[Jim_77]

www.ratedpeople.com

Anyone using this site?

Interesting twist on the usual "pay us and we'll advertise you".  I can see pros and cons with it, but would be interested to hear of anyone's experiences with the site.

[Fran84]

Haven't had any personal dealins with them Jim.

My dad used them for a while (he's a chippy). He gave it up after a while as although the alerts are free you have to pay for the leads (customer Details), I think its around £4+vat per lead depending on the value of the job?!?

Fran.

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

I signed up for the free 3 month trial as it's only £10 + vat.

However, so far all of the leads I'm receiving by text are of no interest. When the client posts the job lead they have a job price option to click - under £100, under £250, under £500, under £1000 etc; etc

I have registered for both carpet cleaning and carpet fitting, for example, 3 seater sofa + 2 seater + armchair, client has clicked under £100. Now there is always the possibility that if I buy the lead, probably £5 + vat, I could discuss the work and sell it at my normal rate, but if not then I've wasted my money. It's the same with the fitting leads, ridiculously low price expectation.

I will see out the 3 month trial, after all, it only takes one decent job to justify it - but I'm not holding my breath.

[Jim_77]

Very interesting to hear that from both of you, thanks Fran & Steve

Yes Steve that is one big question mark I have.... I think it's ludicrous to let the customer decide what price bracket they think the work is going to be in!!!  How the **** are they going to know?

Or even worse if they used a splash n dash last time they're going to be expecting £300 worth of work for £50, so you've wasted your money buying the lead.

I can see how this makes a LOT of money... for the people who run the website

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

I think I'm right in saying that only a maximum of 3 people can buy the same lead, which is fair enough.

You're right Jim, giving the punter the option to choose the price is daft, because most people would choose the lower price option even if they had a fair idea of what they should be paying, just human nature.

I think I will have to buy a few of the cheaper leads just to get a feel for the type of people posting these jobs.

[Neil Williams]

We used it to get some builders in to give us a quote on an extension.
What I didn't realise untill afterwards was that each was charged £20 and I'm still undecided on wether it is cost effective to get the work done or not, and to be honest it edging towards not.
No wonder Ratedpeople can afford to advertise in the middle of Coronation Street.

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

Neil, paying £20 for a lead for an extension that could be worth thousands is one thing, paying £10 for a cleaning job worth less than £100 is not cost-effective. I'm going to keep an open mind though, easy enough to cancel if it's not working.

[Jim_77]

Will be interested to hear how you get on Steve thanks

[Steven Lawrence]

I used to be with them (chippy by trade) cost me £100 a week to buy leads, half of which, people where "feeling the water" as it where! its a bit of a gamble to be honest, you could get lucky or lose a few quid...