A Purplebricks territory manager has gone public in Australia after leaving the company and has revealed shocking details of his time working there.

Jason van Straalen, who has worked in property since 1993 and is based in Perth, held a local Purplebricks territory for over a year but says he quit after only earning half the £100,000 a year he had been promised.

Details of his time at the hybrid agency include 80-hour weeks and struggling to sell the 67 sales instructions he received while at the company, 44 of which he later sold.

Straalen, who now works for JVS Real Estate also in Perth, claims Purplebricks threatened to withdraw postcodes from his territory when he asked to hire a second sales assistant. He and his initial assistant were looking after 40 properties for sale at one point.

But most shockingly, he also claims that unsuccessful sales people at the hybrid agency were referred to by some colleagues as ‘cancer’. Straalen also claims to have experienced mistreatment while working there.

“Purplebricks will have to change the formula dramatically if they want to grow the business here,” he told the The Financial Review.

LPE earnings

Figures detailing how much LPEs earn in Oz have also been revealed by local newspaper. This includes how agents are paid £560 for each customer they get on board and that they are expected to sell eight properties a month, a target it is claimed, few of the Oz team hit.

It has also emerged that LPEs in Australia are paid share options but only when they reach a sales rate of 40%. The Negotiator approached Purplebricks for comment but so far has not received a response.

Read more about Purplebricks in Australia.