Is a 5% buyers fee on Auction sites normal?

[John Collins]

That is a huge number to me. I am using hubzu.com to bid up to/around 250k and they clarify this is their fee specifically for "hosting" the auction, separate from earnest money or anything that goes to the actual seller (which is a bank in this case). 

[Cassi Justiz]

Yep. Most of the auction sites are going to have some sort of extra buyer's fee. Sometimes it is a percentage and sometimes it's a flat fee. Also look in the fine print to see if they have any additional "technology fees." The fees have all sorts of different names and they are listed at different places in the contract, so just make sure you read through the user agreements on the auction sites. 
Also, another tip is that they have different ways of treating earnest money. Make sure you know what kind of stipulations they have on the earnest money and inspection clauses because the earnest money is not always refundable with the auction sites.