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ACROSS THE TRADES Spring 2019
Oneflare
Established: 2012
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Staff: 262
Aussie_Cameron says:
“I’m a plumber and used Oneflare
since it began 7/8 years ago. The app is easy to use and
compared to other sites, it’s easily the best job service
provider on the market. Job leads always pretty good and fair
dinkum.”
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Bill says:
“Might be good for the customer but it comes at a
big price for the trades that answer the job. Costs a minimum
$26 for each person just to answer the ad, but sometimes the
customer won’t answer the phone, reply to emails or the job
wasn’t as described. Customers need to be aware that it isn’t a
free service.”
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Since its creation in 2012 in Sydney, Oneflare has grown year
on year, and now handles 60,000 listed jobs per month across
approximately 300 business categories, including trades.
Unlike ServiceSeeking, Oneflare operates mostly on a ‘pay
per lead’ basis, whereby trade businesses pay a fee to receive
full contact details for each job lead they wish to pursue.
Payment for a lead, as it sounds, represents an opportunity
to make a pitch to the customer for that particular job; it is no
guarantee of work.
Costs per lead start at $6 each and rise according to
ballpark job value, location, and other metrics. Trade
businesses can also opt to take out subscriptions starting at
$49 per month, which include additional exposure through
online directories, and also include up to 30% discounts on
lead costs.
“The important thing about our subscriptions is there are
no lock-ins, you can always cancel with no exit fees,” says
Oneflare chief executive Billy Tucker.
What are the advantages of a ‘pay per lead’ job sourcing
service?
“We find successful business’ calendars fill up nicely, so
quite often they have a gap emerge and they’re looking for a
very specific type of job,” Billy says.
“So they don’t want a relationship with a new builder who’s
got a whole series of homes under construction, they just want
a consumer who’s willing to pay a premium to get something
done… With a pay-per-lead model you offer the greatest ability
to choose exactly the nature of work that fits your current
portfolio perfectly.”
The same rationale makes the service ideal for tradies
seeking seasonal work – the tradie pays for the service only
when it is needed.
Another vital point of difference relates to capped lead
numbers. Once a job is listed online, all relevant trade
businesses have an equal opportunity to pay for and pursue
the lead; however, the service is capped at three trade
businesses (first in, best dressed) per lead, unless the
customer wants more. There are several reasons for capping
the number, Billy says. Not only does it limit the amount
of administrative work for the tradie, but it also increases
the odds of success in line with busy customers’ real-life
preferences for speedy, no nonsense attention – rarely does
a customer need more than three quotes to make a decision,
Billy says: “We don’t think it makes sense to leave jobs
open for protracted periods while businesses trickle in with
responses.”
At any given time there might be 10,000 active businesses
vying for work on the Oneflare platform, he adds, and most
tend to “stick around”.
We might conclude, generally speaking, that this service
is geared towards higher-value jobs, which might reduce the
cumulative cost impacts of failed leads.
Oneflare is partly owned by Fairfax’s Domain Group, after a
$15 million investment in 2016 secure the organisation a 35%
ownership stake.
Hipages
Established: 2004
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Staff: Unknown
Ronnie says:
“Hipages is excellent. I haven’t used much, but
when I do, I am more than happy.”
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Adrian says:
“You get nothing but 90% dud calls, people
wasting your time using you for quotes, changing/reducing
quotes when you’ve paid full price for the lead, and worst of
all as soon as you advertise on Hipages you get inundated
with a storm of telemarketers for websites and community
organisations asking for your money.”
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Unlike the other portals listed above, Hipages deals only with
trade businesses, using a ‘pay per lead’ model very similar to
Oneflare’s.
Its reputation is for slightly higher costs per lead, servicing
a mostly serious customer base. We sought information from
Hipages for this article – no response. However, a call to a sales
representative revealed that the portal, like Oneflare, offers a
suite of subscription options to trade businesses. These start