Rightmove, as reported by Estate Agent Today last November, is pushing up its 2010 prices by as much as 20%, but with the option that agents can hold their subscriptions to last year’s levels if they agree to buy around £200 worth of extra products.
We know that some agents have already been told about their price rises, but tht others are currently being contacted.
A spokesman for Rightmove would not comment as the company is in a closed period, before releasing its results to the Stock Exchange. (Last year it did so on Friday, February 27.)
He added that the company, in any case, will not comment on individual rates.
However, would anyone like to comment on how their own price rises are shaping up?
And THAT advertisement?
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Comments
Google will only overtake rightmove if it has equal content to attract users. That means as agents we need to upload to google. Are you uploading yet?
I think some of you need to be careful what you wish for, Rightmove still offers fantastic value for money and with the new products i have seen an increase in valuations. I suggest all those who are complaining arent using the website to its full benefits. As long as Rightmove dont price themselves out of the market then compared to press advertising and the other portals out there it still offers good value for money...!
Che - I really don't understand what that last message achieved?! Hope it satisfied your ego :)
"Posted By steve on Wednesday 27th January 2010 17:18:26
We are all fools for promoting rightmove........take down there window stickers and stop putting there logo alongside our own..even if your staying with them.."
there window stickers?
there logo?
your staying with them?
or perhaps
THEIR window stickers
THEIR logo
YOU'RE staying with them.
If you make those primary school errors in your property descriptions as well, then RM's fees are the least of your worries.
We were with Rightmove for two years until the recession hit. Paying £425 pm for one office and we were told that we needed to pay the same for a second office,recently opened (smart timing I know). We took a long look at the benefits and considered one member of staff to be mroe valuable and pushed our own website more with advertising. We have honestly not missed this portal one little bit and advise others to look more closely rather than be led by the nose.
Why don't you get together - surely this site could organise it - and boycott Rightmove.
When I search for property I always use Globrix because they scrape sites and have pretty much every property for sale on there. Rightmove only has its subscribers properties on there. If a thousand of you left - they'd lose critical mass. I'm baffled. Lots of dynamic agents seem to get by without Rightmove.
Oh, dear - I am going to anger a few people here (more than usual, I hear...). So - Rightmove have increased their costs. 10% or thereabouts, I see quoted. Petrol has gone up - in bite-size chunks - by around 10% in the last few months - but you don't bemoan THAT on here! I would understand the outcry more if RM was a crap service - but they aren't. Leads delivered to your inbox; calls coming in daily... vendors, purchasers, tenants and landlords all that you may well not have got if you weren't in the RM pot. And just to end on an even more controvertial note - if houseprices were to rise by 10%, you wouldn't reduce your commission %age to ensure the poor seller pays no extra, would you?
What makes rightmove is name recognition and a critical mass of agents subscribing. You (agents) have the power to change that: no need to wait for google!
I blame Rightmove for global warming, world famine, genocide etc etc etc...blah blah blah....
Well said Steve Balshaw, spot on. -------- Andy, the charge is not a tax, but a service that is going to help launch and maintain your business. As a new start up, you face an even bigger challenge without the services of RM.
Im just opening this coming monday and they want to charge me £525 plus vat pcm, i just cant afford it being so new. Trouble is if i dont use them i wont get as many instructions. Thieves!!!
To Adam Smith
I think the point of any advertising RM do is to try desparately to get buyers and, by the looks of the recent advert, sellers to your stock and to your brand... If you don't understand that, heaven help you!
I really do find myself slightly bewildered each time the collective Rightmove rant pipes up. Half of you are trying to promote untested and as yet unproductive sites like radar homes and google (have you even seen what they do in Aus and USA? its rubbish) over and above the clear market leader, the other half seem too spineless to actually do anything about RM and leave. You'd rather try to whip up a frenzy. You're no better than the british press! I do not enjoy paying the rates that they charge, but as a businesman, unlike you, I can at least admire a business that has done what it does so well, and is able to capitalise on it. You're all being far too emotive. Its this simple... Outside of London, they work SO much better than any other portal that they are worth more money. Inside London, you're out of luck as you probably need to be on them all to get complete online coverage.
If the staff are poor, complain. You shouldn't have to put up with arrogance. I find my local chap to be almost apologetic whenever he has to deliver the bad news, but he explains what has changed on the site, and how traffic and enquiries have changed, and its not his fault, so why lambast him? I ALWAYS get free training for ALL my staff as a sweetener following his price related visits (which would have cost a lot more than the increases anyway), and other than those I see him twice a year.
Get over yourselves and leave if they're that bad and stop trying to get others to do what you're too weak to do yourselves.
For info, ALL agents that I'm aware of in my part of the world that have left RM have rejoined due to the pain it caused their business.
I've no doubt you'll all think I'm a RM employee, and I won't even dignify that with a response, other than to say that it makes me wonder why I've just written all this to try to help you!
Good luck with 2010.
Steve
There is so much tunnel vision here. Yes, you promote Rightmove by having their logo alongside your name. At the same time, their logo is promoting your business and installing consumer confidence in people to use you as you are affiliated with RM. It works both way. Sky TV is extremely expensive nowadays. Why? Because it is the best home entertainment service by a country mile. Likewise Rightmove in it's own field. If you want to use the best, you have to pay for it.
Keep using Rightmove you bunch of Muppets. Follow the sheep!!! Keep your bank manager happy with the ever increasing overdraft. Sorry, but get a life. We stopped using them over two years ago, think of those monthly payments going towards your own mortgage instead.
We are all fools for promoting rightmove........take down there window stickers and stop putting there logo alongside our own..even if your staying with them..
Anthony K "There isn't a viable replacement yet". You've said it yourself. If someone is head and shoulders above the rest at what they do, in any market, the price is fully entitled to be higher. Rightmove is by far the best portal and also delivers the best experience to the public (which alot of agents forget - it HAS to be good for the buyer!). IF, agents aren't happy with the the prices, don't pay them and leave. If you continue with them (while throwing your toys out of the pram) you're confessing that this is an appealing service to use or you would have already stopped using them. Fair play to the agents who have been angered by the increases and left, that is very credible. However, those that moan and continue to use them, thats just silly and getting increasingly boring to hear about each time there is a RM article!! Pay up or hush up!!
We already pay £500 a month. My written notice is in the post. The cheeky arrogant sh.. came and sat in front of me telling me I can pay another £200.00 to go on a banner. £2400 per year thank you very much and how much will that cost next year. They have well and truly stepped over a line. There isn't a viable replacement yet, only because we have not created one. When we do we need a website that only takes the listing and does not allow anyone to advertise or premium list anything. Then the cost can always stay low. Rightmove won't be happy until they have 50% of your turnover never mind profit.
Rightmove are spending millions of pounds of agents fees advertising their own brand on TV rather than on the properties they are supposed to be marketing. Sounds crazy to me!
i have just agreed a 50% rise landed on me by Digital Property Group and 20% with rightmove.I do not really have a choice when all my competitors promote on them.Leaving will be used by the opposition as a sign of financial weakness.
Why do RM do this every year?
Because they can!
What can you do? Leave RM and transfer your business elsewhere. FindaProperty, Zoopla etc will happily do business with you.
Think of it like an election - don't complain about the Government if you don't vote at election time. This is Rightmove's general election - vote with your properties for another website. Remember Rightmove needs you far more than you need them!
Maybe this is the time for agents to strengthen their online proposition and focus on what they are offering online? People research everything online before buying and agents need to recognise that and start working on getting up that Google search. Invest in online marketing...!!
as "agency insider" says, you have a choice, use RM or dont. in 2007 we spoke to all the big portals about pricing and they all offered a deal, except RM. we decided then to drop them, the arrogance of the people we spoke to left me lost for words. we haven't advertised since and we don't intend to. its not affected us at all, in fact we opened our second office three months ago. we stuck with all the others and haven't looked back. don't be afraid to walk away and spend a bit more on marketing yourself locally.
£360 for 2 offices is better than our £360 for our one small office
We pay £300 pm for sales only and have 2 offices. We have been notified that our rate rises to £360pcm but with the same additional £200 a month offering to maintain the rate. As we are now officially out of recession, we are delighted with this increase - NOT! - If we all support the RADAR homes site which is an agent owned portal, we hopefully won't be in this position in time - Radar is growing rapidly, it's doing waht it said it would do - and it's on the TV too with some very good ads indeed - Yes my firm is on it - It's £45 quid a month right now - as an insurance policy it's cheap and must be worth a punt for a couple of years! - certainly cheaper that the extra £200 quid that rightmove are trying to con you into!!
Hmmm - Isn't it strange how no one has mentioned Property Live as a credible (and already free) alternative to Rightmove and we're all waiting for Google. What does that tell you about ppp piss poor property live!?
Let's face it. They are doing it because they can and who can blame them. But think! It wasn't that long ago that we were all paying fortunes for local press
advertising because we were afraid of losing customers. What happened when you reduced your press ad. costs? Yes, it's true. Clients ask if you advertise on Rightmove but there are alternatives which will still deliver enquiries
Rightmove have written to me proposiing a 20% increase. I notice that everyone is saying what the % is without saying how much they are being charged. I am in London and was paying £300pcm and they want to put it up to £360pcm. We had no increase last year, but every preceeding year, they hiked the price by at least 20%. They are B*****ds and could not care one tinyiest bit, about their customers. Customer service - forget it. If you are lucky enough to get a visit, it will only be because they want to try to upsell you. I wish they would go bust...
Everyone should phone up and complain, I just did, got a load of sales clap trap but at least I registered a complaint. I feel their offer a is ludicrous insult, does any one really spent £200 per office on “additional products” per month
Unfortunately for us, when buyers look for a property now Rightmove is the first place they check. AgencyInsider is right, we created the monster and are now suprised that they are biting the hand etc. We whinge but we continue to use them because there has been no viable alternative. Google is the only one that has had any potential so far because it is already an established household name.
This seems a little steep!! Especially when there are many other portals who can generate good levels of enquiries without them having to pay such huge fees. Propertyshowrooms.com for example are currently offering free listings for 6 months to all new UK agents signing up before the end of February.
Righmove are certainly shooting themselves in the foot. Is the increase needed to pay for that rather extravagant and wasteful African Plain TV Advertising Campaign aimed at buyers who are all cowering together at the waterhole at the dead of midnight?
google wont change their position all the time agents are scared to leave, leave them for one month when you go back you pay new joiners rates! globrix could have done it with more advertising
10.7% increase
where is the cut off? if they charged £1500 per month would we all still use them, we are all like sheep, without the agents they would be nothing.
Mines gone up by £35 a month as a small independent agent I find this hard to swallow especially given the tough time we have just been through. They will go on taking the piss if someone like google doesn’t get their act together.
Here we go again. The solution to the Rightmove 'problem' is either use them - or don't. There isn't an agent out there who does not seek to maximise the highest possible commercial gain. Why be angry/surprised when the beast we created does likewise? If RM is so diabolical why do so many subscribe to them? The answer is that they are market leaders and give us more business than any other portal. Pay your money and take your choice.
We have gone up 10.7% rang through and offered various excuses and additional options i could pay more for no real choice with the monopoly they have
We have been hit with a 10% rise! I wish I could put my fees up by 10%.
The real insult is that Rightmove then offer this laughable deal where your subscription freezes but you pay £200 a month more for Rightmove premium products. So this route is even more costly. Roll on Google!
The sooner google or someone wipes Rightmove into oblivion the better. The way the treat their agents is diabolical.