How much did you pay your solicitor upfront when selling?

[CatAndHisKit]

Is 300 a usual amount nowadays (house just under the National average price)? I was selling about 5 yrs ago last time, and remember it being around 150. A bit shocked what with high survey expense to come.
Is it worth trying to negotiate with them, or is this standard and set in stone? Budget extremely tight currently.

£350 for sale and purchase to cover up-front costs. Local conveyancer that we've used before.

Mine hasn't asked for anything upfront. Also says if we are declined we wouldn't pay anything.

We are only selling at this stage and have paid £50 upfront. If the sale doesn’t complete there’s no fee.

ps. I should add having bought/sold several times in the past they’ve been the best conveyancing solicitors I’ve ever dealt with in terms of keeping us up to date, speed of work etc.

pilates of course not! I thought they would deduct ir from sale proceeds, and I did expect to pay something in advance up to 200 maybe, but not this much.
My original quote was dome last year and overall was nearly 200 less - I've accepted and prgressed wit hhte sale but purchase only starting now due to probns with the sale / losing buyer which was hugely stressful. Now apparently fees have gone up.

Scnchl I wonder how did you manage that - are they a newbie and looking for clients - or maybe you used them before?
Rollo I assume though your house is in higher price bracket - or does that not matter? Mine will be 325 upfront for both sale and purchase for quite a cheap house.

(sorry for typos in the first reply).

It’s search fees. Which can vary depending on how much your local authority charges for their search.

Once the searches are requested, the firm can’t get their money back.

We didn't pay anything up front for selling. We paid £400 for buying (different solicitors).