Pricing Q&A wrap-up

[Peacanpr]

Please send other platforms to my email. onektdiamonds@yahoo.com

[revbrian]

What a set of lame excuses this is.

Paying for quotes is the ONLY way to accurately assess if a potential client is even worth getting onto the keyboard for.

Lets just deal with the two points you make

#1. That customers expect "information about Pros they want to hire instantly".

There are these things out there called "web sites". You may or may not have heard about them? All my information is on there and I make sure all my potential clients are directed there... Cutting throught the sarcasm here - Instant information about the Pro... Isn't that what the Profile here on Thumbtack is for? In my line of business (weddings), there may be as many as three or four exchanges between the potential client and me before we can even get close to a "trial close". Making us pay per response (not per quote) is a terrible way to charge for your service - a better way would be to pay per HIRE, but that's obviously not something you are going to do or by the time it is, it'll be way too late and we'll all have gone bankrupt with our margins gouged by your pricing policies.

#2. Potential customers gohsting us or never responding. First this happens everywhere in real life. Don't think you are unique in this Thumbtack. Second is that in real life, I might only pay for a phone call or email ... less than a few cents. Not tens of dollars. Your pricing is now double to three times what it was in the old system and this makes it largely impossible to use you except for the absolute "hot" client who is more than likely going to hire me.

GO BACK TO THE OLD SYSTEM OF PRICING. MAKE IT ABOUT 3% TO 5% OF THE JOB COST, NOT 10% OR HIGHER - SOME OF MY FRIENDS ARE BEING CHARGED 20% BY YOU..

[Lawnfatherjones]

I like everyone am discussed by Thumbtack and the absolute slaughter of doing good business. This was the last straw I'm not sure why I thought they would listen this time when we have been complaining for a year now. This company is robbery and I have already started a campaign on blogs mine and my wife along with all social media about this company and to not use them anymore. I must have sent 500 people to TT in past but I will surpass that by 100 times in the people I tell to avoid at all cost!!! Plenty of other places to get work and not get pimped. Corrupt system they get paid and nobody else does the customer quality has went to trash pathetic sick of being nice about it.

[malcolmrobinson]

This video relative to 'pricing' is nothing but a fluff piece. It offers n othing of value at all.

You do not answer any queations about how Thumbtack arrives at a price to charge Pros.

If you are going to advertise this video as an answer to those questions, then delver on your lead-in.

I' still waiting on anything of substance. This is a waste of my time.

[Lucas]

I agree with the other pros that why should we pay for the quotes that we don't get hired.
Some weeks I send up to four quotes and I don't get one hired.

[AggielandTravel]

I am pretty disappointed with the recent price hikes (as the past ones, but $14 to $22 for someone to message me, who may or may not even respond?).  I have been faithfully using Thumbtack and it has greatly grown my business, but I have also spent thousands on Thumbtack.  Thumbtack states that the rate they charge is based on the size of the job - how so?  I just made under $75 for a job that you charged me $22 for, yet I haven't even paid my split to my host agency nor paid taxes on it.  

I think you are going to continue to lose pros the more you hike up the prices.  We get more and more selective on who we will send quotes to because of price hikes - I want to make sure my odds of getting a "good" job are pretty high - so I am extremely selective, especially if I am going to be charged $22 for someone who may respond once and then never again.  

I really do wish you would listen to the pros and find a more reasonable rate to charge us.  I know I would quote more and spend more money if it was a lower rate, yet I would get more contacts.  Now I will be extremely selective, thus meaning lower money for Thumbtack overall.  

PS - I am not a fan of the new Competition feature.  I liked to see before how other pros were quoting, how fast and what their ratings were.  

[ericdarden50]

If you think about it if 5 pros quote on a job and all pay 20 to 25$ for the quite they are making a 100$ to 125$ off one customer however before this hike they were getting 20 to 30$ from five pros for the same customer its obvious it's not about us it's pure greed on their part period it works for them and they got your payment info up front so there ain't no questions about them getting paid and no refunds just talk oh well look into it. I've been a top pest control pro for nearly 3 years now and this is a change for the worst period.

[FoM]

I can't do this anymore. I used to love this platform, but this has gotten to a point of sheer ridiculousness. I have talked to people from Thumbtack several times concerning pricing. We should NEVER be charged $25 for someone who responds to every single pro just to ask "when can I call you" & then they disappear, never to be heard from again nor hire anyone from here. I spoke to a customer service lady recently regarding pricing & she asked me "So, Thumbtack isn't supposed to make any money?". Yes, they should. Not like this though. I explained that the customers should be aware that every single person they contact is charged $25 in my industry. My job is to make people happy with food & drinks made with love. Hard to make a that happen when you can't even weed through the ones who are serious or not. They should be able to ask questions, but not at the detriment to our pockets which could have been used on a serious client who WANTS to hire us. So, they contact 10 pro's & TT makes $250 even if the customer has ZERO intention of hiring anyone & just wants to ask questions?? I think not. As it was "explained" to me, they have tried several different avenues, but when making a customer put in their phone number, the amount of customers dropped significantly. Hmm... maybe we had a better chance of getting serious clients that way. I'm only a business major, so what do I know? If the customer wants to place 50 different requests they can do so, with no repercussion. Funny thing is that the customers aren't the main source of Thumbtack's revenue, now are they? We are. So it's ok to royally screw the ones you rely on most? No longer will I accept this. No longer will I be taken advantage of. There is no reprieve in sight, so I will take my bow & find a better stage. When TT decides to make it fair for ALL parties involved, I may reconsider. For now, I bid you farewell.

[carlarhea]

I definitely do not like the new structure. Majority of the time, the people do not even book when they ask a question. We should either only pay when they book or go to a set $20 a month and get unlimited quotes.

[AcTx]

How unfortunate.

The system is not properly set up for Travel Agents, and it produces over priced leads for the type of leads.

You don't listen. I will be moving money to other lead generation services. Sorry. Good luck to you. 

$20 for a $7 airline commission and my time to try and convince a client who needs to buy air only somewhere else. It's too much. I've lost too much money on no win scenario.

I'm out.

An air ticket request should  only be a $3 lead. It's not worth that much in my opinion. But I'd feel a lot better losing $3 or only making $4 than I do losing $13 for  $7 commission or losing $20 altogether.

You people don't understnad the industry.

A $20 lead in Travel World, is a 

Cruise with or without air

4 night hotel stay

all -inclusive resort destination vacation

air with hotel or air with all inclusive resort.

Air  and Hotel only reservations are worthless at $20 - and that's what most of your leads are for.