EMoov suspends raffle sale listing on property portals
Online agent eMoov has removed a listing from the Zoopla and Rightmove portals after it appeared to be trying to market a property that is being offered as a raffle prize. EMoov initially said the property would be held back until clarification had been sought from both portals but later announced that the listing had been suspended because portals such as Zoopla and Rightmove do not allow homes to be privately sold on their sites. In any case, the vendor said he was unable to launch the competition as planned, due to technical issues on the raffle website.

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Online agent eMoov pulled a potential portal listing last night after it appeared to be attempting to show a property on Rightmove and Zoopla that is being sold privately as a raffle prize.

The agent sent out a press release championing its service yesterday, promoting an upcoming listing from a seller who was due to raffle his property as a competition prize at £5 a ticket, but there was no indication of what service eMoov was actually providing.

The press release was then recalled.

The agent had said the seller had chosen eMoov due to its low fees and the ability to get his property shown on Rightmove and Zoopla.

An eMoov spokesman initially said: “We are acting as the agent inasmuch as he has listed with us, but he doesn’t require any viewings or offer progressions service so our involvement is limited to listing the property for him.”

EYE questioned whether this is technically a private sale, which is not allowed on the portals, as it was being run on a separate raffle website.

Another eMoov spokesman then thanked us for raising the issue, and said the property would be held back while clarification was sought from the portals.

The spokesman said: “Rightmove wants to run it past their data team but we are hoping there is no issue as they do occasionally allow listings of this nature, and as this is for a very good cause and not personal gain they are hoping they are able to help.

“We are also looking to put the listing up but the mechanics at the moment mean it pushes automatically to the portals.”

It is unclear what previous listings of this nature Rightmove has allowed.

EYE also queried if the seller would have his fee refunded if the listing isn’t allowed, but it later transpired that eMoov was planning to refund it anyway as the raffle was for charity.

Some house raffles are only legal if they are raising money for charity.

A Zoopla spokesman confirmed EYE’s suspicions that such a listing wouldn’t be allowed on the portal, and Rightmove has said the same.

Late yesterday, eMoov sent out another message saying the listing had been suspended as the vendor “has encountered some issues with the pay function on the destination site and so is unable to launch the competition as planned”.

There was no mention of the portal issue.