Experience with bark.com?
- Thread starter Matt Temple
- Start date
S
Scribe Copywriting
Just an update: I didn't get a single valid enquiry from this site. From my perspective, it hasn't worked as a business development tool.
l'm going to keep a directory listing on the site for another month or two and will update again if anything comes through, but so far I've got nothing positive to report.
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I would stay away from Bark.
My experience has shown that their leads are useless and overpriced. They use PPC and email marketing to bring in leads. I also get a lot of spam from them with 'we have a client in your area who is looking for your services'
My opinion is that their leads are very cold and if you are to win your price will need to be the lowest. I personally don't compete on price so for this reason, I am out.
My experience has shown that their leads are useless and overpriced. They use PPC and email marketing to bring in leads. I also get a lot of spam from them with 'we have a client in your area who is looking for your services'
My opinion is that their leads are very cold and if you are to win your price will need to be the lowest. I personally don't compete on price so for this reason, I am out.
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Well had a free offer today so thought would give it a try..
I note that someone Bark did reply to this thread. They said phone numbers are checked by checking when the number last connected to the network.
Well the number I just got is in fact a wrong number which does not exist. So, I can confirm their checks are really good.
I note that someone Bark did reply to this thread. They said phone numbers are checked by checking when the number last connected to the network.
Well the number I just got is in fact a wrong number which does not exist. So, I can confirm their checks are really good.
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I recently was contacted by Bark with a lead that they gave me for free so decided to give it a go. The lead is genuine, I have emailed the customer and received a response but am waiting to see if they accept my proposal.
I don't anticipate it will amount to anything as I have found sites like bark, that offer a free service to buyers only attracts people who are looking to get research price and not serious buyers or buyers that are looking to pay pennies and they never reply to a serious quote.
Personally, I believe investing time rather than money produces better leads. Networking and building recommendations rather than paying for leads online.
I don't anticipate it will amount to anything as I have found sites like bark, that offer a free service to buyers only attracts people who are looking to get research price and not serious buyers or buyers that are looking to pay pennies and they never reply to a serious quote.
Personally, I believe investing time rather than money produces better leads. Networking and building recommendations rather than paying for leads online.
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I believe I've given Bark a fair crack of the whip. I'm trying to branch out with freelance work. I signed up without buying credits. Found the leads coming my way didn't really know what they were looking for and I told them. Then, I bought £ 80 worth of credits and replied to a couple. Again, the people seeking your service don't really have much of a clue and when you are spending between £ 5 and 8 just to get a contact, these are expensive leads. If I land any work, I will be surprised. Keith
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I have a demo site to offer roofing companies roofing websites. So Bark send me leads for roofing and allied services to tempt me into buying into their scheme. Obviously automated but no-one ever looks at my site to realise I am not looking for leads! I have marked their email leads as spam so at least now they go straight into the correct folder for burning later!
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I would like to know who I was dealing with 1st
Who exactly would your contract be with?
BARK.COM GLOBAL LIMITED, ETENDER (UK) LIMITED or ETENDER INC.
According to their terms it is Bark.com Global Limited, but you are governed by US laws and any litigation has to be done in Delaware.
Interestingly, Bark.com Global Limited's 1st accounts appear to be overdue according to Companies House - https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/10614196
Who exactly would your contract be with?
BARK.COM GLOBAL LIMITED, ETENDER (UK) LIMITED or ETENDER INC.
According to their terms it is Bark.com Global Limited, but you are governed by US laws and any litigation has to be done in Delaware.
Interestingly, Bark.com Global Limited's 1st accounts appear to be overdue according to Companies House - https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/10614196
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I see quite good results from Bark. I'm in the accounting /tax field. The key factor, in my experience, is to analyze every "bark" as they call it. One major aspect is the notes. Not only can I see in the notes if the job suits me, but it also shows that the person is honestly looking for this service, not just browsing around and trying out new things... So I usually dismiss those barks without notes, and I do see a high conversion rate, I'd say 1 out of 3. Which makes sense to pay 50 bucks to get a long term client.
Last but not least, if you want to try it out, I have a way to get you a 40% discount on your first package (and I'm also getting some free credits, to be honest...) shoot me an email freelimitedinternet at Gmail. Thanks
Last but not least, if you want to try it out, I have a way to get you a 40% discount on your first package (and I'm also getting some free credits, to be honest...) shoot me an email freelimitedinternet at Gmail. Thanks
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N
Nochexman
Hello Joe and welcome to the forum. Interesting first post; very few accountants - in my experience - are writing lead generation reviews at 4.30am. Would be great to know a little bit more about your business and how you have achieved such a high conversion rate (maybe you have to get up very early in the morning to catch these worms).
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Firstly,
Sorry Graham if it appears as though I am replying to you directly, I'm not. I hit the wrong icon and couldn't delete and start again.
Hello all. This is my first post here, and have had to sign up to do it. I operate in the painting /decorating sector but wanted to share my experience using bark with you.
I have had such complaints with bark has have you all. It is certainly not just your own particular sector that has appalling ratios p&l results.
From reading all the posts, I would conclude perhaps bark doesn't attract the customer you are looking for.
I would say try another similar platform but, as I have spent the last 3 days doing nothing but research other platforms and scrutinized the reviews I have to say that they have exactly the same complaints made against them. The more known they are the more the complaint base.
I am no better off knowing there doesn't exist a platform that isn't out to extract and squeeze every penny they can out of us.
To add misery to insult, Bark have from 25/11/18 increased the prices across the board by 50% to 80% for a lead.
There is one silver lining for all of this. As the accountant chap mentioned a few posts previous, you can learn to spot the garbage a lot of the time. I've learned without having any computer geekyness about me to identify time wasters, wishful thinkers, and cheapies.
Despite the rant , I will say that I have had my share of good quality customers from bark, along with an awful lot of crud. I believe sift and refine may be the only way any of us can use these sites if we are to get any viable ratios.
Good luck with your search, and thank you for reading this. I hope it helps.
Ben
Sorry Graham if it appears as though I am replying to you directly, I'm not. I hit the wrong icon and couldn't delete and start again.
Hello all. This is my first post here, and have had to sign up to do it. I operate in the painting /decorating sector but wanted to share my experience using bark with you.
I have had such complaints with bark has have you all. It is certainly not just your own particular sector that has appalling ratios p&l results.
From reading all the posts, I would conclude perhaps bark doesn't attract the customer you are looking for.
I would say try another similar platform but, as I have spent the last 3 days doing nothing but research other platforms and scrutinized the reviews I have to say that they have exactly the same complaints made against them. The more known they are the more the complaint base.
I am no better off knowing there doesn't exist a platform that isn't out to extract and squeeze every penny they can out of us.
To add misery to insult, Bark have from 25/11/18 increased the prices across the board by 50% to 80% for a lead.
There is one silver lining for all of this. As the accountant chap mentioned a few posts previous, you can learn to spot the garbage a lot of the time. I've learned without having any computer geekyness about me to identify time wasters, wishful thinkers, and cheapies.
Despite the rant , I will say that I have had my share of good quality customers from bark, along with an awful lot of crud. I believe sift and refine may be the only way any of us can use these sites if we are to get any viable ratios.
Good luck with your search, and thank you for reading this. I hope it helps.
Ben
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Oh boy, here we go again with bark.com. Got a phone call from a chap the other day, apparently they moved on to calling businesses now since they don’t get much through emails anymore. He was kind to say if I don’t get any leads after spending £250 he will restore the credits to my account. I had an aha moment then and I asked him what about a refund to my bank, he said that’s not possible. I told him about the 14 days law in the UK and he started mumbling. The icing on the cake, several times I heard group clapping im the background, that’s something that they do in sales offices when someone makes a substantial sale. Bark is owned by the same guy who owns fasthosts, one of the worst hosting companies. So after further research, leads posted at 2, 3 at night, I asked him about it but he was also mumbling. They post fake leads, the numbers are fake, some of them are genuine but looking at their reputation, the numbers went down so they are going under very fast. They are still living off suckers who don’t know who bark.com is. Is bark.com scam? Yes it is. Do not give it the benefit of the doubt.
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My understanding of BARK is as follows:
• It is a lead generating and selling business. There is no real guarantee the leads will be any good or even real.
• The consequence of Bark is to push down prices, as many suppliers compete for few buyers.
• Bark make money from selling leads, yet do not charge for the buyers posting jobs so there is an invitation for buyers to do market research on Bark, whilst sellers pay for this. There is no loss to buyers posting jobs to find out information, although Bark discourage this.
• There is no guarantee the suppliers will be any good.
• Debatable : For some trades, like plumbing or electrician or painter, where the service is a manual trade, albeit that skill and experience are involved, it may work ok.
For the creative industries, where there may well be a larger gap between the understanding of what is involved in producing the work, and the hopes and expectations of what work is delivered by the client, there is likely to be more disappointment due to ignorance, and it is less likely to provide good realistic leads, despite what Bark may try to have you believe.
• The HARM is may do in dashing your hopes and expectations, and you underselling and undervaluing your work may be much worse than not using Bark at all. If you keep getting disappointed by leads that were in any event only water testing leads and deliver great work at a much cheaper price that you would ordinarily get .... It may do you more harm than good.
• I am not actively pursuing leads on Bark any more.
• It is a lead generating and selling business. There is no real guarantee the leads will be any good or even real.
• The consequence of Bark is to push down prices, as many suppliers compete for few buyers.
• Bark make money from selling leads, yet do not charge for the buyers posting jobs so there is an invitation for buyers to do market research on Bark, whilst sellers pay for this. There is no loss to buyers posting jobs to find out information, although Bark discourage this.
• There is no guarantee the suppliers will be any good.
• Debatable : For some trades, like plumbing or electrician or painter, where the service is a manual trade, albeit that skill and experience are involved, it may work ok.
For the creative industries, where there may well be a larger gap between the understanding of what is involved in producing the work, and the hopes and expectations of what work is delivered by the client, there is likely to be more disappointment due to ignorance, and it is less likely to provide good realistic leads, despite what Bark may try to have you believe.
• The HARM is may do in dashing your hopes and expectations, and you underselling and undervaluing your work may be much worse than not using Bark at all. If you keep getting disappointed by leads that were in any event only water testing leads and deliver great work at a much cheaper price that you would ordinarily get .... It may do you more harm than good.
• I am not actively pursuing leads on Bark any more.
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Ok honestly I thought I would give this a go despite reading bad reviews, I have spent £1596.63 on leads over the last two months I've gotten in £1950 paid for work not a lot of profit
The problem with bark is it SHOULD work but people are horrible when they can hide. Like the people who reach out to my full 100%profile (it's a bark thing) for a quote then don't answer the phone or respond to the email after me spending up to £28.00 on an aerial photography lead, this is soul destroying or the examples of people I phoned ten minutes after the bark has gone live, and the jobs went already yeah someone else is doing it for me sorry I forgot to cancel the bark .
Do you get a refund of your bark credits no, no you don't because the phone was answered and the person who requested the bark has no culpability.
Credits!!!! that's another thing you buy credits with hard cash and you bid for jobs using credits each credit cost £1.20 so you get the bark and have to spend 28 credits to answer it that's actually £33.60 to spend on a job no-one will pay you more than £250 for and even if you can get that much just bid with pounds credits is a crap system trying to disguise what people are actually spending. and its a lot
What is a job worth???, this is another thing wrong with bark they have a suggestion of most people pay £???? for this, that is way under what I would charge as a photographer this section sets up a race to the bottom if people read that and set up a request they expect to pay a figure no-one wants to work for, that figure just makes suppliers angry and we then have to defend our craft
overall its been a fair experiment I'm a good salesman and can talk people into things on the phone if you are weak in this department you will not make money I knew I would break even I even hoped it could work but it can if you add up my time and petrol and another expense BARK.COM hasn't made me a penny so ill leave
If you are going to go ahead be warned its not a great model it could be so much better if you only paid for jobs you won but that would be too much to ask from bark i think
Craig Lonie
The problem with bark is it SHOULD work but people are horrible when they can hide. Like the people who reach out to my full 100%profile (it's a bark thing) for a quote then don't answer the phone or respond to the email after me spending up to £28.00 on an aerial photography lead, this is soul destroying or the examples of people I phoned ten minutes after the bark has gone live, and the jobs went already yeah someone else is doing it for me sorry I forgot to cancel the bark .
Do you get a refund of your bark credits no, no you don't because the phone was answered and the person who requested the bark has no culpability.
Credits!!!! that's another thing you buy credits with hard cash and you bid for jobs using credits each credit cost £1.20 so you get the bark and have to spend 28 credits to answer it that's actually £33.60 to spend on a job no-one will pay you more than £250 for and even if you can get that much just bid with pounds credits is a crap system trying to disguise what people are actually spending. and its a lot
What is a job worth???, this is another thing wrong with bark they have a suggestion of most people pay £???? for this, that is way under what I would charge as a photographer this section sets up a race to the bottom if people read that and set up a request they expect to pay a figure no-one wants to work for, that figure just makes suppliers angry and we then have to defend our craft
overall its been a fair experiment I'm a good salesman and can talk people into things on the phone if you are weak in this department you will not make money I knew I would break even I even hoped it could work but it can if you add up my time and petrol and another expense BARK.COM hasn't made me a penny so ill leave
If you are going to go ahead be warned its not a great model it could be so much better if you only paid for jobs you won but that would be too much to ask from bark i think
Craig Lonie
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J
Jamie-Bark
Hello Everyone,
My names is James and I manage the Customer Success team here at Bark.com.
I have read through your comments and we would be very keen to speak with anyone that has any concerns or questions directly.
As of March 2020, we made our customer success team available 24/7 so the team are always on hand to help via phone or email.
We’ve been running now since December 2014 and have recently launched in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, with even more plans for further expansion.
We invest millions to source our leads and we thoroughly vet each and every enquiry we receive. If there is a rare occasion where something does slip through the net, then the Customer Success team are always there to help and will return credits where we can confirm there has been an issue.
We’re helping 1000s and 1000s of professional’s secure new customers on a daily basis and we’d happily help anyone on this forum too.
How we price our leads seems to be a popular topic, so I thought I’d address it. Our prices are set using a combination of competition in the industry, the cost to us of sourcing the leads ourselves, the estimated size of the work the professional will receive and the popularity of the category/service.
We always price leads with your return on investment in mind. We know you won’t secure every job but even if you secured 1 in 10 of the leads you responded to, then you should still see a solid return on your investment (the best professionals on Bark secure as much as 1 in 3 of the leads they respond to).
Kind regards,
James
The Bark Team
My names is James and I manage the Customer Success team here at Bark.com.
I have read through your comments and we would be very keen to speak with anyone that has any concerns or questions directly.
As of March 2020, we made our customer success team available 24/7 so the team are always on hand to help via phone or email.
We’ve been running now since December 2014 and have recently launched in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, with even more plans for further expansion.
We invest millions to source our leads and we thoroughly vet each and every enquiry we receive. If there is a rare occasion where something does slip through the net, then the Customer Success team are always there to help and will return credits where we can confirm there has been an issue.
We’re helping 1000s and 1000s of professional’s secure new customers on a daily basis and we’d happily help anyone on this forum too.
How we price our leads seems to be a popular topic, so I thought I’d address it. Our prices are set using a combination of competition in the industry, the cost to us of sourcing the leads ourselves, the estimated size of the work the professional will receive and the popularity of the category/service.
We always price leads with your return on investment in mind. We know you won’t secure every job but even if you secured 1 in 10 of the leads you responded to, then you should still see a solid return on your investment (the best professionals on Bark secure as much as 1 in 3 of the leads they respond to).
Kind regards,
James
The Bark Team
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B
Blagdon Forge
Just signed up so I can leave my experience for anyone else looking for opinions on Bark.com
I wish I'd read these reviews before.
With work being sparse due to covid lockdown I looked around for ways of generating new leads and came across Bark. With their money back promise as a guarantee I signed up and bought some credit.
So far I have received 'interest' from all over the UK - most of which are looking for a new kitchen fit, which would prove difficult or unreasonable for someone based in Somerset to provide to Belfast (sorry 'Gary in Belfast').
To date 2 3rds of the leads I have purchased have not responded or have responded asking who am I, where did I get their contact details from and what am I talking about - they never asked for me to contact them and have no need for a 'new extension' for example.
The others are not really what I would consider good quality leads i.e. looking for cheap work or just seeing what it would cost etc. I am not complaining about that, I should have realised, but if anyone is reading this then please be aware.
The fact that the majority of the leads are not suitable is fine, that's the way it is, but they tell us that they vet every lead, both phone and email. If that is the case then when they send me a contact that is not legitimate, surely they are doing that knowingly and so fraudulently taking money from me.
I have emailed and asked for my money back though guess I will not get anywhere without a fight, if this lockdown continues then I've little better to do.
To be honest I would not have written this review and just put the loss down to experience, but when I tried to remove my card details I was unable to do so, the auto-renew was pre selected which I struggled to find how to switch off (its greyed out as is the confirmation button after) and this sort of thing annoys me greatly as I am sure they are making large sums of money from people who are not aware they are auto-renewing etc.
I've still to find how to cancel receiving notices from them - received 2 unsuitable 'leads' whist writing this - sorry Gary and Adam, if you exist.
I wish I'd read these reviews before.
With work being sparse due to covid lockdown I looked around for ways of generating new leads and came across Bark. With their money back promise as a guarantee I signed up and bought some credit.
So far I have received 'interest' from all over the UK - most of which are looking for a new kitchen fit, which would prove difficult or unreasonable for someone based in Somerset to provide to Belfast (sorry 'Gary in Belfast').
To date 2 3rds of the leads I have purchased have not responded or have responded asking who am I, where did I get their contact details from and what am I talking about - they never asked for me to contact them and have no need for a 'new extension' for example.
The others are not really what I would consider good quality leads i.e. looking for cheap work or just seeing what it would cost etc. I am not complaining about that, I should have realised, but if anyone is reading this then please be aware.
The fact that the majority of the leads are not suitable is fine, that's the way it is, but they tell us that they vet every lead, both phone and email. If that is the case then when they send me a contact that is not legitimate, surely they are doing that knowingly and so fraudulently taking money from me.
I have emailed and asked for my money back though guess I will not get anywhere without a fight, if this lockdown continues then I've little better to do.
To be honest I would not have written this review and just put the loss down to experience, but when I tried to remove my card details I was unable to do so, the auto-renew was pre selected which I struggled to find how to switch off (its greyed out as is the confirmation button after) and this sort of thing annoys me greatly as I am sure they are making large sums of money from people who are not aware they are auto-renewing etc.
I've still to find how to cancel receiving notices from them - received 2 unsuitable 'leads' whist writing this - sorry Gary and Adam, if you exist.
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@Jamie-Bark
I will be very honest with you . You came to us not us coming to you .
We have not signed up but I do read your emails
It is disrespectful to try to get quality suppliers on board and then have a low grade/ quality of customers on your site !
We like others supply utilities, NHS , large corporations as well as small businesses
What can you offer us . ?
A couple of students that want a few boxes moves for as little as possible !
That's why I wont pay any money !
I will be very honest with you . You came to us not us coming to you .
We have not signed up but I do read your emails
It is disrespectful to try to get quality suppliers on board and then have a low grade/ quality of customers on your site !
We like others supply utilities, NHS , large corporations as well as small businesses
What can you offer us . ?
A couple of students that want a few boxes moves for as little as possible !
That's why I wont pay any money !
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For tradies, Bark customers are the lowest of the low. Only interested in the lowest price, and so thick that rather than seach out a company specialising in what they want they assume you can get price comparison for a 15k landscaping job with a hundred variables like you can car insurance.
If you are just starting out with a local trade based business, you will see far more targeted results from getting some decent leaflets printed with the money from half a dozen Bark leads, and then distributing them personally in the areas you wish to work.
If you are just starting out with a local trade based business, you will see far more targeted results from getting some decent leaflets printed with the money from half a dozen Bark leads, and then distributing them personally in the areas you wish to work.
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Just tried to sign up and couldn't get past the first question. The service I provide isn't listed!
But I chose another and stumbled as step two. It asks for my company name but that's not the same as my trading name. Which will confuse people.
The leads in the list are really poor quality. They haven't been vetted at all - if they had you wouldn't get crud like this:
But I chose another and stumbled as step two. It asks for my company name but that's not the same as my trading name. Which will confuse people.
The leads in the list are really poor quality. They haven't been vetted at all - if they had you wouldn't get crud like this:
That's it. That's the whole lead. Most of the rest were the same low level rubbish.
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At least they were close in terms of geography! All I seem to get are 'Cheap-Skates' from Retardistan!
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Hi there
I have had experience with Bark.com. I spent £1500 in total to buy leads in the first year of my new business. Which is a lot of contacted people. Not one lead was genuine. This was after me emailing the lead, ringing the lead. Most of the responses from the leads were.... how did you get my number.....or I haven't requested a call from you. Or they were not real phone numbers. So my experience of them is that they are fake leads. They don't vet them like they say they do. I have learnt my lesson the hard way. I now just use Google ads and that is where pretty much most of my clients have come from over the last couple of years. Just thought I would share my experience of them with you so you can make your own objective decision.
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Sounds accurate, I had the same experience. They are professional scammers. The company is owned by the same person who owns Fasthosts so no surprise there.
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