Boomin Finally Reveals Business Model

The much-heralded UK challenger portal Boomin has finally revealed its business model ahead of its launch later this year. Despite some speculation that the portal would not be charging a traditional monthly subscription fee to listing agents, it seems Kenny and Michael Bruce’s new company will charge agents a monthly fee but not until 2022.

The portal company founded by the brothers behind Purple Bricks has been generating headlines and generating a lot of buzz in the UK despite not having publicly revealed its business model until a webinar for agents yesterday. The company is still declining to publish explanatory materials around its model and launch, telling Property Industry Eye that “it is premature to release the video and YouTube clip to a wider distribution network at this current moment.”

Aiming to distinguish its offerings from that of the incumbent British portals, part of Boomin’s offering will be a ‘performance fee’ where agents will be obliged to pay extra if they are generating a significant amount of revenue through Boomin, though Michael Bruce was quoted as saying that Boomin would be more competitive than incumbent portals and that his company’s “key objective is to earn you more revenue than you will ever pay”.

Boomin has also announced that it will give agents “a revenue share for life” of referral fees from tertiary services such as utilities that users sign up for through Boomin. The portal will also feature a ‘sneak peek’ feature where home hunters can see properties that have yet to be marketed as well as those in a chain and, in some cases, those currently being valued. Users will also be able to book a viewing or a valuation via the click of a button 24 hours a day, a feature that is sure to be copied by rivals.

It seems from yesterday’s webinar and comments from Michael Bruce, that Boomin’s model is one that is inching away from the traditional pay-to-list model and is instead aiming to go slightly more towards the route taken by other challengers in helping agents make the most of their position as a touchpoint for home movers in providing leads for other services.