Words: Ashley Rigg
Published: 3rd July 2008
Industry insiders to launch “ebay for overseas property”
A former employee of a prominent overseas estate agency group is in the final stages of negotiations with a number of high-profile property portals, real estate agents and marketing specialists about re-qualifying old leads. All leads would be qualified through a huge telesales operation and then put up for sale on an ebay-style online bidding platform.
Globaledge.co.uk understands that all leads will be “ready to buy” within a three-month time frame. Agents and developers will be able to view the location, property type and budget range of the buyer and bid according to their interest. Leads will be available for 72 hours and sold to the highest bidder, with a minimum reserve price of £10.
How much is a lead worth?
Some leads are worth significantly more than others. According to Gerard Doyle, co-founder of Lead Galaxy, which runs a lead auction business model on its Venture branded portals says: “Prices can reach as high as £90 in some countries”. Doyle, who has not been approached about the project, says it sounds like a good business model but doubts whether lead prices will be that high because of issues with “qualification and freshness”. He points out that potential buyers coming through portals are actively showing an interest through their behaviour as opposed to just verbally agreeing they are interested at some point in the future.
The proof of the pudding will be in the eating. It’s an interesting proposition and one that should make lead pricing more transparent. It goes live in August and our readers will be the first to know the full details when it does.
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