Q1: Why should I use Bidjob.ie?

A1:

Bidjob.ie was formed in order to make the task of sourcing Contractors, Builders, Professionals or Tradespeople easier than it is using present methods. Bidjob.ie offers a one stop shop for customers who simply fill out their detailed job requirements and lets Bidjob.ie do a trawl of all available Service Providers in the region who are currently available and are interested in doing the job.

Q2: How does Bidjob.ie compare with conventional methods?

A2: The following are some of the key benefits of using this free service;

• Once your request is posted on Bidjob.ie we send the request to all appropriate service providers in the area.
• We ensure that only the qualified, interested and available service providers respond which saves you time trying to contact or negotiate with people who are too busy.
• Impartial and independent service ensures that all Service providers are treated equally and with our rating system ensures customers will have full visibility of the credentials and performance of the providers.
• Once service providers receive a service request via Bidjob.ie they understand that they are in a competitive environment and need to respond quickly and professionally if they wish to win your business.

Q3: What areas does Bidjob.ie service?

A3: Our member Service Providers cover all of Ireland and we will shortly be extending this service to Northern Ireland.

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Q4: How does Bidjob.ie match me with the right service provider?

A4: To find a Service Provider in your region the following are the steps involved:

Step 1. Customer logs on to www.Bidjob.ie and selects the appropriate category of work they wish carried out. Alternatively Customer may dial in to Bidjob.ie and have our staff complete a request for them.

Step 2. Customer completes detailed questionnaire for the job. Bidjob.ie questionnaires are very detailed and allow service providers to determine the size and scale of the job so that they can evaluate it to see if they are interested in bidding for the work and also if they can complete within the specified timeframe. In some cases the detailed questionnaire will be adequate for service providers to submit bids immediately.

Step 3. Customer identifies timeframe of job, contact details and submits completed form.

Step 4. On receipt of a new service request the following actions are taken by a Bidjob.ie agent

1. Review service request and contact customer if necessary to ensure request is valid or seek clarification if request not completed properly.
2. A budgetary estimate figure is assigned to the job in order to determine the appropriate lead value.
3. Search for all Service Providers who are registered for this particular category in your area.
4. Issue Lead details to Service Providers by e-mail, SMS or Fax - Please note that customer contact details are not included at this stage.

Step 5. Service Providers who indicate an interest and respond to the Bidjob.ie e-mail/SMS are debited a Lead Fee of anything from €2.50 to €30 depending on the scale of the job. This fee is necessary in order to pay for the service and also ensure that only serious bidders are involved.

Once a Service Provider indicates an interest they are forwarded your contact and address details.

At the same time the details of all interested Service Providers are forwarded to you. Within this Customer Notification is a detailed profile of each Service Provider as well as a summary of their reviews by other Bidjob.ie customers.

Bidjob.ie aims to supply contact details of no more than 3 interested Service Providers for each request - we believe this is enough to give choice without being  bothered by too many calls. For smaller jobs where the issue is more about availability than cost we will typically only give to 2 Service Providers.

 

Step 6. You and the  Service Providers enter negotiations offline and you make your selection to complete the job.

Step 7.  Once the job is comopleted we request that you  log on to Bidjob.ie and complete a rating form - this ensure that Bidjob.ie customers help each other to identify the Service Providers who have done a good job and also to screen those who do not perform up to an acceptable standard.

Q5: How do I know I'm getting a qualified professional?

A5:

Bidjob.ie requests that all contractors, professionals and tradepeople submit details of any qualifications and certifications they have. All these details are forwarded to the customer who then has full visibility of the relevant qualifications and experience of competing Service Providers.

We also contact the references provided by each Service Provider and include these as part of  their Profile.

In addition Bidjob.ie requests all customers to complete a survey at the completion of each job in which they rate the performance of their Service Provider.  In this way you can compare the ratings and reviews of the  Service Providers we send you as well as  contribute your own ratings to help your neighbours in the future.

Q6: How do I access Bidjob.ie?

A6: There are 2 methods of filling out a service request with Bidjob.ie

1. Log on to www.Bidjob.ie and simply select the appropriate category of work required and complete the questionnaires.
2. Dial our phone line 061 240660 and one of our customer service representatives will fill out the questionnaire on your behalf.

Q7: What is "My Bidjob" and how do I use it?

A7: "My Bidjob" is your personal space on our Web site where Bidjob.ie keeps your contact information and details on all of your service requests. It also allows you to review your open requests and cancel them if necessary. You can log in at any time to change your contact information and complete reviews of your Service Providers.

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Q8: How does Bidjob.ie get paid if this is a free service?

A8: Bidjob.ie does not charge customers for its service. We ask our Service Providers to pay a once-off registration fee of up to €100 for which they get notified of jobs in their area. In addition we charge a small fee of between €2.50 and €30 for each lead that they accept.

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Q9: Will my request appear in the 'View Open Leads' scroll display?

A9:

Yes - once you have placed your request and it has been checked by admin it will appear in the 'Recent Leads' scroll. The 10 most recent leads are dislayed in the scroll. Older Leads can be reviewed by clickiing on the scroll.By clicking on the Lead link the full details of your request excluding your address and contact name and details are displayed.

It will remain displayed until we have supplied you with a list of suitable service providers at which stage it is closed off from public view.

Q10: How long will it take to get a response to my request?

A10:

We aim to get back to you within 2 working days for normal requests. If your requirement is urgent we aim to respond within  the same day.

If none of our Service Providers are interested we will let you know.

Once we have identified potential candidates for your request we will close the Job.

Q11: Can I cancel my request?

A11: Yes - simply login to your account, select the 'View or Cancel Requests'  and follow the prompts. Alternatively you can call us on 061 240660 and we will do this for you. We prefer that you would cancel your request if you are unsure as we do not want to waste our Service Providers time.

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Q12: I never recieved any acknowledgement of my request?

A12:

In order to be sure that you are recieving e-mails from us you need to add admin@bidjob.ie to your Safe List or Contacts in your mail client.

Unless you do it can happen that our e-mails are being blocked by  Spam filters.

Q13: What is the difference between 'Ready to Hire' and 'Planning and Budgeting'?

A13:

'Ready to Hire' identifies that you are actively seeking  to hire someone and that all of your budgeting and planning requirements are in place for the job. Service Providers are generally speaking more interested in this type of Lead.

'Planning and Budgeting' identifies that you are still in the planning stage and need some assistance or guidance to develop budgets or plans for your project. Service Providers are ususally less interested in this category but will still respond on the basis that it may result in work in the future.

Remember it is essential that you choose the appropriate category so that our Service Providers respond accordingly and that you start off your negotiations in a positive fashion. 

Also remember that you can use our Online Estimator to give you an estimate of what your project will cost (see Cost Estimator FAQ for details) - this service is free of charge and does not require you to enter your address or contact details.

Q1: I am currently too busy and cannot cope with the volume of work I am getting today so why should I subscribe to Bidjob.ie?

A1: With Bidjob.ie, you will get an overview of all the new work opportunities in the region that you operate simply by registering with us. This allows you to target those that are closest or most profitable for you and allows you to consider possibly growing your business. Local contacts and word of mouth are extremely important but Bidjob.ie ensures that you can target more jobs than before and provide a route to move up the 'food chain' so that you can compete for higher margin jobs.

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Q2: How do Homeowners find Bidjob.ie?

A2:

Bidjob.ie targets its advertising on the web and other media to ensure that bidjob.ie is the first choice for Homeowners looking to source qualified Service Providers.

We are currently running a Radio campaign on Newstalk.

Q3: How do I register with Bidjob.ie?

A3: The simple way of joining is by logging on to www.Bidjob.ie and fill out the forms as follows

Step 1  Select "Service Providers Register Here" on Bidjob.ie homepage. Fill in your contact details and communication preferences. Select communication option for receiving leads - either e-mail, Fax or SMS text.

Step 2  Complete details on your company, any affiliations you have or membership of industry associations

• Write a brief summary of what your company does with details on any special services or promotions you may offer.
• Identify scale of Jobs you are interested in - due to your workload you may only be interested in high value jobs at the moment.
• Also in this section you are asked for two references which will help in promoting you to future customers. This is not a requirement but is helpful in winning bids for you during startup phase with Bidjob.ie. 
   

Step 3  Select Categories of work in which you are interested.
This section is quite detailed in order to ensure that we only send leads to you that you are qualified or interested in doing.

Step 4  Identify regions that you wish to recieve leads from.

Step 5  Select payment options - online credit card, cheque or debit card. 

As an alternative to online registration you can simply dial our Customer Service Hotline at 061 240660 at any time and we will fill out the details on your behalf.

Q4: Can you explain how Leads operate and which ones I pay for?

A4: Each service request from a Homeowner is called a Lead.

The Leads are sorted into categories and forwarded to the contractors who are registered for that category.

If you are interested in bidding for the job shown you need to reply to the Lead notification. You can do this via Text/SMS by simply replying with a 'yes'. If you use e-mail you simply select  'I accept' at the bottom of the e-mail.   

It is necessary to charge for leads to ensure that only interested and available Service Providers are put in contact with the client. Leads vary in price from €2.50 to €30 depending on the value of the job. You only pay for leads which you accept i.e. some leads that are forwarded to you will be rejected as you may be too busy or the scale of the job does not match your requirements.

Once you accept a lead then your account is debited and the address and contact details of the potential client are forwarded to you.

At the same time the Client is forwarded your contact and profile details.

Negotiation then continues offline between you and the client.

We aim to provide customers with a maximum of three interested Service Providers for each job. Our average at the moment is 2 so you have   a one in two chance of winning the actual job.

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Q5: Is it safe to give Bidjob.ie my payment and professional details online?

A5: Bidjob.ie uses state of the art security to protect our Service Providers information and warrant that it will only be used to generate work for you.

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Q6: How do I know this will work in my area?

A6:

Bidjob.ie guarantees that each registered Service Provider will receive free leads up to the value of their  once-off registration fee. Thereafter you will be billed one month in arrears for any leads you purchase. You can review the leads you have paid for and the status of your account by logging in to www.Bidjob.ie at any time.

 To sign up now please call 061 240660 or else log on to bidjob.ie.

Q7: How does Bidjob.ie compare with other forms of advertising?

A7:

Bidjob.ie brings you more customers at a lower cost than print advertising. If you advertise in the Telephone directory, newspapers or direct mail, consider the following:

Classified telephone directories requires large fixed spending with no guarantee of results as well as calls from unqualified prospects that eat up your precious time. Bidjob.ie provides 100% targeted leads from householders and clients looking for the work you specialize in.

Bidjob.ie sevice providers close jobs an average of 10 to 50% of the leads they purchase.

With print advertising, you can spend a lot of time vetting unqualified callers to determine if they are serious and right for you.

Additionally :
-You pay a fixed fee with no guarantee of the phone ringing
-It's very difficult to measure your success or return on investment
-You can't adjust your advertisement quickly


With Bidjob.ie, you only pay for leads from householders who match the type of work you do within the areas you prefer to work.

With Do-It-Yourself Internet Marketing, expenses add up quickly. Internet marketing requires two steps building your web site and then driving people to it and both involve a financial commitment without any guaranteed results. In fact, Internet advertising often requires you to pay a fee each time someone clicks on your Internet listing regardless of whether or not they contact you. With Bidjob.ie you avoid all the up-front costs and pay only when a customer contacts you!

Q8: How much does the service cost?

A8:

Pay by Credit Card

Our 'Pay As You Go' service is available to Credit Card holders and only costs €1.21 (€1 + VAT)  to setup. Thereafter you will be billed monthly in arrears for any Leads that you accept. A monthly Invoice and statements will be issued to you giving details on Leads you accepted.

Pay by Cheque

Service Providers who prefer to pay by cheque must  pay a once-off registration fee of €121 (€100 + VAT).  You will recieve €100 worth of free leads with this once-off registration charge. You will be notified by e-mail or post with a statement when your account needs a top-up.

Lead Fees 

Q9: How does the Text service work?

A9:

Bidjob.ie has a state of the art back office sytem which allows us to correlate SMS messages from our registered Service Providers so that when you reply to our Lead Notifications we know automatically that it is from you.

This allows you to recieve and respond to Leads while you are on the go. Remember full details of these transactions will also be available and stored on your e-mail if you have one.

Q10: When do I get invoiced?

A10:

Service providers will get an invoice/statement around the 10th of the month for Leads purchased during the previous month.

If you pay by Credit Card you will be debited automatically on the 15th of the month.

If you pay by cheque you will need to pay the invoice  to continue recieving leads.

Remember you will not recieve any invoices until you have used up your initial €100 worth of free leads recieved during registration.

Q11: Do I need to be online on the Internet to avail of this service?.

A11:

No, you need never go near a computer to use our service. Simply register  over the phone or by mail and we will send leads to you via SMS or Fax.

Simply reply to the SMS lead we send you or call us and we will send you the contact details for the leads you are interested in.

Q12: Will my contact details and profile be available to everybody?.

A12:

No - we are not a directory service.

Your details will only be disclosed to the Customer who placed the Lead that you have expressed an interest in.

Q13: What happens if the Lead turns out to be poor quality and not as specified in the request?

A13:

We qualify all leads before they are put up on our site. Where we believe the lead has insufficient information or is of a dubious nature we will pass it back to the customer for clarification. A key part of this process is the audit and checking of customer address and contact information.

Bidjob.ie has a 'No Quibble' philosophy and in the event that a Lead turns out to be bogus or insincere we will refund any lead costs immediately.  If You believe you are entitled to a refund then please contact us promptly so that we can investigate and process  - Leads more than one month old will not be refunded.

Q14: Why do I have to include a reference?

A14:

The purpose of supplying 2 initial references is so that we can set you up with an initial rating. Remember these ratings are sent out to the Homeowner when you accept a lead. See Q5 in the Customer FAQs for more detail.

Bidjob will offer the Lead to the 3 Service Providers with the highest rating for each job. If you do not have a rating you are unlikely to get offered the more attractive jobs as they will already have been accepted by the Service Providers above you.

Homeowners are more likely to hire someone who has a rating before someone who does not.

Q1: What is the purpose of the online cost estimator?

A1: There are two key benefits in providing this service

• Householders are able to get an approximate estimate of what their projects should cost before engaging with service providers in their area.
  
• In addition householders will be able to develop a proper budget so that when they do look for a service provider they are more likely to proceed with the work rather than be frightened off by the cost - this will help ensure all Bidjob requests are genuine.

Q2: How accurate are the cost estimates?

A2: Based on research by our beta customers of 100 sample jobs we believe that the Bidjob.ie estimates are currently accurate to +/- 15%. Our aim is to get the level of accuracy down to +/- 10% over the next 6 months. To achieve this level of accuracy we need our customers to complete our cost accuracy poll which is part of the project completion and feedback process.
We hope that over time and based on our research and feedback from our customers we will be able to achieve this target and eventually improve on it. Some estimates are quite straightforward and can be almost 100% accurate especially for some of the 'Professional and Other' services where the task can be clearly defined. Construction and Tradespeople estimates are likely to be less accurate as every job is different and the prevailing site conditions can have knock on impact on costs. Nevertheless where the job is straightforward we expect that the estimates would be fairly accurate.

In addition Bidjob.ie requests all customers to complete a survey at the completion of each job in which they rate the Estimated Cost as follows :

We are always interested in any feedback that you can give which would help us make this service more accurate - estimate@bidjob.ie

Q3: How does Bidjob.ie collect the costing data for all of the categories?

A3: We have engaged a wide variety of professionals to provide cost data in their respective areas. These experts also provide an ongoing review and update of costs to ensure the system remains up to date. We also provide a feedback mechanism whereby interested parties can submit any comments or corrections they believe are warranted in the Cost estimates.
We also use our local agents to keep an eye on the local market and update on any cost fluctuations which they notice in the region.

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Q4: What is the difference between Budget, Standard and Premium in the cost estimator?

A4: The following is a brief description of how Bidjob.ie view these classifications.
It should be remembered that some categories have such a wide variety of possible materials that it is difficult to compare costs without specifying the actual product. As we do not wish to advertise any particular manufacturer's products we have attempted to gauge what the most popular brands are and based our costings on them.

We have also assumed that the volume of work is sufficient so that Service providers make a fair profit.

Profit is included at a reasonable level for each category.

Jobs which are too small can command a significant premium and this should be borne in mind when estimating your costs.

VAT is not included in the estimates provided and you need to ensure that you budget accordingly.

For some construction jobs where there are costs associated with setup e.g. Phone, electrical or water, scaffolding etc. there may be additional costs - typically called preliminaries. These can vary depending on the scale of the job but would typically be in the 5% to 10% range. If you are requested to pay these costs you should look for detail.

Budget - Low cost materials and low cost labour
This may not necessarily mean low quality labour - contractors or professionals who are new entrants into the market may initially offer their services and products at a budget rate in order to get established. Some service providers will also have developed techniques and operational efficiencies which allow them to perform tasks at a lower rate than the norm. Where supply of materials is involved they will typically be from new entrants or less well known suppliers - they should always meet the specification for the job.

Standard - Typical material and labour cost in an area.
Will deliver acceptable quality of material and performance in majority of cases.

Premium - High cost materials and labour.
Typically these costs will be associated with service providers who are experts in their field and provide a service which is almost always top quality. Master craftsmen or professionals with long years of experience will charge premium rates for the peace of mind and quality they will bring to the work required. In some cases however Premium costs will arise where there is a supply side problem and service providers are able to increase their charges due to lack of competition in the market. The Bidjob.ie service is one way to ensure that consumers get sufficient quotes from interested parties so that they are not over-charged.

Any materials in this category should always be top quality from a well established brand.

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Q5: I have been unable to get quotes which are similar to the cost estimates provided?

A5: If you have difficulty in sourcing a service provider based on the cost estimate we provide then there are a number of possible reasons for this

1. Your request has a number of complications which fall outside our typical estimates and which are too complicated to include.
2. There is a supply side shortage of skilled service providers in your area which has resulted in an unsustainable rise in charges.
3. The Bidjob.ie estimate could be out of date.

If you are having such a difficulty then please contact us with full details of your request at help@bidjob.ie and we will try and assist you if possible.

Q6: There is no online estimate in the category I am interested in?

A6: Bidjob.ie is continuing to add cost estimates - we typically add about two each month. This is a very time intensive process to ensure the accuracy is at a level we are comfortable with.  If you have a particular estimate you are interested in that is either not yet there or you have a query on please drop us a line at estimate@bidjob.ie and we will do our best to help you.

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Q7: Do the cost estimates vary depending on where I live?

A7: Yes - we have applied  regional variation factors to the cost estimates based on the particular industry in question. These factors are constantly being adjusted by our costing team to reflect changing market forces in different regions.

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Q8: Is the cost of Plant and machinery included in the costs?

A8: Yes - Plant and Machinery costs are included in the Labour costs.

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Q9: Are the cost estimates applicable regardless of the scale of the task?

A9:

Yes and No!

The cost estimates are based on typical residential size jobs. If the job you have is very small then you are likely to pay  premium rates or higher for the service and in some cases a call-out fee may apply. Similarly if the job is larger than normal you should be able to negotiate budget rates or lower.

For small jobs you may not attract the top service providers in you area and may have to settles for new entrants who are trying to get a foothold in the business.

For construction type activities the setup costs can be significant and can make the eceonomics of doing small jobs very expensive other than for new entrants who may do the job at cost just to get the experience and build up their reputation.

Material costs also can vary significantly depending on the scale of the job.

Q10: Why is VAT not included in the estimates?

A10:

We have excluded any element of VAT from the estimates as we believe it allows householders to compare costs more effectively. In all cases householders should ensure that all quotations identify the VAT element therein.

Typically construction type work will be charged at the 13.5% rate.

Professional services will be charged at 21%.

Q11: How do I use the Cost Estimator?

A11:

Step 1.  Start as normal by selecting the category of interest

Step 2.  Select 'Online Estimate' option  as shown below. Note that not all categories will have this option available as we may not have completed the estimate process or the category may be too complex to provide a relevant estimate.