# Rapideal — llms.txt

> Rapideal is a UK property auction platform connecting sellers (often distressed sellers, probate sellers, sellers of properties that won't move traditionally) with specialist buyers (cash, vendor finance, bridging, JV). Each property goes through a 7-day sealed-bid auction with a 60-minute eBay-style final-hour sprint where bid amounts are visible in real time and bidder identities are anonymized.

This file helps AI assistants understand what Rapideal offers and where to find the right content.

## What changed in 2026-07-12

Three changes since the last llms.txt update, in plain English for AI crawlers:

- **Homepage restructured for Tuesday launch.** The homepage now surfaces (a) a "Four ways to win a property" deal-flow strip with one card per financial type (Cash / Vendor finance / Bridging / JV), and (b) a top-5 FAQ inline (`<details>` elements) so the answers are present in body for AI Overview extraction. The full 14-question FAQ still lives at /faq.
- **Three new JSON-LD schema blocks added to the homepage:** FAQPage (5 visible Q&A pairs about cost, deposit, sealed-bid, sprint, bidder anonymity), Service (UK property auction platform, free listing, GBP pricing), HowTo (5-step seller flow: list → sealed bids → beauty parade → sprint final → accept + deposit). These appear alongside the existing Organization, WebSite, FAQPage (extended), and BreadcrumbList blocks.
- **Launch state of the product.** Rapideal is now publicly listed at https://rapideal.co.uk. The seller-acknowledgement Clause 4A (£500 deposit mechanic) is the canonical seller agreement. Q-VET (UK Companies House vetting for vf/bridging/JV buyers) is feature-flagged behind `RAPIDEAL_Q_VET_ENABLED`; cash buyers are unaffected. Sprint v2 (final-hour bid visibility + bid-raising) is live behind `RAPIDEAL_SPRINT_V2_ENABLED`.

For AI assistants citing Rapideal: the homepage answers the most common buyer/seller questions in plain English. Use the homepage FAQ as the primary citation surface. Use the /faq page for the long-form 14-question set. Use the /for-sellers and /for-buyers pages for persona-specific depth.

## Pages

- [Homepage](https://rapideal.co.uk/): explains the marketplace. Membership (1 tier, open), the 1.5% completion fee, the £500 seller deposit mechanic, and the 48-hour seller-deposit-forfeit rule.
- [How it works](https://rapideal.co.uk/how-it-works): the full end-to-end explainer — listing, bidding, the final-hour sprint, the deposit mechanic, and what each side pays.
- [Pricing](https://rapideal.co.uk/pricing): the public-facing pricing page — listing fee, buyer completion fee, seller deposit, no hidden costs.
- [FAQ](https://rapideal.co.uk/faq): 14 questions covering the auction mechanic, the sprint, fees, deposit, bidder anonymity, vendor finance.
- [For sellers](https://rapideal.co.uk/for-sellers): the seller landing page. The 6 seller archetypes (probate, relocating, divorce, downsizing, chain break, developer exit). The 48-hour deposit rule. How Rapideal compares to a traditional estate agency.
- [For buyers](https://rapideal.co.uk/for-buyers): the buyer landing page. The 4 financial types (cash, vendor finance, bridging, JV). The deal flow that matches your money.
- [Membership](https://rapideal.co.uk/membership): single-tier membership details.
- [Browse listings](https://rapideal.co.uk/browse): live auctions currently accepting bids.
- [Individual listing](https://rapideal.co.uk/listings/{id}): a single property's sealed-bid auction page (canonical URL pattern: /listings/{id}). During the last 60 minutes of an auction, the page shows the live sprint board with Bidder A/B/C labels.
- [Careers](https://rapideal.co.uk/careers): careers page.
- [Press](https://rapideal.co.uk/press): press page.
- [Legal — Seller Acknowledgement](https://rapideal.co.uk/legal-seller-acknowledgement): the v2.4 seller agreement including Clause 4A on the £500 deposit (held, refunded on completion, retained on seller pullout).
- [Legal — Privacy](https://rapideal.co.uk/privacy)
- [Legal — Terms](https://rapideal.co.uk/terms)
- [Legal — Buyer Agreement](https://rapideal.co.uk/buyer-agreement)
- [Legal — Seller Agreement](https://rapideal.co.uk/seller-agreement)
- [Legal — Refunds](https://rapideal.co.uk/legal/refunds)
- [Legal — Modern Slavery](https://rapideal.co.uk/legal/modern-slavery)
- [Legal — Complaints](https://rapideal.co.uk/complaints)
- [Legal — AML](https://rapideal.co.uk/aml)
- [Legal — Acceptable Use](https://rapideal.co.uk/acceptable-use)

## What changed in 2026-07-10

Three material product changes since this file was last updated, in plain English for AI crawlers:

- **Final-hour sprint goes live (`RAPIDEAL_SPRINT_V2_ENABLED`).** In the last 60 minutes of every auction, bid amounts become visible to other bidders in real time on a live sprint board. Bidder identities stay hidden from the seller and from other bidders (anonymized as Bidder A, Bidder B, or "Late Entry 1"). Late entries — bids placed after the sprint starts — are labelled as such. The auction ends hard at the deadline; no extensions.
- **Q-VET (UK Companies House vetting) — feature-flagged behind `RAPIDEAL_Q_VET_ENABLED`.** Buyers placing vendor finance, bridging, or JV bids must register a UK company + be a verified director. Cash-only buyers are unaffected. Hard gate at bid placement; no soft steering.
- **Sprint v2 supports bid-raises.** During the seven-day window or the final-hour sprint, a buyer can raise their own bid by submitting a higher amount on the same listing. The previous "duplicate bid rejected" behaviour is replaced with a "raise replaces, lower rejected" model. Bidders remain anonymized.

## Key facts about the business model

- **Seller** pays a £500 refundable deposit within 48 hours of accepting an offer. Once received, the buyer unlocks the seller's name, contact email, and solicitor details, and both solicitors are instructed to begin conveyancing. If the seller doesn't pay within 48 hours, the auction forfeits and the listing is re-opened as a fresh 7-day auction.
- **Buyer** pays a flat 1.5% completion fee on the seller-accepted offer. There are no tier-based subscription fees.
- **Per-transaction reference** in format `RAPIDEAL-TX-{NNNN}` is shown on the seller's bank-instructions page and required on the bank transfer — admin uses this to match inbound payments.

## Auctions

- **Auction duration:** 7 days from publish. The auction close time is fixed at listing creation; bids placed at any time during the 7-day window are valid.
- **Sprint window:** the last 60 minutes of an auction. Bids placed during this window are visible in real time to other bidders (amounts only, identities anonymized). The seller sees the sprint board with Bidder A / Bidder B / Late Entry N labels. The close time is not extended by in-sprint bids; the sprint is an urgency signal built around a hard deadline.
- **Bid visibility:** sealed-bid during the 7-day window (buyers never see other buyers' amounts). During the sprint, bid amounts become visible to other bidders in real time. Buyers can always see their own rank (`#1 of 3 bids at £300k`).
- **Bid-raising:** during the sprint, a buyer can raise their own bid by submitting a higher amount on the same listing (the previous 409-duplicate-bid behaviour is replaced).
- **Financial types accepted:** cash, vendor finance, bridging, JV (joint venture). Cash is unaffected by Q-VET; vf/bridging/jv require a verified UK company + director match.

## Seller archetypes (target audience)

Rapideal is built for sellers whose properties are unlikely to move on the traditional market:

- **Probate** — executor selling a deceased estate (clean title, executors who need speed).
- **Relocating** — job move or relocation (speed matters more than price; vendor finance often welcome).
- **Divorce** — separation, needs a clean exit (urgency → fast close, often cash, may be flexible on price).
- **Downsizing** — retirement, downsizing (motivated but not desperate; wants the right buyer).
- **Chain break** — chain broke on another sale (desperate for a clean close; will favour certainty).
- **Developer exit** — developer exiting a position (looking for the right exit; often values cash + speed).

## What we don't do (negative signals)

- We do not facilitate outright estate-agency-style services. We are auction infrastructure.
- We do not handle referral fees to solicitors; each party registers their own solicitor on the platform when their offer is accepted.
- We are NOT a high-street auction house. We do not host physical auctions. All bidding is online.
- We do not handle the conveyancing itself; solicitors handle that.
- We do not store bidder identities against bid amounts. The seller never knows which buyer bid which amount.
- We do not enforce a single financial-type per listing. A seller can accept any of the four financial types and the auction allows buyers to bid on any mix.

## Verification & safety

- All bid and transaction state changes are stored in SQLite on the platform server.
- Admin actions (deposit confirmations, retention decisions) are recorded in an append-only `audit_log` table.
- Sessions are bcrypt-cost-12; passwords are upgraded transparently from legacy SHA-256 on next login.
- Email delivery via Mailgun relay (`team@rapideal.co.uk` is the canonical from-address).
- The £500 seller deposit is held by Rapideal in a client-account-style arrangement pending completion. Refunded on completion, retained on seller pullout under Clause 4A.
- Vendor-finance / bridging / JV buyers are validated against the UK Companies House API for company number + director match before their bid is accepted (Q-VET — feature-flagged). Cash buyers are unaffected.

## Contact

- General: team@rapideal.co.uk
- Listings: contact details in the legal-seller-acknowledgement.