Another property portal – but this one is Ebay!
In a reported deal with Property Index, ebay is listing properties from portal feeds.
Great I say, about time and well done to Lee if it is Property Index who have brokered this deal.
The usual negative comments appear on Estate Agent Today, but I seem to recall similar people saying ebay would never work and you would never sell a car or a boat on ebay. Well think again you doubting Thomas’ stick you fingers in the holes and believe!
There will of course be the same old moans about listing private sellers alongside agents (already on EAT) but is it not about time to overcome this issue. I could write pages on this issue and surely the bottom line is that private selling is such a small market and the more resistance and obstacles put forward by agents will only drive more people to explore the private selling route. Embrace it and promote the reasons sellers need to use agents!
Sadly, I note that AHIPP are still banging the drum and calling for government intervention for the Zoopla tempt me tool. Good luck with that guys and I must state the obvious and ask whether this is a huge waste of time when the government will not even address the issue of HIPS and now they are going to ask them to intervene to look at an online widget!! A quick rant - why don't AHIPP and others stop moaning and be constructive and do a deal with Ebay. Would it not be better if AHIPP said, we could make money from this, let's pick up the phone and broker a deal with PI and Ebay! One of their competitors will and they will be left moaning at the government that 'it is not fair'! Sorry, needed to get that off the chest.
Personally, I believe Ebay offers an excellent vehicle to sell a house and with the future integration of video, there is a ready made platform for displaying property, selling property and other subsidiary products, i.e. HIPS (see above).
Others will follow suit, but Ebay is a coup for PI, or whoever has brokered the deal.
I should point out that I am currently using one of those super fast mobile broadband sticks and guess what? It is about as fast as an overweight tortoise. The mobile broadband promised to me in my area is no better than by mobile telephone. I am sending it back and it also means I can’t really explore Ebay and find the properties to which the EAT refers.
Anyway, I am off to bid on a house (if I can access the Internet and find it on Ebay).
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3 comments:
As you quite rightly state I think that Ebay could work really well for selling houses. Property Auctions are very popular this is a great quick way to sell your property fast. With rises in repossessions this could be a viable way to sell up quickly. property investor
Ebay I understand have a deal with propertyIndex.
In my opinion, sellers have not been made aware in advance that PropertyIndex were going to be allowed to list over 150,000 properties in classified ad format.
In my opinion, this should not be allowed. First, the PropertyIndex listings are in the same format as others, but since being introduced our viewing numbers have went down rapidly, i understand viewers have quartered, I think it’s now harder for people to find our listings.
Ebay is flooded with over 150,000 PropertyIndex listings, every other seller of property will be affected, Ebay should have told sellers in advance that this may happen.
This appears to be a bit of an anti competition issue, an unfair advantage because PropertyIndex paid over the odds in advance for the deal with Ebay. Other advertisers have banner ads and text ads, PropertyIndex have been given free reign over what they list, and against Ebay rules!
Ebay rules only allow one listing per category for classified ad format, however because PropertyIndex paid (I presume) Ebay allowed PropertyIndex to list as many as they liked, i understand there is fury from UK estate agents who have not been made aware from PropertyIndex that they were to market the agents properties through Ebay.
This is PropertyIndex and Ebay together slapping faces of original sellers who have worked hard to build their business on Ebay, and affecting buyers by not allowing them to find what they are looking for because Ebays property sections are now flooded with PropertyIndex listings.
I am seeking legal advice on whether this is allowed under anti competition laws, and for damages.
Very interesting debate, could certinaly be a legal dispute in there somewhere.
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