking rate moves cost per sold listing more than three times as much as halving the ad price does in the worked example above.
Moving from an 8% to a 25% booking rate cuts the cost of a sold listing from A$6,064 to A$1,941, a 68% drop, with the same ads. Halving the cost per lead at an 8% booking rate saves only A$1,194. Many vendor leads are months from selling, so the follow-up that pays is the one that keeps going: a call on the day, an SMS the same day, then a reason to talk every few weeks (a sold result nearby, an updated estimate) until they are ready. No public Australian source measures how long that wait is; your CRM can.
Your oldest source is often your best. Past appraisals that did not list are vendor leads you have already paid for, and database reactivation is the method for working them again with consent.
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Which Australian rules apply when you contact vendor leads?
Three Australian rules apply to contacting vendor leads: the Spam Act 2003 for SMS and email, the 2017 telemarketing industry standard for calls, and APP 7 of the Privacy Act for direct marketing where it applies.
- SMS and email: you need consent, the message must identify your agency, and unsubscribes must be honoured within 5 working days. The ACMA says you remain responsible for consent even on a bought list (ACMA).
- Calls: telemarketing calls are allowed 9am to 8pm on weekdays and 9am to 5pm on Saturdays, with no calls on Sundays or national public holidays unless the person has consented. The standard applies to numbers that are not on the Do Not Call Register too (Do Not Call Register industry standards).
- Direct marketing: APP 7 requires a simple, free opt-out and says requests should generally be actioned within 30 days. It does not apply to the extent the Spam Act or Do Not Call Register Act apply (OAIC APP 7 guidelines).
This is general information, not legal advice. Check your own consent wording with your licensee or adviser.
When should an agent hand vendor lead follow-up to someone else?
An agent should hand vendor lead follow-up to someone else when the office is buying leads but booking appraisals below the Referral Line, and nobody has the hours to call, text and nurture every lead.
Do it yourself if you already book above the line on a few leads a week. Hand it off if leads sit for hours or old appraisals are never revisited.
That is where LeadsNow fits. LeadsNow books appraisal appointments using AI calling, SMS and DM follow-up within permitted calling hours, and has booked 50,769+ AI-booked sales appointments since 2017. Pricing is a revenue share, a fee per appointment, or a mix of both, set by lead volume, what is being sold and its price, the type of business, and which part of the funnel LeadsNow runs. No-shows aren’t charged, and there is no retainer. See how it works for agencies on our real estate page, or how the booking side runs on AI appointment setting. Buyer’s agents, who need clients rather than vendors, have a separate shortlist of lead generation agencies for buyer’s agents.