If this week’s Percival Press ends up lost in your inbox somewhere amongst the endless stream of flashy sale emails, no hard feelings.
Consumer advocacy enthusiasts have been taking to the internet (predominantly TikTok, if that is not where you spend the majority of your scroll time), calling out brands and retailers for misleading sale advertising – think ‘30% off sitewide’ that excludes every single popular item or ‘gift with purchase’ offers that really are branded 80c tote bags from Temu.
It’s a divisive topic, along with the question whether all consumer goods businesses should be participating in the discount frenzy. It’s one thing for a mega retailer to slash prices – it’s another to see a small business significantly reduce their profit margin to keep up with the industry. I have no doubt there are a lot of social media managers doing a lot of damage control in the comments section, and it reminded me of a situation we deal with regularly.
Just like Australia has one too many time zones along the East Coast, it also has differing laws and regulations around the disclosure of a price guide during an auction campaign. In Victoria, recent changes to regulations now mandate that agents publish the owner’s reserve price (the minimum amount the seller will accept). It must be reflected and updated on all marketing material, at least seven days before the auction or fixed-date sale. If they fail to disclose it in time, the transaction cannot legally proceed. This isn’t just a guideline, the requirement will be formalised by law.
Imagine the confusion and frustration this causes when a few states over, agents in Queensland are prohibited from providing a price guide for properties going to auction under the Property Occupations Act 2014. It’s not a deceitful marketing tactic – it’s the law. If we are caught disclosing a price during a sale campaign, we lose our licences and face exorbitant fines.
Why do I mention this? Because next Sunday, 11/135 Macquarie Street will be going to auction, and naturally, questions about the price pop up more often than then next Black Friday bargain text message.
Uninterrupted river views, a quiet position in the Mercantile Dalgety complex and mere steps between your courtyard and the river walk – personally, I would say this is priceless. Professionally, I can tell you that it is exceptionally tricky to find comparable sales – properties with such a position and a stand out renovation simply do not transact often. We will be there tomorrow morning at 9 AM.
When we launch an expressions of interest campaign like we did yesterday for 202/88 Macquarie Street on the other hand, we have the liberty to provide a price guide. We may wait for the first weekend of open homes to narrow down the price bracket based on market feedback, but we can provide you with comparable sales.
Most importantly we can tell you that this is a fantastic property for anyone from first home buyers to down-sizers and that the first open home tomorrow at 11 AM is not one you should miss.
We’re not slowing down as the year comes to a close, so if hopping from one air-conditioned lounge room to another sounds like a great plan, we hope we’ll see you there! You can take a closer look here to help you plan you itinerary!
The end of the year also means that our team is hard at work preparing our 2026 Woolstore Report. While InDesign may be giving us a few early greys, I’ll tell you what has been making our day; reading your Dogs of Teneriffe submissions and obsessing over the stream of cute dog content.
There is no such thing as too many adorable dog photos, so if you feel so inclined, please keep them coming HERE!
Talk soon,
Ben
