How marketplace pricing works
You pay per lead, with the rate varying by trade and job type — an emergency call is priced differently from a quote request, and a large installation differently from a repair. Some platforms charge per lead, some per validated call, some a hybrid.
What is common to all of them is that the platform, not you, owns the relationship with the customer. That is the structural point and it is worth understanding before the pricing.
The number that decides it
Not cost per lead. Cost per booked job.
If a lead costs $60 and you close one in three, you paid $180 per job. If the same lead was sold to four contractors and you now close one in eight, you paid $480 — for the same invoice line.
Track this for sixty days before deciding anything. Most contractors who feel marketplace leads are bad have never separated the two numbers, and most who feel they are good have not either.
What you are really buying
Speed, and nothing else. Marketplaces work when you need work this week and have nothing else running. That is a legitimate use.
What you are not buying is an asset. When you stop paying, the leads stop the same day. Nothing you paid for accumulates: no rankings, no list, no reviews on your own profile, no reputation that outlives the invoice.
The comparison worth making
Set the same monthly figure against building your own. Growth Engine at $1,500 a month with $5,500 setup buys service pages, local SEO structure and an enquiry flow that keeps working after you stop paying.
The honest trade-off: marketplace leads produce work sooner, owned channels produce work cheaper and keep producing it. Most established contractors should be shifting the ratio from the first toward the second over time, not choosing one absolutely.
When marketplaces genuinely make sense
- A new business with no reviews and no rankings, needing revenue now
- Filling a slow season without committing to a long-term spend
- Testing whether a new service line has demand before building pages for it
When they are a trap
When they are the only channel, year after year, and the spend rises annually because more contractors joined and bid the price up. At that point you are renting your entire pipeline from someone whose interests are not yours.
Working out where you sit
Sixty days of cost per booked job by source is usually enough to make the decision obvious.
Frequently asked questions
Are marketplace leads worth it?
Sometimes. They work when you need revenue this week and have nothing else running. They stop being worth it when they are your only channel and the price rises every year as more contractors bid.
How do I compare marketplace leads to my website?
On cost per booked job over at least sixty days, not cost per lead. A shared lead can look cheap per lead and cost triple per job once the close rate is counted.
Why does my close rate drop on marketplace leads?
Because the same enquiry usually goes to several contractors at once. The customer is comparing, and often the fastest to call wins regardless of who is best.
What do I keep when I stop paying?
Nothing. The leads stop the day the spend stops. No rankings, no list, no reviews on your own profile — which is the main argument for shifting spend toward channels you own.