2% estate agent fees in London?!

[Olinguita]

I'm looking to put my 2 bed flat in London (zone 4) on the market and am shopping around for an estate agent. Have had 2 valuations and both estate agents have quoted a 2% fee. This seems really steep to me and I'm quite surprised. I was expecting more like 1.5%, tops. I've been trying to negotiate it down (on the basis that everything in real estate is negotiable 😉) but neither agent will budge at all. Is this normal? Or are they taking the Mickey?

Mine is 1.5% plus VAT. 2% is high. Shop around.

Thanks @biedrona will make some more calls!

Maybe the market for selling flats is tough, and therefore there is no incentive for the agent to reduce their fee.

If the property was something they were confident of finding a buyer for in a short period of time I would have thought one of them would negotiate a bit.

It could be what you are selling is not in high demand, and fees reflect that.

I sold a Zone 3 flat last year and all 3 agents quoted 1.5% or under (incl VAT), including national and local agents.

It was an easier selling market though, and my flat sold pretty quickly which may have been reflected in the quotes.

I found it varied a lot - lowest I was quoted was 1% plus VAT

That's high. If they want your business they'll have to negotiate.

1% was standard a few years ago