Rightmove criticized for adding fifth slot to Local Valuation

Rightmove defends agent number increase through Local Valuation alerts from four to five

These Local Valuations slots can cost up to £300, which means the property portal can raised up to £1,500 per alert, up from £1,200.

An agent in one of the affected areas told sources they only discovered this by chance, and claimed that Rightmove had raised the number without any notice to the agents already subscribing to the product.

The agent, who has asked not to be named but operates in the Greater London region, said: “The cost of these alerts varies according to postcode but are the most expensive additional products that Rightmove offers.

“By default the four subscribed/paying agents are selected when a vendor requests a valuation, with them having the chance to de-select any agents as they wish before submitting the request.

“As most vendors typically have three agents around to value their homes, agents can expect on average to be selected for 75% of valuation requests.”

The agent said that by increasing the number of slots from four to five, the average conversion rate will effectively be cut from 75% to 60%.

The agent said: “What Rightmove is doing is diluting the product without a) informing agents, and b) without any guarantee that the number of quality leads that they generate for agents via this product will increase."

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