Selling online? It’s not so easypeasy, says high street agent

| Rosalind Renshaw

Online agents have failed to sell up to 82% of every home that “they have taken money from this year”, a high street agent has claimed.

Furthermore, one seller who “saved” on agents’ fees was actually worse off by around £21,000.

Their property was sold for £25,000 less than a very similar neighbouring property, so while the seller “saved” on estate agent fees, they actually lost money.

The claims come from Chris Wood, of PDQ Estates, and only relate to his neck of the woods – West Cornwall.

For his research, he used data from ZooplaPro* and data for one online agent active in the area, but who has a national presence, and whom he has called by the entirely fictional name of “EasyPeasy”. Wood makes it clear in his blog: “No inference of any actual estate agent trading with that name is implied or should be inferred.”

In the area, Zoopla shows a total of 5,105 new instructions since the start of the year. Of these, seven instructions went to EasyPeasy – a market share of 0.14%.

In a blog, Wood says that with such a market share, he is not spending sleepless nights. But what does it mean for consumers?

Well, online agents charge up-front he says: “This is payable whether you sell or not. So if you don’t sell, you haven’t saved … If you don’t sell with my firm, we won’t charge you a penny.”

Wood concludes that, in his area, EasyPeasy are more likely NOT to sell than to sell. Only 18% to 29% at best have actually sold through EasyPeasy.

That compares with the average agent’s win in West Cornwall of 60% of all properties taken on.

On the face of it, says Wood, “using an online agent seems a bit of a no-brainer; the savings and speed of sale that many boast of sound like a great deal and, no doubt, in some parts of the UK and in certain niche markets, they may well live up to those claims.

“However, in the sample I have looked at, they fail on every count.”

It’s entertaining stuff – and possibly food for thought, in case you were thinking of doing a similar type of blog in your area.

Nothing, of course, to stop the online agents doing some similar analysis.

You will also see from the link below that Wood has changed the name of his fictitious online agent to “hapless”.

http://bit.ly/1x6A2x8

 

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42 Comments

  1. wilko
    November 7, 2014 at 09:53

    Some good content here to take out on market appraisals to throw in a little warning that online agents aren't in fact as effective as their advertising would suggest. In fact the opposite…it costs sellers more in an overwhelming majority of cases. By the way….the poorly marketed Tepilo property I mentioned we had received instructions on 2 months after Tepilo took £100's of pounds of the client and had no viewers was sold by us in less than 7 days from instruction….no decrease in asking price! I wonder how many times this is happening….would be nice to have some stats on that?

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    1. Chri Wood
      November 7, 2014 at 11:12

      Any agent that has access to ZooplaPro and Nethouseprices/ Mouseprice etc, and is happy to do a fair bit of objective number crunching can reproduce these figures for their area

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  2. Woodentop
    November 7, 2014 at 10:23

    I haven't found a single on-line only agent who is not selling below market value in our area and many still fail. Wilko we get the same results.

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  3. NewsBoy
    November 7, 2014 at 10:36

    Good thoughts from Chris as ever. Some nice sensible facts.

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  4. cmRENTandSALES
    November 7, 2014 at 10:39

    Perhaps the ASA should require the amount of savings that some of the online agents publish they've saved vendors, include the amounts they've charged where they haven't sold properties that they've been paid on?

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    1. wilko
      November 7, 2014 at 10:46

      Brilliant shout….as technically once a seller has paid an up front fee they are the "client" of that company. If, as you say they only sell 15/20% of their stock then they should deduct the 10's of £1,000s they have taken from clients up front.

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    2. Chri Wood
      November 7, 2014 at 11:14

      Totally agree. It raises an interesting consumer protection/ ASA point. be interested to see their take on it

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      1. easy Chris
        November 7, 2014 at 11:41

        Mr Wood we would be very interested to understand your rationale for using the brand term "easypeasy" to describe a local online agent in your "research". We as you are aware operate the brand easyproperty and take our brand and brand reputation very seriously. You could have used any name brand xyz however you chose to use the a brand name very close to ours and we would like to understand why as we can only assume it is an attempt to damage our brand and reputation.

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        1. Chri Wood
          November 7, 2014 at 12:09

          As I say in my article, no inference should be made or was intended. EasyPeasy is, in fact, I have since discovered a trading name of a genuine estate agency company in London; perhaps you will wish to contact them?
          Furthermore, as my article also states, we used an online agent with the largest market share in our area. To my knowledge, your company does not have a single customer in the postcode areas under review.
          I hope this sets your mind at ease that I had no intention of implying your company was in any way connected to this article.
          Regards
          Chris

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          1. easy Chris
            November 7, 2014 at 13:03

            just because you say in your article no inference should be made nor was it intended, it is no defence in law.
            Did you take legal advice before publishing.
            Please can you answer the question why out of anyname you could have chosen did you pick easypeasy,we have made the assumption that this was a clear attempt to damage our brand and reputation by you by aligning a brandname close to or similar to ours which what you clearly believe is a failing business. If you would like to discuss this offline happy to do so but to be clear we are taking this seriously and so should you.

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          2. easy Chris
            November 7, 2014 at 13:29

            @eric his blog clearly invites journalists to use his article,this is NOT about PIE rather in our view a blatant and clumsy attempt to damage our brand and our reputation, which we frankly take seriously. He could have used ANY name he didn't and we believe we know why.

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          3. easy Chris
            November 7, 2014 at 16:41

            it must be christmas @wilko

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        2. Eric Walker
          November 7, 2014 at 12:09

          Dear Peter Fonda & Dennis Hopper – I expect you will be receiving a letter regarding your blatant use of the title Easy Rider…

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          1. RealAgent
            November 7, 2014 at 13:00

            I don't know Chris, look at the market share quoted, there is no way anyone who confuse that with your outfit. You'll never reach those kind of numbers!

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          2. easy Chris
            November 7, 2014 at 13:07

            @eric do I take this to assume you would take the potential defamation of your brand as a joking matter……

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          3. Eric Walker
            November 7, 2014 at 13:17

            I make it my policy never to be critical of any business – but also believe in perspective. This site is read by industry only and the article is, in my opinion, in no way defamatory. If you want an example of defamation – look at sites such as 'We Hate Foxtons' and similar social media accounts. They don't react – they just get on with generating business. I find it more defamatory to write articles about how high street agents are ripping people off – just a thought.

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        3. wilko
          November 7, 2014 at 15:04

          Hello easy chris (sorry to mention your name that sounds a bit like a company, please don't sue me) Just thought I would offer my comment on your company performance across Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle….with only 15 properties on the site across this entire 3 major city area. I really would recommend that maybe you could use your time more wisely to try and improve your site and customer base because you are way off where you want, and need, to be at the moment.

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          1. easy Chris
            November 7, 2014 at 16:15

            knowing of course you have our best interests at heart @wilko I will take your advice in the spirit in which it is given…….

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          2. wilko
            November 7, 2014 at 16:37

            @ Chris -The true fact is, I honestly do have your interests at heart Chris. I like to see innovation in our industry….new propositions and ways of selling for the public. It's just, I don't feel that your proposition, at the moment, is helping you, landlords, or investors in the company. It just needs some slight alterations to make the proposition much more favourable to everyone. I'll pop over to Easy HQ and take you out to lunch and have a professional chat. Don't worry, I'm not a dinosaur but I'm not a spring chicken either…..nearly 30 years in agency (around 22 "senior ones") I guarantee I could give you some great ideas….for free of course…..and I'll pay for lunch. You see, on here things easily get distorted on both sides and I sincerely want to prove to you that we'd not only get on, but no doubt share some good ideas as well. Like I said….100% genuine offer.

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        4. smile please
          November 8, 2014 at 00:03

          Only person damaging your reputation is yourself.

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        5. wilko
          November 8, 2014 at 14:17

          @ Chris….OK Christmas it is. Do you want us to liase off forum to set a date?

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  5. surrey1
    November 7, 2014 at 11:23

    4 out of circa 600 in my patch went "online". 25% sold. We convert about 80/85%, the rest is usually sellers changing their minds to sell. Can't say I'm feeling the "online disruption" I hear so much about.

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  6. Jonnie
    November 7, 2014 at 11:35

    I think it would be nice to hear from some of the budget ones here, @easychris has gone a bit quiet, Adam Day is probably busy with the 170 listings he has across the whole of the country and emoov has definitely been put on his lead by his bosses. And while im at it I saw the PB advert in the week with all the nothing to pay upfront………..are they charging on completion or listing? _ Jonnie

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    1. RealAgent
      November 7, 2014 at 13:04

      You can pay PB anytime, you just have to pay them regardless of outcome. Well strictly speaking they offer a money back guarantee, however you only get that after they have marketed the property for 12 months!!!

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    2. easy Chris
      November 7, 2014 at 13:23

      @jonnie we, as you know are not in sales yet. This is a tiny sample of 1 small online agent which is clearly not representative of the country as a whole. I have no idea of the business model they are using, taking a tiny sample and basing a national case is clearly not wise.
      We for sure won't be a fixed fee all up front offering,but it works for some .
      Its a competitive world winners are defined by offering consumers a compelling proposition,if a local agent is beating an online agent credit to them,good is good no matter if you are offline online or a combination. We naturally believe online has massive potential,but even here there will be winners and losers just as there is on the high street.

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      1. Jonnie
        November 7, 2014 at 14:49

        Hi, Chris, I assumed your bosses got embarrassed by your ramblings on here and had banned you. have you got over yourself about the bloke in Cornwall daring to use 'easy' in his blog? Go on, he's mugging you off mate, take him to court, he's laughing at you (like we all are) – Jonnie

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        1. easy Chris
          November 7, 2014 at 16:22

          and here was me thinking you were being serious @jonnie, should have known better…. trust me we are not laughing

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  7. Simmo
    November 7, 2014 at 13:48

    ha ha this made me chuckle; " winners are defined by offering consumers a compelling proposition" I don't think that really defines winners or winning at all. All I know is that good isn't and should never be good enough!

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    1. easy Chris
      November 7, 2014 at 13:59

      @simmo perhaps a better line would be winners win by offering a compelling proposition but you get the point 🙂 and lets upgrade good to outstanding while we are at it lol.

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      1. PeeBee
        November 8, 2014 at 13:56

        "…and lets upgrade good to outstanding while we are at it lol." There they go again – admitting that the 'basic' package isn't up to the job then selling add-ons that others simply include as standard… ;o)

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  8. Paul H
    November 7, 2014 at 14:16

    @EasyChris….I, and I'm sure most other people reading this article would take 'easypeesy' as….it's easypeesy to sell or rent a property online. I actually did not relate it to your name until you raised it.

    The writer even said in his article that no inference was intended, you should wind your neck in.

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    1. Jonnie
      November 7, 2014 at 14:51

      @Paul H. I think the lad is what's known as flattering himself, comes with being a bit vain and a bit weird – Jonnie

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      1. wilko
        November 7, 2014 at 15:24

        I didn't see the connection at all until Chris mentioned it he's only gone and brought the bad publicity on himself, in my view….. 15 properties in total on his site across the whole of Birmingham, Newcastle AND Manchester put together this afternoon…..perhaps he should look at getting more customers (1,ooos didn't sign up -did they?) They can't in my view, and maybe their investors views, be happy about the progress so far?

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      2. RealAgent
        November 7, 2014 at 15:25

        To be fair its easy (**** now i'm going to be sued also) why they are upset about this spurious inference they claim is there, when it turned out that instead of it being Stellios' company it was merely another wannabe who had a licence for branding. It is after all the only thing they have of value. I think its quite telling that Chris was getting so animated about it, you would think if they were riding high and bring in the bucks it wouldn't even get a mention.

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  9. Tuf Luv
    November 7, 2014 at 17:05

    Ok so this is getting weird, Chris has gone all Lord of The Rings over easypeasy – buddy is that all you got from the article? In deference to protecting a brand this isn’t the place to kill a mocking bird because we’re more devils advocate than autocrat so words like defamation; we really aint trying to hear that. Jeez, I’ve got a boil paying rent on my a*se, Chris is getting lawyered up and I’m out of rizla, I just cant catch a break. Come on dude who knew you’d bruise like a peach, better you keep your dukes up than trying to make this a thing.

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  10. Chri Wood
    November 7, 2014 at 17:44

    Well, I knew the article might ruffle a couple of feathers but, I certainly didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition.
    Comfy chair anyone?

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  11. PeeBee
    November 8, 2014 at 11:06

    WOW! easy Chris – if you can't cope with a debate you just nuke it and walk away all smug and tingly. NOT a good display (but nevertheless a show of consistency on your part…) of your prowess in handling objections or negotiation I'm sorry to say – which is what we as Agents are expected by our paying clients to handle in professional manner to achieve the required outcome. But then again you're not a public-facer so maybe that requirement was never on your job description. Nor, I surmise, will it be on any of those for your non public-facing online staff who have no need to get a result. But hey – I'm splitting hairs now I guess as the thrust of this is about you and your brand protection, innit? Thing is, easy Chris – if you're so quick to gob off all over the internet that anyone anywhere who uses the fifth, first, nineteenth and twenty-fifth letters of the alphabet in ANY sentence that doesn't also include "great", "brilliant" or and other cutesy adjective that keeps your personal moistness level at 'sopping wet' status, then NO-ONE is going to use your company because clients love to call us worse than merde and you'll be running around suing the entire nation. Never seen Stelios going off like a firecracker when passengers have a blow-off on screen – so why act like a diva on a site that approximately 0.00000001% of the public will read? Oh – unless that's the 0.00000001% of the population you hope to attract, perhaps…

    LIGHTEN UP. ;o)

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    1. Paul H
      November 8, 2014 at 11:19

      Looks like we agree on something again mate. Although rather than take your far more pragmatic approach I prefer to say it as it is which is…..EasyChris, how about you get your head out of your *** and start to act like an estate agent, you are one aren't you?

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      1. PeeBee
        November 8, 2014 at 13:34

        "…start to act like an estate agent, you are one aren't you?" We taking bets on the answer, Paul H? ;o)

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        1. Paul H
          November 8, 2014 at 13:38

          I'll give 4/6 on their being NO answer from @easyChris 😉

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          1. PeeBee
            November 8, 2014 at 13:48

            You're on! So confident am I that I'll double it up with Shergar winning the next British Grand Prix driving a Mk 3 Cortina… ;o)

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  12. CPestateagentesq
    November 8, 2014 at 11:30

    At least Chris didn't say that he was Mooved to comment and Hatched a plan to see if it was EasyPeasy…

    Report
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