Mostly true in practice, but know what it is: the vendor's agency agreement routes offers through the agent — it's a contract between them, not a law binding you. Comply on paper, control the content: put every offer and counter in writing, ask for written confirmation it was presented, and keep your numbers and motivations out of the channel.
Why they're saying it
Channel control is the quiet foundation of the agent's leverage. Whoever carries the messages decides what each side hears, in what order, with what framing — "the vendor is firm" and "another buyer is interested" only work because you can't check them at the source. Insisting on being the sole channel isn't misconduct; it's the vendor's agency agreement doing what it was designed to do — and it's worth remembering the channel is paid a percentage by the other side.
Your counter isn't to fight the channel — going around the agent rarely saves anything, since most agency agreements entitle them to commission for any buyer they introduced. It's to make the channel auditable: written offers can't be paraphrased, written responses can't be invented, and a request for confirmation that your offer was presented is entirely reasonable. If both principals are willing, there's also a structural alternative: a neutral middle that carries proposals without a stake in the price.
What to say back
"Understood — I'll put everything in writing. Here's my offer with the comparable sales it's based on. Please present it to the vendor as written, and confirm by reply when you've done so."
"I want to make sure the vendor is seeing my offers as I make them. Can you confirm in writing that the offer of [number] dated [date] was presented, and what the vendor's response was?"
"We seem close, and I suspect we're losing something in translation. Would the vendor be open to an impartial AI mediator? We each give it our real position privately — it never reveals either side's numbers — and it tells us if a deal exists."
Avoid these reactions
- Making verbal offers — a spoken number can be re-framed, delayed, or "forgotten" in ways a written one can't.
- Venting your motivation, budget, or deadline into the channel because the agent is friendly. The channel reports to the other side.
- Doorknocking the vendor to cut the agent out mid-campaign — it reads as bad faith, and the agency agreement usually means the commission is payable regardless.
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Paste what the other side actually said and get the tactic, who holds leverage, and a reply written for your specific situation.
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