I too was a huge, huge fan of thumbtack and credit most of last year's growth to this platform. We have become top pros. Now I am researching other marketing options to spend my dollars on. With the old system, it was almost a guarantee to receive some kind of genuinely interested correspondence from clients. Now my requests are full of leads that hardly turn into jobs anymore. I am lucky to receive a customer response now. The cost for these leads seems to always be fluctuating without a true formula or even price point. It does not make sense that lead costs are based on demand and area, but these "demands" don't seem to be true needs with customers who are actually looking to hire. I firmly believe pros should not be charged until they have been hired. Out of the 45+ quotes I sent this week, I received 3 responses, one of which was a customer asking ME for referrals for other services! In turn, I am being charged $20 for this one "lead" who demonstrated exactly what she used thumbtack for. Where is the fairness in this? When we purchased credits, everything was transparent and we had control over our own marketing dollars. The new pricing, while I like that we no longer pay to quote initially which appears to be the only benefit, really created a flawed system that does NOT work.
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