How Bark works, and what a lead really costs
Bark is a lead marketplace, not a booking service. You buy credits up front, then spend those credits to unlock a customer's contact details. From there, the chasing is on you.
A credit costs £1.80 plus VAT. Unlocking a single lead costs roughly 4 to 30 credits depending on the size of the job — so anywhere from about £5 to £40 or more to get one phone number. There's no mandatory subscription, which is the part most tradespeople like: you only spend when you see a lead you fancy.
Two things catch people out. First, the same lead is sold to up to 5 professionals, so you're one of several ringing the same customer. Second, since November 2025 credits expire after three months, and any credits you haven't used are not refunded — that's straight from Bark's own Help Centre.
Bark's costs, line by line
The headline figures, pulled from Bark's own pricing and Help Centre.
| What | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| One credit | £1.80 + VAT | the currency you spend to unlock a lead |
| A typical lead | ~4–30 credits (~£5–£40+) | scales with job size |
| Who else buys it | Up to 5 pros | the same lead, sold several times over |
| Subscription | None required | pay-as-you-go on credits |
| Credit expiry | 3 months | since Nov 2025; unused credits not refunded, per Bark's Help Centre |
| If the customer never replies | No refund | the credit is spent the moment you unlock the details |
Figures exclude VAT. Credit-per-lead counts vary by trade and job size.
A Bark lead vs an EzDealz appointment
A Bark lead
- Contact details, not a booking — you still have to chase
- Sold to up to 5 pros, so you're racing four others to the phone
- £5–£40+ in credits spent whether or not the customer ever replies
- Credits expire after 3 months, with no refund on the unused ones, per Bark's Help Centre
- No phone qualification — you find out if it's real after you've paid
An EzDealz appointment
- A confirmed appointment booked straight into your own diary
- Exclusive to you — never shared with another business
- Every enquiry qualified by phone before it reaches you
- No credits, no subscription, nothing to expire
- No sit, no fee — you only pay if the customer is there when you arrive
Your first two appointments are free. See the full model and rate card on pay per appointment.
The "customer never responded" problem
The complaint you'll see again and again from tradespeople on Trustpilot and MoneySavingExpert is simple: they paid to unlock a lead and the customer never responded. Because a credit is spent the moment you reveal the details, there's no refund when that happens. You've paid for a contact that never picks up.
That's the number worth working out — not the price of a lead, but the true cost of a won job once you count everything that went nowhere. On shared-lead sites, after the no-answers, the tyre-kickers and the customers who went with one of the other four pros, third-party reports and our own modelling put the real cost of a won job anywhere from £150 to over £1,000 — and you did all the chasing.
An exclusive, phone-qualified appointment changes the sum. Because the customer has spoken to someone and is expecting you, these close far better than shared leads — 30 to 50% across sources; we model it conservatively at 40%. Take ten roofing appointments at £150: that's £1,500. If four turn into won work, that's £375 per job won, on work worth £5,000 or more.
For a sense of scale, advertisers pay £22 to £37 per click on Google for trade-lead keywords — "roofing leads uk" is around £26, "how to get more electrical work" around £37. That's for a single click, not a booking. An EzDealz appointment — a confirmed meeting in your diary — is £100 to £175.
Bark isn't the only shared-lead site — the same maths applies to Checkatrade and MyBuilder.
What an EzDealz appointment costs
The model is simple. We find the customer, run the ads and the follow-up, and qualify every enquiry by phone. Then we book a confirmed appointment straight into your own diary — exclusive to you. No credits, no subscription. No sit, no fee, and your first two appointments are free. Full detail on the pay per appointment page.
| Trade | Per booked appointment | Typical job value |
|---|---|---|
| Loft boarding & insulation | £100 | £995–£2,000 |
| Plumbing & boilers | £110 | ~£2,400 |
| Electricians | £120 | £3,000–£8,000 |
| Windows & doors | £120 | £4,000–£9,000 |
| Bathroom fitting | £135 | £4,500–£8,000 |
| Landscaping & gardens | £135 | £5,000–£15,000 |
| Roofing | £150 | £5,000–£13,500 |
| Solar & renewables | £175 | £7,500–£14,000 |
Prices exclude VAT. No sit, no fee — you only pay when the customer is there. First two appointments free.
Common questions
Is Bark worth it for tradespeople?
It depends on your margins and how fast you can call. Bark can work if you jump on leads within minutes and win the race against the up-to-five other pros who bought the same lead. The risk is real money spent on leads that never respond, with no refund. If you'd rather only pay for a customer who's actually there to meet you, a pay-per-appointment model is a different bet.
How much does a Bark lead cost?
A credit is £1.80 plus VAT, and a lead costs roughly 4 to 30 credits — about £5 to £40 or more — depending on the job size. You buy credits up front and spend them to unlock each lead.
Do Bark credits expire?
Yes. Since November 2025, Bark credits expire after three months, and unused credits are not refunded, according to Bark's own Help Centre. If you buy a bundle and don't spend it in time, that money is gone.
Does Bark refund me if the customer never replies?
No. The credit is spent the moment you unlock the contact details, so there's no refund if the customer never responds. This is one of the most common complaints tradespeople report about the platform.
How is EzDealz different from Bark?
There are no credits and no shared leads. We qualify every enquiry by phone and book a confirmed appointment into your own diary, exclusive to you. You only pay when the customer is there to meet you — no sit, no fee — and the first two appointments are free. See the full rate card on pay per appointment.