Screengrabs taken by EYE at the weekend show just how important it is for online agents to claim that sellers save money by going with them, rather than with high street agents.
We visited eight of the main online agents’ website following the warning, issued on Friday afternoon, by industry regulator NTSEAT (the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team).
NTSEAT said that online agents should not make claims about savings that they could not substantiate.
The warning came after a ruling last week by the Advertising Standards Authority that Purplebricks – in a successful challenge by Arun Estates – should not state savings unless it could substantiate them.
The ASA ruled that some of the claims made by Purplebricks were misleading.
The ASA was invited by EYE to comment on the warning issued by NTSEAT but said it was unable to help.
On Saturday afternoon, we found a variety of prices and claims on the online/hybrid agents’ websites.
Importantly, please note before any post you wish to comment that the claims made may well have been researched and substantiated, and that the online agents concerned will be able to prove this, should there be any challenge either to the ASA or NTSEAT.
In no particular order, this is how we visited the sites:
eMoov: charges £795 and “saves thousands”. Assuming a 1.8% high street agency fee, it claims to save sellers £4,258 on a £300,000 property.
YOPA: charges £839, and saves sellers an average of “over £3,000″.
Tepilo: charges from £645, saving up to £3,855.
easyProperty: charges £825, and will “save you thousands”. It quotes a saving of over £6,000 on a property worth £500,000, assuming the high street estate agent fee of 1.5%.
Purplebricks: charges £849, or £1,199 inside London. It has a calculator showing that sellers of a £289,000 property could save £3,351 on a high street agent fee of 1.5%.
House Simple: charges £595 fee, or a no sale, no fee model from £995. On its site at the weekend, it was giving examples of savings from £1,736 to £5,870 in actual sales it had made.
Settled: charges £499 and claims that the average seller saves £5,000.
My Online Estate Agent: charges from £395, and claims to have saved its clients so far £1,685,165 in fees.
We will revisit all the sites at the end of the week to see if there are any changes.
Buys big box of popcorn…
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Chris your time might be better spent checking whether you can substantiate the claims you make on your own website and blog :). Make sure everything is up to date. Also whether you can substantiate all the comments you make publicly in regard to your competitors.
Also that you don’t mislead by omitting any material information on your website.
“Material information” includes “the information which the average consumer needs, according to the context, to take an informed transactional decision”.
“Transactional decision” includes “whether, how and on what terms to purchase, make payment in whole or in part for, retain or dispose of a product”
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
The thing I don’t understand is why we keep calling them On Line Agents – We are all online and most of us in far more areas with far better presentation. They are Call Centre Agents not Local Property Experts like the rest of us that have offices and local people that value a property properly and build rappor and relationships over years! Can we please start calling them what they are CALL CENTRE AGENTS. Rant over!
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Don’t you think ‘lister’ is better than agent?
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
What’s wrong with the official term passive intermediary?
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
cyberduck46
Whats on earth has this rant go to do with the EYE story? You are nothing more than a TROLL.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
The article is about unsubstantiated claims. My comment is about unsubstantiated claims among traditional agents and the hypocrisy of those encouraging people to report the online agents.
Now do you see the connection?
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Cyberduck your firms ‘SIC Code’ suggests ‘Media Representation services’ are you or are you hoping to be paid for attempting to discredit anyone or suppress anyone who suggests Purplebricks doesn’t quite meet the expectation laid out in the firms prospectus?
After 4 years of failing to deliver to the prospectus Purplebricks is starting to look more and more like it is reliant on share trading for its survival than it’s purported business trade.
If Mr Woodword wasn’t involved with Purplebricks do you think the firm would continue to be as credible as an investment as it is?
Obviously growth rather than income is the mainstay support for the share price how long do you think tthat will be feasable?
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
>are you or are you hoping to be paid for attempting to discredit anyone or suppress anyone who suggests Purplebricks doesn’t quite meet the expectation laid out in the firms prospectus
No.
>more like it is reliant on share trading for its survival than it’s purported business trade. If Mr Woodword wasn’t involved with Purplebricks do you think the firm would continue to be as credible as an investment as it is?
I’m not sure you understand how it works.
Mr. Woodford’s original investment allowed the UK business to grow to a point where they make a small profit and this allows them to spend about £14M on advertising.
They then raised another £50M from different investors to dip their toe into the U.S. market.
If my memory serves me correctly they have cash of about £75M available to them.
Mr. Woodford could sell his shares tomorrow and none of that would change.
In regard to future potential raising of funds it looks pretty positive. Usually when a company raises finance it’s at a discount to the price that the shares are trading in the market. Both the last fundraising and the sale by Directors were at market levels which demonstrates serious demand from institutional investors.
>Obviously growth rather than income is the mainstay support for the share price how long do you think that will be feasable?
That’s the big question investors are asking. I really don’t know over the long term but since I’ve been following the performance the signs have been encouraging. Broker forecasts according to Barclays Stockbrokers are for growth in revenue for the 2018 & 2019 financial years to £89M, then £152M. They estimate a loss of £11.14M for 2018 and a profit of £5.52M for 2019.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
“No” so what is your motivation for all your posts? You just don’t like estate agents. You are the ultimate alpha male who can’t possibly be wrong? You are a bit lonely?
There is something not quite normal about your posting activity, you seem determined to make every online mention story about Purplebricks when it isn’t.
So if you’re not being employed by Purplebricks (or anyone connected tothem) and not hoping to is it a case you are doing a favour for a mate or hoping to ride what looks to me like a ponzi scheme until you’ve made a proper killing from the next tier of investment?
You say about Mr Woodford being of no consequence I reckon if he pulled out the share price would tumble as all the “fear of loss”, “sheep investors” pulled out to. for the reason I wonder how long those who have taken a profit from share trading would be prepared to support the loss leader, buy in of listings if they were using their profit to do so.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
I was going to comment on how Cyberduck has lost all credibility with me after his petulant, childish post, but Robert has put things in a more proficient tone and saved me the bother…. 🙂
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Last pass through for the day. Things to do.
>“No” so what is your motivation for all your posts?
I suppose I like the idea of helping people to not be taken in by some of those pursuing their own agendas. I feel that some are not facing up to the reality of the situation with PurpleBricks. At the end of the day I could be proved wrong but I offer my opinion nonetheless and people can judge me on whether I am proved right or wrong.
>You say about Mr Woodford being of no consequence I reckon if he pulled out the share price would tumble as all the “fear of loss”, “sheep investors” pulled out to. for the reason I wonder how long those who have taken a profit from share trading would be prepared to support the loss leader, buy in of listings if they were using their profit to do so.
In general the share price of a company has no effect on its business. However sometimes takeovers are paid for by the issue of new shares and also fund raising is usually based on the market price.
So if the share price was say 1p there would likely be no further investment into the company to fuel expansion into new territories but the business as it stands would still be viable and could still grow. Motivation might be a bit of an issue given that the Directors & employees have a vested interest in the share price.
New funding isn’t necessary. There is already something like £75M to fund growth and the UK is at break even or at a small profit so would be cash generative from now on unless plans change.
I’m not sure I understand what you are getting at. Do you think that if the share price drops it will be the end of PurpleBricks?
I am done for the day but if you want to clarify what you are getting at I’ll be happy to comment.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
When many agents in the top half of the country probably have average fees of £2,000 or under the ‘save thousands’ average claims simply cannot be substantiated. Therefore the claims should be adjusted to £100’s and made relevant to the part of the country referred to.
Also any claim should only be allowed to be made with a risk disclaimer that if you do not sell you will lose your fee of hundreds paid.
And, if comparing a ‘pay whether you sell or not fee’ to local average no sale no fee commissions, you should have to declare your FACS….Fee Average per Completed Sale’
Otherwise you are simply not comparing like with like. Three fees to achieve one completed sale, for instance, may well on average cost customers more than the local average NSNF!!!
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
AgentV, what’s your website address?
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
What’s the link to your property for sale?
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Why?
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
I’ll show you mine if you show me yours, lol!
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Perhaps he’ll show you his if you show him yours??
SNAP!!!
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
AgentV,
You should do a better job of maintaining your anonymity. Took me about a minute to find you 🙂
Looking at your company accounts now.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Hmmmm…….well there was a surprise……who said I was ever trying to really hide my identity?
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
So what’s the link to your property, and I’ll show you something?
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
There are people who know what it is but they have too much decency to share it or attempt to use it as part of a point-scoring exercise.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Robert,
Point scoring exercise? How childish. The details of my address have nothing to do with anything.
Surely you can appreciate that online agents are easy targets and that 95% of transactions are carried out by agents who are not easy to scrutinise.
Do you not think that all agents should abide by the law? I’m getting the feeling you don’t.
PIE are usually pretty fair. Hopefully they do a little research on the claims made by a sample of traditional agents on their websites as well as the failure of pretty much all of them to disclose material information. Then report on it.
Hopefully Trading Standards recognises the widescale problems in this area of substantiating claims and if they take action against the online agents then they also take action against traditional agents.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
How childish
This is nothing more than a rant … a TROLL who is not keeping to the headline story and looks very much like nothing more than trying to be an antaganist this morning. Not necessary and unwelcome. Time you went like the dodo.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Woodentop, see my response above.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
So does a builder tell you how much it is going to cost to build your extension before he has seen what is involved?
What is different is that the online listers make specific claims comparing themselves to the services of agents, and the difference in costs.
As such, they have to be able to justify those claims…..same as if I claimed I sold more properties in the area than any other agent…I would have to substantiate my claims.
If the online listers didn’t make the comparison claims they wouldn’t have to substantiate them, would they?
They only disclose the fee they charge because it’s their main way of attracting business. It is the total thrust of their marketing. If they believed they could win all their business because of another unique selling point…they wouldn’t mention their fees.
However, if you think your points are so valid, why not take them to the appropriate authorities, like the ombudsman or NTSEAT.
If I was instructed to declare my fees on the site by them, then that is what I would do.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
AgentV,
I have contacted NTSEAT and have raised a complaint with the ASA.
I think NTSEAT is going to be a problem as they told me to go through Citizens Advice. A while back I tried to make a complaint through Citizens Advice and their response was to contact NTSEAT directly 🙂 I gave up because of lack of time.
>If I was instructed to declare my fees on the site by them, then that is what I would do.
Would you not think it unfair that you’d been singled out? Do you not think the online agents would think it unfair too when unsubstantiated claims are made by traditional agents but nothing done about it?
It will be interesting to see what the response from the Online Agents is. Perhaps the bigger ones who can afford to will fight any enforcement on the basis that they have been unfairly singled out. Then again perhaps they will take the easy route and make changes.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Do you not think the online agents would think it unfair too when unsubstantiated claims are made by traditional agents
Claims like what? Any general examples?
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
>Claims like what? Any general examples?
Claims such as being able to achieve the best possible price.
Claims such as competitors not completing on a certain percentage of instructions.
Just have a general look around and you’ll find lots of claims which most likely can’t be substantiated. There’s a difference from being able to offer supporting evidence in regard to a claim and it actually being substantiated in the eyes of the ASA.
For example look at the recent ASA decision against PurpleBricks. They are very demanding in terms of evidence. PurpleBricks cited evidence from Which? to support their claims. The ASA commented:
“With regard to the additional sources which Purplebricks considered supported the findings of their survey, we noted that we had previously concluded that the Which? survey and information from the conveyancing firm were not adequate to support an average commission figure of 1.5–1.8%. We further considered that because we had not seen the source of the figures stated by Citizens Advice and YourMoney.com, they were not adequate evidence in support of Purplebricks’ average commission figure of 1.8% including VAT.”
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
cyberduck46
Claims such as being able to achieve the best possible price. Claims such as competitors not completing on a certain percentage of instructions. Just have a general look around and you’ll find lots of claims which most likely can’t be substantiated.
Then if there are any claims that can’t be substantiaited, which online listers don’t like, they are free to make complaints to the NTSEAT or ASA aren’t they?
Then the NTSEAT or ASA will make a decision that the agent has to abide by. I don’t see how that is any different to what this headline story is about and what has happened.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
The headline story is about online agents making unsubstantiated claims and whether they will take any action after the comments from Trading standards.
The point i am making is that this is not confined to online agents and that some of those making comments should perhaps think about whether they are being hypocritical or not. Not just in the sense of what they do say on their websites but what they fail to say.
I’ve tried to be as clear as I can be. Hopefully I’ve made myself clear. I won’t be coming back to comment further.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Then if there are any claims that can’t be substantiaited, which online listers don’t like, they are free to make complaints to the NTSEAT or ASA aren’t they?
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Surely there’s another issue here worthy of investigation. All of these so called savings centre around the claim that they will “sell” your property for a much lower fee when in fact in many cases (maybe even the majority) they don’t sell at all and you end up having received diddly squat for your money.
In fact, a prolonged period on the market has in reality impacted on the value of your property, especially now that we’re moving into a falling market.
Could this potentially open up a whole bunch of legal claims e.g. A) I’ve paid to sell but all you’ve done is advertise it or B) in the prolonged stint on the market the value has now fallen and you’re liable for my loss
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
JULY 8, 2017 AT 8:47 AM
For instance doesn’t;
‘instruct us to sell for £849’
sound misleading, when you have to pay the £849 whether you sell or not?
Shouldn’t it be……’instruct us for £849 to try and sell’
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
“now that we’re moving into a falling market.”
Are we?
Is this a sentiment others share?
I haven’t got much stock left to sell, in fact my sales pipeline is way bigger than my listings. We also have to compete with the CCA (call centre agents) but they have little here for sale too and none that is reasonably priced!!!
As for saving money you need to revisit your sales pitch on your market appraisal.
Go back to basics:
Motivation, previous experience, expectation and shared goals.
There are numerous closing opportunities in the above plus the old fashioned Ask for their business !
If you lose an instruction to a CCA it’s probably because you missed something from above.
Lesson over, sorry I am an old git, particuarly on a monday morning !!!!!!
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Is that comment aimed at me PP? If so, I’m sorry but I don’t follow???
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Hi Shaun77
Not really you, all of us, when we lose a potential instruction to a cca, we have to fight back !
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
I think we’re at crossed purposes.
I’m talking about their advertising messages and the fact they’re misleading the public, not what we say when speaking to vendors.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
I’m repeating myself here but…
In the North and parts of Wales you are lucky to get a £1200 fee – When you add up PB £849, £300 viewings charge and the fact you pay approx £200 (on each transaction) more when using their conveyancers there basically may not ba ANY saving.
Also, their terms state that they will charge you of they can’t collect their board back from you!! :-0
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
And you pay, often upfront, whether you sell or not!!!
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
The cost saving are false, we all know that. The formulae they use is not representative of agents in general but used to mislead the public deliberately. Many agents around the UK do not charge even the savings they claim.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Also….
Check out the definition of an AGENT. These Call Centre companies who simply advertise the property and then the vendor does everything surely can’t even be called Agents. This is also misleading as they are not acting as an Agent they are just advertisers…surely?
agent
ˈeɪdʒ(ə)nt/
noun
1.
a person who acts on behalf of another person or group.
“in the event of illness, a durable power of attorney enabled her nephew to act as her agent”
synonyms:
representative, negotiator, business manager, emissary, envoy, factor, go-between, proxy, surrogate, trustee, liaison, broker, delegate, spokesperson, spokesman, spokeswoman, frontman, mouthpiece;
informalrep
“my agent told me that someone wanted to make a film out of my novel”
2.
a person or thing that takes an active role or produces a specified effect.
“universities are usually liberal communities that often view themselves as agents of social change”
synonyms:
medium, means, instrument, vehicle;
power, force
“a cleansing agent”
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
And lets be honest, would a footballer try and negotiate his own career moves, or would he trust a proper full service agent to get better results for him?
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
“I have contacted NTSEAT and have raised a complaint with the ASA.”
So – there we have it. From what was originally introduced as a person
“protecting my investment. Nothing to do with being a customer.”,
cyberduck46 now sees the need to don the spandex bodysuit (skiddies on the outside, obviously…), and burst forth from his telephone box as CyberduckMan – champion of the defenceless hordes that inhabit the NSPR world.
Either that, or the High Street subset of the Estate Agency industry has landed ourselves a one-hundred percent purebred #bunnyboiler…
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
PeeBee
Your post reminded of a series I used to watch when I was younger ‘Duckman’. You simply have to watch this;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blppKS-nz9g
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
At least Duckman is funny … what a hoot, made my day, thanks Agent V.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
So – there we have it. From what was originally introduced as a person
“protecting my investment. Nothing to do with being a customer.”,
You know full well that was when I was looking into the claims in relation to portaljuggling and that at the time I owned shares in the company because when you accused me of lying (about selling) I sent you a copy of my trades.
Clearly things have moved on since then and I’ve become interested in the agendas of others who comment regularly on here. 🙂
Your own motives (from memory) were that you were fighting the fight for consumers. I am naturally skeptical that this is actually the case because your focus seems to be very much on one company and never even question whether claims being made by those in your own team can be substantiated.
I could be mistaken but I get the feeling you like giving it out but when it’s one of your team on the receiving end you don’t like it one bit.
PeeBee, I won’t be back to see your response but I’m sure you’ll pick up on this at a later date. 🙂
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
…….I won’t be back …….
At last he got the right idea. I don’t think he feels loved … I wonder why!
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register