OnTheMarket plc, which operates the OnTheMarket.com property portal, is about 65% agent-owned.
It estimates that almost 40% of independent UK estate and letting agents now have shares in the company.
Agent shareholders already own around 45 million shares – approximately £30 million of current value.
OnTheMarket has authorisation to issue a further c.32 million shares to agents who sign listing agreements with the portal.
The contracts launched today will issue either £1,000 of welcome shares per office with flexible portal choices, or £2,500 of welcome shares per office if an agent commits to list exclusively with OnTheMarket for a minimum of 12 months.
Share calculations are based on a minimum share price of £1 at the time of share issuance and total shares available to each agent office are subject to a maximum of 6,000 shares. The calculation is based on a share price that is the higher of £1 or the price at the time of issue.
Listing is free until 1 September 2020 under both agreements and agents will receive additional shares that equate to a percentage of the amount that they pay up until 31 August 2022.
This percentage depends on how many other portals the agent lists with.
It is 50% for periods of listing exclusively with OnTheMarket, 30% for periods of listing on only one of Rightmove or Zoopla/Primelocation and 20% for periods of listing on both Rightmove and Zoopla/Primelocation.
Agents will also receive a 10% discount on their listing fees for periods of listing on only one of Rightmove or Zoopla/Primelocation and 20% for periods of listing exclusively at OnTheMarket.
The minimum contract term is up to 31 August 2021, with one month’s notice thereafter, and annual fee increases are capped at RPI +2%.
In an example provided by OnTheMarket, a one-office sales and lettings firm in Whitley Bay, listing on a one other portal basis, will pay £314 per month.
But, in addition to receiving £1,000 of welcome shares, it will also receive £94 of shares for every paying month up to 31 August 2022.
The new contracts are available to any agents who have not already entered into a share-based listing agreement and who have ten or more available properties.
Clive Beattie, Acting Chief Executive Officer of OnTheMarket, said:
“We are ready to issue shares to agents who sign one of these latest agreements and to welcome them alongside the thousands of existing agent shareholders in OnTheMarket.
“Our offering provides a unique opportunity for agents to participate in the equity value of their own portal.
“This is a defining moment for agents as they make their short-term and longer-term portal choices.
“It is in the interests of existing shareholders and the industry alike that as many agents as possible stand together and fully support OnTheMarket.
“We are already offering a 3-month 33% discount to those of our agents paying on full tariff agreements.
“Now we are inviting the industry as a whole to join together, get through this period of crisis, and emerge stronger than ever with a portal that’s industry-owned.
“Agents have never been so strongly galvanised to take decisive action – the power is really in their hands.”
Comments (51)
A bit surprising that no one has weighed in on the real change here — OTM now offering a contract with a capped price increase (RPI+2%, so roundabout 4-6%). So not only does the monthly cost start at a fraction of Rightmove’s, it is also committed to grow slower than Rightmove’s has. Sounds like the sort of thing a plc aiming to maximise share price would not commit to. Sounds like the sort of thing a plc mostly owned by its customers would do. Ah, there it is.
The reason because people dont trust onthemarket. They did the same when they started a Mutual. We know what happened afterwards.
the capped price is for short term as they need agents more than agents need them. What happens afterwards?
Ask 100 agents how much they pay to onthemarket per month, you will get 100 very very different prices!
Springett and Co. stitched me up once and that was enough.
The sooner this mafia mentality bunch of crooks fold, the better.
I’ll have a bet with you Penguin. With that attitude you will be gone long before OTM.
No I won’t Beano – I’ve been at it for twenty years and nothing has flattened me yet – not even the cr*p I’ve had to deal with OTM.
They’ll be lucky to survive the Summer.
In case you hadn’t noticed – he’s left!
I supported OTM financially as a Day 1 Gold Member. I protested at the “Sell-Out” OTM V2 …..and left OTM in January 2020.
65% Agent owned, circa 12,000 Branches etc. ……yet as has been alluded to …..Our Industry still doesn’t support it?
So …….I’ll go with the simple Question “If OTM or any Agent backed Portal is going to succeed and represent ALL of OUR INDUSTRY (in terms of properties advertised) …..what will make ALL of us support it?”
(…..and let’s set aside the idea of it simply being Free).
If there is NO answer which we can ALL support …..then we are paying for 3 Portals?
Last time I checked, the vast majority of Vendors pay for the services of just ONE Estate Agent.
GPL you can mix and match your portal – the best one for sale, and the best one for lettings.
Clients to pay for additional products if they want them.
It needn’t be complicated or expensive.
Agents own herd mentality and envy have created much of the problems they face themselves today…….
It’s a great opportunity, considering that many agents have been harping on about forming their own portal in the uphill battle against Rightmove, I’m at a loss!
It is a matter of time before the agents lose the control like it did happen with other portals. It is a publicly listed company and as they raise more money and/ or agents sell their shares, the control will pass to the same investors that currently support Rightmove and they will ask to increase profit and revenue at our expense!!! think long term! Onthemarket Is just another portal, it is not your friend.
Well said. Haters need to just LEAVE OTM
Rightmove haters need to JOIN OTM
Simple.
The shame of it all is that it is was an agent owned portal, but much like most things these days, all people wanted to do was argue their point all of the time, rather than embrace it and make it the no 1.
How ironic that even with OTM still being 65% agent owned and the backlash that is happening with Rightmove, which isn’t, people still can’t see the benefit in OTM.
They can’t see that actually the days of being dictated to by any portal is over (inc OTM) and that they could and would have a say.
The support is what it needs, that’s what will make it work and if you get some shares along the way, so be it.
OTM isn’t RM or Zoopla and doesn’t have the cash that these two have, so the fact that it has offered anything at all, with the discount and now shares, is to be commended.
You can down vote, argue against what I am saying, but you can’t argue that if the industry had or does get behind OTM, it could be the dominant portal.
RM is the dominant portal and the vast majority, who are paying them and keeping it that way, despise them; what a mad world!
What happens next is anyone’s guess, but it certainly won’t be the same, so everyone can hang on to RM, moaning away until it’s gone and then find something else to moan about, because that seems to be the main priority for most people these days.
Certain regular posters against OTM need to get over themselves and move on. If they don’t or can’t then it is them that will keep paying accordingly.
It works for me – also my website don’t have national coverage. I don’t advertise my website in Country Life every week. Or on TV (with those **** adverts)
I like the simplicity of the OTM Website.
Simplicity is clearly lacking however in this “hotch potch”, “cover all bases”, “new & exciting” offer?
Dreamnt up by a group of people who all wanted their idea put forward.
Keep it simple OTM. As someone mentioned here …..revise your support to existing OTM Shareholder/Subscribers
…and promote a clear/punchy “Join OTM” Offer. I gave up reading the “if you do this you get that” or “if you do that you get this” or “if you do this & that you’ll qualify for the other thing …..but only if you do this …or that …..or was it the other?”
I thought that after Ian Springett’s departure, OntheMarket would be more honest and change their tactics, but unfortunately it seems that this dishonesty and dirty tactics are part of their DNA and culture now.
One thing this article doesn’t mention- what will happen to those agents on exclusive agreements when Onthemarket fails as a company?
Why does an “agent friend” want agents to be completely dependent on them and nobody else by creating a Monopoly? Do people believe that OntheMarket shareholders in the City want different things v Rightmove shareholders in the City???
How long have you been working for Rightmove?
Are you working for Onthemove, sorry I mean onthemarket????
No but there are a lot of new names on here, (this story about otm) that are piping up, very much anti an agent backed portal, strange……
So let me get this right. They give agents £1,000 of shares but calculated at £1 per share (v current price is £0.6 and 4 days ago it was £0.3) i.e. more like £300-600 to sign up for an annual contract paying £3,768 a year per office? Oh, I forgot you also get “£94” (or actually £28-56 a month in shares) if you continue to pay them £314 a month (=9.8% discount). if you drop two other portals and help Onthemarket unhappy shareholders to secure a position of the “Next Rightmove”, you might get ‘£2,500’ or in real World between £750-1500 for a suicidal contract. Are these guys taking people for complete IDIOTS???
You my friend understand it perfectly.
What if everyone gets behind this portal and the share rises to £3 a share-what then
still £2 below what they promised it would be at launch.
And all that really equates to is a year free listing which some of us have anyway (longer in fact).
You understand that for the share price to go up, the company needs to make more profit, have higher profit margins. Guess how this is possible???:) Yes, by charging agents more and more per month! So they give you a few hundred £ and ask you to sign an indefinite contract to pay them ever growing fees for the rest of your active life 🙂
In the world of portals as in lots of business models with numbers comes profit. You do know you don’t have to behave like Rightmove to make a profit…….. don’t you?
shareholders of any listed company expect a growing revenue otherwise why would somebody buy their shares or invest? Listed company isn’t a lifestyle business!!! Investors need profits and margins. And not sure about you, but I don’t need another Rightmove. I have already 2 I have to pay.
Octopus your not paying attention are you? when the modus operandi is publicly declared as being ‘for the agents’, and the majority of the shareholders are agents, why do you think your version is the right one?
Beano,
What is a fair price for a portal like OTM? Can we agree if it is market leading we will all be happy to spend £300 per month?
Let’s assume OTM gets critical mass and we are all happy paying £300 pm (it wont but for the sake of sport lets assume it does).
They are a listed company with a 35% shareholding from private investors. To keep the share price at a viable figure (£3 was mentioned above) and to increase it and provide dividends to investors. They will need to increase revenue and profit.
How do you propose they do this? The only way is sell products that compete with agents own offering or an increase in monthly fees.
This is the problem. OTM is not worth looking at as a medium to long term challenger to RM.
Excellent points smile please!
Yeah excellent! Publicly quoted entities that make a profit generally look out for all three of their interests (their shareholders, their client base and their business itself) Most can do it IN highly competitive areas, providing a fair return for their shareholders and a fair price for their product.
The mistake you and your co- opioned types make is that you are blinded by the Rightmove story, however, that is not how business works usually (believe it or not).
There is plenty of money to be made running a portal with full agent backing whilst the product is priced reasonably.
If what your saying is you dont believe that OTM will stick to their principles, I would imagine the majority of the shareholders might have something to say about that…..
If what your saying is you think what Rightmove have been up to is the norm in the corporate world then you need to get out of your bubble.
Beano200062 Are u an agent or do you work for onthemarket sales / pr team? you either dont get it or pretend to. Agents wont always have the control. Onthemarket will need to raise more and more money and agents will be in minority and investor interests will be more important. Only 3-4 years ago agents had full control and now 65%. In the next 3-4 years they will have 30-35% if otm survives! why dont they offer transparent pricing to everybody? Primelocation/ rightmove were all setup by agents originally.
I don’t have to be a rep of the company to understand that just because Rightmove have behaved dreadfully to their paying customers every company that follows will also do so. What is it with people? Did Microsoft/windows price themselves at £1000 per month just because they were the only feasible option for 15 years? No, they charged a reasonable rate for a monopolistic product that gained them a good return. Rightmove’s decisions will be seen as the reason for their downfall, and it is for this reason most sensible decision makers in business don’t behave as outrageously as they have. (and they have).
There is a big difference between skinning your client base to gain as much share price traction as possible, and looking after your business by providing good value to both your shareholders and client base. Why cant you lot see this??
For a share price to rise it needs to make a profit-not accurate-PB was (WAS) a good case in point
Seem like OTM are trying to capitalise on the campaign for ’Say no to Rightmove’. What an inappropriate time to launch something like this when many agents have been left with no option other than furloughing many of their staff.
It also needs to be noted the comments in the article “ We are already offering a three – month 33% discount to those of our agents paying on a full terrace agreement”, bearing in mind Zoopla are offering three or five months FREE during this period and Rightmove are offering 75% discount, 33% discount is extremely poor and in many cases probably unaffordable during these unprecedented times.
Surely the best proposal OTM should consider right now is to help out there own loyal members first by offering a free period straight away.
Agree, in parts..!
OTM should be rewarding the agents who have stuck with them and consistently used “new and exclusive”
Whilst our Country Life adverts are great, surely free shares would be the obvious way of convincing agents to use the early bird system. its a great system and the punters love it (particularly the London buyers over £1m) BUT agents don’t get it/too much hassle. They would embrace it if there was a suitable reward.
Sort it out OTM. Look after your supporters, not the haters.
You say ‘punters’ and then clarify this to buyers love it. Why would they love it unless it was because they thought they could get a better deal by getting in quick and not letting others in the market, (not signed up to On the Market) get a chance to see the property before they put in an offer and got it removed from general sale
From a sellers point of view, if your property is ready to be marketed why would you not want it shown to as many people as possible so that they all had a chance to buy and therefore hopefully get the best offers possible? Maybe someone could explain why any seller would want, or be sold on this ‘new and exclusive’ aspect. Surely Agents are meant to act for their sellers so why is contracting the market you are marketing it to, for a day or so, a good thing?? Maybe I am missing something. I am sure the On the Market supporters will be quick to put me right.
Hi Bridget,
For clarity, I was a gold member with OTM but dropped them earlier this year. The new and exclusive was like a weakened version of ‘off-market’ deals. If a buyer knows that they are one of the very few people who have access to a property and it is a perfect property for them they may make a quicker offer and a higher offer to secure the opportunity. Once it is out to the ‘masses’ the stance seems to change, they enquire about other interest and if it is low they know they can deal on the price.
We offer all new instructions to our own database before going to the portals. There is nothing new in this but so many agents seem to be in a huge hurry to stock on the portals. If you agree that having your own active and engaged database is good for business (just think of all the opportunities therein) then this just makes sense. There are numerous spin-off benefits too when it comes to one-off viewings, testing asking prices etc.
Thanks for explaining your reasoning.
It works for me Bridget.
Agreed. OTM trying to catch up. Unfortunately their product doesn’t work so it’s a waste of time, and at will result in more agents stuck in contracts that are delivering no value.
they don’t have enough money to do what they’re trying to do and the end is nigh.
Anyone else notice on the Negotiator site that OTM are flogging John Charcol email addresses that we register?
Not sure that’s an act of a supportive agent invested partner! Sounds like any other PLC trying to leverage its assets to me.
Avoid The Negotiator.
Simply not true that OTM “doesn’t work” It works well if you embrace it. New & Exclusive has a huge following.
New and exclusive does not work. Even if it did why not have new and exclusive on your own website?
BINGO!!!
It works for me – also my website don’t have national coverage. I don’t advertise my website in Country Life every week. Or on TV (with those **** adverts)
Surprised that in 50 odd comments nobody else has picked up on the fact that viewers are invited to seek a mortgage quote from John Charcoal in Agents listings or under agents details. Seems they are picking up on ways that ZOOPLA earn money from add ons on the ack of agents data
A strategy that does not seem to have served them well in the past, rinsed and repeated.
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results……. Source: A Einstein
Well said.
They already have the naive and gullible agents signed up. A handful of worthless shares will not attract other agents.
You best stick to Rightmove then.
Given I am on all three think I am pretty well placed to know which work and do not.
along with how bad each treat their customers.
As I’ve said countless times in the past…it all depends WHAT you sell and WHERE you sell it.
Zoopla has never worked for me so I came off it. Maybe you should leave OTM if it doesn’t work for you?
Spend the money lining Rightmove’s coffers instead!