The UK trade lead directory market — Checkatrade, MyBuilder, Bark, Rated People — generates hundreds of millions of pounds in annual revenue. Most of that comes from tradespeople who do not fully understand what they are buying. Shared leads cost far more than the per-lead price suggests once you factor in time, lost confidence, and the opportunity cost of not building something you own.
The Visible Cost: Lead Fees
Every directory charges per lead. Prices range from £10 for minor jobs to £50+ for high-value work. At first glance, paying £30 for a potential boiler installation worth £3,000 seems reasonable. But you are not buying a job — you are buying a chance to compete for a job against 3-6 other trades who are also paying £30 for the same lead.
At a 15-20% conversion rate (typical for shared leads), your real cost per won job is 5-7 times the lead price. That £30 lead becomes a £150-210 acquisition cost. For low-value work under £300, you are often spending more to acquire the job than you profit from it. The directory keeps its fee regardless of whether you win.
The Hidden Cost: Your Time
Every shared lead requires your time: reading the enquiry, calling the customer, potentially doing a site visit, writing a quote. When you win 1 in 5, you are spending 80% of your quoting time on work you will never get. At an average of 30 minutes per quote, 20 shared leads costs 10 hours of unpaid work. That is over a full working day per month spent quoting for free.
And it is worse than that. The emotional toll of constant rejection — of spending your Sunday evening writing detailed quotes that get ghosted — quietly erodes your enthusiasm and your pricing confidence. You start quoting lower just to improve your win rate, which destroys your margins. We see this pattern in almost every tradesperson who has been on directories for more than 12 months.
The Pricing Erosion Effect
Over time, directory leads erode your pricing. Here is why: the lead goes to 4-5 tradespeople. The customer, seeing multiple quotes arrive, instinctively chooses the middle or cheapest option. To win work, you calibrate your pricing to be competitive — which means pricing against the least skilled, least established tradespeople in your area.
Tradespeople who own their lead channels avoid this entirely. Their customers come directly to them, having already decided they want to hire them specifically. The conversation starts from trust. There is no competing quote to undercut. These tradespeople consistently charge 20-30% more for the same work — because they are not racing to the bottom.
The Strategic Cost: Zero Brand Building
Here is what directories never tell you: every pound you spend with them builds their brand, not yours. Customers remember using Checkatrade, not the specific tradesperson they found through it. You generate zero repeat business through the platform, zero referrals, zero brand recognition. After 5 years and £30,000 in lead fees, you are no more findable than the day you started.
Compare this to spending that same £30,000 on your own marketing over 5 years. You would have a website ranking on page 1, 200+ Google reviews, a recognisable brand in your area, and a customer database generating repeat business and referrals. That is an appreciating asset versus a monthly expense with nothing to show for it.
Calculating Your Real Directory Spend
If you are on directories now, do this calculation:
► Monthly directory fees + lead credits = direct marketing cost
► Hours spent quoting x your hourly rate = time cost
► Total cost divided by jobs won = true cost per won job
► Compare against your average job value
Most tradespeople who do this calculation are shocked. Real cost per won job figures of £200-400 are common. For tradespeople doing high-frequency low-value work, it often exceeds 50% of their profit margin.
The Exit Strategy
We are not saying cancel all directories tomorrow. The smart approach is a transition: maintain your directory presence while building owned channels. As your own marketing generates more leads, gradually reduce directory spend. Within 6-12 months, most tradespeople can fully replace directory leads with owned channels at equal or lower cost — with better quality leads that are exclusively theirs.
The goal is to reach a point where you use directories occasionally to fill gaps, rather than relying on them as your primary source. At that point, the maths work — you are not dependent on them, and you can be selective about which leads you chase.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which directories are the worst value for money?
Bark.com is widely reported as the worst value, with lead prices high and quality low — many 'leads' are speculative enquiries from people comparing prices with no real intent to proceed. Rated People and MyBuilder tend to attract more price-sensitive customers. Checkatrade has better brand recognition but is the most expensive overall.
Are there any directories that offer exclusive leads?
Some platforms offer exclusive lead options at a premium price. Google Local Services Ads is effectively an exclusive lead model — the customer calls you directly from Google, and you pay per call rather than per lead sent to multiple trades. These tend to have significantly better conversion rates.
How do I know if my directory spend is worth it?
Track every lead: where it came from, how much it cost, whether you won the job, and the job value. Calculate your cost per won job for each channel. Compare channels honestly. If your directory cost per won job is higher than your own channel cost per won job, it is time to shift budget.