I think their view is that money is fungible, and ultimately factored into the price the buyer pays. The agents aren’t getting paid unless there’s a buyer, so everything in a real estate transaction (the commissions and the property) is paid for using the buyer’s liquid assets.

When I’ve been a seller I’d have been willing to lower the price in a slow market more, had commissions not been a factor. Instead I shelved the listing until the market improved because I reached the lowest price I was willing to close at. So in that sense, the buyer is definitely paying for that commission via inflated price.