# Bid Clerk Vs. Service Magic



## Herbster (May 4, 2009)

I have received countless phone calls from Bid Clerk and Serivce Magic. I have reviewed the sites and am skeptical of paying for leads. Has anyone dealt with either of these companies recently and was the experience what you expected? Thank you.


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## ChrWright (Jul 17, 2007)

There are dozens of threads on lead services in the forum. The majority opinion being that most of them stink.

I'd start with a search for each--you'll find several at the bottom of this page.


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## Upchuck (Apr 7, 2009)

Tried bidclerk for about 3 months. I thought the biggest problem was that there wasn't much time between the job posting & bid date. I thought a week was short notice to pick up plans, get muncipal specs, put together price, cold call as many GC's that were bidding on project & getting them bid on commercial projects that were $100,000-$150,000 in site work.

There are a few other lead sites that some guys I know use who do municipal pipe jobs. Those site cost about $3000/yr. 
They are more in depth & have sections about jobs in planning stages. Those sites also seem to post jobs earlier than bidclerk. I miss the days when my phone was ringing daily with jobs.


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## CJKarl (Nov 21, 2006)

A few days after I set up my website they stated calling me.  I'm not interested.


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## Dumpsters (Sep 30, 2009)

Service Magic tends to send the same lead to several contractors, making the lead less valuable. If you do Demo or Roofing, check out a service I'm affiliated with from Hometown Internet Marketing. More "contractor friendly" than Service Magic
Hometown Demolition Contractors
Hometown Roofing Contractors


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## glees (Dec 15, 2009)

I have tried both of those and a couple of other lead sites but have not had much luck with those leads provided by those sites. Right now, I've been using Quozzy.com for a couple months and its been pretty good so far. I saw them at a home show and their commercial on TV so I gave them a try. They don't charge a ridiculous amount and there was a free trial to test it out first. I have been in the business for quite a while and pretty skeptical about these leads sites and there are a bunch of crap out there. Times are tough but I'm rocking!


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## Mellison (Aug 3, 2008)

I used Reliable Remodeler, a similar service.
It was the single most painful experience of my life. And I endured a spinal tap.
STAY AWAY!


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## RNR53901 (Dec 16, 2009)

*Lead generators*

I've been using ServiceMagic for a bout a year now. I finally got quality leads that would answer the phone when I put my monthly spend target below $250/month and tweaked the services that I wanted to cover. I"m a general, so I choose potentially larger project tasks instead of small stuff like repairs on anything they offer.

I tried everycontractor.com and hated every minute. Don't bother.

Buildingpros.com is a new service and they are offering free 6 month trail period. I never received anything in my trial period, so I turned off before my time was up. Maybe if they do more advertising I'd go back for another trial time.


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## Kenny K (Feb 9, 2008)

your website is best and most cost effective lead, go organic


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## EWB (Jan 16, 2010)

I don't plaster large projects and dont have a connection to one, but a costomer insisted on plaster which I agree is an outstanding finish. I posted on bid clerk for a plasterer and got well over 100 e-mails. Now I can't even believe there is 100 reputable plaster companies in my area. Imagine how many responses you would get for a deck contractor? I would spend money on old fashioned advertising.


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## root69 (Jan 17, 2010)

*bidclerk*

i use bid clerk and my email stay full with invites and 90% of what i get is atleast 3 to 4 week lead time to bid, guess it depends on size of job and location. 1 thing i have learned is some contractors like to give u much less time so u have the opportunity to miss things in ur bid, to line their already fat pockets.


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## kjm_rebuild (Sep 16, 2009)

I was on servicemagic.com and it was worthless. I was on for several months and it just cost me time and money. I asked for a refund and they said sorry. They just wanted to send me more leads, leads that were dead ends. They have been calling me for over a year now trying to get me to come back on board. 

Their problem is they charge you for a lead no matter what. There was no qualifying the lead to make sure it was credible. Crooks!!


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## brm1109 (Oct 28, 2008)

I used service magic for my trash removal business. What a waste of time and money. MOst of the customers wanted things done for slave wages.
Don't waste your time.


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