A referral marketplace is not automatically cheaper than an agency. Compare the written fee, the work included, and the circumstances that trigger payment. Some providers use percentage fees, others use retainers, flat fees, or subscriptions.
Correction: An earlier version of this article included unsupported market and placement statistics. Those figures have been removed. The calculations below are illustrations, not observed hiring outcomes.
Calculate the fee on the same basis
For a percentage-of-base-salary proposal, the formula is straightforward: agreed first-year base salary multiplied by the agreed fee percentage. Check whether another proposal instead includes bonus, commission, or other compensation in its fee basis.
The table below uses an illustrative base salary of $200,000. These percentages are example inputs, not claims about what any competitor charges.
| Illustrative fee percentage | Calculation | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| 15% | $200,000 × 0.15 | $30,000 |
| 20% | $200,000 × 0.20 | $40,000 |
| 25% | $200,000 × 0.25 | $50,000 |
Refery's published pricing is 15% to 25% of first-year base salary, paid only when you hire, with scope and fee agreed upfront. The exact percentage for your search belongs in your agreement.
Compare scope alongside price
Ask who writes the search brief, finds candidates, verifies interest, performs screening, coordinates interviews, and supports the offer. Ask what work your team must supply. Two equal fees can buy materially different services.
Referrals can provide context about someone's work, but the relationship does not replace role-specific assessment. Database sourcing can also identify suitable candidates. Evaluate the evidence in the introduction and the quality of the process.
Separate the payment trigger from the guarantee
An invoice may be triggered by a signed offer, a start date, or another agreed event. Replacement obligations may apply over a different period. Read both provisions instead of assuming that payment waits until the guarantee ends.
Ask about cancellations, overlapping introductions, candidates already known to your team, changes to the role, and what happens if a replacement cannot be found. Compare the actual terms rather than a headline such as “risk-free.”
Include your team's time
Track interview hours and coordination hours during the search. If you assign an internal hourly cost for planning, label it as your own assumption. Do not treat vacancy days multiplied by salary as a measured loss of revenue or productivity.
The useful comparison is: recruiting fees plus your estimated internal effort, assessed alongside candidate fit and the agreed scope. A lower fee can still be the wrong choice if the provider cannot reach or assess the people you need.
A simple proposal comparison
For each provider, record the fee basis, fee amount, payment trigger, services included, exclusivity terms, replacement provisions, and unresolved questions. Use the recruiting partner checklist to assess the non-price factors.
Share your role with Refery to agree the scope and fee for your search.
The published fees behind this comparison, from eight providers including Refery, are collected in what a startup recruiter costs.