Eugene & Springfield
Eugene & Springfield
PILOT PROGRAM: 9 weeks Free
Finally — a platform that works for you, not against you.
Join the Pilot — Completely Free
No credit card required • No surprise charges • No catch
Our Town. Our Trades. Our Way.
A contractor marketplace built right here in Lane County, Oregon. No venture capital. No corporate shareholders. Just a simple idea: contractors should compete on reputation, not advertising budgets — and no platform should tell you what your work costs.
It started as a great idea. Then $400 million in venture capital turned it into something else entirely.
Buy credits for about $1.67 each. Browse jobs, pick the ones you wanted, spend $3–$10 per lead. Capped at 5 contractors per job. You controlled your costs and chose your customers.
Thumbtack started auto-matching contractors to customers. Credits disappeared. Leads that cost $5 jumped to $50–$60 overnight — a 700% increase. Contractors lost the ability to choose which leads they paid for.
The platform started demanding fixed prices for services. “How much does a driveway cleaning cost?” As if a single-car driveway and a 7-car estate with moss, staining, and drainage problems are the same job. Plumbers, electricians, roofers — every skilled trade prices by the situation, not a dropdown menu.
Dynamic pricing, no transparency, the same lead sent to 15 contractors at once. Even repeat customers coming back through the platform trigger full lead charges. The platform profits whether you land the job or not.
Real example from ThumbtackThumbtack wanted $93 for the opportunity to speak with someone about a job that might pay $150.
Win the job? You take home $57. Lose it? You’re still out $93. Either way, the platform gets paid.
And that same lead was sent to multiple other contractors — each paying the same fee.
Unpredictable CostsLead prices change weekly based on “supply and demand.” No way to budget. Good month? You pay more. Slow month? You still paid for leads that went nowhere.
Your Expertise Doesn’t Fit a DropdownSkilled trades price by the job — drainage conditions, prep work, materials, access. A platform that forces flat rates ignores everything that makes your work professional.
Low-Quality LeadsPrice shoppers, tire-kickers, people who already hired someone. You pay the same for all of them. Refunds? At their “sole discretion.”
They Win Either WayThese platforms get paid whether you land the job or not. Their incentive is volume, not your success. $400M in venture capital needs a return — and it comes from you.
Our Promise: This Will Never Happen HereThumbtack’s story is what happens when a platform answers to investors instead of contractors. Here’s our commitment in writing.
Subscription prices are locked and will only be evaluated every five years. No surprise rate hikes. No quarterly “adjustments.” When you budget for OurTownTrades, that number stays the same.
If prices do change after a 5-year review, they will never increase more than 15%. No 700% overnight jumps. No “dynamic pricing.” A hard cap, in writing, on this page.
We will never charge you per lead, per contact, or per job. Flat monthly subscription — that’s it. What you earn on every job is 100% yours.
There are no investors demanding growth at your expense. This platform is self-funded by a contractor who uses it. The only pressure is to make it work for you.
We don't charge you to display your own data
Your business name and logo Your photos and portfolio Your service description Your contact information Your business hours Your service categories Your SEO-optimized profile page Meanwhile, on other platforms...Yelp charges $1/day just to display your own logo. Their "upgrade" to remove competitor ads from YOUR profile? $6/day. That's over $2,000/year to show your own business information without interference.
Built by a local contractor. Owned locally. Operated locally.
$30/month Basic or $125/month Boosted. No per-lead fees. No commissions. What you earn is yours.
Good work gets you seen more. Not whoever spends the most on ads. Your craftsmanship is the currency here.
No 15% platform cut. No "service fees." A $5,000 job pays you $5,000.
Your subscription funds local programs, not corporate headquarters in San Francisco.
Remember when a quick $75 job was worth doing?
Starting out is hard enough without a single bad review tanking your visibility.
Balanced Rating System
New contractors aren't punished by one early bad review. Your reputation builds naturally over time as you collect verified reviews from real customers.
How the Rating System WorksWhen you're new, you don't have reviews yet. On other platforms, one unhappy customer can drop you from 5 stars to 1 star overnight. That's not fair.
Our system starts new contractors with a baseline that reflects typical performance. As you collect real reviews, your actual track record gradually takes over. Good work is rewarded; one outlier doesn't define you.
I’ve run a pressure washing business in Lane County since 2013. I’ve used Thumbtack, Angi, Yelp, HomeAdvisor. I’ve done the math on what these platforms extract from our local economy and where that money ends up — San Francisco, New York, venture capital funds.
This isn’t a get-rich-quick venture backed by investors who’ve never held a pressure washer. It’s a tool I wanted for my own business, built for contractors like us. You set your own prices. You talk to customers before committing. You compete on the quality of your work, not the size of your advertising budget.
OurTownTrades is owned and operated right here in Eugene. When something breaks, you can talk to me directly. When you have an idea, I’ll actually hear it. This is a platform built by someone who does the work, for people who do the work.
No credit card to sign up
9 weeks completely free during pilot
No automatic charges when pilot ends
Cancel anytime — no contracts, no penalties
You decide whether to continue. Regular rates are $30/month for Basic or $125/month for Boosted. No automatic billing. No pressure.
Both tiers get full job board access. Boosted members get 15-minute early access to high-value jobs and unlimited customer contacts. Basic members can contact up to 15 customers per month.
We're building both sides of the marketplace. You help us refine the platform; we give you free access while we grow the customer base. Fair trade.
Any contractor doing physical work on properties. Plumbers, electricians, roofers, painters, cleaners, landscapers, handymen, HVAC — if a homeowner or property manager would hire you, you belong here.
Subscriptions. Predictable monthly revenue from contractors who want to be here, not desperate payments from people trying to escape. It's a simpler model that aligns our success with yours.
Join the pilot. 9 weeks free. No credit card. No commitment.
Join the Pilot — Free
Questions? OurTownTrades@gmail.com