Why do I receive direct leads where customer's budget is less than half my published rates?

Thank you for raising this. We are seeing the same problem, and I believe the “Get Quotes From Top 3 Pros” button is a major contributor to declining lead quality.

For us, the issue goes beyond customers simply not seeing pricing. The bigger problem is pre-qualification. Customers can send a request to three Pros before meaningfully reviewing their profiles and deciding whether those businesses are actually a good match.

For example, a customer looking for a $100 individual cleaner can generate a paid lead for our established, fully insured cleaning company even though our profile clearly states that our pricing starts around $180. The reverse can happen too: a customer specifically requiring an insured company that can provide a COI may generate a paid lead for an individual cleaner who cannot meet those requirements.

In both cases, the Pro can be charged for a customer who likely would never have intentionally contacted them after reviewing the profile.

We have also seen a gradual decline in our conversion rate since this feature was introduced.

I just created a separate discussion specifically about the “Get Quotes From Top 3 Pros” button and its effect on conversion and lead quality: 
https://community.thumbtack.com/discussion/2582/get-quotes-from-top-3-pros-button-damaging-conversion-and-lead-quality/p1?new=1

I’d be very interested to hear whether you and other Pros have noticed the same pattern.