Pay per lead, commission or flat fee: what a job from a portal really costs

Lead portals look alike, but they charge in completely different ways. Only one number really matters: what one job you actually win costs you. Here is how to work it out and compare.

Three ways portals charge

• Pay per lead. You pay for every request or customer contact – including those that never turn into a job. The same request often goes to several tradespeople at once.
• Commission. The portal takes a percentage of the job price. You do not pay for requests that go nowhere, but the bigger the job, the more you hand over.
• Flat fee. You pay a fixed amount per period regardless of the number of requests and jobs. When things go well, one job comes out cheap; when they do not, you pay anyway.

How to work out the cost of one job

Add up what you paid the portal for a month and divide it by the number of jobs you won thanks to it that month:

cost of one job = fees for the period ÷ number of jobs won

What counts is jobs won, not requests. With pay per lead, it depends on how many leads you manage to turn into a job.

Example

The numbers are made up so the method is easy to follow. Real portals' prices differ and change – check them in their current price list.

Say you get 20 requests a month, win 5 jobs from them, and an average job is worth 4,000 CZK.

• Pay per lead at 100 CZK: 20 × 100 CZK = 2,000 CZK, so 400 CZK per job.
• 10% commission: 5 × 400 CZK = 2,000 CZK, also 400 CZK per job – but more with every bigger job.
• Flat fee of 150 CZK a month: 150 CZK ÷ 5 = 30 CZK per job. If you won none, you would pay 150 CZK.

Do the same calculation with your own numbers. Do not have any yet? Start where you can try it for free, and compare after a month or two.

What else to check

• Do you pay for leads that go nowhere? With pay per lead, almost always.
• Does the subscription renew automatically? If so, how and when can you cancel it.
• Can a better position be bought? Then your competitors' budget decides, not just your reviews.
• Who writes the reviews? Reviews only from customers you actually worked with carry more weight.

How Rychlé Práce charges

Rychlé Práce uses a flat fee: the first 180 days of listing are free, then it costs 150 CZK per 30 days. You do not pay for requests or messages with customers, and the service takes no commission on your jobs. The subscription does not renew on its own – we do not store your card and you confirm every payment yourself. A position in the results cannot be bought: ranking depends mainly on rating and distance.