As en-bloc market heats up, agency space gets more crowded

Growing competition threatens to compress commissions, with some newcomers quoting ultra-low fees

Fiona Lam

Published Tue, Apr 27, 2021 · 05:50 AM

Collective sale

Singapore

COMPETITION is stiffening among marketing agencies in Singapore's collective-sale scene, with both incumbents and newcomers eager to grab a piece of the action amid renewed buying and selling interest.

Fresh faces joining the crowded arena have, at times, pushed into the scene by undercutting rivals on the commission rates or terms of appointment. That has also meant them proposing "unrealistically" high reserve prices as they vie for jobs, agents told The Business Times (BT).

Promising fatter margins for sellers is one way agents may try to clinch appointments. But if a reserve price appears to be se…