Rightmove is reviewing whether estate agents should advertise their fees on the site.
We asked the question after an agent asked whether this should now be allowed, in the wake of new advice from the Property Ombudsman and the Competition and Markets Authority.
The new advice strongly suggests that agents should advertise their fees.
The agent that is asking for fees to be displayed on Rightmove operates a budget model.
Last night, in the shortest of statements, a Rightmove spokesperson said: “We’re reviewing our guidelines.”
If this happens the public will be massively disadvantaged as they may never consult an agent quoting a higher fee. This could cost them dearly because that may very well be the best agent for them to use for price,support and expertise. RIGHTMOVE WOULD NOT BE SERVING THE PUBLIC’S BEST INTERESTS IF THEY ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN.
CHEAP is rarely the best as John Ruskin once famously quoted;
“It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s worse to pay too little. When
you pay too much, you lose a little money – that’s all. When you pay
too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you
bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The
common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a
lot – it can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well
to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will
have enough to pay for something better.”
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Agents currently advertise fees on their own websites and those that still use newspapers put them in big bold print every week so what difference will it make if Rightmove shows them?
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Not clear if this is a rental matters or for property sales too! I often see a large agent sending “round robin” emails to those on their database offering 25% off standard fees.
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But only for the first 50 instructions! A good old gimmick
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I see it for sales agents too, but since they don’t usually advertise their “standard” fee – it ends up just being a way to get in the door.
“Our standard fee is 1.5% – our offer fee is 1.12%” but usually we can be negotiated down to 1% without mentioning a special offer in the first place…
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But without saying what the standard fee is. Should be made illegal to do that.
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Took them long enough. Didn’t this law change in May?
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That will lead to the 80% having a race to the bottom on fees and the top 20% really having to get their message across as to why people should pay a higher fee. At least on your own website landing pages services can be displayed. Right move does not allow this and potential vendors will gravitate to the lowest fee on RM.
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