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Rightmove reveals its ‘help’ package for Coronavirus-hit estate agents

Portal is offering three different deferred payment packages for qualifying agents all of which will start on May 1st.

Nigel Lewis

rightmove

Rightmove is to reduce its fees by between £150 and £500 a month for qualifying agents depending on size and which sector of the industry they operate within to help agent cashflow during the Coronavirus crisis.

But the scheme is not due to start until May 1st and the fees ‘reduction’ is in reality a deferred payment scheme; estate agents will have to pay the money back over an agreed of between three and six months after the Coronavirus epidemic is over.

The scheme will also only apply to estate agents who have fewer than 25 branches and who have been with the portal for at least 12 months.

Packages

Rightmove is offering three ‘deferment packages’. For agents on a lettings-only membership package the scheme allows deferrals of £150 each month for six months or £250 each month for three months.

But the standard scheme is to offer a reduction of £275 per branch off their monthly invoiced costs each month for six months.
The amounts deferred must be paid back evenly over the same term after six months of the first deferral period.

A third option is that agents can defer payment of £500 per branch of their monthly invoiced costs each month for three months paid back evenly over the same term after three months.

“Over the years agents have shown great resilience through some challenging market conditions, but this is an unprecedented situation,” says Rightmove’s Agency and New Homes Director David Anderson.

“A number of agents we’ve been speaking to have said they’re worried about how they’ll control their current cash flow with fewer sales and lettings transactions over the next few months, and as they rebuild their pipeline later in the year.

“As we enter a period of the unknown, at this stage we hope this payment deferral scheme will help to reduce some of the negative impacts.

“To help agents looking for practical advice we’re also running a series of webinars with industry experts on subjects from working at home through to legislation in the current environment and managing mental health.”

March 18, 2020

7 comments

  1. Rightmove – £289m annual revenue – £212m annual profit. Are the agents missing something? Yes! Welcome to the ‘new economics of the digital age’. Henry Ford made cars, they had components, he sold the cars. Rightmove – makes well nothing?

    And the cost of manufacture is tiny, no metal, no tyres, no engine: replicate this model and your profit margin goes skyward and your cost base is marginal. Oh! and get your customers to supply the raw materials the listings for free.’

    So my two questions to all clients using Rightmove are –

    1 – What is the real monthly cost for Rightmove to host your stock on their site? Not £1,100 plus.

    2 – What amount per month should you invoice Rightmove for supplying them your raw materials – the listings that you paid good money to obtain, and without which no-one would go on their portal?

    End the Rightmove myth today, that your monthly fee mostly is used to support the tech to keep your listings 24/7 online. Understand that there is no way that listing 100 sold and for sale properties on a portal costs £1,100 plus a month.

    Just think about it – join the #InvoiceRightmove revolution – send off your Rightmove invoice now.

  2. In my opinion Rightmove only care about their shareholders and not the hand that feeds them. It’s extremely short sighted and in most respects insulting to the companies that provide the leads for Rightmove to exist.

    How are businesses going to continue when companies such as Rightmove are offering us £250-500 offset for 3-6 months from an already £1500+ a month invoice knowing full well that leads/ instructions have/will plummet in this environment.

    Clearly they care more about the money in their pockets now than the continuity of their clients businesses through this daunting times.

  3. This just completely beggars belief. This is of no help whatsoever to our industry, I’m not interested in the webinair Rightmove is offering on COVID-19, after all we have all received many of these in our inboxes and they are all repeating what the Government and NHS are saying. What we are looking for is real ‘financial’ assistance from them, not a pathetic gesture that will in no way help our businesses to survive. This is a company that piggy-backs its business off of us and without us they would not have a business. At a time when so many agents are struggling to maintain their businesses and pay their staff it would have been a far greater gesture if Rightmove had waived or even reduced their fees, but this is just so typical of them. Did we really expect assistance. On top of this our Business Rates bill has arrived this morning!!

  4. I was really pleased to hear that Rightmove was going to make a gesture to help their customers. But now having read the details of their offer I agree with the previous commentator…it is not going to help the industry at all in the long term. Rightmove needs to reduce their fees across the board just like us estate agents have had to over the past few years. Perhaps we all need to cancel our Rightmove subscriptions on mass until the situation improves as I’m sure very few people will be looking to move for the next few months. I’m sure there is an opportunity for Rightmove to score some ‘brownie’ points by being far more generous to their long standing customers given their profit margins especially under these unprecedented circumstances.

  5. I think the word “help” is a little OTT. We have mortgages companies offering ‘payment holidays’ and yet, most Rightmove subscriptions are over the normal mortgage payment amounts. Mortgage companies deem it appropriate to help people who they know are going to struggle for income. But Rightmove not using common sense?

    I think generally their approach is totally wrong, a token discount which is an insult, but it isn’t even a discount because you’ll have to pay it anyway! plus, paying it back between 3-12 month is going to hit them in the time when the pipeline is taking a hit!

    Overall it’s completely insulting. It’s a relationship nobody wants to be part of, Rightmove have a monopoly and are yet again abusing this position. I worry how many agencies will close over this!

    Rightmove, hold your head in shame.

    You are about to cause a movement of people jumping ship, and it’s your own greed which has caused it.

  6. In all honesty, can Rightmove really spare it? This is simply a hurried response to the criticism they’ve already received from the estate agency press. It’s another example of their uncaring, conceited attitude and the total contempt they have for their customers. I wonder how they’d feel if ALL estate agencies suddenly decided to withhold their subs on 1st April? Switching us all off wouldn’t do much for their site, would it?

  7. Rightmoves offer is quite frankly an insult and totally unhelpful. I would be a bit more worried and considerably more helpful if i were Rightmove. If people are concerned about their jobs they’re not going to move it’s as simple as that. The current situation has only effected 2 of my sales so far but both of those are today. The impact over the next week will undoubtedly see this happening more, not because people are necessarily actually losing their jobs at this time but it is the concerns they have for the immediate future. If we don’t have sales we don’t make money, if we don’t make money we can’t pay our bills, if we don’t pay our bills we go out of business along with thousands of others. Rightmove should be considering how they may be able to help their customers stay in business by considerably reducing costs for the foreseeable future especially as Rightmove are one of the largest expenditures most agents have. Without their customers they’re in the same boat as the rest of us!

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