Anyone have experience with iamsold.co.uk?

[spaghettiwest]

We're looking to sell our house and the agent suggested using a service called iamsold.co.uk, which — as far as I can gather — is effectively a bidding website.

The pro is that we wouldn't have to pay any fees to the agent, and the service should create a bidding war.

A potential con is that the (successful) buyer would need to make a "payment of a non-refundable reservation fee of 4.2% to a minimum of £6,000.00 including VAT". Is that going to be off-putting to a lot of potential buyers?

Would love to hear from anyone with experience using iamsold.co.uk.

hi guys don't deal with these people they are just big thief's and are after to steal you reservation fee money, i went to view the property advertised by Bairstow estate agent, 12 Betterton road , the estate agent lady told me that this property is going on auction however the seller is happy to accept the offer before it goes on auction, my wife liked the property and it was advertised of 375k.

there is lady from this company i am sold called leanda she scammed me at first i gave her the offer of 380k and it was refused the next day and told the seller is looking close to 400k so i increased to 385k she said she will put the property on auction so i immediately offered her the 400k so i can get the property and not to loose it.

she came back to me later and told that the seller has accepted your offer. At this point, she could have told me that i would need you to pay the non refundable reservation fee off £17,100.

instead, she was doing this way she deceived me and said that there is another lady also interested in this property, so she will need to run the short auction for half a day. this is she telling me now after the seller has accepted my offer and after all the deal or commitment is done.

then she signed me up over the phone on i am sold auction website without giving me explanation what i am being signed up for once she finished signing me up this was all done in a rush and just before the day ends. After she finished signing me up the alarm bells ringing in my mind and i start feeling that there is something not right and i understood this trap after the phone call ended when i start thinking about this phone call but then it get too late to think when i already got her trapped

she knew that this was the only way to take the reservation fee. Otherwise, he would back off. when i came home worried and told this incident to my wife about all this trap she said if they had to run the auction why you increased your offer from 380k to 400k and what was the point taking offers and accepted over the phone that exactly what i thought also.

the next day after the auction time finished from 8am to 1pm got the congratulation email and phone call that i won the auction so i need to pay the reservation fee off £17100.00 again not mentioning any thing that it is non refundable in the email or over the phone so the customer don't back off and no agreement or paper work signed before taking reservation fee or registering auction website

when asked the other lady did not participate that was reason to run the auction was told that she cannot arrange the reservation fee for two weeks so she did not participate that upset me more and confirmed my suspicion or doubt about this fraud.

i got so worried, and my mind got blank and paid this £17100.00 reservation fee.

at the end i lost this reservation fee because the mortgage got refused but honestly speaking the only reason i made the mortgage application because i already got trapped by leande scammed me otherwise i would not go with this non refundable reservation fee trap because what is the point if your mortgage is refused you loose your life time saving no rationale person will do this or choose this option there are so many properties are available without this reservation fee trap what is the point then paying this 4.2% non refundable reservation fee which they have increased now to further 4.6% plus rubbish £300 information pack, complete rip off.

because of this, i suffered so much stress, and that affected my behaviour towards my family and my daily routine.

how these people they can play with our hard earned money when we save this money for life time very sad but in my opinion i don't know how long they have been in this business but when you do the business on the basis of cheating or dishonestly it does not go the long way.

at the end, a lot of a curse to you for doing this horrendous thing to me

hi guys don't deal with these people they are just big thief's and are after to steal you reservation fee money, i went to view the property advertised by Bairstow estate agent, 12 Betterton road , the estate agent lady told me that this property is going on auction however the seller is happy to accept the offer before it goes on auction, my wife liked the property and it was advertised of 375k.

there is lady from this company i am sold called leanda she scammed me at first i gave her the offer of 380k and it was refused the next day and told the seller is looking close to 400k so i increased to 385k she said she will put the property on auction so i immediately offered her the 400k so i can get the property and not to loose it.

she came back to me later and told that the seller has accepted your offer. At this point, she could have told me that i would need you to pay the non refundable reservation fee off £17,100.

instead, she was doing this way she deceived me and said that there is another lady also interested in this property, so she will need to run the short auction for half a day. this is she telling me now after the seller has accepted my offer and after all the deal or commitment is done.

then she signed me up over the phone on i am sold auction website without giving me explanation what i am being signed up for once she finished signing me up this was all done in a rush and just before the day ends. After she finished signing me up the alarm bells ringing in my mind and i start feeling that there is something not right and i understood this trap after the phone call ended when i start thinking about this phone call but then it get too late to think when i already got her trapped

she knew that this was the only way to take the reservation fee. Otherwise, he would back off. when i came home worried and told this incident to my wife about all this trap she said if they had to run the auction why you increased your offer from 380k to 400k and what was the point taking offers and accepted over the phone that exactly what i thought also.

the next day after the auction time finished from 8am to 1pm got the congratulation email and phone call that i won the auction so i need to pay the reservation fee off £17100.00 again not mentioning any thing that it is non refundable in the email or over the phone so the customer don't back off and no agreement or paper work signed before taking reservation fee or registering auction website

when asked the other lady did not participate that was reason to run the auction was told that she cannot arrange the reservation fee for two weeks so she did not participate that upset me more and confirmed my suspicion or doubt about this fraud.

i got so worried, and my mind got blank and paid this £17100.00 reservation fee.

at the end i lost this reservation fee because the mortgage got refused but honestly speaking the only reason i made the mortgage application because i already got trapped by leande scammed me otherwise i would not go with this non refundable reservation fee trap because what is the point if your mortgage is refused you loose your life time saving no rationale person will do this or choose this option there are so many properties are available without this reservation fee trap what is the point then paying this 4.2% non refundable reservation fee which they have increased now to further 4.6% plus rubbish £300 information pack, complete rip off.

because of this, i suffered so much stress, and that affected my behaviour towards my family and my daily routine.

how these people they can play with our hard earned money when we save this money for life time very sad but in my opinion i don't know how long they have been in this business but when you do the business on the basis of cheating or dishonestly it does not go the long way.

at the end, a lot of a curse to you for doing this horrendous thing to me

hi guys don't deal with these people they are just big thief's and are after to steal you reservation fee money, i went to view the property advertised by Bairstow estate agent, 12 Betterton road , the estate agent lady told me that this property is going on auction however the seller is happy to accept the offer before it goes on auction, my wife liked the property and it was advertised of 375k.

there is lady from this company i am sold called leanda she scammed me at first i gave her the offer of 380k and it was refused the next day and told the seller is looking close to 400k so i increased to 385k she said she will put the property on auction so i immediately offered her the 400k so i can get the property and not to loose it.

she came back to me later and told that the seller has accepted your offer. At this point, she could have told me that i would need you to pay the non refundable reservation fee off £17,100.

instead, she was doing this way she deceived me and said that there is another lady also interested in this property, so she will need to run the short auction for half a day. this is she telling me now after the seller has accepted my offer and after all the deal or commitment is done.

then she signed me up over the phone on i am sold auction website without giving me explanation what i am being signed up for once she finished signing me up this was all done in a rush and just before the day ends. After she finished signing me up the alarm bells ringing in my mind and i start feeling that there is something not right and i understood this trap after the phone call ended when i start thinking about this phone call but then it get too late to think when i already got her trapped

she knew that this was the only way to take the reservation fee. Otherwise, he would back off. when i came home worried and told this incident to my wife about all this trap she said if they had to run the auction why you increased your offer from 380k to 400k and what was the point taking offers and accepted over the phone that exactly what i thought also.

the next day after the auction time finished from 8am to 1pm got the congratulation email and phone call that i won the auction so i need to pay the reservation fee off £17100.00 again not mentioning any thing that it is non refundable in the email or over the phone so the customer don't back off and no agreement or paper work signed before taking reservation fee or registering auction website

when asked the other lady did not participate that was reason to run the auction was told that she cannot arrange the reservation fee for two weeks so she did not participate that upset me more and confirmed my suspicion or doubt about this fraud.

i got so worried, and my mind got blank and paid this £17100.00 reservation fee.

at the end i lost this reservation fee because the mortgage got refused but honestly speaking the only reason i made the mortgage application because i already got trapped by leande scammed me otherwise i would not go with this non refundable reservation fee trap because what is the point if your mortgage is refused you loose your life time saving no rationale person will do this or choose this option there are so many properties are available without this reservation fee trap what is the point then paying this 4.2% non refundable reservation fee which they have increased now to further 4.6% plus rubbish £300 information pack, complete rip off.

because of this, i suffered so much stress, and that affected my behaviour towards my family and my daily routine.

how these people they can play with our hard earned money when we save this money for life time very sad but in my opinion i don't know how long they have been in this business but when you do the business on the basis of cheating or dishonestly it does not go the long way.

at the end, a lot of a curse to you for doing this horrendous thing to me

they are the big thief's of this time just after to steal your money

Why anyone would even consider using companies like this is a complete mystery to me.
Of course it’s offputting to buyers! Most wouldn’t touch a house sold this way with a barge pole.

I was interested in a property with them but there is no way I will be risking losing money and entering a legally binding contract before solicitors are engaged etc. I can see that this might work if the property lent itself easily for investment (e.g. if it can be converted into flats/HMOs etc), but if it's a family home in a residential area (regardless of its state of repair) I bet you will loose lots of potential buyers by selling through them/using modern method of auction. As most said, people won't bother even arranging the viewing in the first place. And agents working with iamsold are often not transparent, sharing their details with iamsold even when you make it clear that auction is a no go for you!

I offered outside auction, it was turned down so I just walked away (and it seems I dodged a bullet!) and then was sent emails/text messages reminders to bid on the day, when I made it absolutely clear that I will not be engaging via this method. Clearly looking at messages above this seems a common practice to get the reservation fee (4.5% is massive amount!).

Just out of interest, does anyone know how much are the sellers liable for if they accept an offer outside auction? Presumably, there is a contract between the sellers and iamsold covering this? And if the buyer is not paying their fees them the seller has to?

The property I have seen has been in the market now for over 6 months gone to auction twice and didn't sell!! Good luck to them!

If you read through their many one star trust pilot reviews, I think you will find the answer to your question.

IAmSold - I used to work for them, they're based in Newcastle. I left after 3 weeks as they were complete shysters.

I read the 1 start reviews up to Apr 2023, but still can't find how much the seller need to pay (if the buyer doesn't). Either ways, seems that the company is to be avoided, they get their fees upfront from the buyer and have no incentive to push the sale to completion. It's a clever business model but surely this should be illegal given all the horror stories?

I was able to find it quickly, having read them before. See bold. The government don't intervene in an industry that makes them a lot of money. Even if it was regulated, regulators are never given appropriate funding.

Edit: I have a feeling I have read on those views that everyone gets locked into 12 months with them.

• -

I am not sold…
When the property did go to auction there were no bids. Feedback from some of the potential buyers was they didn't want to pay the 4. 2% upfront cost if they won the auction even if the house was lower than the normal estate agent high street price. Difficult to get call backs from them. I gave them notice after the auction. I gave them 21 days notice to finish my contract. I had a letter back saying I couldn't sell to a viewer they'd introduced for the next 12 months or I'd be liable for 4. 2% of the sale price plus vat!!!
been trying to get my house removed from their website for almost three weeks after the contract finished. emails and calls don't work. Even speaking to the estate agent I used was a was of time. Next steps will be a solicitors letter.
I would never ever ever ever use this company or sell via the "modern auction" way. just repackaged bs to make more money.

Date of experience: 09 July 2023

Wow, 4.2% of the sale price! So essentially their fees are covered upfront either by the buyer or seller. And although legally they need to present all offers to the seller, if you do that outside of auction, the vendors won't be motivated to accept it. Okay, that says a lot. You just need to wait for your 12 month contract to lapse then remarket your property at a much lower price since it's been in the market for ages! Seems like a bad deal for the sellers too 😕

I am now wondering whether the 4.2% fees get split with the local agent that show you around.

@KievLoverTwo I really hope you can have your property taken off their website! Sorry that you've been locked into a contract with them for so long!

That seems to be about the measure of it, yes.

And I have read they heavily lawyer up and come down hard if any slighted buyer or seller tries to get out of the fees for genuine reasons, e.g. dreadful survey results, cannot buy the house.

I don't have anything listed with them. That was a copy and paste from one of their one star reviews.

I’m currently in a situation with these people. If anyone buys during the contract period the seller is liable for the fee. It’s 12 months for anyone who has viewed or is related to a viewer/bidder. I was in a vulnerable position when I went in to this and it definitely isn’t how it was explained to us. Also the fee of 4.2% is added to your offer in terms of paying stamp duty and for a mortgage. Which is also a reason why people then have their mortgage offer withdrawn because the loan to valuation ratio changes. Avoid them at all costs!

Sadly I didn't read this thread before 'bidding' on a property being market by this co.. (But via a local estate agent.) I am in too deep now to get my fee back, as in, they are trying to avoid doing this. I viewed the property in July this year, Contracts finally drawn up in September. We are now nearing Christmas and MEDWAY the solicitors (that work hand in hand with I am Sold) have not done their part and I want to walk away. But don't want to lose my £6k. I have just started the complaints process to see if someone will do something? Wish I hadn't gone down this route.. But it is what it is. People beware! (NB THEIR contract states we have only 56 days to complete. But this is BS as their solicitor appears to do very little except hold up the process!) Seller wants to sell, I want to buy (cash) but we are at a point where I have lost the will to live... or deal with this S**T anymore..

@SarahJane03 Medway don’t just “work hand in hand” with I Am Sold, they are owned by the same people !

TSD.. that's what I meant, but I have a migraine right now..

" I have no idea why someone would put a nice, expensive house on an auction site like that. But there are loads of them. And they tend to sit there for ages....."

They are overpriced for todays market and the sellers just cant face the reality of dropping their price properly to sell would be my guess, the fantasy that people are going to "bid" for their property allows them to remain deluded about their house value just a little bit longer?

This is the worse experience we faced in our life time with this company, totally deceived and coned us,my wife is not well due to this,OUR LIFE TIME HARD EARNED SAVINGS FOR A HOUSE DEPOSIT AT RISK NOW, we been totally misled by A Action SPECIALIST. please stay away from this company ,Do NOT TRUST THEM AT ALL.

We are hopefully exchanging and completing on a house with them on Friday. It's been ok though the £6000 fees were annoying and we definitely took them into account when offering on the house. The sellers don't pay anything but the house definitely sold for less than it would have done with normal estate agents. The sellers solicitor (Medway) was slow and it took a lot of chasing from me to get the draft contracts sent out and our solicitor has done a lot of chasing for replies to enquiries to push the sale through. I'm glad I refused to use Medway for the purchase.

Their in-house solicitors Medway Exchange are not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, so anyone using them is not covered by their compensation and insurance scheme.

I think that everyone who has been conned out of money by these people ought to gather together and get a no win, no fee class action lawsuit together against these people.

Because it certainly seems that any regulations we might have in place as a country aren't working to stop them from being snake oil salesmen. They're betting that the average Joe on the street doesn't have the money to fight them individually, and they're right.

So they need to group together.

Pls. visit your local MP and log a complaint , also property ombudsman,I experienced the same with this company, completely misled ,bullied and conned us to pay the reservation deposit. we should stop this kind of malpractices and conning people's hard earned money.

Just price your house to sell (use PropertyLog to see what other sellers are doing) and avoid these companies.

I have had the same experience with I AM SOLD
Pressurised to bid, constant calls
Misled about the state of the house
Misled saying not Grade 2 when it is
When you read the terms it says the seller can bid and get other people to bid for them, (to up the price) how very honest and what a despicable practice.
Because this was in conjunction with a well known Estate Agent Stratton & Creber I trusted the Sales details saying the property needs updating
No its much, much more, having paid for the Surveyor who then recommended a Structural Engineer it is a complete refurbishment needing £200,000 plus work doing
I have paid £10,000 to I AM SOLD
I have not been able to sleep, I feel ill with it.
Having read all the comments from other people and on other sites it has confirmed to me I just fell for the hard sales, constant calls, being pressurised and deceived.
It makes you feel like an idiot, young people exploiting me, it's very distressing.
I already suffer Anxiety after 10 years caring for parents with dementia and seeing on these sites solicitors ignored and people not getting their money back concerns me further.
I see comments saying join together is this happening?
Think twice about trusting the Estate Agent as well as I AM SOLD
When so much commission is involved ethics often goes out the window.

I have had the same experience with I AM SOLD
Pressurised to bid, constant calls
Misled about the state of the house
Misled saying not Grade 2 when it is
When you read the terms it says the seller can bid and get other people to bid for them, (to up the price) how very honest and what a despicable practice.
Because this was in conjunction with a well known Estate Agent Stratton & Creber I trusted the Sales details saying the property needs updating
No its much, much more, having paid for the Surveyor who then recommended a Structural Engineer it is a complete refurbishment needing £200,000 plus work doing
I have paid £10,000 to I AM SOLD
I have not been able to sleep, I feel ill with it.
Having read all the comments from other people and on other sites it has confirmed to me I just fell for the hard sales, constant calls, being pressurised and deceived.
It makes you feel like an idiot, young people exploiting me, it's very distressing.
I already suffer Anxiety after 10 years caring for parents with dementia and seeing on these sites solicitors ignored and people not getting their money back concerns me further.
I see comments saying join together is this happening?
Think twice about trusting the Estate Agent as well as I AM SOLD
When so much commission is involved ethics often goes out the window.