Is Thumbtack Price Gouging?

Lorray

I have had bizarre charges for leads on Thumbtack over the past few weeks. My area of contracting is video production. Leads tend to be pretty expensive - averaging between $50/lead up to $170 per lead. What I have seen as a trend is disturbing. When a lead comes through for which I am the only contractor that the client has selected, the price I am paying has always been over $150, regardless of the location, the price range that the client has provided, and the scope of the project. What has been very interesting is that when a project has been posted which may be of higher monetary value, and everything else being equal, the price I have paid is approximately $50 for the lead, as long as the client has ALSO selected other contractors. In confronting the customer support about this, I have been lied to, I have seen customer support give pre-defined answers, and absolutely refuse to answer the question: Is the price per lead different depending on the number of contractors that have been selected by the client? Because there is absolutely NO other logical reason why the leads I have been sent have any difference in terms of location, scope, or budget range. In fact, it's quite bizarre that a project budge of $400 - $700 would incur a price tag of $154 for the lead - which is exactly what I had to pay for a recent lead. This to me is PRICE GOUGING. What is most disturbing is that customer service is not forthcoming about this - they rather chose to sidestep the issue. So, Thumbtack - lay out the EXACT algorithms that are used to determine lead prices, and please, justify a lead price of $154 for a project budget of $400 - $700. To my fellow contractors, please respond. If I am wrong, set me straight. If you have experienced the same thing, let your voice be heard.

Ash2023

Hello Lorray, you are correct. TT is price-gouging. I started paying $9-$13 per lead back in the day with no more than 5 competitors. These days I pay anywhere from $40-$200 per lead and it is open to as many people as possible. The staff is doing what they are told, which is to pacify us with empty promises. Since the day I started, they kept saying "We will look into it" It's been 7 years now lol. Now that I have said that I am sure I will get someone from the board monitoring staff to correct me and say that my case is the only one they have heard of. The bottom line TT only cares about themselves. They are losing many users because they got greedy. Give it some time and they will belly up.

Belinda_Breyer

Lorray, I suspect Thumbtack is charging more on leads where you are the only one selected because they think you have a better chance of getting the job. Also if you do the math - they charge $50 per Pro when three Pros are asked to bid - equals $150. If it's just one pro - well it's $150. They make their money either way. My issue in writing and editing jobs is that some jobs are so small that I can't even charge enough to recoup the cost of the lead. I've approached TT over and over about the issue and I've never gotten any kind of response ever. I've just downsized my max lead price to least competitive and set my weekly budget in half - maybe if everyone did that it would reset the pricing algorithm.

Lorray

Thanks for your feedback. What you are saying is my point exactly - TT is getting it's "pound of flesh" no matter what it does to the contractor and no matter how unfair it is that I would be the only one selected, so I have to meet their quota. I don't know if this violates any laws, it certainly is unethical behavior. I'll say it again - TT needs to come clean - 100% transparent - about how they are setting rates. If they are not willing to do that, you know they are trying to hide something. My guess is, that's what they are doing. I hope they are monitoring this thread and I hope they will do the RIGHT thing and reveal EXACTLY how they are setting prices.