Buying Trade Leads: What to Check
A contact fee buys the chance to win a job. A pay-per-job fee starts after a job is agreed. A subscription buys a recurring service regardless of how many of its enquiries you turn into work.
Where the money goes
| Model | You pay for | If the customer says no |
|---|---|---|
| Contact or shortlist | Access to the customer | The contact fee may still be due |
| Monthly plan | The package for that period | The recurring charge remains |
| Your own advertising | Clicks or the advertising service | The ad spend is still spent |
| GetTheCall | An agreed emergency job at the standard £80 fee | No agreed job means no Platform Fee |
What a cheap contact can cost
Ten contacts at an assumed £20 cost £200. Two bookings make that £100 per agreed job. Five bookings make it £40. The same contact price can produce very different job costs. These are examples, not a forecast or a provider's tariff.
Which model suits you?
- You like choosing planned projects: a contact or shortlist service lets you inspect requests before pursuing them.
- You want a wider online presence: a profile or managed-marketing plan does more than supply individual calls.
- You want emergency calls without paying for unsuccessful enquiries: GetTheCall charges per agreed job and has no monthly fee.
An agreed visit or inspection counts on GetTheCall even if no repair follows. Our Checkatrade, Bark and MyBuilder comparisons show the specific differences.
Updated 29 October 2026 · Report a factual error