Service Seeking
 | |
| Founded | October 1, 2007[1] |
|---|---|
| Founder |
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| Headquarters | Sydney, Australia |
| Website | serviceseeking |
ServiceSeeking.com.au is an online marketplace that offers quotes and price comparison services to consumers and businesses. It was founded in 2007 by Jeremy Levitt, Oliver Pennington, and Daniel Sabados.[1]
As of 2022, it has approximately 10,000 paying customers yearly and generates in excess of 400,000 leads a month.[2]
History
In its first year of operation (2007), ServiceSeeking.com.au did not charge for its services; the initial capital came from the co-founders, their families and friends.
In 2009, ServiceSeeking.com.au partnered with TrueLocal to power TrueLocal's Get Quotes feature which allows consumers to post details of a job or service they need, with businesses competing for the work. Since then, alliance partnerships have been formed with Ninemsn, Yahoo!7, NRMA, eBay, Realestate.com.au, and RP Data.[3]
In 2014, ServiceSeeking.com.au released iOS and Android apps that allow users to submit jobs, receive quotes and read reviews about the local business before hiring.[4]
In 2017, the "Instaquotes" feature was introduced, allowing businesses to automatically submit a standard quote on every lead matching predetermined settings.[5]
In 2019-2022, despite the pandemic, the business achieved consistent profit, paying out dividends to its shareholders while its major competitors HiPages and Airtasker each lost 60-80% of their share value.
In May 2022, ServiceSeeking’s rival, Airtasker acquired Oneflare for $2.25 million in cash and Airtasker shares issued at 43 cents, with 50 per cent placed in escrow for 12 months from issue and the rest in escrow for 24 months, a fraction of the nearly $50 million it was valued at in 2016 when Domain took a stake.
Based on profitability, ServiceSeeking is the number 1 ranked services marketplace in Australia as at 31 August 2022.
Services
ServiceSeeking.com.au provides an online services market platform for consumers and businesses to trade by enabling the former to list their jobs and allowing the latter to quote on them. Its primary focus is on building, construction and household trades, including plumbing, electrical services and concreting. Other popular job categories include accounting, building, graphic design, photography and furniture removal.
As of 2018, only local traders with an Australian Business Number are allowed to register.
In a survey conducted by ServiceSeeking in 2017, users of the site reported that finding tradesmen through ServiceSeeking.com.au was 34% better than a Google search.[6]
Data & Surveys
ServiceSeeking.com.au collects pricing data from the quotes that are submitted and produces pricing guides detailing the lowest, average and highest prices charged for the various services procured through its website. Their pricing guides are split between household trades, professional services and wedding services.[7]
Pricing
Asking for quotes from professionals is free for customers. Businesses pay to quote on jobs, with leads charged as low as $1. Pricing is not based on commission like its competitor Airtasker.
Awards
ServiceSeeking.com.au has been nominated and competed for the following awards:
- Finalist in Cool Company Awards 2011[8]
- Finalist in the City of Sydney Business Awards 2012[9]
- 18th in the Start Up Smart Awards 2012[10]
In the media
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Powell, Dominic (13 June 2017). "Class of 2007: ServiceSeeking co-founder Jeremy Levitt on why early-stage corporate partnerships "stink" for new businesses". SmartCompany. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
- ↑ "How to Start Your Own Business as a Tradesman, According to ServiceSeeking | The Ritz Herald". www.ritzherald.com/. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
- ↑ "Crowdsourcing: an online success story". Business Research and Insights. 29 October 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
- ↑ Fenech, Stephen (24 September 2014). "Service Seeking app makes it easy to get businesses bidding on your job". Tech Guide. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
- ↑ Mason, Max (2 September 2012). "Site drives a turnabout in job seeking". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
- ↑ Writer, Staff. "Huge demand for plumbers and electricians in Australia – here's how much you could earn". businesstech. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
- ↑ "Coast tradies still doing it tough". Sunshine Coast Daily. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
- ↑ Magazine, Anthill (24 November 2011). "Meet Service Seeking, Anthill 2011 Cool Company Award Finalist [Online Business Category] -". anthillonline. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
- ↑ "Business support & funding". City of Sydney. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
- ↑ "StartupSmart". SmartCompany. Retrieved 6 September 2022.