Mybuilder.com charging - worth while?

[farmerswife]

We use this really for advertising and not really that bothered if we dont pick up work. I still struggle to understand how you can estimate a job without seeing it or having a decent spec. Many a time I have contacted the poster to arrange a site visit but no reply back. No way can we price up on their very basic spec. You can really leave yourself in the poo if you even guess and you cant sell yourself properly.

Also we provide a high standard of workmanship and have a profit margin to hit and therefore we are never the cheapest of the quotes. Most of our work is referrals and we do ok out of this.

Now they want to start paid membership and commission on jobs. How can they do this as the price quoted can change and if this is the case then its no cheaper than advertising is it?

If I was continue with the membership what sort of figure are they requesting. I decline lots of the jobs but its not helping with feedback.

Whats to stop me setting up a false job and wining it to gain more feedback? Does anyone gain any decent jobs from it? I work on a absolute min of £100 profit per day but bigger jobs really £200. £25 -£250 commission is a good chunk out of profit.

I also signed up for Trusted People, constructionline & trustmark.

 

[DDPlumbing]

I use a similar website, I find it mostly a waste of time, I have hit the same hurdle as you, You quote for a GOOD job, but get blown away by some one man band with no o/heads who then "estmates "

I keep my free advert running and it generates phone traffic now, which gets me small plumbing jobs, but most customers who use the site which I am registered on are unrealistic about the true cost/value of a good job, so I get annoyed and wont quote over email any more, If I get a foot in the door, I stand a better chance as my personal sales skills are better.

Good luck!

 

[MASSEY]

Those sites are full of people who have no money.

 

[davezzr]

The trouble with sites like mybuilder and myhammer is that the poster wants a top job done but wants to pay as low as possible. I do use mybuilder and have got work but as said its hard to get into the door to give a sencible quote so you have to guestimate. The main problem is other so called trades come in with very unrealistic prices so driving the usual pricing into the ground.myhammer is a perfect example for instance i would charge say £60 to change a set of sink taps for a local job,but i have seen on more than a few occasions a foreign trade quote £20 and be 50miles away.

 

[Cedric.Walters.1950]

ouch that sounds interesting

 

[TailorMade]

Our service is similar to MyBuilder but for remote workers. One of the things I always try and encourage the buyers of work to do is - be realistic in their budget, don't pick the cheapest provider, take the time to write a proper brief - in the case of trades I would imagine some photos wouldn't go amiss that sort of thing.

On the other side of the fence I get problems with service providers asking how can they compete, how can they win the first job and get some feedback and that sort of thing. As traders I think you all know what you are willing to do work fo, have an hourly rate or a day rate in your head of what you want to walk away with after the job has been done. The more time you spend on the site scanning bids, you will begin to get an eye for the more serious buyers that aren't after the cheapest, but want to get a bunch of decent bids in quickly and easily without messing around with the phone book or google and calling a bunch of tradesmen who then turn out to be busy for 4, 6 , 8 , 12 weeks etc. (yes that means they are good - but sometimes things can't wait). I think MyBuilder,hammer etc offer a good opportunity if you approach them from a positive mindset - see it as an opportunity to secure leads, build up feedback and trust and provide potential customers with a quick and easy way of getting a quote from you.