My Thoughts On Purplebricks – Read It If You Want

Table of contents

• Service overview
• Should you use Purplebricks to sell your home? Are they any good?
• How to sell your property with Purplebricks (how Purplebricks estate agency services works)
• Purplebricks Professional Photography Service
• Is there anything else to be wary of with Purplebricks service? Yes!
• Can I trust Purplebricks to provide accurate property valuations?
• Purplebricks vs Other Online Estate Agents
• Why are there so many negative reviews of Purplebricks?

Purplebricks estate agent overview

• Purplebricks is technically a “hybrid” estate agent, meaning they combine elements of both traditional and online estate agency models. For example, they operate online, so don’t have a high-street presence, but they do provide a local agent to work with.
• Purplebricks launched in 2012 and has since helped hundreds of thousands of Brits buy and sell properties.
• Purplebricks’ house-selling service currently starts from £799, with prices varying based on the chosen payment plan (e.g. upfront, flexi, or on completion) and the property’s sale price.
• They are the most popular online estate agent in the UK by the number of homes listed for sale (followed by Yopa).

Below is an overview of their house selling package, with the “Pay upfront” payment option (which is significantly cheaper than other options).

Purplebricks 'Pay Upfront' Package

Estate Agent	Rating	Duration	Includes / Notes	Price from
PurpleBricks	Rating 3.9 TrustPilot Reviews	Duration 12 months	Includes / Notes Pay Upfront package Key features Rightmove listing Zoopla listing Photograghs Floorplan Negotiation For sale sign In-person valuation 16 weeks Sole Agency contract App - manage viewings, offers & communication with buyers *Pricing: Under £175k: £799 £175k - £375k: £999 £375k - £600k: £1,299 Above £600k: £1,699	Price*£799 Inc VAT	Visit WebsiteBook Free In-Person Valuation

To view all the payment options, prices, and optional add-ons, visit Purplebricks.com (obvs!). But WAIT…

Should you use Purplebricks to sell your home? Are they any good?

Obviously I can’t answer that for you. I’m just the humble, dashing messenger.

All I can say is that there are plenty of positive and dire reviews (I will discuss this issue in more detail shortly, sit tight!). In other words, they’re often not particularly helpful.

To clarify, I haven’t personally used Purplebricks, so I wouldn’t feel comfortable making any personal recommendations. My goal is to simply to break down their service, and give you the opportunity to make up your own mind, rather than give point you in a specific direction.

If you genuinely are interested in using Purplebricks, I recommend reading the rest of this blog post before making your decision.

Also worth noting: Purplebricks offer a free, no-obligation valuation service, carried out by one of their local agents. So maybe booking one of those bad boys and having a chat with the agent could help you along your decision-making journey. It’s good to talk.

Book your Free Valuation from here

How to sell your property with Purplebricks (how Purplebricks estate agency services works)

Step 1: Get a valuation

Purplebricks offers a free valuation service to everyone (which, to be fair, is pretty neat):

• Local Agent Valuation – Purplebricks will assign a local expert to visit your home, provide a full and accurate valuation, and offer tailored advice to help you sell.
• Instant Online Valuation – If you’re just curious about your home’s value, you can request an online estimate in minutes.

To clarify, there is 100% no obligations to use their service after a valuation is conducted.

Book your Free Valuation

Step 2: Instruct Purplebricks to sell your home

If you are happy with the valuation, you can then choose any optional add-ons you may want to include (e.g. EPC) with your service, and then select a payment plan, which will then instruct Purplebricks to market your home for sale.

Step 3: Going live and managing your advert & enquiries

Once your advert is live you’ll be able to manage everything via Purplebricks online dashboard or via their free downloadable app, including your viewings, offers and communication with buyers.

Whenever you receive a message, offer or viewing request, you will be notified by app notifications and/or text message and email,

Step 4: Take viewings

Unless you’ve opted for Purplebricks’ £899 “hosted viewings” upgrade, you’ll need to handle viewings yourself – scheduling them around your availability and playing tour guide (don’t forget to spritz your best scent!).

Purplebricks Professional Photography Service

A professional photography service is included, and the reason I’m bringing this up because professional photos can make a huge difference, and it’s a feature most sellers seriously consider when putting their home on the market.

To give you an idea what you can expect, here are a few snaps I randomly grabbed from one of Purplebricks Rightmove listings (at the time of writing this review):

Pretty sweet, if you ask me.

Is there anything to be wary of with Purplebricks service? Yes!

Abso-bloody-lootly.

• £80 anti-money laundering fee for upgrade packages

  Purplebricks – like all estate agents – is legally required to carry out anti-money laundering (AML) checks on anyone selling a property.

  Most agents bake the cost of these checks within their service fees. However, Purplebricks charges an additional £80 to cover the cost. So, for example, the £799 + £80.

• Purplebricks recommended Conveyancing service

  I’d be remiss if I didn’t give extra special attention to Purplebricks conveyancing service, which they absolutely adore to upsell/recommending, based on what I’ve heard.

  Arguably, getting a reputable and reliable conveyancing service is key to a smooth transaction, so this is an element of the selling (and buying) process that requires due diligence above all, in my opinion.

  I’ve heard horror stories of deals free-falling due to awful legal representation, and obviously that’s an outcome everyone should actively try to avoid.

  Why am I saying this? Online estate agents, not just Purplebricks, most of them, attempt to upsell conveyancing services because it’s a huge money-maker for them.

  However, unfortunately, I have heard too many gut-wrenching stories about the quality in service their “recommended” conveyancing service provides and I don’t think it’s a coincidence.

  From what I can tell, online agents outsource the conveyancing work to battery farm-like services, where everyone is scrambling around, trying to push as many deals over the line as possible, without much care for attention to detail or good ol’ customer service. This chaos ultimately results in sloppy mistakes, delays and terribly frustrating lack of communication.

  I personally would never use a conveyancing service recommended and upsold by any online agent, but rather, I would do my own due diligence and source a local reputable supplier, or get a recommendation from someone else. You definitely get what you pay for when it comes to legal services, so I’d also avoid going for the cheapest option available.

  As mentioned, you can also find a SRA or CLC regulated conveyancing solicitor from this online tool by Reallymoving.com.

Can I trust Purplebricks to provide accurate property valuations?

I’m going to be very annoying by answering your question with a question.

Can you trust any agents property valuation?

One of the standout features of Purplebricks free service is that it includes an in-person valuation (i.e. a local agent will visit your property). Pretty incredible since most other online agents only include that feature for packages demanding £500+. In regards to the accuracy, it’s probably going to be as accurate as any other agent, I ‘spose. The reality is, we can ask 10 agents to value a house and we’ll likely get varying results.

I don’t think it matters if you use Purplebricks, any other online agent, or even a high street agent, you’re always going to question the accuracy of the valuation. Naturally, sellers will always want the highest price possible, while agents might not be as inclined, especially if they’re not earning a percentage based commission from the sale (which is the case with all fixed-price online agents, which is something to be wary of).

So, regardless of which agent you use, it’s always wise to do your own research by analysing your local market (e.g. look on Rightmove and Zoopla to see what similar properties to yours have recently sold for and are currently demanding), then you can verify the accuracy of the valuation you have been given and decide whether you want to revise it.

Purplebricks vs Other Online Estate Agents

Purplebricks’ brand is so strong that many people still believe they’re “one of a kind“, as in, the only cost-effective digital estate agent out there.

They’re not.

There are a butt-load of different online/hybrid agents to choose from, all fighting for a slice of the pie. I won’t bore you (or myself) by comparing Purplebricks to every other agent out there, but it’s definitely worth taking a quick look at how they stack up against their closest rival, Yopa.

• 
• 

Fixed Cost	£799**	£999
	Visit website	Visit website
TrustPilot Rating	3.9TrustPilot Reviews	4.3TrustPilot Reviews
Core service
Service coverage	UK	UK
In-person Valuation
Dedicated agent
Rightmove & Zoopla listing
Photographs + Floorplan
For Sale board/sign
Negotiation & Sales progression
Sole agency contract	16 weeks	16 weeks
Online dashboard
App
Extras
Hosted viewings	**£400	£499
	Visit website	Visit website

**

In terms of service, both agents are pretty comparable. However, remember to bear in mind the following when it comes to Purplebricks:

• Purplebricks has a tiered pricing model:
  • Under £175k: £799
  • £175k – £375k: £999
  • £375k – £600k: £1,299
  • Above £600k: £1,699
• If you’re selling a property for less than £175k, Purplebricks is the cheaper option (£799 vs £999).
• With the average UK house price sitting at around £300k, most sellers will fall into Purplebricks’ £999 tier — making them evenly priced with Yopa.
• If you’re selling a property worth more than £375k, Purplebricks becomes significantly more expensive.

That said, the reality is both Yopa and Purplebricks are among the most expensive online estate agents on the market – there are plenty of low-cost alternatives to Purplebricks (and Yopa) to choose from.

Exhibit A:

(note, both include Rightmove & Zoopla listings!)

Low-cost Alternatives to Purplebricks (and Yopa)

Estate Agent	Rating	Duration	Includes / Notes	Price from
Quicklister	Rating 4.6 Google Reviews	Duration 3 months	Includes / Notes Exposure package Key features Zoopla listing OnTheMarket listing PrimeLocation listing Pay on listing (not sign up) Optional add-on products (added onto total price with discount(s) applied) £139 Rightmove listing	Price Discount price £258.2 Inc VAT (Normal price: £288)	Visit Website20% Discount Code: lVx4RrDX
Emoov	Rating 4.7 TrustPilot Reviews	Duration 12 months*	Includes / Notes Essential package Key features Rightmove listing Zoopla listing OnTheMarket listing PrimeLocation listing *Rightmove listing is included for the first month. After that, you have the option to renew the listing for £25 per month. If you continue advertising on Rightmove for a full 12 months, this would amount to an additional £275.	Price£295 Inc VAT	Visit Website

Compare All Online Estate Agents

Rightly or wrongly, I believe all online agents more or less offer the same thing – the key features that actually matter: professional photography (crucial for marketing) and listings on Rightmove and Zoopla (essential for maximum exposure). Most estate agents – both online and high street – generate the majority of their enquiries from those online portals. So what I’m saying is that you can find similar services for much less (many which have better TrustPilot ratings to boot).

Make of that what you will.

Why are there so many negative reviews of Purplebricks?

First and foremost, Purplebricks have recently changed ownership, so the reviews prior 2024 (which is 99% of them) were under old management. I’m not saying they’re better or worse now, I’m just stating the facts.

But besides from that, I do want to touch on why I believe online estate agents, as a whole, tend to receive negative reviews. While Purplebricks holds the top spot in popularity and consequently catch the brunt of the bullets, I believe there’s a misunderstanding surrounding all online agents that contributes to, perhaps, unjust negativity (of course, many of the scathing reviews will also be rightly deserved, I’m not excusing any of those.).

There is an abundance of positive reviews left by satisfied customers that have used an online estate agent, but there’s obviously also no shortage of total annihilation. But I have a theory, which is based on thousands of reviews I’ve been sad enough to trawl though.

I firmly believe that the majority of them [the negative reviews from sellers] stem from mismanaged expectations. In other words, customers strolled into their local McDonalds and left feeling underwhelmed and demoralised because no one served them at the table.

No one should expect to receive a high-street agent service when paying a fraction of the cost for an online service. That would be bonkers. It’s not possible. But that’s where I believe a large potion of the disappointment comes from.

So my advice is, before using an online agent, whether it’s Purplebricks or one of their many online competitors, ensure it’s fully understood how online agents operate, and in turn why they’re significantly cheaper than high-street agents. That way expectations are likely to be realistic and hissy-fits averted. My complete guide on Online Estate Agents can help you will in the gaps.

Purplebricks is an online agent, nothing more!

I recently suggested to a friend that he consider using an online estate agent to sell his house. He immediately recoiled, pulled his best lemon-sucking face, and told me in no uncertain terms that he wouldn’t touch them with my 10-foot barge pole – all because there’s a house on his street that’s been up for sale with Purplebricks for over a year.

“How do you know that’s the agent’s fault?”, I responded.

I was unsurprised to learn that he didn’t know, but that was his assumption.

It was clear to me that he either didn’t realise that Purplebricks is an ONLINE estate agent or he did, but didn’t have a clue how they work.

In his defence, I’m sure he’s not the only one, so I think it’s useful to briefly remind ourselves of how an online agent’s business model differs from traditional high street agents.

Online estate agents do NOT operate like high street agents. Sure, they have the same goal (to help facilitate their customers in selling their home), but they use different approaches, ultimately underpinned by their pricing model (i.e. how they get paid).

High street agents only get paid on sale, which means, in theory, they will be inherently more motivated to sell (e.g. follow up leads, schedule viewings, return calls/emails, encourage second viewings, hype up the property etc). Otherwise they won’t get paid.

An online agent gets paid up front with or without a sale, so they have less reasons to be motivated to push a sale over the line. they’re already paid.

I would think of it like this (because this is exactly how it is):

• The job of an online estate agent is to facilitate homeowners in marketing their properties across a network of the largest property portals (e.g. Rightmove, Zoopla etc.) to generate leads. It is then up to the homeowner to push the sale over the line, not the online agents.
• A high street agent’s job is to facilitate the entire sales process, from start to finish. If they haven’t sold a house after a year, then that could very possibly be their fault.

The very reason online estate agents are significantly cheaper is because a lot of the control is retained by the seller (and not handed over to the agent), so there’s less work involved for the agent.

If you’re anything like me, then you’ll be willing to manage the viewings and negotiations, in which case an online estate agent like Purplebricks is a great money-saving solution to selling a house.

If you don’t feel the same, and you’d rather outsource the entire process and pay the crippling premium, then a high street agent might be better suited for you.

There’s no right or wrong here, it’s just about your preference (and ultimately how much money you want to save). The problem is, many people don’t really understand how online estate agents work so they burden themselves with a misconstrued perception.

Landlord out xo