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Thumbtack's Business Model: How to set up your dream online marketplace

Thumbtack's Business Model: How to set up your dream online marketplace

What made it possible for Thumbtack to build a billion-dollar marketplace? Here is everything you need to know about the Thumbtack business model and how it operates.


The gig economy is growing rapidly and offers many alternatives for people who don’t want to work nine to six every day of the week. 


The Thumbtack business model took leverage of this growth, and now it stands at a value of more than $1 trillion with over $100 million in reported sales. People refer to it as the Amazon for home services niche.

Service providers and customers love the Thumbtack business model for its convenience, but its revenue centred business model is powerful enough to inspire new entrepreneurs.


Do you also wish to turn your marketplace idea into a billion-dollar unicorn? 


If yes, then you have arrived at the right spot. Today, you will learn about Thumbtack, its operations, growth approach & more. We guarantee that by the end of this article, you will know how to execute your marketplace dream.


Let’s get into it!

What Is Thumbtack?

Thumbtack is a local service marketplace that aims to make it easier for customers to connect with local professionals to accomplish personal projects based on their needs. Regardless of what customers need to achieve - put together an event or deep clean the home - Thumbtack will locate the best-suited local experts in their region.  


Currently, the platform has listed more than 1,100 service industry jobs, including healthcare, events, photography, transport, and many more.

To use Thumbtack, customers and contractors must sign up on the platform by visiting their website or downloading their mobile from Google Play or the Apple App Store. Once the account is set up, customers can look for the job they need to be done, and Thumbtack will provide a list of matching local contractors offering that service.


Individuals seeking services can filter search results by location, budget, high ratings, or estimated time. The contractors' profiles listed on Thumbtack include customer reviews and average rating, which serves as a metric for customers to get the best value.


Customers utilize the platform to find the ideal provider. Once the customer has found the ideal contractor for their job, they can make a booking using the platform. As for contractors, they can start by creating a pro account and filling out all the necessary info like business information, experience, availability, rate, references, etc. 


After the set-up, contractors can begin to look for work by submitting for jobs, purchasing lead generation credits, and receiving proposals from customers.

What is Thumbtack's Business Model?

The working process of Thumbtack is pretty straightforward. It follows an on-demand Marketplace business model. They match the customers with a nearby service provider systematically. Let us talk about this business model in detail.


1. Customer Divisions 


Thumbtack uses a multi-faceted administration-based business model with two primary custom divisions:


  • Customers: Individuals who want to hire local professionals for any job
  • Service Industry Providers: Talented professionals who seek to make money by offering value to customers


2. Value Contribution


The marketplace is famously known to provide five major proposals, including:


  • Ease of Access
  • Convenience
  • Easy Payment integrations
  • Brand reputation
  • Rating & Reviews


The most important one is the accessibility that the marketplace provides to the platform users by connecting them directly to local services providers with just a few clicks. It lets customers hire professionals in over 1,100 service categories in all the 50 US states. 


At the same time, it also makes it easier for professionals to connect with potential clients. Many professionals affiliated with Thumbtack are small-scale businesses with little to zero online presence. 


3. Primary channels


Website and mobile apps are the primary channels in which the platform operates. They promote their services on social media platforms and through offline conferences. 


4. Customer Relationships


The customer relationship that Thumbtack follows is mainly of a self-service essence. Customers can utilise the marketplace's potential without directly interacting with the employees. 


To help customers find contractors more efficiently, Thumbtack provides numerous self-assistance resources. This includes things like estimated costs of each service in different pin codes, advice on hiring the right professionals, house moving tips, and answers to other frequently asked queries. 


5. Main partners


The marketplace platform is not convinced by the idea that a formal partnership program is to be nurtured. Nevertheless, there are still some strategic partnerships that help the platform to advance further interests. For example, in 2016, Thumbtack announced their social advice service with WhoDoYou, which gave them a unique advantage in serving WhoDoYou’s customer database. 


In the same year, the platform partnered with a food-producing plant seller named Monrovia, directing its 8 million annual platform users directly to Thumbtack.


6. Key Resources


Thumbtack announced that their key resource is its employees, who maintain quality checks and manage the listings on their platform. Initially, the marketplace relied on venture capital funding from outside parties and Thumbtack raised more than $273.2 million from 21 investors till now.

How did Thumbtack start?

Thumbtack marketplace was founded in 2009 in San Francisco, California, by Marco Zappacosta (CEO). The Thumbtack platform started operating in New York, Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. 


At that time, there was not a single recognised marketplace that offered solid end-to-end appointment booking experience in licensed services. Thumbtack quickly filled the gap because of the unique approach and features, which were many people's need of the hour. It had to primarily compete with directory sites like Yelp, TaskRabbit, HomeAdvisor, and Angie’s list


Zappacosta spent the first year coding the website and onboarding service providers. To date, the platform has received more than 5 million customer service requests in 1,100+ categories. Interior design, singing classes, catering, and moving are among the most popular services. 


In 2010, Thumbtack raised an angel investment of $1.2 million by Jason Calacanis, Joshua Schachter and Scott Banister. The platform later raised $4.5 million during the series A round and $12.5 million via Series B round in 2012 and 2013, respectively.


Thumbtack also raised around $30 million through a Series C round in 2014; Fund providers include Tiger Global Management and Sequoia Capital. In 2014, Google Capital invested $100 million in a Series D venture capital round. Baillie Gifford, who led the venture capital funding in 2015, invested $125 million in Thumbtack. The company secured an estimated $120 million in Series H funding in 2019, bringing the valuation to nearly $1.3 billion.


As of now, Thumbtack employs more than 1,000 employees across the United States, Philippines, and Canada. 


So how does Thumbtack make money? Stay tuned to learn more about their business and revenue model.

What is the Marketplace business model?

A Marketplace is a platform that connects potential customers of a service/product with sellers and a nearby provider. 


Historically, there used to be physical marketplaces where sellers showcased their offerings to buyers. However, the internet has now facilitated marketplaces, which have revolutionised the way everything works.

Many eCommerce giants such as Amazon and Alibaba rely on the marketplace business model. The marketplace platform does not sell products/services but acts as a mediator between the buyers and sellers. 


It aims to create value for both parties by providing sellers with the network effect for exponential growth, and customers save a lot of time while also enjoying reduced friction and hassle.


The marketplace business model can seem a bit intimidating to beginners. Keep on reading to know everything about the process of marketplace development: idea validation and website building. We will also cover the most commonly used marketplace revenue models and the cost and time required to create a marketplace from scratch.


Analyse the potential of your idea


The best part of our sharing economy is that anyone can develop a unique marketplace idea and succeed in their niche.  


Let's take Thumbtack as an example; the founders began by solving a unique problem that was the need of the hour at that time. Therefore, it is necessary to have a unique idea with little saturation. Once you have the concept ready at hand, how do you understand the potential of your idea?


Begin by asking if there is a pain point that you will find the solution to using your marketplace?


Zappacosta (CEO of Thumbtack) figured out that people faced a big problem when they needed to hire local professionals for any job. They had to endure a lot of pain while searching through directory sites for contact details where no reviews were present, and no revert back was promised. 


The key to Thumbtack's success was simple. It recognised the pain points of local services space and customers and then built a bridge to connect them. It turned out that this pain point resonated with the problems that millions of people faced while looking for the right local service professionals.


Simply put, while you might have a good idea, it should be practically desired by others to succeed. Sadly, there are very few startups that become a unicorn worth billions of dollars. Fortune reported that 42% of startups fail due to the lack of market demand.


Feedback is very crucial for small businesses, especially in the early stages. So, test your concept to ensure that your idea will have a user base when converted into a product. Start by creating a prototype, release the prototype to your potential users and listen attentively to what they have to say about it.


Stay tuned as we discuss prototypes and user testing later in this article.


Define your target audience


The first step is to create a semi-fictional character with the features of your ideal customer. It would be best if you defined the buyer personas through market research. We have listed some factors below that you follow to precisely describe your potential customer. 


  • Age
  • Location
  • Education level
  • Annual Income
  • Fears
  • Interests
  • Occupation


Add more factors to understand your potential customer's expectations based on the marketplace type you plan to create.

In the case of online marketplace platform like Thumbtack, there are many types of personas. These platforms usually target two completely different target groups simultaneously: service providers and consumers. You have to create separate buyer personas for each.


For example, suppose you plan to build a marketplace website for tour guides. In that case, your potential service provider is ideally a student without a permanent job who lives alone or shares an apartment with a friend in a metro city. He likes to explore new places and is interested in doing a side hustle.   


The potential tour guide client might be a traveller aged 25-40 with a certain income who wants a local guide to get to know the culture and traditions of any place he's visiting for the first time.


Try to create the buyer personas as precisely as possible so you can target the potential audience with relevant advertising.


Analyse the market for your marketplace idea


Another critical factor to consider is the volume market of your idea. You must analyse the market you want to serve to devise the right approach. For example, the ride-sharing market is enormous. All around the globe, people drive their cars and would willingly share the ride to save on the cost of fuel. At the same time, many people would be glad to share a ride instead of travelling on a train or bus.


However, this ride-sharing marketplace model may not be ideal for the lower countries regions where most people don't own cars and don't leave their hometowns. So is it viable to launch such a marketplace in these regions? Of course, not. 


When Thumbtack launched initially, it didn’t really target a particular niche. It supplied all types of services, from singing classes to interior designing. While this worked out for them at the time, we still recommend that you target a niche so you can stand out in that area. 


Study the competitors of your marketplace


If this were a perfect world, you would have landed your marketplace idea in an immense blue ocean with no competition, but that is not the reality. Nowadays, almost every idea you can come up with has already been done before by someone else. Therefore, it is necessary to study your competitors. If you don't know your competition, how will you beat them?


What advantages do your competitors have over you? What are their downsides? How are you doing to offer a better product/service to your client? Can you predict the future strategies of your competitors? 


These are some questions you need to ask yourself. The goal is to offer better value than your competitors. Analysing the competition before developing the marketplace will help you to get one step ahead of them. 


When Thumbtack came into the market, very few marketplaces were tapping into the services market. TaskRabbit was one of their direct competitors founded in the same year. 


The difference that made Thumbtack a better choice for customers than TaskRabbit is that Thumbtack only worked with professional service providers. At the same time, TaskRabbit allowed freelancers and ordinary people who wanted to earn a side income to sign up on their platform. This made the quality of service that Thumbtack provided far more superior.


Taskrabbit also targeted only a few states in the USA, while Thumbtack was available in every state. Today, IKEA has acquired Taskrabbit, while Thumbtack is still an unacquired platform.

5 Most common marketplace revenue models

The most common reason why marketplaces do not succeed is that they fail to understand what revenue model will work for them. There are six common marketplace revenue models opted for by most marketplaces, including Thumbtack:


  • Commission 
  • Membership/Subscription Fee
  • Listing Fee
  • Freemium 
  • Lead fee


Let us talk about each one of them in depth.


Commission


The most popular way marketplace owners monetise their platform is by charging a commission fee on every transaction. When a customer buys from a service request, the marketplaces facilitate the payment while setting a percentage of that amount or a flat fee. 


This model appeals to local service providers as they do not need to pay anything before they get some value out of the marketplace. The most-known marketplace platforms- such as Airbnb, Amazon, Fiverr, and Uber- all charge commissions as their primary business model. 


TaskRabbit heavily relies on this commission model, charging service providers 15% of the payment value. Thumbtack also charges 20% for each payment as a lead fee which we will discuss shortly. 


Providing enough customer value is a significant challenge in getting the commission model up and running. If your marketplace users do not find your platform valuable, they will come up with another way to go about the payment. The marketplace must have interdependent customer segments to charge commissions. 


It would be best if you also decided how big the commission fee would be. Will it be the same for all the transactions? Are you going to charge the customer, the service provider, or both?

We recommend using the commission model as your primary revenue stream if feasible. However, there can be some scenarios where it is not feasible for the marketplace to facilitate commissions. Examples include:


  • When the amount of transactions is enormous, for instance, with property or vehicle sales, it would be hard for the platform to justify the commission fee. 
  • The invoicing system of the marketplace is too complex to facilitate commissions. 
  • Transactions do not take place in the marketplace. For example, if we talk about marketplaces based on dating, finding employees, or proving something for free, there is no monetary transaction involved and thus not possible to charge commissions. 


In the above cases, you must go with another marketplace revenue model. 


Membership fee


Some marketplaces choose the membership fee or a subscription fee revenue model where a few or all users are charged a recurring payment to access the platform. You can go with the membership business model if you provide high value to the customers and providers. 


Most C2C marketplaces like Home exchange and OkCupid opt in for the membership model and offer premium features like quality matches to build a sense of exclusivity for subscribers.

Whereas in B2C marketplaces, this revenue model is commonly used for recruiting. Sites like Linkedin charge a subscription fee to their members to access talent pools. 


The only drawback of the membership model is that it creates the chicken and egg problem- how will you find service providers if there are no customers and finding customers without providers is even more complicated. 


So, it is first essential to have enough users on your platform before implementing this model, or you can offer heavy discounts on the membership fee for the early adopters to build an initial user base. 


Listing fee


Marketplaces like Craigslist opt in for the listing fee model where they charge a fee from providers to let them post listings. This model is suitable for platforms where providers get high value from their listings. 


A listing fee model is more suitable than a membership fee for service providers who don't want to opt-in with recurring subscriptions and would rather pay to sell specific services. Mascus, a B2B leads site for expensive machinery, uses the same model.


One drawback with the listing fee model is that it does not guarantee that the listings will receive leads, so the fee must not be too high. If a marketplace opts in only for the listing fee to generate revenue, it will require a considerable volume of listings to be profitable. 


Lead fee for local service providers


In a lead fee-based marketplace, customers get to post their requests on the site, and the service providers pay a lead fee to bid for these requests. The lead fee revenue model is between the commission and listing fee models. It offers somewhat better value than the listing fee model because contractors only pay when they need to connect with a customer.

How exactly does Thumbtack make money from this revenue model? Thumbtack makes money by selling leads to the professionals working on their platform. So, when a service provider receives a request from a customer, Thumbtack’s business model allows them to charge service providers a lead fee to answer. 


The cost per lead depends on various factors like the project size, category etc.


It is not an ideal revenue model for C2C marketplaces because it only works if the value of each lead is very high. Thumbtack heavily relies on the lead fee model to generate its revenue. 


Freemium


In a Freemium-based marketplace, the essential experience is free for all the users, but after the users are hooked on the platform, they are asked to pay for premium features. The premium features need to be tempting enough to generate sales. 


Few marketplaces start with the freemium model while offering premium features as an add-on but later shift the entire platform to only paid users. The drawback with the Freemium revenue model is that it is hard to scale compared to other models we discussed.

How to build a service provider marketplace like Thumbtack: 4 phases of the development procedure

So, you finally have a unique idea ready, and now you are all set to create your marketplace like Thumbtack, but how do you approach the development of your marketplace website? Follow the steps below to know everything that goes into the initial developmental stage of any marketplace.

1. Build the marketplace prototype & test your idea

The first step is to take the idea out of your head and create a visual plan. You can do this by creating a prototype or a sketch. Every marketplace including Thumbtack first began with a prototype before it was launched to the public. 


Thumbtack has over a thousand different services from more than 250,000 service providers. This is why Thumbtack had to develop a good search engine and filtering options so customers could easily find the right professional for their job. If you plan to build a platform like Thumbtack, you also need to include the search and match engine in your prototype.


A prototype with all these complicated little things will allow you to seamlessly present your idea to your co-founders and investors or even attract initial customers. 


You can get started with a simple pen-and-paper approach or choose to create an interactive HTML-based prototype. It all depends on your skills and the fidelity you aim to achieve. 


One pro tip is to include the technical requirements in your prototype. Technical requirements basically represent the engineering side of your marketplace. You can either do this by yourself or hire a professional.

2. Create the project documentation

Although it may seem like a monotonous task, building adetailed project documentation can help you to save a lot of time and money. Whether you hire in-house developers or a dedicated team, documentation can be a clear road map for them.


This step ensures that everyone in your team understands the aim and functionality of the platform they build.

3. Build a marketplace website MVP

Once you have the prototype and project documentation ready, you are all set to start working on the minimum viable product. Thumbtack didn’t have the advanced functionality when it was initially launched. Many updates took place over the years before it reached the level it is at now.


An MVP or minimum viable product refers to your initial product equipped with just enough features to build an initial user base. We make an MVP before launching a full-fledged platform to get the marketplace into the hands of the target audience as early as possible. 


When the MVP is launched, you can expect your users to submit feedback that will help you make steady improvements.

In some cases, MVP discloses an unfortunate truth - that the market research assumptions you made are not entirely true, and the idea wasn't as genius as it first appeared. This is your chance to turn around the concept and adjust it, so it meets the actual requirements of the market. 


The goal of the MVP should not be to offer extensive functionality but rather just enough to attract first users and generate initial revenue. If the MVP of your marketplace shows good results, it will also make your platform in the eyes of potential investors. Keep reading to find some of the must-have features you must include in your marketplace MVP.

4. Grow your marketplace user base

Every small business dreams that it will magically land thousands of users upon releasing the marketplace. However, this fate is not guaranteed, especially when there is so much competition in the market. 


This is why you need to use multiple strategies to attract your first user base, both suppliers and customers. Thumbtack also had to solve the chicken and egg problem when it first began.

How to attract sellers to your marketplace?

You might assume that sellers will only enter your marketplace once there is a robust customer base. However, this is not the reality. A service provider constantly seeks new channels that allow them to grow their customer base. It is highly likely that service providers on Thumbtack also have profiles set up on similar marketplaces.


So, if you present them with the right pitch, they will willingly go through the registration process. After all, you are the one who will land them customers; make sure that you make them aware of all the benefits of your platform.

Where can you find the first potential sellers?

  • Scan your clients of your competitors

If your contractor is already working with a similar marketplace like Thumbtack or TaskRabbit, it is more likely they will also register on your platform. Additionally, since they are already getting active orders from your competitors, they won't push you if they don't get results initially. 


  • Use search engines for research.

Use Google to browse as many service providers of any interest in your target regions. You can offer them subscription discounts or free access to a premium customer base to get initial registrations.


  • Use Social media for more research.

Browse multiple groups on Facebook and other social media account/platforms that target your marketplace niche. Apart from finding service providers, you will also get to know what exactly they expect from a marketplace.

How to attract customers to your marketplace?

So, you have got the first few service providers to register on your marketplace. Congratulations! But the work is not done yet. A two-sided market like Thumbtack only works when you also find a suitable customer base. Below are a few tips to help you to attract the initial customers:


  • Start creating a Blog or community.

If your marketplace is about fitness goods and services, your blogs should be focused on helping people achieve their fitness goals. Don't just write about your services. Think of topics that interest your target buyers and give them valuable advice or relevant stories. Thumbtack also has a blog section on its website which offers plenty of resources to service providers and customers.


  • Take part in online communities.

Join Facebook groups and forums to gain the attention of your targeted audience.


  • Set up a landing page

If you want to gather user emails for marketing, you can do that even before launching the marketplace by creating a landing page describing your services. Once you have made an attractive landing page for your marketplace, share it across relevant channels or launch PPC campaigns.


  • Hire a brand ambassador

The best way to build trust among service providers and customers is to hire a celebrity as your marketplace ambassador.

Cost & time for marketplace website development

The main stages of the development of an marketplace like Thumbtack, along with their expected time duration, are:


  • Research and analysis: 40-100 hours

Analyse your market niche, research the market size, and evaluate your competitors. You can either do this independently or hire an expert business analyst. An expert is ideal for detailed project research, so you have a firm foundation for your marketplace development.


  • UX and UI design for your app: 150-300 hours

Best to hire an experienced UX and UI designer. Their task is to provide your user base with the best experience on mobile apps. Customers love to clear off their to-do list through Thumbtack because the platform offers them a clean & responsive user interface.


  • Frontend and backend development: 400-800 hours

It is hard to calculate the amount of time and effort required for the development part of your marketplace. It will depend upon the number of features and technology you want to implement in your marketplace.  


  • Bug Fixes and Quality assurance: 100-300 hours

To pull off the best possible website and app experience like Thumbtack offers, you must hire a test engineer whose job is to implement multiple testing techniques to solve any bugs so your users don't encounter any issues while using the platform.

Your marketplace development team should ideally include a business analyst, a UX/UI designer, software developers, and a manual or automation QA engineer. 


The total development price will depend on your team's region.


US and Canada: $120 to $180 per hour


Western and Eastern Europe: $90 to $130 per hour


Eastern Europe: $40 to $75 per hour


Southern America and Asia: $20 to $70 per hour


So, how much will it cost to build a marketplace like Thumbtack from scratch using the traditional development methods? Our estimations range from $25,000 for a simple MVP, which could go as high as $300,000 for a fully-featured marketplace application and website. 


This can be a huge amount for small businesses with no investors, so stick till the end, and we will provide you with a more accessible and cost-effective option to build a marketplace like Thumbtack. 


Before that, let us look at some must-have features you should include in your Thumbtack like marketplace MVP.

Must have features to include in your Thumbtack-like marketplace MVP

  • Social media login 

You will lose many users if the registration process is complicated. Thumbtack also allows users to register through social media and fill in details later. It is better to offer a login option using social media buttons. It will be much more convenient for your users and save development costs.


  • Separate profiles for customers and contractors

A Thumbtack like marketplace should have two types of profiles: one for customers and the other one for contractors.


  • Chat option

A marketplace connects customers with contractors. So offer them a way to contact customers and allows them to discuss services right from the website or app. 


  • Reviews

It is important to have reviews on every contractor’s profile because they help the customers to trust your platform resulting in more conversion rates.


  • Payment integration

People choose marketplaces over directly contacting suppliers because they need a reliable party to manage the transactions, so you must consider which payment to select for your platform. 


These were some of the only features you need in your Thumbtack like marketplace MVP to attract the initial user base to your marketplace. With time, you can add more advanced features to improve the customer experience and increase conversion rates.

How can you start your own leads business using CNXION?

The time, effort and money that goes into the development of a marketplace can seem a little overwhelming to businesses that are just getting started. Hiring professionals is expensive, and you need to become proficient in technical knowledge and coding.


If you spend too much money and time developing the marketplace platform, you will be left with barely any marketing expenses.


What if we tell you that there is a terrific new way of building marketplaces that will save you a ton of money and time. Sounds too good to be true? 


We at CNXION help entrepreneurs bring their marketplace idea to life without the need to write a single line of code at a fraction of time and cost.

CNXION is a revolutionary white-label platform for Non-Tech entrepreneurs that removes the two biggest hurdles they face when creating a marketplace the traditional way - High cost and development and Time to market. 


We conquered these hurdles by white-labelling our configurable marketplace tech stand- a cutting-edge and feature-loaded marketplace tech stack that we have painstakingly developed over several years, so you don’t have to start from scratch. 


If you go with CNXION, your only job will be to add your branding and content and configure our template to match your business processes. Instead of choosing the conventional route, with CNXION, you will be able to launch your minimum viable product in days to weeks. The frontend of your marketplace website will be ready in days to start generating interest.

CNXION Features

Profile/offer management

You can configure the fields available for users when they create a profile. As the administrator, you can inspect profile sign-ups to ensure they match the requirements.


Search view & sorting mechanisms

You can create custom filers & sortings that match your marketplace niche.


Ability to submit & accept proposals

The clients can request a proposal or send a text to the provider through the provider’s detail page. The providers can choose to accept or decline the offer.


Ratings, reviews & feedback

Users can rate and provide feedback on different service provers & offers.


Messaging interface

You also get an in-built mobile responsive chat/messaging interface.


Basic email notifications

Create custom notifications and emails that are sent to your users using SendGrid.


Progressive web application

We also provide a progressive web application that users can install on their mobile devices like native apps.


Search engine optimisation

The platform does well with SEO-optimized metadata.


Multilingual capabilities

Do you want your online marketplaces to have multiple languages? No issues; we have got you covered.

Step by Step procedure in creating your own leads business using CNXION

Follow the guided procedure to create your marketplace like Thumbtack, Amazon, or eBay using CNXION:


Step 1: Book a Demo & Tell us all your requirements

Book a demo to chat one-on-one with our team, where we will discuss your idea and see how we can help. If you are satisfied, fill out our questionnaire


Step 2: Select a Frontend Template for your online marketplace

Please choose from our library with many responsive templates for the online marketplace. 


Step 3: Customise your Frontend Website template

You can start building the public front of your marketplace website today using our simple drag & drop editor. You can easily make changes to text and pictures and customise any element the way you want it. Instantly set up a landing page to start building your email list.


Step 4: Let CNXION develop your marketplace backend

We will analyse your requirements and build your marketplace accordingly. You can directly access our expert team for any query or change requests. This usually takes 3-4 months.


Step 5: Deploy and Start Marketing 

Once you are satisfied with your marketplace, we will release the platform, and you can start driving initial traffic using your email list or PPC ad campaigns.

FAQ

How do you make money using the Thumbtack business model?

To earn using Thumbtack as a contractor, follow the steps given below:



  • Build your profile by summarising your services, experience, pictures and videos, service areas, and links to your website and social media.


  • Get a background check by providing your social security number (SSN) or a valid photo ID. Once you have cleared the background check, Thumbtack will reward you with a badge on your profile, so clients find you trustworthy.


  • Set target preferences from your services page. You can update your job type, service regions, and work availability. 


  • Start getting customer reviews. Potential customers will only trust you when they see positive reviews on your profile. You can get your first few reviews by sharing your review link with your past customers or importing Google reviews.

How many pros are on Thumbtack

Thumbtack provides its services in all the states in the US, where over eight years, they have registered more than 250,000 pros and 25 million customer requests in more than 1,000 service categories.

Are people on Thumbtack verified?

All the service providers on Thumbtack have to go through the platform’s screening process before they receive the verified badge on their profile.

What are the three main types of online marketplaces?

  • Business-to-Business (B2B)- any marketplace that lets businesses buy and sell from each other.
  • Business-to-customer (B2C)- where businesses get to sell to customers.
  • Customer-to-customer (C2C or P2P)- where customers can buy and sell from each other.

What is a Marketplace payment gateway?

A marketplace remittance gateway is any payment processor that facilitates the payment transactions between the marketplace and the customers. Some famous payment gateways are Stripe, Paypal, etc.

Bottom line

There you have it. Now, you know everything about the Thumbtack business model. You can now go ahead and create a similar online marketplace. However, it would be best to remember that you need a unique strategy and the right marketing skills to succeed in this space.


Here at CNXION, we believe that every marketplace deserves the best possible development process before its launch to the public. 


Experts here will help you analyse the market and develop the MVP to dominate the competitors in your niche. With the right team of professionals by your side, you will be able to launch a robust platform that end users love. 


Get in touch with our best consultants for expert advice on your marketplace idea today!

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