We started Barbados Property List over a year ago because we felt there was a need for a more organised, up to date, user-friendly and independent property listings website for Barbados.
Cariblist is the original and most successful independent property listings website, but it has, in our opinion, many shortcomings. We felt we could do a much better job of organising the listings in terms of clearer categories and improving the experience of searching and evaluating Barbados properties online, ultimately generating quality leads for our customers.
We also spent a lot of time thinking about the pricing and business model for the website. An independent listings service can only work if it’s attractive to property owners and real estate agents alike. In short, we’re nothing without our customers.
Now, it’s no secret that real estate is a very competitive industry, and this is certainly the case in Barbados where agents are often negotiating ownership of leads to secure percentages. So, we figured that we would stay out of the politics by only seeking a listing fee and not a percentage share of sale or rental. Initially, this made a lot of sense, because we wanted to be trusted by our customers. As it turns out, we may have been a little too careful with this strategy.
Over the last few months we have discovered that certain agents would actually prefer to share a small percentage on the sale or rental of the property rather than pay a monthly listing fee. We have been asked on many occasions if we would agree to upload listings for free and then share a bonus if the property is sold or rented. There are many reasons why this is now preferable, but chiefly it’s because the agent is then paying us on a performance basis, i.e. we only get paid if a property is sold or rented. Now, we’re more than happy to be paid in this way, but at the same time we need to maintain a position of trust and professionalism with property owners and real estate agents. Disputes over leads are messy and can be very damaging to one’s business.
So from today, we would like to announce that BPL is taking listings on a pay-for-performance basis. However, to qualify for this there must be an existing relationship between the agent and BPL. To find out more about this option, drop me a line at m@barbadospropertylist.com or call me on 266 8491.
Standard pricing will still be available so everyone will continue to have the option to list with us and only pay a monthly fee.
Essentially, we want to give you more choice whilst maintaining the quality of our listings and the integrity of our business.
It has been a great experience growing this business. We have learnt so much and will no-doubt continue to do so. Thanks for your support, and as ever, if you have any comments please add them below…
