One giant stipulation for this somewhat hypothetical discussion is this – in this make-believe world of fairies and unicorns, the buyer pays the buyer’s agent and the seller pays the seller’s agent – in other words, we have succeeded in rending total control of the buyers’ agents’ compensation from the seller and the sellers’ agents. ( hint : we’ve divorced the commissions ). … And when the agents representing the buyers have nothing to give away but conversely have to place a price on their services and actually charge their clients directly, the associated accountability will only benefit the buyer… So let’s assume that the buyer is willing to pay her buyer’s agent .