Online agent eMoov labelled today’s funeral march in London by easyProperty as “dead wrong”.
eMoov said that in particular, easyProperty was wrong to pre-suppose the demise of traditional agency.
The march got under way this morning, with “estate agents” in pin-striped suits and brick-sized mobile phones clasped to their ears. They carried red wreaths behind a horse-drawn coffin.
Passing the Foxtons office in Blandford Street, central London, easyProperty put out on Twitter: “If you hear the jazz band in Mayfair, come out and pay your respects to a bygone estate agent institution.”
easyProperty is posting up pictures of the march on twitter with the hashtag #FatFeesRIP.
The three-mile New Orleans-style funeral procession, complete with jazz band, is being led by “chief mourner” easyProperty boss Robert Ellice to mark today’s official launch of his firm into sales. The firm’s soft-launch last month had, as of this morning, attracted 131 available listings according to Rightmove.
The march, which is meant to commemorate the death of the high street agent, yesterday drew only the most critical comments from EYE readers, including eMoov.
Some of the comments expressed outrage and disgust.
Yesterday, eMoov boss Russell Quirk told EYE that easyProperty was getting it wrong.
He said: “easyProperty may be new to the sector, and as a result not understand how far it has moved away from its previous cheap, DIY image.
“This swing in the industry is more about reinvention, rather than the death of the traditional sector.”
He went on: “Our friends at easyProperty today join established online estate agency players, such as eMoov, with a launch stunt.
“Far be it from us to comment on the nature of their stunt, but there is no denying it will get attention. There’s no such thing as bad publicity, that’s true. But only to a point.
“However, where I feel that Rob Ellice and his business are wrong is in presupposing the demise of the estate agent.
“Strangely, easyProperty are indeed estate agents themselves of course, one presumes?
“The property industry needs a kick for sure but I do not foresee that we will see the eradication of the high street agent.
“Our mission is to improve the home buying and selling experience, not to ‘kill’ estate agents.
“By encouraging the sector to perform better; to offer fairer fees, greater transparency and, above all, a far better customer experience, I’d rather coax and cajole the industry as a whole than take a dagger to them.
“easyProperty clearly have their own view on marketing strategy and this particular style may work for them.
“But the business of selling someone’s family home with care and at the best price is a very serious business.”
Comments (73)
I wondered who printed all those copy cat boards – they are rather good facsimiles and quite professional. Just a thought.
smiler….Im glad you arent my agent as you clearly arent focused on working for your clients preferring to spend your time at the PC posting tripe. slow day in your agency? If you have nothing to do with your time dust off the estate agent hand book and start at chapter one as you clearly skipped that.
oh kd, I do love people like you who give it the old “you must be quiet if you are posting on here”.
If you can’t spend 5 to 10 minutes catching up on EYE or whatever your read is now again throughout the day, I put to you; that you are actually worse at your job than the agent who can!
Get over yourself and read a good “Time Management” book, you will be amazed at what you can fit in during a day.
I cant really add to what Ric has posted as covers it all!
Apart from these days i am mostly office bound and spend my days with staffing, recruitment, suppliers, marketing, training, accounts, strategic planning,
Problems of a successful agency owner, sure you have your violin out for me 😉
This is just fascinating and my guess, just beginning. Reminiscent of the Branson/BA ‘dirty tricks’ campaigns in the 80’s and 90’.
Famously Branson was told that the BA-sponsored London Eye had a technical problem – they couldn’t erect it from its floating barge and had the world’s press waiting to see it going up
Virgin owned an airship company and scrambled a blimp, the end result was an airship flying over the wheel bearing the slogan ‘BA Can’t Get It Up!’
I’m looking at the photos and truly wondering…. at what point did all The Monkees around this brainstorming table kick back on their swings and raise their bananas to agree that this Publicity Campaign was a Positive Winner?!
Of course The Monkees didn’t as they are far too intelligent…. unfortunately the Human Beings involved in this aren’t!
Mr Ellice…. here’s one… you unbuckling your trousers, sitting down on a glass bottomed loo and ? ….with an appropriate Anti High St Estate Agents slogan!?
…surely another Winning Publicity Campaign!?!????
NEW Entry in Oxford Dictionary – Ellice : meaning …. idiot, to act like an idiot. Typical use, “He did an Ellice”.
On a far more interesting subject…. Lars Myyting! …..I enjoyed a fine talk from him at The Wigtown Book Festival last weekend…. the subject relaxes me and I can pop outdoors and while away several hours expending energy and free my mind from the nonsense that we have to endure in this world. Check it out… just don’t say to Ellice or he will get ideas!
just to clarify… importantly! Lars Mytting…. not Myyting?! 🙂
idiot and Ellice are still spelt the same tho!
well said Peter – that is the essence of competition!
well done for avoiding all the questions, “Peter” is also a poster which has not history on this site as far as i am aware.
Is this your “Buddy” in the next office, the two of you trying to rescue a poorly exicuted marketing plan?
I note the # did not even trend well despite the no doubt £1000’s spent on the stunt.
High street agent not wasting money on silly PR stunts and still delivering a better service. Hashtag that!!!
““Peter” is also a poster which has not history on this site as far as i am aware.”
I have been registered for a while and posted numerous times; your “smile” must be so big and wide it squints your eyes.
Touche!
apologies,
I can’t say how I know (don’t want to upset anyone) but Peter has posted 40 times on here since 14th June 2014
Never had you down as a drama queen Robert………..but here we are. Rubbish4………be sure to check it out everyone! It will apparently……change your life! Well, maybe when it catches on, eventually, maybe 🙂
This post trail sounds like the kind of chat you would hear down the Bingo hall amongst a bunch of old grannies. I guess it is mainly estate agents outraged that their industry is being disrupted. Take a look at every industry that has been disrupted by the internet. There are three phases. 1. denial which was last year. 2. Anger (currently by the look of all this) 3. Acceptance (next year) and then healthy competition. Who knows who will win but if the whole process forces agent fees down, makes them tighten up practices (some are good and some are terribles as we read daily) and the industry improves then im in favour. However in the meantime please feel free to continue to discuss the critical issues at hand like whether this stunt was serious or tongue in cheek, whether ties should have been worn (my view is not as it wasnt a funeral!), horses loaned out or whether Ratner is a comparable (i think he called his own product **** not that of his competitors?).
Well done kd guessed right we are all agents, strange that on an industry news site!
What onliner / portal do you work for?
Just wondering as never seen you post before and you are quite obviously trolling and putting up a pathetic attempt to endorse this joke of a company?
I reckon Chris Woods replacement looking to see how his disruption has gone down. Right now theuy have a horrid stinking feeling of Oh ****, this is going badly wrong, honest and decent people have seen the petulant humour and I have simply embarrassed the Easy brand and the executive team!
There is something very amateur ‘apprentice’ about this, the sort of thing that a deluded head thought a good idea until Lord Sugar delivers a lecture on basic decency.
Let me guess you are the replacement for Chris Wood. I will ask you the same question I asked Chris Wood, and Stephen Jury; name a service industry that has been disrupted by the internet?
In January 2008 Alex Chesterman’s launch of Zoopla promised to disrupt and dominate the property industry. Alex Chesterman has failed, despite the gift horse of the GMGPS database Zoopla has peaked and is in decline as a digital service supplier to the property industry. Chesterman’s predictions for the future of agency are as accurate as his random number generations for property valuations
It is easy to see why Guy Zitter would be under Chesterman’s influence and be all buoyed up with enthusiasm for this project but the reality is Easy do not appear to be living up to the predictions they made 12 month ago and are apparently struggling to give away their first 200 free listings.
Not quite sure, if you are referring to me but, conveyancing is a service industry that has been disrupted by the online presence (albeit, with a few rare exceptions, with appalling customer ‘service’)
I’ve not been asked anything. I don’t get alerts here.
Anyway
– hotels. Both as a classified and service for end user
– taxi. Uber
– guest house – airbnb
– banking
– travel agents
etc
The internet is only part of the “service”.
Hotels over supplied on minute under supplied the nex, a retail commodity, Guest houses the same include in that Travel Agency. The service end of the business still relies wholly on on-site staff and is unaffected by the internet.
Banking, insurance, financial service – retail product sales, computer says… no service required or supplied.
You haven’t named a service industry that has had its service function decimated by the internet in the way Mr Ellice, Mr Quirk et all are claiming.
17 years to achieve 2% market penetration and the sector support system (portals) having to revert to print and paper advertising tells you how disruptive digital is.
Apologies Chris whenI typed that it left my brain as Welch and ended up as Wood.
Conveyancing is a service industry but I am not aware of it being disrupted. yet to the extent it could be.
Apologies accepted Robert. However, local conveyancing services are being hit by cut price farms, most of which are ruddy useless but a few are, finally, getting their act together. Some high street conveyancers are falling by the wayside (no bad thing in some cases) and others are having to sort out the mess caused by the puppy farms but; what is happening is that there are a mass of ruddy awful ‘cheap’ on-line puppy farm solicitors who customers hate, a tiny handful of good on-line firms who do a half decent job and, a few high street firms who do a ruddy good job but, are viewed (incorrectly) as expensive compared to the puppy farmers. However, many experienced home movers do see the value and are prepared to pay when they are buying or selling a non-standard property.
My list of service industries decimated by online is now 1 (ish)
I have to say anyone cutting corners on conveyancing is an idiot. You don’t buy a £180,000 supercar on an inescapable 25 year lease plan without doing a thorough HPI check!
Does conveyancing really compare Estate Agency as a service industry? Conveyancing is to estate agency what a dispensing chemist is to a Doctor.
Gosh, all so negative – Let’s move beyond the funeral and go to the reception where we can celebrate the life of estate agency and remind ourselves what traditional estate agency is, AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE, all about; and we will realise that what easyproperty are trying to bury is very much alive and kicking.
@ Real Agent – I thought the same. No tie? But for sure Rob made his protest in real streets and not online only. Maybe thats the biggest contradiction to his Hg St is dead !!!!!
I have more of a problem with the funeral company that allowed their horses and carriage to be used for a cheap publicity stunt. You’d think they’d have more respect for the people that took their last journey in that carriage than using it to massage Ellice’s ego.
Probably supplied by Easy hearse or Easy funerals
I’m not sure everyone would agree with the pall-bearers donning ‘easy orange’?
What makes me laugh is that Ellice didn’t even have the decency to put a tie on for a funeral!
@ fluter – Very True
When you’re a quid in front of Mr Ratner feel free to repeat that sentence.
Whatever happened to Gerald Ratner?
It isn’t really fair on Gerald Ratner to compare the two; Gerald Ratner had built up a good and profitable business which he then destroyed by a stupid comment. Ellice doesn’t have anything other than investors’ money and co directors reputations to destroy.
It would be really interesting to know what he told investors he would bring in by September 2015 and compare that with what he has achieved. It is alright to be brash, arrogant and gobby if you are meeting all your targets and predictions otherwise all the hype turns to embarrassing disappointment.
Wasn’t really comparing the two Robert, just drawing attention to the effect of bad publicity. Agree wholeheartedly on your second paragraph.
Goodness doesn’t it say something when we feel sympathy for Gerald Ratner? The injustice that someone is more heinously crass than Mr Ratner beggars belief but there we go, its done. The Ellice stunt top trumps a Ratner moment for business ignorance.
He’s running a business, fluter. A very different one to that of 30 years ago – but I suspect he still has a chunk more in the bank than you and me put together…
I’m sure he does PeeBee but the point I was making is that bad publicity can destroy a business just in the same way that good publicity can enhance it.
Yes, fluter – unfortunately there are some out there – and those mentioned in this article are prime examples – who firmly believe that sad old cherry that “ANY publicity is good publicity”.
Unfortunately the only loser in this debacle is GOOD ESTATE AGENCY.
Truely a distasteful cheap shot by Easy. Maybe agents should think about boycotting brands like EasyJet etc and Carphone Warehouse who invested in budget agency HouseSimple.
Or maybe agents should pull portal advertising direct and place their ads through these budget operatives and save a fortune on advertising costs and generate greater revenue by concentrating on higher value professional and management services.
For sure portals have let them in the agents arena. But often their cheap fees don’t stack up other than fast driving a business for the VC’s behind them to place higher valuations and to off load more shares to generate millions. All said when the money’s run out, OR VC’s exit, how can such models later continue.
“For sure portals have let them in the agents arena.”
Are you REALLY sure you want to go there, Mr Mealham – seeing as you have such huge issues with the one portal that puts #highstreetagency first?
There will be plenty to say about “cheap shots” if you walk that line, believe me…
Peebee – I often walk the line.
1. I don’t agree budget agency is best practice. in fact I fail to see how cheap fees allow an agent to market a property to its full. With higher fees, I maintain that a higher or better offer can be secured for clients.
2. The main big portals have allowed budget in, which I feel is wrongly a backdoor route for FSBO/private sellers. For this portals are VERY wrong and biting the majority clientelle’s hand that feeds them.
3. The above marketing stance is TOTALLY wrong, and shame on the Easy brand for letting it happen.
4. Budget operatives and their VC’s want fast growth, that is likely to mean call centre operatives that may be requested to give consumer advice on selling/letting their homes. I question if a newbie to the industry in a call centre is capable of providing consumers with best advice in line with CPR’s
5. My controversial point about traditional agents using the likes of budgets as advertising in roads was simply on the basis that agents with a handful of listings are running on low or no margins. Maybe its time for agents to look away from portals and concentrate on cheaper ways in alike private sellers can achieve, and concentrate on greater revenues based on service that budget operatives may not have the staff to cater for.
VC’s see 5 year plans to exit. In that time RM and Z are allowing stack em high, sell em cheap models in. Until this changes and thats if the CMA would allow, do traditional Hg St and traditional online models look at changing the way they operate to change the game.
That is in no way a response to the point I was making – and you know it.
Peebee, the fact is that two main portals let Easy in. A N Other portal doesn’t allow easy in.
I love it when the penny doth drpoppeth – even if it is a soft landing…
In the worst possible taste!
Im not with OTM but all of this does make me think that they got one thing right. By allowing only real estate agents and not the online movement, they are proposing to help our industry as opposed to RM.
Perhaps we need to get organised and lobby Miles to not allow them to advertise on RM. as an online agent cant they rely on their own online presence?
or should we all revisit OTM?
Couple of things that the public need to know, if any property journalist from a broadsheet is reading.
1. Once you add up the individual add ons Easyproperty has a very high upfront fee,
2. Agents that take an upfront fee have little interest in securing a sale or offering a service as they already have their money.
3. Mr Ellice owns another estate agency more in line with the high street model.
4. They do not offer a like for like service.
5. They are yet to make a profit.
6. Investors are yet to see a return on their investment.
7. Online only agents have only 5% of the market between all of them.
8. Is this really a tasteful campaign?
9. Easyproperty is a licensed brand name, other than being orange and having “Easy” in the name it has nothing to do with “Easyjet”
10. Look into why high profile directors have already resigned form easyproperty.
11. Speak with a high street agent, put you bias views to one side and speak with them on the service they offer, let them tell you about the sales that would fall through if it was not for them.
12. Look into what easyproperty does with the data of people selling.
13. The hardest part of moving is not selling the property but getting it to exchange, easyproperty and many other online only agents do not promote this, ask why.
14. Is cheapest best? would you buy the cheapest parachute in a shop or the safest?
Lots to talk about and discuss but this covers a number of points avoided by the mainstream press.
It appears that Easy property have used the same design of some of the well known London agents on those boards, I wonder what they think about this hideous joke of a stunt.
There’s only one word for this – vile.
At what point does PR become disrespectful? I personally think that the PR company and SleezyProperty need to think about what a funeral actually means and how bringing this into a business context isn’t cool.
SleezyProperty – like it, very apt
I found 47 more:
Appalling, contemptible, depraved, despicable, disgraceful, disgusting, horrid, humiliating, immoral, miserable, nasty, noxious, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, shocking, sleazy, ugly, vicious, vulgar, abandoned, abject, bad, base, coarse, debased, degenerate, dirty, evil, filthy, foul, ignoble, impure, iniquitous, loathsome, low, mean, nauseating, nefarious, perverted, repellent, sickening, sinful, stinking, wicked, worthless, wretched.
Personally, I think he’s just doing all this to attract more funds from gullible investors.
When it comes down to it, most of the public don’t actually want to “do-it-themselves”.
..also Ellice.. you’re not Stelios, you don’t have a personality or the charisma of the man you’re emulating..
You’ve created this stunt as a direct attempt to copy what stelio’s did when BA launched its no-frills airline, Go, the Easyjet founder tried to hijack the event by booking a seat and turning up in his company’s orange uniform.
Not even original Rob Ellice… not even original..!
If pride comes before a fall..?
This is untasteful gutter publicity but shows Ellice’s desperation more than it promotes his business.. Yes, its likely to attract the press but at what cost..? Ellice has not performed well with lets or sales so maybe this street performance is more his level..
There isn’t much there to be proud about Matin and falling from the kerb into the gutter unlikely to be fatal. The only hope is that people who have honest and respected careers up until their involvement with this project realise the implications of throwing away 40+ years good standing and respect for a distasteful display like this and how that will be a impermeable stain on both their character and career.
I actually thought this was a wind up but now it is real think the Easy brand and other brand renters should give serious consideration to how the Ellice stunt reflects on them.
Yes, I thought it must be a wind up too. Quite unbelievable. Hope it will backfire on them as it should
Can anyone put names to those in the front row of that photograph? Including the bloke at the back looking embarrassed and concerned by it all. At least 2 careers are being buried today.
I think they are method actors…
I recognised the bloke with the badly fitting shirt and Easy orange teeth as Mr Ellice and wondered if Stuart Silberg, Guy Zitter, Eachan Fletcher and David Thorpe were lined up along side their co director.
Im not sure who they are but Ellice and his mate make a belting Sid Little and Eddie Large.
New keyboard please!
#CheapFeesRIPpedOff
Ros, can you please explain to the dozens and dozens of regular readers of your work why there is this constant obsession with quoting eMoov? I genuinely cannot remember a period of more than three or four days going by without a lead story about them, or them being quoted in some capacity about their comments on another story. Enough is enough.
So you’d rather not know what the guy is saying? Unfortunately he has the ear of the media and whether this publication covers his spouting or not, the national media will. So it is news – and I think that is what this site is about, isn’t it? Maybe you could give Ros some useful quotes to use instead?
I wouldn’t like to hear what the guy is saying on a daily basis no. I hear more quotes from him than everyone else combined. Is he the only voice out there? are there no others sources of quotes or other opinions? No wonder he continues to spout nonsense knowing that it is lapped up and printed each day as free advertising. I’d love to give quotes to the national media on a daily basis, who wouldn’t, sadly no-one else is asked. One mans views constantly, and usually bias and negative about High Street agents, who I would imagine are 90% of the readership of these articles.
Agree with you. But you highlight the principal problem – Quirk is an outspoken character and the media loves people like him. There is no-one I can see who works as hard at promoting the High Street/Trad agents. Until someone starts doing that he and his like will dominate the agenda.
“Far be it from us to comment on the nature of their stunt, but there is no denying it will get attention. There’s no such thing as bad publicity, that’s true. But only to a point.”
This publicity bun fight between Property Listers is embarrassing! ….. I forsee Quirk & Ellice standing side by side shouting at each other about who can p*ss highest!
Mr Quirk sounds almost normal. Have the nurses upped his medication?
Why is emoove getting yet more air time? Surely there are other voices that should be heard. I for one was touched by Julian’s comments.
That’s easy Smile, Ros will get a heap of comments to reinforce her superiority over EAT who published and pulled the original story. Mr Quirk gets to point out he isn’t actually the most unpleasant character in the entire industry and we all get to be grateful we don’t have to stoop as low as either of them to get hold of money at the expense of our integrity, dignity or decorum.
Everyone but rent a brand name come out winners.
Ummm – if Hg Street agency is dead – why is Rob’s ‘Easy’ demo in real roads and streets. Is his only way of doing this to compronmise that Hg Street has VALUE and that online only wouldnt have had as much impact.
On TV in the last week Tepilo and House Simple, both budget models showd commercials showing ‘SOLD’ boards. In both cases no stc was on the mock boards, which in real terms would be a T&C planning regulations breach.
My guess is that being cheap wont get them rich – however, their ignorance on legislation will cost budget agents a lot.
Sell on service and now the legislation boundaries and its a end game winner once more budgets have come and GONE. …..