Traditional estate agents in Australia – where Purplebricks launched last September – have declared war on online agents and sale-by-owner offerings.
But in the propaganda war, a PR campaign has had decidedly mixed results.
PRDnationwide, a franchise group owned by Colliers International, released research claiming sellers get higher prices when they pay a traditional agent commission.
That research apparently goes back to 2014, studying results in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
While it may be hard to pin the blame on Purplebricks before it even launched in Australia, the same research also shows that so far this year, some vendors have actually achieved higher prices by using an online agent or DIY sales site.
On the one hand, we’re told that, for example, Sydney traditional agents achieved house prices 19.7% higher, prompting Diaswati Mardiasmo, research manager at PRDnationwide, to say: “Based on this data, it’s appropriate to coin the term ‘when you pay peanuts, you get monkeys’.”
On the other hand, her own research also shows that so far this year, Sydney vendors made $72,000 more on average by selling their apartments through an online agent, and in Brisbane, vendors made $113,000 more on the sale of their houses.
Ryan Dinsdale, Purplebricks Australia CEO, has unsurprisingly decided to ignore the research.
Drawing attention to the reviews on Trustpilot, he said: “The opinion of our customers is what we focus on as a business.”
Purplebricks is said to have now listed over 1,000 properties in Australia, including those it has sold.
We just wonder how the American realtor community is going to react when Purplebricks lands in their midst . . . Could this be just a gentle warm-up?
Drawing attention to the reviews on Trustpilot, he said: “The opinion of our customers is what we focus on as a business.”
https://www.allagents.co.uk/purplebricks/
I like these reviews better personally.
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But are they really ever going to launch in the USA or will they use the additional capital raised to continue to subsidise their offering in the U.K.?
Does anyone know if they can do that …especially when the money was raised from investors for the specific purpose of a USA launch?
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Good to see the Aussies actually fighting back… our ‘industry’ should be releasing adverts as well.
Shouldnt have to rely on one company to fight back (foxtons etc).
Onthe market should look at this, spend money on clever adverts slating the online claims, and then get name awareness as well..
“our members are genuine agents. that means..etc etc ..”
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