That sub-seat you're leasing isn't just a line item, it's a hidden tax on your agency's margin and a drag on your profitability. If you are reading this and nodding to yourself, let us give you a new perspective. Here's why the old rules no longer apply.
TL;DR: The Bottom Line
- For years, mid-level agencies had to "rent" a DSP seat from a larger agency to access the programmatic market. This was accepted as a necessary cost of doing business.
- This model comes with a hidden "Sub-Seat Penalty"—a 10-15% fee paid to the intermediary that quietly eats into your media spend and agency margin.
- The problem isn't just the fee. Renting your seat means you have no transparency into the supply chain, no ability to optimize your path to inventory, and no leverage to negotiate better rates.
- The game has changed. You no longer have to choose between renting and building from scratch. It's now possible to own your tech access, eliminate the sub-seat tax, and reclaim your full commission.
The "Necessary Evil" We All Accepted
For any mid-level agency, getting access to the programmatic ecosystem has always felt like a classic dilemma. You need enterprise-level tools to compete, but you can't justify the enterprise-level price tag.
The solution was simple and pragmatic: lease a DSP seat from a larger agency that did.
You paid their fee, used their access, and got your clients' campaigns live. It was a smart trade-off that became an accepted cost of doing business; the entry ticket required to even play the game.
But while you were focused on serving clients, this arrangement began to quietly drain your agency's most valuable resource: its agency margin.
The Hidden Sub-Seat Tax on Your Profitability
Here's the uncomfortable truth: that comfort is costing you a fortune.
That fee you pay your "landlord" agency isn't just a fee. It's a tax.
The "Sub-Seat Penalty" means you could be losing 10-15% of your media spend to an intermediary before your campaign even serves a single impression.
Think about that; for every $100,000 you spend, $15,000 vanishes without contributing to performance or your bottom line.
This directly impacts your profitability. This is stating the obvious. But the damage goes deeper than just your commission.
When you rent a sub-seat, you give up control and transparency. You have no visibility into the supply path, making it impossible to know if you're getting the most efficient route to inventory.
You're flying blind, unable to optimize or prove to clients that you're delivering the best possible value.