Qs about buy shares in startups (founder is asking for finder's fee!)

[coq]

Hello there,
I was wondering what is typical when you purchase shares from another early investor who wants to liquidate his position.
The CEO notified me saying that the pre-series A has been closed but that I could get at a slightly lower valuation by purchasing it from another early angel investor who wants the cash desperately.
The CEO says that the company would like to keep a finder's fee for connecting me with the shareholder who wants to sell.

Is it normal for the company to ask a finder's fee for connecting two investors together?
He wants the buyer (me) to pay the whole finder's fee.
Am I being duped?

 

[Risehigh]

Sounds a bit fishy. But might still be legit, depends on the trust here. How big was their A round to consider if they are even a bit legit overall And have a look from there.

 

[coq]

Well, I am already an investor with this company, but the company was offering me to purchase more from another investor. I feel that it is a bit weird that the company would be asking for a "finder's fee" for simply connecting a shareholder to another shareholder.
And the cherry on the top is that the guy says he wants to charge me 100% of the finders fee to me (the prospective buyer) instead of charging it to the seller, his argument was that the seller was leaving the country and collecting it would be impossible, otoh they thought that our good and fluid relationship would be more practical to charge it to me.

So what the f**k. When I asked that it doesn't sound fair at all, he said that he thought that if we were to split the fees between the two, the seller would have to pay in shares. The company would get insignificant amount of shares, while if I paid for it, that percentage might be more valuable to me...

PS: The pre-series A was about 1M USD