Is it time to turn off Rightmove?
Rightmove enjoy a monopoly position in the UK property portal market. As a consequence they have seen fit to raise their subscriptions by 14% this year. This is off the back of a 12% increase in each of the two previous years. It is only a matter of time, therefore, before Rightmove becomes our biggest single business cost if this trend continues. The consumer will of course end up paying for this corporate greed by way of higher selling fees….
There is of course no justification for this eye watering price increase. Inflation is relatively low and falling at 2.1%. Wage growth is also modest. In fact if I was an employee of Rightmove who wasn’t getting a 14% increase in pay this year, I would be very unhappy right now. Maybe dissatisfied Rightmove employees should talk to On The Market – I hear they’ve been hiring.
Rightmove’s behaviour is of course blatant profiteering. Estate Agents of every shape and size, up and down the country have had quite enough of being ripped off in this way. We should all work together to rid ourselves of this greedy parasite. On The Market is not perfect and for many early adopters it has not been an easy ride. However, OTM remains our best and only chance to break Rightmove and establish some control over our portal costs. Consumers will follow the traffic and they will quickly switch to the portal with the most stock. Rightmove is nothing without our stock. Some people will say that Rightmove is too big to fail but recent history tells us otherwise. Remember Nokia, Friends Reunited, AOL, MySpace, Blackberry and Emoov? I’m sure people thought these brands were too big to fail too but they have all been consigned to the corporate dustbin.
We need to agree a date at which point all agents turn off Rightmove and switch to an alternative platform and let’s make this our Independence Day.