Frequently Asked Questions

How is Our Town Trades different from other lead generation sites?

We use a subscription model instead of pay-per-lead. Contractors pay a flat monthly fee with no commission on jobs. This keeps costs low for customers and predictable for contractors. Money stays local instead of going to corporate headquarters elsewhere.

Traditional platforms charge 15-40% per lead, which gets passed to customers as inflated prices. Our model eliminates that extraction and keeps wealth in Lane County.

What areas do you serve?

Currently Eugene, Springfield, and Lane County, Oregon. We're hyper-focused on serving our local community well before expanding to other areas.

Who owns Our Town Trades?

Our Town Trades is locally owned and operated by Wade Wilder, owner of Wilder Cleaning Solutions. Wade has been in the pressure washing business for over 10 years and built this platform to solve problems he experienced firsthand with traditional lead generation models.

What are quality tiers?

Contractors position themselves in four service levels:

• Essential (): Budget-friendly, high volume, practical solutions
• Reliable (): Balanced quality at fair market rates (default tier)
• Elite (): Premium results, selective projects, above-market pricing
• Signature (): Luxury craftsmanship, exclusive clientele, master-level work

How does contractor matching work?

Our matching algorithm is fair and transparent. When a customer posts a job, contractors are filtered by service category, quality tier preference, and service radius. Then they're ranked using weighted random rotation based on:

• Review score and rating
• Subscription tier (Boosted enters rotation 75% of the time, Basic 25%)
• Time since last appearance in a job match (prevents the same contractors dominating)

The goal: reward quality work and fair rotation, not just big ad budgets.

Is it free to post jobs?

Yes! Customers can post jobs, receive contractor responses, and review profiles completely free. You only pay the contractor you choose to hire directly for the work; we never take a commission or percentage.

How do I post a job?

Create a free account, then click "Post a Job." Provide details like job title, description, budget range, timeline, and location. You'll choose how many contractors can contact you (3-10 slots). Jobs are live immediately and contractors can start responding right away.

How many contractors will contact me?

You control this! When posting a job, you set the contact limit (3-10 contractors). Once that number is reached, the job closes automatically. This prevents inbox overwhelm.

How do I know if contractors are legitimate?

We require contractors to upload current CCB licenses (Construction Contractors Board) and insurance certificates for manual review. Verified contractors display badges on their profiles. You can also read reviews from other customers and check their rating, years in business, and completed projects.

Is my address kept private?

Yes. Your full street address is encrypted in our database and only used for distance calculations. Only a neighborhood description is publicly visible. Once a contractor responds to your job, it's up to you to share your full address with them directly.

Can I leave reviews?

Absolutely! After completing a job, you can leave a public review with a 1-5 star rating and written feedback. Reviews help other customers and reward contractors who do great work.

How do I get started as a contractor?

First, claim your business profile (free). You'll immediately get access to the full profile editor — add your photos, description, hours, and service categories. Your profile becomes a public, SEO-optimized page that can appear in Google searches. When you're ready to start receiving customer leads and collecting reviews, upgrade to Basic or Boosted tier to access the job board.

What's included in each subscription tier?

Free Tier ($0/month) — Your Data:

• Claim your business listing
• Full profile editor access
• Upload photos and portfolio images
• SEO-optimized public profile page
• Searchable in contractor directory
• No job board access
• Cannot contact customers
• Cannot collect reviews

Basic Tier ($30/month) — Platform Services:

• Everything in Free, plus:
• Access job board
• Contact up to 15 customers per month
• Collect verified customer reviews
• 15-minute wait for early access jobs
• Featured Contractor eligibility
• Document storage (insurance, licenses)

Boosted Tier ($125/month):

• Everything in Basic, PLUS:
• Unlimited customer contacts (no monthly cap)
• 15-minute early access to premium auto-tagged jobs
• Higher placement in search results
• Priority support

What's the early access feature?

High-value jobs get a 15-minute early access window for Boosted subscribers. These are jobs we auto-tag as valuable based on budget, market segment, or competitive category. Basic tier contractors see the job and a countdown timer, but can't respond until the window ends. This gives Boosted subscribers a competitive advantage for premium opportunities.

Can I cancel my subscription anytime?

Yes. You can cancel anytime and retain access through the end of your billing period. No long-term contracts, no cancellation fees. We earn your business every month by delivering value.

How do I get reviews?

After completing a job, you can invite customers to leave a review via email. We provide tokenized invitation links that are secure and expiring. You can also enable reminder emails for customers who haven't responded yet.

What's the two-way review system?

Customers can leave public reviews for contractors (visible to everyone). Contractors can leave private reviews for customers (visible only to other contractors). This helps you identify reliable customers who pay on time, communicate well, and are pleasant to work with. It creates accountability on both sides.

Can I remove negative reviews?

No. Reviews maintain their integrity by being permanent. However, you can flag reviews for moderation if they violate our policies (fraudulent, spam, offensive content). We encourage direct communication with customers to resolve issues; many are willing to update their review after problems are addressed.

How does the rating system work?

New contractors start with 15 phantom 4.0-star reviews to prevent rating volatility. As you receive real reviews, the phantom reviews gradually decrease (1 phantom removed for every 10 real reviews). This means your rating stabilizes naturally as you build your reputation, rather than being hurt by a single early review.

How much does it cost?

For Customers: Completely free! No hidden fees.

For Contractors:

• Free Tier: $0 (full profile, no job board access)
• Basic Tier: $30/month regular, $0/month during pilot phase
• Boosted Tier: $125/month regular, $25/month during pilot phase

First month is FREE for all new contractors.

How does billing work?

Subscriptions are billed monthly through Stripe (our secure payment processor). You'll be charged automatically on the 1st of each month. You can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel anytime. Upgrades are prorated; you only pay the difference for the remaining days in the month.

Are there any refunds?

Subscription fees are non-refundable. However, if your account is suspended or banned mid-cycle on a prepaid 6-month or 12-month subscription, you'll receive a prorated refund for unused time.

What happens if my payment fails?

You'll receive an email notification and have a grace period to update your payment method. If payment continues to fail, your account will be downgraded to Free tier until billing is resolved.

When does my monthly contact limit reset?

For Basic tier contractors, your 15 customer contact limit resets on the 1st of each month.

Do you sell my data?

Absolutely not. We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for any reason. Period. Your data stays with us and is used only to operate the platform and provide services to you.

Do you use tracking cookies or analytics?

No. We do NOT use Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, or any third-party tracking tools. We only use essential cookies (WordPress login sessions and Stripe payment security). All analytics are performed locally on our servers and never shared externally.

How secure is my information?

We use industry-standard security practices: SSL/TLS encryption for all data transmission, password hashing, address encryption in the database, and restricted server access. Payment processing is handled by Stripe (PCI-compliant), so we never store your credit card information.

Can I delete my account?

Yes.

• Customers: Email us to delete your account and personal data (reviews you left remain but are anonymized)
• Contractors: Account reverts to Free tier with business profile persisting (since businesses are public). For complete removal, submit a deletion request

How long do you keep my data?

• Inactive customer accounts: 2 years
• Job postings: Up to 2 years after completion
• Contractor business profiles: Indefinitely (until business dissolved or deletion requested)
• Failed payment records: 1 year
• Fraud reports: 1 year after investigation closes
• Uploaded documents: Up to 6 months after expiration