Free Marketplace ROI Calculator

Add up everything you pay the platform in a month (membership plus every lead or credit), then divide by the number of jobs you actually won from it that month, not the number of leads. That true cost-per-job is almost always far higher than the per-lead price they advertise, because most leads never convert.

It depends entirely on your conversion and job value. On big-ticket work a platform can pay for itself many times over; on small jobs the lead cost can eat most of your margin. The answer is a number, not an opinion; the Marketplace ROI Calculator works out yours so you can decide with evidence rather than gut feel.

On pay-per-lead platforms the same job is often sold to several tradespeople, so you're paying to compete on speed and price for a customer who may already have booked someone else. Slow replies lose almost every time. That's why your cost per won job is what matters, not the cost per lead.

As a rule of thumb, if the platform is taking more than about 5-10% of a job's value once you account for unconverted leads, it's expensive and worth scrutinising. Below that it's usually reasonable. This report puts your figure against your average job value so you can see which side of the line you're on.

Not necessarily overnight, since platforms can fill gaps while you build your own pipeline. The smart move is to know your true cost per job, then gradually shift spend toward cheaper channels like Google reviews and repeat customers. Cut blind and you can starve your diary; cut with the numbers and you keep the work while spending less.

Most platform leads are lost to slow replies. Your Tradehand assistant answers every call and message the instant it lands, quotes fast and chases every quote, so you convert far more of the leads you've already paid for, and it looks after repeat customers so you rely less on buying leads at all. Get a free demo and we'll show you the difference on your own numbers.