Trade Me (TME)

[okane]

Actually it is the real estate agents sticking up for their clients

You are hilarious.

[okane]

You are hilarious because real estate agents charge clients tens of thousands of dollars for their "services", and yet somehow it is supposed to be outrageous that Trademe charge REAs $159. The sheer gall of REAs is amusing though.

It is outrageous that in Waikato and Hawkes Bay real estate agents are lying to vendors by saying they cannot place advertising on Trademe at a discount when their true intentions are so transparently self-serving. Their boycott of Trademe is not in the interests of vendors it is to drive traffic to realestate.co.nz which they themselves own and can advertise on for free without competition from private sales.

It's all academic though as across the rest of the country Trademe has already won the battle. They will win in Waikato and Hawkes Bay too once REAs come to their senses and realise they cannot fight the network effect.

[clip]

realestate.co is a separately owned/run business not owned by real estate agents, they are however in frequent contact/work with the heads of bayleys, barfoots, harcourts and other big name agencies (there are around 7 that I know of)

[warthog]

You are hilarious because real estate agents charge clients tens of thousands of dollars for their "services", and yet somehow it is supposed to be outrageous that Trademe charge REAs $159. The sheer gall of REAs is amusing though.

It is outrageous that in Waikato and Hawkes Bay real estate agents are lying to vendors by saying they cannot place advertising on Trademe at a discount when their true intentions are so transparently self-serving. Their boycott of Trademe is not in the interests of vendors it is to drive traffic to realestate.co.nz which they themselves own and can advertise on for free without competition from private sales.

It's all academic though as across the rest of the country Trademe has already won the battle. They will win in Waikato and Hawkes Bay too once REAs come to their senses and realise they cannot fight the network effect.

Yes, it is a power-play.

The big RE firms in NZ are a cartel (in the hog's opinion).

This is the only way they can charge such outrageous fees where there is little or no incentive to get as good a price for the client as possible. It's just another day at the office and another punter's house to flick on for a silly-high fee.

And it will change. People have been selling their houses in increasing numbers thanks to Trademe, and if something comes up that competes effectively with Trademe on the basis of quality/price, then Trademe will either have to buy them or compete with them. Of late people will have noticed that Trademe has been beefing up their property services and ramping up advertising. That's competition.

realestate.co.nz is just an industry-owned* and supported attempt at halting/reversing the inevitable trend of owners of property having more power and threatening the cartel and their fat fees.

The comcom investigation against the cartel is ongoing but it is hard to imagine that they don't have some measure of cooperation against Trademe in their use of realestate.co.nz and their seemingly coordinated anti-Trademe actions. How much of this can be proved is another matter, though.

Ultimately, real-estate people are experts at lying through their teeth. The hog uses that expression deliberately. They lie while they smile at the punters and buyers, knowing full well that the vast majority of real-estate agents make far too much money for what they do.

It's time that changed. Trademe's fees are nothing compared with real-estate agent fees and the agents know it. They are fighting for power.

* Realestate.co.nz Ltd is a commercial company jointly owned by The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) and Property Page (NZ) Ltd (PPL).

[warthog]

realestate.co is a separately owned/run business not owned by real estate agents, they are however in frequent contact/work with the heads of bayleys, barfoots, harcourts and other big name agencies (there are around 7 that I know of)

You didn't even check their website. Lazy!

http://www.realestate.co.nz/about/about-us
"Realestate.co.nz Ltd is a commercial company jointly owned by The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) and Property Page (NZ) Ltd (PPL)."

PPL?
http://www.business.govt.nz/companie.../shareholdings

Recognise any names there?

[warthog]

your comments seem to be lacking substance.
The simple fact is it is trademe trying to dictate new rules and the realestate agents wont be bullied into paying it and if they are it will be passed on down to their clients......simple every day business practice.

Snapiti your post above casts serious doubt over your judgment.

From the hog's perspective, the real-estate agents are the bullies/cartel looking to desperately hold onto power by trying to put Trademe property out of business.

Do you seriously want industry-owned realestate.co.nz to have a dominant position in buying/selling property in NZ? What makes you think they wouldn't hike fees and squeeze every last cent out of the market?

[warthog]

I believe there will be some new offerings in the works between the real estate agencies/places like REINZ/re.co now that trademe have raised fees to try and poach the agents away from trademe listings. the agencies/agents are NOT happy about it

If the real-estate agents are not happy then per se, whatever it is that caused their discomfort is a good thing.

They don't look after their clients. Never have.

[RTM]

If the real-estate agents are not happy then per se, whatever it is that caused their discomfort is a good thing.

They don't look after their clients. Never have.

I have a few friends who are real estate agents. They are really nice folk.
However, need to always remember when dealing with them professionally, that they have their own interest at heart, first, second and third.

[warthog]

For a start realestate.co.nz had a dominant position in the market for many years prior to TM and they never showed the cartel like action of TM...... Proven fact number 1
Secondly I have been a client of TM for many years and they have proven to raise fee's when ever it suits them using their dominant market position to run the business like a cartel.... proven fact number 2
to even suggest TM has not used their dominant position to raise fee's MANY TIME'S would be utter rubbish.
But don't think I am saying the real estate companies are perfect either.

Media didn't seriously move online until after Trademe came along. The internet was just not that developed. The industry have always had a cartel-like (hog's opinion!) position in the tiny NZ market.

Even if one accepts that realestate.co.nz had any sort of dominance for any length of time the fact is that it is an industry-owned and supported service.

One would be hard pressed to find somebody outside of that industry to claim that real-estate agent fees became more competitive and/or real-estate agent service has improved during the same period.

[The BOWMAN]

The issue with TME is not real estate listing. It is the lack of innovation. For example, they've missed their opportunity to make an impact with selling brand new items due to the lack of value-add. Now other retailers are catching up and consumers are used to shop around multiple shopping Web sites. To make the matters worse, international sites are making it easier and cheaper to buy. Technology is no longer a key differentiator. And they don't have a strong strategy in their business direction. The only way forward seems to be acquisition and continous dilution of profit margin.