OnTheMarket boss Ian Springett said yesterday that the industry is reaching a “crunch point”.
Writing to OTM’s member agents, he said: “We have already disrupted the duopoly of Rightmove and Zoopla and believe we are reaching a crunch point for agents.”
He said: “It is no surprise that the number of agents listing with Rightmove has started to decline for the first time: down 298 offices year-on-year, with the greatest reduction – 257 offices – in the second half of 2018.”
Springett said that last year, Rightmove’s results showed it had hiked average revenue per advertiser by a further £83 and broken through the £1,000 per month barrier for the first time.
However, he said that for the third year in a row, Rightmove generated fewer leads for its customers – 171 on average per month last year.
He said that Rightmove also reported a further 10% decline in leads this January, which it attributed to “the fall in property transactions as a result of a slightly cooler housing market”.
However, Springett said: “Although NAEA Propertymark is reporting an overall downturn in buyer enquiries in January, we believe that the fall in Rightmove’s lead generation may also result from the substantial growth in leads delivered by OTM.”
He said OTM has increased its lead generation sevenfold since its admission to the stock market in February last year.
Springett’s letter goes on to say that OTM undercuts Rightmove, with fees typically a quarter of the price.
His letter ends by asking agents for their continuing support, including using the New and Exclusive feature by which properties are advertised on OTM 48 hours before being listed elsewhere.
Rightmove has rejected criticisms about volumes of leads, saying that it deliberately withdrew a tool in 2016 that until then let home hunters send a single enquiry to a number of agents in one go. Agents had complained that the leads were poor quality. The leads agents have received since are, says Rightmove, better quality and more relevant as they are about a specific property listing.
Separately, yesterday, a report from market analyst Robin Savage, of investment bank Zeus Capital, claims that at a briefing, Rightmove told analysts: “Cost per lead is the wrong way to look at Rightmove.”
Zeus Capital, which advises OTM, says its own view is: “Cost of customer acquisition (eg, cost per lead) is vital for most businesses. Estate agency is no exception.”
The report continues: “Expressed as ‘cost per lead’, the cost of Rightmove marketing has risen by 64% over three years, from £3.58 to £5.88.”
Rightmove has said in guidance for this year that it is looking at a 10% rise in revenue and a £5m rise in costs, with operating margin remaining at around 76%, according to the Zeus Capital report, which predicts that OTM will have 17,300 branches listing in three years’ time.
A new report from Exane BNP Paribas yesterday gave Rightmove an ‘outperform’ rating.
It said that concerns over lower agency numbers were over-done, and that the risk posed by hybrid agents was receding.
In yet another report also out yesterday, analyst Mike DelPrete said that overall revenue at Rightmove grew last year at the lowest rate in Rightmove’s history.
He said that this reflected “the growing difficulty the business has in charging its customers more money for the same service”.
Yesterday, Rightmove’s share price went up some 5% to end at around 497p. OTM shares put on some 3% to end at 135p.
Below, graphic from Mike DelPrete:
Comments (86)
smile please…..
I think we should have some form of portalsonic (masonic) emoji that reveals which side of the post the “new posters” are on.
In my home town of Glasgow one is prepared for “the handshake” and “which school did you go to?”
…….I’m sure we can figure suitable “bias” questions.
In the meantime we just need to “Quarantine” those New Posters
I prefer the Glasgow kiss, that should keep them in quarantine 😉
Lots of new posters on hear suddenly very vocal about leaving Rightmove and advertising on OTM?
If i could i would insert a laughing emoji.
Story of the last 4 years no? 🙂
Smile Please….
appears you are again, in the minority.
Oh dear….just another agent with a massive lack of business acumen.
Keep it up OTM – right behind you to knock RM off their ridiculous and unnecessary pedestal!!
1TB …….headlining your local Circus soon!
You’ll recognise the brightly coloured hair, shiney nose, large feet and stripey oversized suit
…..and that big Top Hat with the words “ Happy? We don’t care if you are! “
You’ve seen my dancing and party outfit haven’t you? 😉
My goodness, some people talk a load of rubbish. Using any portal is a personal choice. Say RM are a rip off, then when your contract is up leave, simple – don’t moan about it. If you pay a portal for membership, then clearly you are deciding it benefits you, so again, stop complaining, you have a choice. Don’t like OTM / Zoopla either, then guess what, you have a choice.
Many agent branches have closed the last year, in fact, more than normal, so it’s just common sense this has a branch count effect. Any argument against this is just simply naive. Less properties in a market means less listings correct? Why would it be any different with less agents in the market? To the odd agent saying they have left RM, OTM is quite frankly, meaningless. Agents come and go in business and on portals for all sorts of reasons all the time.
OTM are clearly having next to zero effect on RM or Zoopla. OTM site visitors and lead maybe up, but from near zero and still way wayy behind RM and Zoopla after 4 years is nothing to proud of. So much so, they refuse to give actual numbers, just state year on year %.
And as for the agents holding back advertising listings from non OTM portals for 24-48 hours, you disgust me. You are being paid to sell or let a property by someone, and it is your ‘responsibility’ to do as much as you can to do just that. Not to delay the process because of your own personal feelings – so unprofessional! My bet is, that not one honestly tell the property owner they are choosing to delay advertising the property by withholding the listing from RM / Zoopla, by far the two biggest and only widely known portals. Only suggesting it will appear on OTM quicker, without giving the facts why this is.
Agent or non-agent, what do we think people?
RM AI BOT
@******e seems a fair description.
Im going to say non agent. But I am a non agent, I would what you call a “service provider” which sounds like the above is also.
No idea what someone being an agent or not has to do with the subject? I wasn’t aware Ian Springett is an agent, and the article is based on his comments.
I notice no one had disagreed and with an explanation so far – feel free, but lets stick to facts. It’s an open forum.
‘And as for the agents holding back advertising listings from non OTM portals for 24-48 hours, you disgust me.’
I do not know of a single agent who would write this on an open forum.
‘You disgust me’. I think this comment answers agent or non-agent question. 1TB I think you are on the wrong board. Nothing wrong with your first paragraph but after that I’m afraid you lost the room.
Hi Wilts, appreciate your comment.
On the point you mention. I hope you will agree, an individual selling or letting a property, would ‘expect’, an agent instructed to be completly professional, by working in their best interest. Doing everything within their power to ultimately do what they have been employed and paid to do.
To delay listing a property from potential buyers/renters because an agent has a personal want to support one particular portal is just plain wrong, no matter how you look at it.
Personal feelings when running a business, should not be detrimental of a client’s interests. I ask, would any agent advertise this as a positive to gain perspective listings over other agents, simply no.
I have yet to see one bit of PR or note on an agents site or social media page saying “List with us, and we will delay your property from appearing on the number one and two UK portals by 48 hours over our local rivals”.
Any agents agreeing this is the right and proper thing to do are just on another planet.
1TB Within two hours you went from
“Using any portal is a personal choice…
…again, stop complaining, you have a choice…
…then guess what, you have a choice…”
to
“To delay listing a property… is just plain wrong, no matter how you look at it.”
Funny – most would see it as a choice – and as you said THREE TIMES in one post…
AGENTS HAVE A CHOICE.
Seems to me that your agenda is getting in the way of straight thinking. Usually dangerous when that happens.
Next you’ll be declaring your particular interest in the subject and thickness of skin in the game.
NowTHAT could potentially be worthy of a news article in itself…
PeeBee, I understand your excitement, but these are two different subject areas, so I am afraid I need to point out, your comment is misinformed.
Agents have a, yes ‘choice’ what portal to advertise on (subject 1), but have a ‘responsibility’ to a client not to delay a listing from potential buyers/renters. Should the agent decide their preference is to delay. At minimum, this should not be done without the clients full understanding the listing does not actually have to be delayed by 48hrs (on any other portals), and specific permission giving them the choice (subject 2).
An agent can use OTM (as many do) without ‘choosing to delay’ the listing on other portals to the detriment of a client’s interests. And doing so without their knowledge and full understanding, is deceitful.
Now THAT certainly could be worthy of a news article in itself…
‘And doing so without their knowledge and full understanding, is deceitful’
Give us examples where this has actually happened and not just in your imagination.
http://www.onthemarket.com
MrsF –
As one of the original silver members shafted by Springett, I would no more use OTM than stick wasps up my harris. Rightmove costs can be dropped through the floor without leaving them if you lose all the bolt-ons, bells and whistles.
OTM is and will always be a dead man walking, hated by many in the industry that it lied to and tried to take to the cleaners.
I would no more use OTM than stick wasps up my harris
That did make me giggle I must admit.
Once the free trials and incentives stop, the numbers will no doubt decline. People can rant and rave about OTM all they like, but they shafted the original members and alienated them, the very ones who backed and supported them.
I despise the term “disruptor” and whilst they may have made a ripple in the portal world, they will never be #1 or #2.
I posted on yesterday’s RM thread that I gave them notice on Friday.
I got an email 17:33 on Saturday acknowledging.
Yesterday I got an email confirming last date of subscription, and a schedule of ‘to do’s’ such as removing all branding, informing vendors etc.
In other words, off you jolly well **** then!
Imagine you get a call from a client saying they didn’t feel the service provided was value for money and generating enough interest. Do you pop their keys through the front door or do you say ‘why don’t I come and see you and we can talk about the areas in which you feel we’ve let you down, and we’ll do our best to rectify things’.
You’d do the latter, right?
To ensure you got a one off fee and protect your reputation, never mind a £1200 monthly subscription for the next however many years.
Maybe if I was a Foxtons, KFH or other 50 office corporate I may have had a different response……who knows?
Simples really.
3 words.
Rip-off Rightmove
‘In the meantime All the market leading estate agents in every area can happily afford RM‘
I remember talking to an agents in the 90s who told me he preferred newspaper advertising to be expensive because it meant his competition couldn’t afford to it (or as much as they were). The same mentality could well apply to RM today.
Never heard of OTM other than on this forum.
A bit like eMoov and other online agents (although I had heard of YOPA and of course PB). I knew other online agents existed and if I’d wanted to find out who they were I could have searched on Google.
That’s up here in the North West. Perhaps it’s different in the South East. I know Zoopla are more popular down south but deliver very little traffic in this part of the world.
It Rightmove were concerned by OTM they’d be doing something about it.
The fact a vendor hasn’t heard of a portal doesn’t matter to 95% of vendors; for the 5% of FSBO, passive intermediary vendors the portals are absolutely essential to their sale.
95% of vendors are paying an agent to do a job, how they achieve that doesn’t matter, so whether an agent has an office, doesn’t have an office, advertises on 98 portals or 1, those are decisions individual business owners have to make.The vendor decides on which agent will do the best job for them, agents decide what portals will do the best job for them.
Never heard of OTM other than on this forum.
Are we suprised by that comment! You need to get out M8.
There are only two ways that OTM will replace RM.
1. OTM organise enough agents to switch off RM on the same day meaning the general public HAVE to look on OTM to find all the properties.
2. Severe downturn in the market means enough agents are forced to give up RM because they literally can no longer afford it. Much the same as happened to newspapers in 2008.
In the meantime All the market leading estate agents in every area can happily afford RM and know that the competition will use it as a stick to beat them with if they come off first.
£30,000 per annum is a small price to pay, out of £750,000 per annum gross income. An additional member of Staff would not generate anywhere near as much turnover.
However, as market leaders in our area, if the top five agents all gave up at the same time on RM I would happily lead the way out!
There is the third and more realisitc option. As a region you and all your competitors get together. Decide if you want to advertise with OTM or Zoopla. Then call the prefered portal and say We have X many agents (needs to be circa 75% of the stock for the area) and say what deal can you do us if we all walk away from RM and the other portal and just advertise on yours?
Strength in numbers and it only needs to work on a local level and not a national level. Review it every 3 or 4 years and put the stock out to tender. Similar in what the Premier League does. Agents need to wake up and realise how much their stock is worth.
Once one or two regions do this, and stories spring up on sites like this we will take back control of our costings.
The hard bit of course is finding a local agent that can heard cats!
I’ve looked and that is unlikely to happen. We had reasonable cohesion in our area when OTM launched and couldn’t manage it then despite quite a few of us advocating it. There is more chance of it happening if a few of us make the leap and give our competitors an example to follow. Still no guarantee but RM will not change so its path so its down to us to affect the change. Torrents of abuse at OTM is still not going to help, 3 viable porta;s is always going to help keep a lid of prices, the more so if we can get RM to worry a little bit. If you are on all three you are, in my opinion, bonkers.
‘If you are on all three you are, in my opinion, bonkers.‘
Could. Not. Agree. More.
If you are the market leader, lead the way! The sheep will follow. Until then everyone is in the rightmove pen together paying for something they know they don’t need!
Funny, had OTM REP already trying to charge this year and already knocking on the door with several other agents to make them chargeable. The only one not increasing costs is Zoopla but that is because OTM are eating into their traffic and leads. I will pay for OTM when website traffic increases and not before.
Ask someone in the street or a friend where they search for property or where they would search for it if they had too?
The answer was the best and worse thing to happen to agency or would you rather go back to newspaper advertising….?
If agents were or are forced to do things differently, why would any home hunter need to DIY search for property? Surely agents are paid to market listings for their clients. Delegating search to the portals, allowing consumers to do all the work is simply dumbing down the skill set and not using functionality within all of the SAAS systems.
Call me mad but given how simple it is to interact with applicants these days? I can’t understand why agents are, texting, emailing, tweeting, DM’ing Skyping or calling the applicant base they already have
When the generation 3 (windows 98) portals emerged there wasn’t any social media other than Friends Reunited, what has happened to that ought to be an indication that things have moved on yet portals haven’t.
Hi Robert
when are you launching? Looking forward to Runmage making an impact.
We launched very quietly on 1st March with a number of builders and agents. We are growing organically expanding at a pace we can cope with dealing with the inevitable challenges of moving from a beta system through a UX phase where we are changing and modifying things.
Will get back in touch then – thanks Robert
DM on twitter?
Give it up for lent! It’s own numbers and statistics undermine Rightmoves very existence and show the business absurdity of what’s going on.
In the 10 years since the 2008 crash prices have recovered by 141% but transaction volumes have fallen on average 2% a year: The figure on which commission is paid is up 3.4% each year , the number of transactions paying commissions is down 2% each. Feature in fee erosion, a fall of 23% in 10 years and suddenly what was a good cost 10 years ago, a cost that covered itself and more has become a liability.
If agents can genuinely afford to be on 3 portals, that’s a sign of their dominance and success, if they can’t afford to be on 3 portals cover their cost and make a profit they should consider that the MIRAS winter lasted 6 years. Without being a doom-monger Brexit isn’t finalised yet, the market is inflated well past normal affordability due to low inflation rates, transaction volumes are down, commissions are down and there’s no telling how long this quiet spell will last.
Agents need to control their costs and understand that when a good cost goes bad it becomes a very expensive liability!
Exactly right.
I think those who have already joined are probably those who are likely to join.
If an agency hasn’t joined whilst it is free to list they probably won’t now; and let’s face it most agents are reporting a tough market so why would they add to their spend now?
They would have to build up to leaving RM; you can’t just drop it without informing or educating your client first. When the first big corporate leaves Z or RM (which is realistically never as they are paying much less than independents); then there may be a chance of a change to n fortunes for OTM; until then it will remain in third spot.
An interesting tact by Springett with no mention of Zoopla and just focusing on the easy argument of RM fees that people have argued about for years.
Is that because Zoopla continues to increase in number of paid for agents month on month ( not 80% free), is it because Zoopla’s lead levels are consistently up year on year and continue to offer the best value based return in the portal world??? Is RM still not demanded and almost expected by the most important person the house seller??
Or is it really that OTM has ignored since conception the most important person houseller/buyer and if the snowball effect of free agents don’t convert then OTM will be no longer?? Well I suppose Springett has still made his money anyway!!
The jury is out and the grim reaper is coming a calling
We’ve already binned Zoopla for OTM and Rightmove are firmly in our sights. In terms of tipping points I was genuinely (pleasantly) surprised when I did a quick sale stock check in my local area to discover that there are marginally more properties for sale with OTM than Zoopla. Progress…..
Leave Rightmove today.
I wonder whether a tv company would expose ripping off agents…
The rightmove rip off
the cost of no show viewers
sellers who never intend selling
public who don’t pay for our information and tourist services and directions
surveyors calling for free advice
free valuations. Rightmove choose to advertise our firm as ‘want a free valuation’ – when exactly did they decide that is how we should run our business? Is ‘valuation’ the correct word if we are not RICS and will they pay the fine for this misrepresentation.
and the free services go on and on, not to mention the amount of councilling involved…
Sadly not as in general the public detest us and not many tears will be flowing for us. You are however right in every single point!
Ha ha! Love it
Rightmove are sucking Millions of Pounds from Our Industry – £201,000,000 by their latest gloating!
It is time to end Rightmove’s profiteering at the expense of Our Industry.
In the Portal World, the future is OnTheMarket or Rightmove. Rightmove are losing their grip because they have lost any level of value versus cost.
We are going to have to leave Rightmove before they suffocate Our Industry financially.
Rip-off Rightmove ……it’s what they are, plain & simple!
RM is not offering any extra value compared with other portals anymore. That’s why agents are slowly coming away when RM along with some branch closures.
The tiered charging structure for corporates and independents is unfair and so are not treating their customers fairly.
Remember, No Property stock, No RM. Agents control can control game.
Oh come on! What about rotating featured property 😉
I posted this last night on another PIE Rightmove story –
I haven’t read Ian Springett’s email circulated today, however despite my negative issues with OTMV1 Sell-out, a real test for Rightmove’s future Portal status is OTM’s Retention Rate after the Free Trial period plus the addition/increase of the 12,500 so far
Call it “Tipping Point”, “Crossroads”, ‘OTM Day”, call it whatever you like, one thing is for sure, Rightmove’s blatantly indifferent treatment of its Subscribers, Smug Investor Update, Annual Profit Statement – these should all be nails driven deep into their farewell
Rightmove’s behaviour & financially bullying attitude to its Subscribers (in terms of forcibly increasing their Subscriber costs annually with little evidence to justify such increases) needs to be exposed within the media, it needs to be publicised, Rightmove needs to be exposed for it’s bullying tactics where it simply fails to engage with its paying Subscribers
If our industry fails to expose Rightmove’s behaviour then the financial bullying will continue unabated. It is time to act Ladies & Gentlemen
Complete tosh. The reason RM has lost branches is that the branches have closed not decided to leave RM
Also people in glass houses should not throw stones. Just wait until OTM start charginging. You will see the agents leaving on mass, hundreds each month.
As an agent do you sit in a living room of a seller and best the competition? No because it is unprofessional. You sell your strengths and usps.
It’s actually quite accurate….
Those branches leaving RM are genuine, there was a far greater number of branch closures in the same year.
OTM wasn’t set up to just compete, it was set up to knock RM off it’s pedestal. So of course they will slam the opposition….quite rightly so too, RM are taking the full born p**s out of agents with the ridiculous fees (in most cases it’s more than the rent!!)
Crack on OTM, can’t wait for it to become a household name.
And if they start charging crazy fees, Agents will just do the same again, it’s just disruption, adapting to a changing market.
You are so short sighted. All OTM wants to do is replace RM.
The lies OTM have spread to gain agents is frankly disgusting.
The fact they think they will be able to charge agents after their free trial more than what Zoopla currently charge shows how laughable they really are.
Still there are plenty of stupid agents so they may well succeed.
Don’t get me wrong I hate both RM and Z but all we are doing with OTM is turning two advertising streams into three and increasing our costs even more.
I have been one of OTM biggest critics but I have been proved right time and again. I get no pleasure out of it, just the opposite, disappointed how stupid other agents really are.
You really don’t need to be on all three or more in the future and competition between the portals will not be a bad thing for us long term.
Whether you feel let down by them or not, they are making inroads and the leads are proving to be good quality. Will agents see the value once the paid subs kick in? I hope so.
I’m no fan of Ian Springett but at least OTM are generating completion in the portal marketplace. With only rightmove and zoopla we had nowhere else to go. Now we have a choice, one I made a year ago, to drop rightmove who are no longer a cost effective option for a single office operation like mine.
If we are again left with just 2 suppliers of portal services it can only benefit rightmove and certainly not us. If you want to keep hosing them cash once a month be my guest but after a year without I won’t be going back.
The Enemy of my Enemy comes too mind. Support OTM or forever be pillaged by Rightmove on their annual Viking rate rise attack.
Smile Please, are you suggesting those posters like me who have declared that they have left Rightmove in the last few months are telling porkies? Would it help you believe if those of us who have maybe declare on here and then Ros verifies that? If you don’t want to go on OTM that’s your call but I think most of us would agree that to allow Rightmove to continue to have the dominance it does in our sector is not good for any of us. Have you any other ideas as to how to rebalance things other than supporting OTM which for the next few years at the very least is largely owned by agents? We can worry about what happens then later on but we need to break the monopolistic hold that RM have.
Robert,
I do not know who you are and i will not ask. But i assume you are either a lettings only agent or you work in a very confind area where you have little or no competition.
I am on OTM – But only because it costs next to nothing. Soon as they appear with the begging bowl for more money i am out, probably like the other 50% of agents they have signed up.
RM is a playground bully but OTM aspires to be that bully!
See my suggestion below on the way to beat any portal, its not easy, will probably not happen but is the only way i see possible.
Reap it while you can then. If OTM did increase the fees .. well nothing lost in the end but saving big time now. I cannot agree with your crystal ball.
Nope, not in lettings any more just sales and plenty of competition around. I dropped weekly newspaper advertising before anyone else did have given up a shop front to use first floor offices before anyone else in our area. I could afford to pay rightmove but couldn’t stand their attitude. Given better leads from OTM I decided someone needed to be first so went for it. When looking at things like this I like to consider whether I would do it if I was starting out rather than because i’ve always done it. Newspapers, office and now RM are all things I wouldn’t do it starting out along with plenty of other less headline grabbing bits of expenditure. We all need to make our choices I just don’t see the need for the anti OTM bile. No need to be on all three so if you don’t like it drop it.
Will look at your suggestion.
‘Newspapers, office and now RM are all things I wouldn’t do it starting out along with plenty of other less headline grabbing bits of expenditure.’
So exactly how would you market YOU?
PP, social media, leafleting (still works and opens doors that otherwise wouldn’t) we are on two portals, own website and good old estate agency. Always looking for new ways as well, keenly waiting for Robert to launch R4.
One instruction generates enquiries and you work those enquires hard to develop new instructions. Being on RM doesn’t allow you to grow it just avoids you having to have the conversation about not being on it. I still advertise in papers but I don’t do weekly advertising where vendors expect to see their property in there on a regular basis. I still have an office people can walk into and high street signeage I’m just not paying for a shop window with all the rent and rates that nobody uses as a tool to find property. I built my business with next to no cash, I had to earn market share not buy it.
Most important to me of all is trying to get my costs where I can control them more and swapping high fixed cost for variable costs so I can wax and wane as the market does. Easy to spend money, much harder to make it.
Great reply and plenty of material that many could do with taking on board.
smile please
I do believe you are in the minority and as for casting comments suggesting us agents supporting OTM are stupid, well I’d take a long hard look in the mirror.
If you are willing to continue to allow the RM dominance then of course nothing else will succeed – it has to be supported.
If they don’t adhere to their business plan and offering, there will industry outrage and agents will just stop using them – simple. OTM will succeed and have proved the model works to provide viable leads.
They have been clever in their approach – prove the product works before charging for it. It is a case of changing the publics habit of just using RM – if agents stop using them, they’d just go to the next portal with property listed.
Doesn’t take a genius to work out how it works.
smile please….
You state “Complete Tosh, branches have closed, not decided to leave RM”.
Sadly, I have to disagree with your sweeping statement on this occasion because it’s not true.
Some branches have left Rightmove because of the cost versus value, whilst others have left because of closure. That is a true statement.
Fake News/Statements are just that ….. Fake. As in Rightmove Chief’s sweeping statement re “Rightmove Leavers due to Brexit?”…… again, an untrue statement ……unless Rightmove’s Chief wishes to provide verifiable proof of the branches which have left and we hear from them as to why ……then I can stand corrected if I am wrong, that every Rightmove Leaver left Rightmove because of Brexit?
Of course a few have left but i bet my left nut most have either closed or dramatically downsized and will not be what we today recognise as an estate agents.
smile please…..
just your “left nut” ? …..so, what tempts you to offer up the “matching pair” ?
I bet my left and right OTM will not be the market leading portal within the next 5 years. Ahhhh scrub it, the next 25 years is a safe bet.
Only thing is you have to match me on the bet that im wrong 😉
Smile Please we are one of the branches that have recently left Rightmove “Not Closed” and I personally know others who have left and or are on notice now – so I’m afraid your wrong with that analysis. I think you will find that Rightmove have reached a tipping point with there annual shafting and everybody knows they are being had (76% profit margin says it all). I also think your missing the point with OTM – No agent is under any illusion that they are our best friends or a registered charity they are their to make money BUT ASK YOUR SELF THIS – As a business owner do you pay Rightmove £1500 per month or OTM circa £300 Per month – It’s a no brainer. As for losing out to competition as more people move across the trickle will become a torrent and the public will look wherever the properties are advertised. Think of the alternative we all sit here doing nothing and those that are left in four or Five years time can raise a bottle of cheap fizz to celebrate Rightmove breaching the £2000 mark per agent – sounds like a silly business strategy myself!!
Again, i suspect you are either lettings only or lucky enough to work in area with VERY little competition.
I am happy it works for you. However it will not (and does not work for most) and all you are doing is help create a newer Rightmove. You are not changing anything all you are doing is delaying the inevitable.
We do lettings and sales and we work in a town of around 30 Agents. We currently winning stock that people are struggling to sell by saying to vendors how will it help sell your house having it twice on Rightmove instead of once? We can offer an alternative outlet…. Rome wasn’t built in a day but Rome wouldn’t have been built at all if all the builders stuck their heads in the sand or sat on their hands. whatever people decide to do is their choice – but if everybody stopped moaning and switched the change will happen overnight and should OTM start raising their prices too high down the line then agents will simply switch again. If you know an alternative please share?
And i assume you are 80% lettings and sales are nice if they come along? – Thats not me having a pop, going forward into 2019 its the set up most agents will wish for.
Rome was not built in a day but OTM is not Rome it is RM with a differnet name. I have time on my hands today so happy to debate until the cows come home.
If and when OTM charge agents over a £100 per month. That will be when they leave on mass. Its easy to grow their market share whist they are giving away free listings and a bucket load of shares.
I wish I did have time to debate … fortunately post Rightmove were still just as busy 🙂
Maybe what you say about the future is true and agents will be having the same debate about otm in 10 years time… but the debate is here and now and as in life we can only make decisions in the moment (right or wrong) and as you will see from many posts on here inaction means rightmove will bleed you dry and those of us making the jump are not returning and actually prospering away from the beast we all created. If you never take chances in life you never get anywhere.
A fool jumps in, given OTM track record is not one you can trust.
As for time, thats the benefit of a success, time to work on the business not in it.
Seems your having a bad hair day?
Just getting fed up of idiots pinning their hopes on OTM. Nothing suggests they can deliver and the long list of broken promises makes me angry / disappointed business owners still belive in it.
Smile Please – “Only a fool Jumps in” no disrespect but you either don’t see the big picture, work for Rightmove or don’t read any of the comments posted. Your very anti OTM but assuming you are actually an agent ?? How could you attack a product thats only 1/4 of the price of Rightmove. You forward no logic as to the next step? Should we all bow down to the almighty Rightmove and give them our house deeds before bending over and applying vaseline? Or should we do something logical to break the stranglehold being applied. Unless you offer an alternative I feel that people may think you are either a troll or in the employment of Rightmove.
HA are you a new reader. Pretty well documented i am not a RM employee (far from it). A the problem is i see the bigger picture. OTM are desperate to be RM! they eant circa £400 per month plus VAT per office. Thats their starting price when they are in the market.
Dont get me started on the many promises they have broken and mislead agents and people like you are still falling for it.
Delusional.
Who in their right mind with a successful business in this industry would support RM when they could support OTM for a lot less….your business acumen fails on many levels.
Couldn’t agree more.
We gave RM the “Spanish Archer” at the end of January and have had no dip in sales and plenty of enquiries from all other portals. Thrilled to be shot of the RM rip off artists. Oh and we are very much open in Prime Central London with plenty of competition and our business is doing just fine even while the market is struggling. The general public are fickle and will always look on other search portals not just RM and when they see that the others offer more, they won’t go to RM first in the future and that is why they will eventually lose. The more property that agents put on other portals including OTM, the more it will hurt RM and eventually kill them off. RIP RM.