Lead marketplaces are not a scam. They are just an expensive way to rent customers you never get to keep.

What you are actually buying

A shared lead. The same homeowner is talking to three or four of your competitors, and the winner is usually whoever calls back first, not whoever does the best work.

The real cost per job

Take what you spent last month, divide it by jobs actually won. Most contractors are shocked by that number the first time they run it.

Where they make sense

Filling a genuinely empty week, or testing a new service area. Treat them as a stopgap, not a strategy.

The alternative

Own the asset. A site that ranks, a review profile that converts and a follow-up system means the second job from that customer costs you nothing.