In this article
Kooky
Builder of Shaka, the payment router that pays every agent their commission on closing date.
About Kooky and Shaka →Most Queensland homes for sale are found first on a screen. A buyer opens a property portal, types a suburb, and scrolls. Where a home appears in that list, how large its photograph is, and whether it shows up again on other websites the buyer visits are not accidents. They are products, sold in tiers, and in a typical campaign the seller pays for them.
That arrangement is familiar to agents and almost invisible to many sellers. The line in the marketing schedule may read as a single figure for "online advertising", yet behind it sits a contract between the agency and the portal, a choice of tier, and sometimes optional extras. In September 2026 the national competition regulator accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from REA Group that touches some of those contracts. This guide explains how listing products are sold, what a higher tier changes, what the undertaking does and does not alter for a seller, what Queensland's rules on marketing costs ask of an agent, and how to read the marketing schedule that comes with an appointment.
Section 87B undertaking given by REA Group to the ACCC, accepted 11 September 2026, clauses 6 and 7.
Who buys a portal listing
A seller does not usually deal with a portal directly. The undertaking REA Group gave to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) sets out how its business works in plain terms: agents list properties on the portal on behalf of their vendor or landlord clients, and the agencies are the customers. According to the document, an agency pays a subscription fee for access to the listing service, plus a charge for each property it lists. The per-listing charge depends on the type of listing.
Related readRTA Web Services: how Queensland bonds are lodged and refunded onlineDomain works through agents in the same way from the seller's point of view. Its page for sellers tells owners to speak to their agent about listing on its portal, and gives no price or package for an owner to buy directly.
So the agency is the buyer, and the portal sends its invoice to the agency. What happens next depends on the appointment between the seller and the agency. The Office of Fair Trading's guidance on commissions and costs tells Queensland sellers to take into account other fees, such as advertising, which are not usually part of the agent's commission. In most campaigns, then, the agency buys the listing and the seller pays for it as part of the marketing budget agreed at the start.
That is a convention, not a rule of the portals. The REA undertaking says nothing about whether agencies pass listing charges on to sellers, and the Office of Fair Trading's word "usually" leaves room for appointments that arrange advertising differently. The appointment form is where the answer for a particular sale is written down.
The distinction matters when comparing agencies. Two proposals with the same commission rate can carry very different marketing budgets, and a lower commission can sit beside a larger advertising spend. Reading the commission and the marketing costs together, rather than one at a time, gives the real cost of each proposal. The portal listing is one of those marketing lines, and its tier is one of the few parts of it a seller can usually see priced on its own.
Related readKeypads, fobs and key safes: Queensland's lock and entry rules applyWhat a higher tier changes on screen
Portal listings are not all the same product. The REA undertaking describes listings that come in tiers, with higher tiers offering greater prominence and visibility on the portal. It gives two examples of what that means: a larger listing tile or photograph, and more prominent placement in search results. It also states the trade-off directly: the higher the tier, the greater the number or quality of features, and the higher the listing fee.
For a seller, that is the core of the decision. A standard listing appears in search results for the right suburb and property type. A higher tier is designed to make the home stand out in those same results, and in some cases to appear more often or in more places.
REA Group's own documents name some of its products. In its 2026 annual meeting addresses, released to the ASX on 8 October 2026, the chief executive described Premiere+ as one of the company's premium products and said it reached record penetration in the 2025-26 financial year. The same document refers to Luxe as an addition that can sit on a Premiere+ listing, and Audience Maximiser as an audience extension offering that puts listings in front of active buyers wherever they browse online. In other words, some products change where a listing sits on the portal itself, and others carry the listing to buyers elsewhere on the internet.
Product names, features and prices change, and each portal has its own range. A seller looking at a schedule does not need to know every name. What matters is which tier is proposed, what it is said to do, what it costs, and how long it runs.
Related readThe software inside a real estate agency, and what trust law asksThe agency's side: subscriptions, depth and sponsorship
The price a seller sees for a premium listing is also shaped by contracts the seller never sees. The REA undertaking describes three kinds of agreement between REA Group and agencies, each in place for years.
| Agreement | What it involved | In use since |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Access to the listing service; all of the agency's sale and rental properties to be listed, non-exclusively. | At least 2013 |
| Depth contract | The agency commits in advance to upgrade all, or a set number, of its listings to a higher tier. | At least 2013 |
| Sponsorship | Funding for training, education, events and marketing; holding the highest-tier depth contract was a condition. | At least 2019 |
Section 87B undertaking given by REA Group to the ACCC, clause 3.5.
A depth contract matters to a seller for a practical reason. If an agency has already committed to upgrade all, or a fixed number, of its listings to a particular tier, the tier it proposes for a home may reflect that commitment as well as the home itself. The undertaking describes an "all" version that still allowed some listings to be downgraded, and an "elect" version covering a designated number of properties.
None of this means a recommended tier is wrong for a home. A prominent listing may well suit a particular property and market. It does mean a seller can reasonably ask whether the recommendation comes with any commitment on the agency's side, and whether a lower tier is available for this campaign.
What the ACCC undertaking changes
The ACCC accepted the undertaking on 11 September 2026. Its public register records that the regulator was concerned the agreements described above might breach section 45 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, which deals with anticompetitive agreements, by making it harder for other portals to compete for listings one property at a time. REA Group's announcement to the ASX said the ACCC had not issued legal proceedings and there had been no finding of legal wrongdoing. The undertaking itself records that REA does not share the ACCC's concerns and offered the undertaking to resolve them.
Related readVirtual tours, 3D models and floor plans: accuracy and the lawUnder clause 7, the main commitments are:
- From the commencement date, REA Group will not make or enforce agreements that require an agency, as a condition of its subscription, to list all or most of its properties on the portal.
- It will not make sponsorship funding conditional on committing to list or upgrade all or most of an agency's properties at a particular tier for a future period.
- From 1 January 2027, it will not make or enforce tier contracts that fail to offer the agency a choice to downgrade at least 25 per cent of its eligible sale listings, and separately of its eligible rental listings, to a lower tier. The 25 per cent is measured on the agency's listings on the portal in the previous calendar half-year.
The undertaking runs for three years from its commencement. REA Group must set up a competition law compliance program and will re-engage with the ACCC no earlier than 24 months after commencement.
Its scope is narrower than the whole market. Clause 7 covers residential listings only. The definition of residential in the undertaking excludes property used for business, trade or profit-making activities, and developments selling four or more lots in the same project. Commercial listings and larger new developments are therefore outside it.
What it means, and does not mean, for a seller
For a seller, the effect is indirect. The undertaking governs contracts between REA Group and agencies; it creates no new right for a seller to demand a particular tier, and it does not set or cap any price.
What it does is widen the agency's own room to choose. From 1 January 2027, an agency on a tier contract with REA Group must have the option to place at least a quarter of its eligible listings at a lower tier, and the agency's subscription cannot require it to list all or most of its properties there. That gives agencies more scope to match the tier to the property, or to place a listing on one portal and not another, if the seller and agent decide that suits the campaign.
Some points stay the same. The undertaking records that agencies and vendors have continued to be free to list properties on other portals as well. It says nothing about how agencies charge sellers for listings. And it concerns REA Group only: Domain is not a party to it.
Related readWhere sold prices come from: Queensland's sales data and its limitsQueensland's rules on marketing costs
The cost of a premium listing reaches the seller through the appointment. In Queensland, an agent appointed to sell a home uses the approved appointment form, Form 6 for residential property, which the REIQ's guidelines call the PO Form 6. The Queensland Government's forms page says a completed form must be given to the client before any property agent services are performed.
The Office of Fair Trading's guidance on appointing a sales agent says the form sets out four things: how much commission the agent will charge; any other costs the agent could incur on the seller's behalf, with advertising given as the example; when the seller's payments are due; and what services the agent will provide, and how. Its guidance on commissions and costs adds that a seller needs to authorise any costs in advance, should get a detailed statement of all expenses, and can ask to see a marketing plan that outlines how, when and why the money will be spent.
The REIQ's Best Practice Guidelines for its members go further on the detail. They say a sales agent should discuss the scope of the marketing and promotion activities planned during the appointment and provide the client with a schedule of fees for them, and that the maximum authorised amount must be inserted in Part 8 of the Form 6. They also say members must seek the client's approval for any advertising or marketing before it is published.
Put together, the portal listing is not a separate bargain between the seller and a portal. It is one of the costs the seller authorises in the appointment, inside a maximum written on the form.
Related readACCC accepts REA undertaking: agencies need not list every propertyMarketing money paid in advance goes into trust
The Office of Fair Trading says that if a seller pays in advance, the agent must place the money in the trust account. To pay for anything in the marketing plan, the agent pays from its own money or the trust account, gets a receipt, and reimburses itself from trust for the amount on the receipt.
When the money is paid
Sellers meet three broad arrangements. Some pay the marketing budget before the campaign starts, which brings in the trust account rule above. Some agree to pay at a later point, on the terms the form records under when payments are due. And some campaigns are funded by a third-party finance product that pays the advertising upfront and is repaid later. REA Group's own description of its business, in the annual meeting document of 8 October 2026, lists among its businesses a provider of finance for vendor-paid advertising.
Each arrangement has its own terms, and a finance product is a separate agreement with its own conditions. Whatever the timing, the authorisation does not change: the costs and the maximum are agreed in the appointment before the money is spent. What a seller owes if the home does not sell depends on the terms of that appointment and any finance agreement, not on the portal.
Reading a marketing schedule
A marketing schedule is the agency's itemised proposal for the campaign. There is no single prescribed layout, so schedules vary from one agency to the next. The aim when reading one is to understand each line well enough to approve it, change it or leave it out.
| Line | What it usually is | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Portal listing | The listing on one or more portals, at a named tier. | Which portal, which tier, the period covered. |
| Upgrade or add-on | A feature added to a listing, or an audience extension. | What it adds, and whether it can be dropped. |
| Photography and plans | Photographs, floor plan, sometimes video. | Number of images, and who supplies them. |
| Copy and signboard | The written description and the board outside. | Whether design and installation are included. |
| Print and social media | Brochures, letterbox drops, paid social posts. | Quantity, reach or budget, and the dates. |
| Total | The sum of the lines. | That it matches the maximum on the form. |
Line descriptions are general; the requirements for authorisation and the maximum amount come from Office of Fair Trading guidance and the REIQ Best Practice Guidelines.
The portal lines deserve the closest reading, because they are where tiers hide. A schedule that names the portal and the tier tells the seller what is being bought. A line that says only "online package" does not, and a seller can ask for it to be broken down into its parts. If the proposal includes an upgrade or an audience extension, it helps to know whether it is optional, and what the campaign would cost without it.
Related readAutomated valuation models: what is behind an online price estimatePeriod matters too. Listing products are bought for a campaign, and a campaign can run longer than planned. A seller can ask what happens to the listing, and to the cost, if the home is still on the market when the period ends, and whether a renewal would need fresh approval.
Finally, the total. The REIQ's guidelines tie the schedule to the maximum authorised amount written in Part 8 of the Form 6. The schedule and the form should agree. If they do not, the form is the document the seller signed.
Reading the performance claims
Agencies often support a recommended tier with figures from the portal, and the portals publish their own. REA Group's annual meeting document of 8 October 2026 gives three examples. It says Premiere+ listings with Audience Maximiser received 105 per cent more views on average than Premiere+ listings alone, and Premiere+ listings with Luxe received 48 per cent more high-intent actions than Premiere+ listings without it, both from REA internal data for July 2025 to June 2026. It also says agents with its top-tier Pro subscription received 88 per cent more seller leads than agents without it, from REA internal data for calendar 2025.
Figures like these are worth reading closely, for what they measure and what they leave out:
- The measure. Views, "high-intent actions" and seller leads are different things, and none of them is a sale price. More views of a listing is not the same as a higher result.
- The comparison. Each figure compares one group of listings or agents with another. Homes given premium treatment may differ from others in price, location or appeal, so a gap between groups does not show what the product alone caused.
- The source. All three are the company's internal data, published by the company that sells the products.
- The audience of the third figure. The 88 per cent figure concerns leads for agents, not results for sellers.
None of this makes the figures wrong. It means they describe how a product performs on the portal's own measures, which is one input to a decision rather than the answer.
Questions to settle before signing
The tier decision comes up at the same moment as the rest of the appointment, which is the moment a seller has the most room to ask. A short sequence covers the ground.
- Name the productsAsk which portals and which tier on each, in words, not a package name.
- Ask about alternativesAsk what a lower tier, or one portal instead of two, would cost.
- Check the periodConfirm how long each listing runs and how a renewal is approved.
- Match the maximumCheck the schedule total against the maximum written on the Form 6.
- Agree the timingConfirm when the money is paid, and the trust account handling if upfront.
A seller can also ask whether the agency's own contract with a portal shapes the tier it recommends. From 1 January 2027, agencies on tier contracts with REA Group must have the option to downgrade at least a quarter of their eligible listings, so the answer may change over the coming year. And for anything that remains unclear in the form or the fees, the Office of Fair Trading's guidance suggests seeking independent legal advice before signing.
A premium listing is a marketing cost like any other: the seller can see it, question it and approve it before a dollar is spent.
The portals sell placement and the agencies buy it, but in a typical campaign the seller pays. Queensland's appointment rules exist so that payment is never a surprise. The schedule names the products, the form caps the total, and the seller's signature is what turns both into a budget.
Kooky, from Shaka
Kooky edits Queensland Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for Queensland property professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.
