Online agent HouseSimple has launched a new fee structure.

Customers can choose to have one week’s free trial, followed by a weekly pay-as-you go charge of £9 plus a “success” fee of £495 if the property sells.

Or they can pay £395 as a lump sum on completion of the sale or after 12 months – whichever is the sooner.

Fees reduce if sellers use the firm’s conveyancing and mortgage broking services.

Vendors are not tied in to any contract, and under both payment plans vendors receive services including valuation guidance, photography, floor plans and marketing on Rightmove and Zoopla.

HouseSimple.com also arranges viewings, and manages the negotiations and sales progression through to completion.

Alex Gosling, CEO, said: “Unlike high street estate agents, who stubbornly refuse to change their commission model to provide a better value service to home sellers, we are continually striving to meet the needs of our customers.

“We recognise there is still some uncertainty amongst home sellers around online estate agents, and the existing up-front fee model can dissuade people if they’ve never sold a property online before.

“We wanted to address that concern and make the service more accessible to all.

“The free one week’s trial and pay-as-you-go payment plan that we’ve introduced gives home sellers the opportunity to see how selling their property online works.

“Once they’ve dipped their toe into the water they’ll wonder why they never tried selling with an online estate agent before.”

Gosling went on to claim: “Consumers are fed up with paying the exorbitantly high fees that traditional estate agents charge.

“Many home sellers are paying through the nose for a poor quality customer service experience from a high street agent.

“Online estate agency is the future of this industry. Not only do we offer an equivalent service to the high street agent for a fraction of the cost, but we also secure more sales than high street estate agents and achieve a higher asking price on sales.”

Sir Charles Dunstone, founder of Carphone Warehouse and Chairman of TalkTalk and of Dixons Carphone, together with his business partner, Roger Taylor, recently invested £5m into the HouseSimple.com business.

HouseSimple claims to have sold or let more than £bn worth of properties to date, and to achieve an average 99% of asking prices.

It says its average selling time is 20 days.

EYE has asked Gosling, pictured, whether he would re-consider a no sale, no fee pricing structure.

Alex Gosling - image - May 2015(1)