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PHOTO:\u00a0Purplebricks did not last long in Australia’s real estate market (image via Twitter).<\/strong><\/p>\n Purplebricks’ short stay in the Australian market didn’t go well, reports\u00a0Tarric Brooker<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n IN MAY, British based real estate startup\u00a0Purplebricks<\/a>\u00a0began winding down its Australian operations for an exit from\u00a0the Australian market after two and a half years,\u00a0amidst a\u00a0storm of negative reviews<\/a>\u00a0and a\u00a0history of complaints<\/a>\u00a0to state Fair Trading organisations. While Purplebricks leadership claims that its failure to succeed in the competitive Australian real estate market was due to\u00a0its overly rapid global expansion,<\/a>\u00a0some former agents tell quite a different story of the company\u2019s ultimate fall.<\/p>\n When Purplebricks entered the market in 2016, it promised a seismic shift in the way Australian\u2019s sell real estate, by ending the relative monopoly of traditional commissioned based agents and shifting towards a cost upfront model that was intended to reduce costs for home vendors.<\/p>\n In reality, deteriorating property market conditions combined with an\u00a0\u201cunsustainable\u201d<\/a>\u00a0business model, creating\u00a0an allegedly deeply\u00a0\u201ctoxic\u201d\u00a0<\/a>internal culture that increasingly forced agents to\u00a0\u201cwork people to the bone\u201d<\/a>\u00a0according to former agent Geoffrey Duncan.<\/p>\n