Standing offers vs direct offers

A direct offer starts with you. A standing offer starts with the buyer. Both end the same way — two consents, then an introduction, then one flat connection fee — but who moves first changes where the offer shows up, who is waiting on whom, and when the fee is charged. This page walks through each.

Direct offers: you send, the buyer accepts

From Browse buyers you read anonymized passports and compose a concrete offer to one buyer — a commission rebate, a closing-cost credit, service commitments, or a mix — within the caps for that buyer's tier. It lands in the buyer's offers inbox with an expiry date you set when you send it. The buyer compares it against other offers and either accepts or lets it lapse.

You are charged when the buyer accepts. At that moment Sill charges the connection fee for that buyer's tier to your card on file, introduces the two of you, and the buyer appears in your Clients. An offer that lapses, that you withdraw, or that is replaced by a newer one from you costs nothing.

Standing offers: the buyer requests, you confirm

A standing offer is your published menu — one offer per buyer verification tier — shown on your marketplace profile. A buyer who likes it accepts it from their side, which sends you a request to connect. The request appears on your Requests page with the buyer's anonymized passport and the exact offer they accepted, frozen as it was when they accepted it.

You have 72 hours to confirm or decline. Nothing is charged until you confirm. When you confirm, Sill charges the connection fee for that buyer's tier, introduces the two of you, and the buyer appears in your Clients. If you decline, or the 72 hours pass, the request closes and you are not charged; the buyer is told the request did not go through, without a reason.

Why the direction matters

• Who moves first: a direct offer starts with you; a standing offer starts with the buyer.
• Where it lands: a direct offer sits in the buyer's inbox; a standing-offer request sits on your Requests page.
• Who is waiting: with a direct offer the buyer decides on your timeline (the expiry you set); with a standing offer you decide on theirs (72 hours).
• When you are charged: a direct offer charges when the buyer accepts; a standing offer charges when you confirm.
• What expires: an unanswered direct offer lapses at its expiry date; an unanswered request closes after 72 hours. Neither costs anything.

What both have in common

Identity is released only after both sides have said yes. Until then the buyer is a passport, not a person, and you are a profile, not a contact. A buyer can have one connection in flight at a time, so a request or an accepted offer that collides with another is refused rather than queued.

The fee is flat for every agent at a given tier and is never a ranking input: a bigger rebate does not move you up a buyer's list, and the fee does not change where you appear. Connecting with a client you invited to Sill yourself carries no marketplace fee at all. The schedule and the refund rules are on the Buyer tiers and connection fees page.