Old news apparently, but I just noticed this when I accidentally searched Oklahoma City in Redfin and it worked...

REDFIN BRINGS ITS REAL ESTATE BROKERAGE TO KNOXVILLE AND OKLAHOMA CITY

SEATTLE–(SATPRNEWS.COM)–Redfin (www.redfin.com), the customer-first real estate brokerage, today announced the launch of its home-buying and selling services in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. People in these areas can now search for homes on Redfin.com and the Redfin iOS and Android apps.

“After hearing about Redfin from friends and family in nearby states for years, people in Oklahoma City have been chomping at the bit to be able to use Redfin’s technology and work with our agents right in their hometown,” said Scott Nagel, president of real estate operations at Redfin. “Our business in Tennessee has grown rapidly since our January launch in Memphis and Nashville, and our expansion to Knoxville means that people can buy and sell homes with Redfin agents in all three major metropolitan areas.”

Redfin was founded in 2006 with the mission to make the home-buying and selling processes better for consumers, and has steadily expanded from Seattle to more than 60 major U.S. cities. The Redfin model combines its advanced technology with full-service local agents who are paid a salary rather than commission, receive benefits and earn bonuses based on customer satisfaction. All reviews for every Redfin agent are published on their online profiles.

Redfin uses technology to help its agents work more efficiently, which means the company can pass savings on to its clients. Redfin charges sellers a 1.5 percent listing fee rather than the typical fees which can be as much as 3 percent, while providing the complete home-selling service, including pricing and staging advice as well free professional photography and marketing. On average, a person who sells a home with a Redfin agent saves about $6,800. To date, Redfin has saved its customers more than $200 million in real estate fees.

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I like it because their search capability is top notch and you can see pending listings.

Here is what their pitch looks like from the Realtor side:

"My name is XXX, and I work with Redfin’s Partner Referral Program. We just recently launched our website in Oklahoma City, and have plans to cover the surrounding areas very soon. We're looking to refer clients to customer oriented agents who focus their business in your area!

What You'll Get From Our Program:
1. Continue hanging your license at (insert current real estate brokerage here): Work with Redfin referrals while staying right where you are and boosting your already successful business.

2. Pay only at closing: You and your brokerage will keep 70% of your side of the commission and Redfin gets a 30% referral fee. No upfront fees or buying zip codes!

3. Increase your qualified customer base: Many agents close 1 out of every 10 referrals. Our best agents close 4 out of 10.

Next Steps:
Click on the button below to fill out our contact information form. Once we receive your information we'll invite you to attend a webinar that we host 5 days a week to learn all about our program and see if our program is right for you."

Essentially, sellers are paying a 3rd party (Redfin) to connect them with a locally based real estate agent at a preexisting brokerage, and the broker/agent only collects 70% of their standard commission. There is no mention of reduced commissions. In metro Oklahoma City, standard resale commissions are 6% (3% to the seller's agent / 3% to the buyer's agent). Commissions on new construction are often reduced on the seller's agent side only, to 2% / 1.5% / 1%.

So where is the benefit to the consumer? Maybe a better website search algorithm? The listing data will still come from OKCMAR's MLS database.
They will continue to use local photographers, so I don't think they could claim better quality photos.

This seems to be the antithesis of "shop local".

I pulled up a couple of properties yesterday and it was giving me a realtor in Tulsa to contact. Also had issues with sorting searches. Layout and map display was nice though.