Answers
What fees does a buyer pay on Flippa?
Short answer: A Flippa account is free to browse and bid; the main cost to a buyer is the escrow fee, which Flippa says the buyer pays. Its Help Center lists Escrow.com at 0.89% above $25,000 before a 20% Flippa discount, FlippaPay from 0.5% at $10,000 and up, plus refundable card holds of $5 and $500 to bid.
Does it cost anything to buy on Flippa?
Creating a Flippa account, browsing and contacting sellers are free. The main cost a buyer pays is the payment or escrow fee at closing: Flippa's Help Center page on pricing and escrow fees (read 15 October 2026) says escrow fees are "paid by the Buyer" when the Escrow.com transaction is started through Flippa. Flippa also sells an optional Premium buyer subscription; our marketplace comparison lists its price as $49 a month or $490 a year from Flippa's pricing page.
What are Flippa's escrow and FlippaPay rates?
Flippa's Help Center lists this Escrow.com schedule for transactions started through Flippa, with "a 20% discount ... applied to the variable escrow transaction fees":
| Transaction amount | Listed fee |
|---|---|
| $0 – $5,000 | 3.25% ($10 minimum) |
| $5,000.01 – $25,000 | $162.50 + 0.26% of the amount over $5,000 |
| $25,000.01 and up | 0.89% |
A separate Help Center article, "Choosing between Escrow.com and FlippaPay", lists FlippaPay "from 0.5%" for payments of $10,000 and up, and Escrow.com at 0.71% to 1%. The 0.71% figure is the 0.89% rate after the 20% discount (0.89 × 0.8 = 0.712), so the two pages agree.
What would a $10,000, $30,000 or $80,000 Flippa deal cost in fees?
Applying the schedule above, before and after the 20% discount, and comparing with Escrow.com's own standard US-dollar schedule for a transaction set up directly (2.4% from $5,000.01 to $50,000 and 1.9% from $50,000.01 to $200,000, from the Escrow.com fee calculator):
| Price | Flippa schedule, listed | After 20% discount | FlippaPay at its 0.5% floor | Escrow.com direct, standard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10,000 | $175.50 | about $140 | $50 | $240 |
| $30,000 | $267 | about $214 | $150 | $720 |
| $80,000 | $712 | about $570 | $400 | $1,520 |
FlippaPay is quoted "from" 0.5%, so treat that column as a floor and ask for the exact quote for your deal. Card payments and international wires can add processing or bank fees on top, and the parties can agree to split escrow costs; Escrow.com's calculator lets the fee be divided.
What are the $5 and $500 holds on Flippa?
Flippa places a $5 hold on your card before you can bid, and an additional $500 authorisation when you bid or make an offer where the price is $5,000 or more. Flippa's Help Center says these are holds, not charges, and the funds become available again within about ten days depending on your card issuer.
What does Flippa not charge for, but you still pay?
The fees are small next to the cost of buying the wrong business. Flippa's "Vetted by Flippa" review applies only to listings of $50,000 or more, according to its verified-listings page, so most small deals rely on seller-entered figures and your own checks. Our hidden costs page works through a full budget, and the free red-flag checker screens a pasted Flippa listing in seconds.
Frequently asked questions
Who pays the escrow fee on Flippa, the buyer or the seller?
Flippa's Help Center says escrow fees on Escrow.com transactions started through Flippa are paid by the buyer. Sellers pay Flippa's listing and success fees, and may pay a flat fee of about $20 for international wires.
Is FlippaPay cheaper than Escrow.com?
On Flippa's published figures, FlippaPay starts from 0.5% for payments of $10,000 and up, against 0.71% to 1% for Escrow.com through Flippa. FlippaPay is not available below $10,000.
Are the Flippa card holds refunded?
Yes. The $5 and $500 amounts are authorisation holds, not charges; Flippa says the funds are released automatically, usually within ten days depending on your bank.
Sources
- Flippa Help Center, Pricing, Escrow Fees, FlippaPay Fees, and Buyer Verification, read 15 October 2026
- Flippa Help Center, Choosing between Escrow.com and FlippaPay, read 15 October 2026
- Flippa Help Center, Understanding verified listings on Flippa, read 7 October 2026
- Escrow.com, Fee calculator, US dollar transactions, read 7 October 2026
Related
- Is Flippa legit for buyers?
- How escrow works
- Hidden costs of buying a website
- Flippa vs Empire Flippers vs Acquire.com
- Is Flippa Verification worth it?
- Glossary of listing terms
- More questions buyers ask
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