War of the fees! HouseSimple criticises Yopa and Purplebricks for their upfront charges
New video asks pub customers to pay upfront for food, with predictable results as agency tells vendors "we won't ask you to pay upfront like other online agents".
Online estate agency HouseSimple has taken a sideways swipe at rivals Purplebricks and Yopa over their up-front fee structures.
The agency’s soon-to-be released latest TV ad features a gastro pub at which a cheeky but persistent waiter asks punters to pay upfront for their drinks and food before they are served.
One group of friends are asked to pay £250 upfront for their meal, while one couple are asked to pay £50 for their bottle of prosecco before its brought over.
Unsurprisingly, the apparently real-life customers at the pub are baffled and even let rip with expletives when faced with a compulsory up-front payment for their nosh and splosh.
Experiment
“We wanted to make a point with this experiment; that in certain situations people don’t react well to paying upfront for a service they haven’t yet received and in some cases, never will,” says Sam Mitchell, CEO at HouseSimple (right).
“If we don’t expect to pay upfront in these situations, why should this differ when buying or selling your home? The film captured and reinforced our decision to be the first online estate agent to have a No Sale No Fee only proposition.”
HouseSimple charges vendors a £995 flat fee that is paid on completion with optional viewings costing £35 each, while Purplebricks charges £849 upfront but then charges £300 for optional accompanied viewings.
Emoov charges £895 on completion and £360 for unlimited viewings while Yopa offers an upfront £839 package with unlimited viewings costing £300 plus two more expensive ‘no sale, no fee’ options.
EweMove has operated a no-sale, no-fee proposition since 2013. We don’t even charge those sneaky ‘premium marketing package’ fees that are awash on the high street and else where too.
And we don’t tie people into lengthy contracts either. Perhaps that’s why were the No1 Agent in the UK on Trustpilot!!
Just saying.