I think those fees are pretty normal, I've met with a couple of agents this week and they both gave me advertising costs of around the $4,000 to $5,000 mark. These included photography, board, brochures, copywriting etc and advertising online, in The Age, agent mag and local papers.

I think ultimately the amount you spend on advertising comes down to the way you are selling. If you are doing a private sale I think you can afford to take it easy and see how far a little goes. But if you are going to auction then I think it is well worth spending a bit more, because it is really important to generate as much interest as possible as quickly as possible to get the best price on the day.