Winkworth has acted after one of its businesses advertised a property on Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket.
By mid morning yesterday, the listing had been removed from OnTheMarket, the business having pulled off OTM to return to Zoopla.
Winkworth head office said that about a fifth of its franchised businesses have chosen not to be on OTM. However, the office that had listed the property on all three sites had been an OTM member.
A spokesperson told Eye yesterday morning after the issue was aired on Twitter: “As individual businesses, Winkworth offices have chosen whether or not to be OnTheMarket.
“Those that have, will list their properties on both OnTheMarket and Rightmove.
“Those that haven’t become OTM members are continuing to list on Zoopla – 22 out of 100 Winkworth offices.
“It was brought to our attention this morning that one of our offices listing were appearing on all three portals so we are dealing with this immediately to ensure that they are only listing on two portals, and that this is true of all our offices.”
The £1.1m semi is with the Palmers Green office in north London and was listed on February 19.
The spokesperson later confirmed: “The office will no longer be listing on OnTheMarket. The decision was taken by this office as currently other agencies in their operating area aren’t listing on this portal.
“However, this will be reviewed by the office as OnTheMarket develops and grows.”
Comments (35)
STOP THE PRESS.
Not sure this will be picked up this far down the page but i have just had an email from RM saying they are launching their own online valuation tool same as Z.
Got to say i am really not happy with this!
So many negatives dont know where to start!
So is this finally proof that Z’s claim that Agents are returning and dumping OTM is actually true?
It seems strange to change so quickly? And surely OTM will retaliate by trying to enforce their contract to disuade others from leaving so soon?
I think for clarity on views expressed here we need those non estate agents like Rmove & Zhoopla employees to wear distinctive pointy portal hats and flashing noses so that we can see them clearly as my sense of smell is fading… although I suppose the Zoopla or Rightmove are marvellous views tells us what we know. Perhaps Ros can provide an identity setting… that would make it much more interesting when those lights are switched on and we can see Devil Portal Penguins!
Oh Danneeeey Boy…. Zoopla’s Portal lights are faaaading… that’s a bit of humour to lighten your mood. Honest answer Danny?… No one needs 2 portals as no one needs 2 estate agents to sell their home or 2 joiners to fit 1 shelf etc etc. So, if Zoopla is the undisputed No1 Portal in an area then that business is right to select them rather than Rightmove. Long term Zoopla are dead!…. in the interim a business choosing a No1 Portal should simply do that. Noting that almost 80% of the franchise agencies dumped Zoopla. Latest estimate is Zoopla annual revenue down by 15 Million Pounds and climbing…. hence them squealing like the proverbial 4 legged bacon fella.
‘No one needs 2 portals as no one needs 2 estate agents to sell their home or 2 joiners to fit 1 shelf etc etc.’ – how may portals are you on GPL?
They are not needed and you know full well the current strategy of having OTM and one other portal is a means to an end, with the other portal eventually being dropped, leaving ONE portal of choice for the majority of agents. Interestingly as I mentioned above, some agents don’t bother with either and many have been on just one for years and they happily ply their trade. But that will cut no ice with the agents that have been brainwashed by the portals along with the public that without them you won’t have a business or be able to sell their house. Companies that have convinced you that they, yes THEY are the reason you exist!!! Something they have managed to do, using our inventory and charging us for the privilege? Please someone tell me what RM or Zoopla have done to improve you as an estate agent, how they have helped you with your branding or how they have increased your board presence, your standing in the high street, helped keep your fees up, helped you value property, helped you build a reputation for getting the job done and providing excellent customer service. How have they helped you progress files better, keep deals together, manage your staff, the life blood of your business? How have they have contributed to growing your business? What money did they give you to help you expand, get you through the recession? Nothing! They have done none of it and you got through it all because of you and your team, not because of them. What they will do though on the back of your success, when you open your next branch, is charge you more money and thank you for working so hard for them, so without offering anything more, or providing anymore support, they can tax you a bit more. But fear not if you don’t open anymore branches to thwart them, they can charge you more at renewal time for providing 4/5th of sod all extra! The public will always find you and they already know you anyway. Take away the inventory from both the portals and with the advertising, word of mouth, the agents free advertising, the public will find you. The success of OTM is in agents hands, that’s it in a nutshell, without that it fails, so for all of you waiting for the site to get more traffic before you make your move, it won’t get it unless you put your stock on there. People are starting to realise that OTM is a credible option and more and more fence sitters are coming down from their positions and joining, as long as this continues, OTM will be a success. But I will tell you this, even when this is done and if OTM succeeds, there is still one thing it won’t do, it won’t sell houses, because portals don’t sell houses, people do!!!!!!! Xx
A straightforward ‘2’ would have answered the question!
But therein lies the problem, it wasn’t a question…..
That’s because I knew you wouldn’t answer it.
Hold on, it’s getting a bit mad on here today. You knew I wouldn’t answer the question even though you didn’t ask me the question? Actually, that is easy to predict, because by not asking me the question, I wouldn’t answer the question. But… it didn’t stop me commenting on the question, so did you know that I would comment on the question, but not answer it? I said it wasn’t a question and you said that’s because you knew I wouldn’t answer it, so that confirms that it wasn’t a question after all, so it must have been a poor attempt to pretend GPL was in some way contradicting himself on stating there was no need for 2 portals, when in fact we know why currently he is on 2 portals. Thats the truth is it not? Now, there is a question!!!!!!!!
I know you know what i’m getting at. I hope OTM becomes no1 portal sooner rather than later and we can all forget about R and Z but the stark reality is nobody knows if it will,
As it stands at the moment OTM members need 2 portals, those only on Rightmove are the ones who only need 1.
That will hopefully change, but if it doesnt is he going to be as vocal slagging off OTM as No2 portal as is now with Zoopla ?
Disillusioned… you can read just fine… it’s clearly recorded on this forum unlike the occupation of some of those posting. Likewise the strategy of OnTheMarket.com is clearly documented. What more can I enlighten you on? There is smoke coming from my Crystal Ball…. no, no it’s not…. the crystal ball on fire… it’s Planet Zhoopla plummeting to earth in a fireball.
Ive been an Agent for the best part of 30 years GPL whether you want to believe that or not. I won’t disagree with you that we only need 1 portal, I won’t disagree with you that we don’t necessarily need Zoopla. I can understand somebody disliking Z or feeling they aint worth what they charge or for whatever reason. What I cant understand is what seems an obsession you have with them and at times, pure hate towards them.
Well therein lies the problem Disillusioned… I don’t actually hate Zoopla… I do however detest their petty efforts at undermining the rise of OnTheMarket.com I despise cheap shot press releases and veiled threats… the biggest of which was Zhoopla’s “if it was ever concluded by CMA that Agents Mutual blah, blah, blah….”. The monumental sound of Zhoopla loading their portal revolver and spinning it then pulling the trigger, unfortunately the chamber had a bullet and Zhoopla lie dead on the floor now in the eyes of so many of the UK estate agents in our industry. The sound in the background was the closing of the door, with Rightmove muffling their laughter and delight that Zhoopla had just committed portal suicide! Rightmove enjoy their lofty position over Zhoopla because they play their strengths…. Zhoopla expose their weaknesses with ever increasing regularity and confirm what we know… settling for No2 Portal was settling as runner-up in a race where No1 is the only position that matters.
Also…..arent they in contract ? I thought that was the whole point? Does this mean that you can just change when you want, pretty much useless 5 year contracts then……
We signed to OTM but stupidly didn’t check our Z contract. OTM gave us the choice of hiding our properties until Z contract finished or ask Z to hide our properties immediately-we chose the latter. My point is if we had remained on Z until the end of our contract I would have still had to pay OTM as I have signed a 5 year contract. My assumption is that Winkworth will also have to pay every month until they are ready to come over!
But no doubt would get more leads on Z… good advice for anyone I suppose. Check your existing contracts before committing to the restrictive marketing of AM.
“But no doubt would get more leads on Z”…….for Amazon and British Gas, to name but 2 !!!!!
Your anti-OTM rhetoric is getting repititive and boring now. How are your RM / Zoopla shares doing non-agent?
On the Zoopla ad above are Winkworth selling it or British Gas Penguin?
That’s a really good point, and one of the main reasons that agents have switched from Zoopla to OTM……..How is it in the sellers interest to host LARGE adverts from corporate 3rd parties around their property(without the sellers/agents permission). Surely the objective is NOT to try and lure a potential viewer away from your page but to get them to make an enquiry to the agent about the property?
Not just British Gas – they’ve got a large Amazon widget coming up on property details pages as well now…. I pay a lot of money to list my stock on Zoopla and I consider a page with my property details on to be MINE. How dare they plaster it with third party advertising!!!
So it’s not just adverts from utilities? What on earth has Amazon got to do with agency property details??????
Also just realised quite how ridiculous itis for a company spokesman to say ” we realised that the clients property was on three portals so we immediately got this cut to two portals, don’t want too much exposure … I hope your clients reading this
Danny, do you think that the exposure on zoopla (with 3rd party adverts plastered around it) is in the sellers interest?
Too right Wilko, this is why some people think they need to be in all portals to get leads and sell houses. Having you clients house plastered all over the net is actually the worst thing you can do. Less is more….. Portals don’t sell houses, people do!
Wilko, the argument about adverts is one of the weakest I’ve ever heard . I give my clients who are purchasing a house more credit than assuming they’ll get distracted by the shiny bright lights ” ****** ell Brenda , I’m that stupid I logged on to Zoopla to look for our new house and I ended up buying an extended warranty for the washing machine”, and as for less is more . I’ve been doing this 25 years and I have to say I’ve never heard so much guff in my life .Rightmove and Zoopla exist because they give me a huge amount of eyes on my properties , simple as that , less is more is for dieting not advertising
Strange , an on the market/ Zoopla story that hasn’t had 10 comments by 8 am. Where’s GPL to reassure this guy that leaving Zoopla makes no effect on your business ?
There was some bizarre rant on Tues night babbling on about Planet Zhoopla. It sounded like he was on the lash with the Clangers so I left him to it!
see @Soupdragon on twitter there are pictures. #buckfasttonicbender
It’s good to know that on your planet reading is taught.
An interesting aspect to this is that the franchisor has a duty of care to their franchisee, who after all is the customer (they pay Winkworth whopping great fees every year). You wouldn’t guess that from the tone of this press release. How much have Winkworth plc opened themselves up here for future claims and fallout from their network?
If you dont come off you can’t make an informed comment on the subject, you can only accuse people of making stuff up. GPL is not in the minority, so his opinion and comments carry weight, as opposed to people saying it isn’t true without anything to back it up. Plenty of agents are completley unaffected by coming off Zoopla or RM for that matter, where they decided on them as the portal to drop. Do you not think these agents already knew which portals worked best for them? Are you aware that there are lots of agents that have never been on both portals? Are you aware (and this is crazy) that some agents don’t go on either and never have? How do these agents survive? It just doesn’t make sense does it? Well to you and your ilk that believe portals are the be all and end all in lead generation it may not make sense, but to those that actually can self promote and win business on merit and their own brand, have no problem understanding it or communicating it to their clients. They offer a bit more than using we are on every portal as their USP! The next thing that will happen is more agents will realise that they can come of both. Portals don’t sell houses, people do.
You say GPL isn’t in the minority. Just to explain more estate agents in the UK use Zoopla and Rightmove than don’t . This means that this is the “majority” , now remember that word , you’ll see it again later , it means a greater share, more than . Now if GPL is the one of the ones that don’t that is less than half than he is in a “minority” , this means less share , less than. So if he’s not in the “majority” that puts him in a “minority” , tomorrow’s lesson is about not just throwing words into sentances that don’t belong there because it suits your story …
As I’ve said already Danny… when you respond with the &rsy comments as noted above to Paul it demonstrates that you must have a shadow that shows you hunched over dragging your knuckles on the ground? So in the spirit of your comment to Paul I once again point out that Danny rhymes with f@nny! That Danny is Lesson No2 for you, sadly a repeat of Lesson No1. Does banana rhyme with Danny?