Rightmove Defends Price Hikes

Rightmove has been forced to issue a statement to a British agency publication defending price increases for its listing packages.

UK agency publication Property Industry Eye reported this morning that it had been told by several agents that Rightmove was preparing to charge them an extra 10% on their monthly listing subscription fees.

After reaching out to the portal firm about the price increases, the publication received confirmation from Rightmove that it was "having conversations with some agents where their memberships are due for renewal".

The Rightmove spokesperson went on to defend the price hikes by pointing to the innovations that the company has worked on over the last 18 months such as online viewings, new data reports and training webinars.

“It’s important to us that agents know how each of these tools and services could be useful for their business and so if any agents have not yet tried out any of our new developments their account manager can help them get started.”

The missive given to Property Industry Eye is the first that Rightmove has given to the British agency community for some time. The portal company declined to attend a debate between the country's leading portals last week and has been keeping a low profile since its botched pandemic response met with opprobrium last March.

Since belatedly giving agents pandemic discounts in 2020 the portal has been reverting to its tried and trusted technique of justifying price increases with references to new tools and huge traffic figures.

Rightmove is clearly backing this technique to succeed and for agents to fall in line and pay up - a tactic that has been proven over the years by a spectacular balance sheet and investor trust. Some in the comments of the Property Industry Eye article however suggest that leaving the portal is not the marketing death that some agents fear.