When Is a Lead Worth Paying For?
A lead is worth buying when a job from that source earns more than it costs you to win. Here's how to work that out honestly, time included.
The short answer
When the jobs it wins you are worth more than all the leads it takes to win one. Done honestly, that one sum answers most of the question.
A lead is worth paying for when the profit on the jobs you win from that source is greater than the total you spend on leads to win them, including your time. If you win one job for every few leads, each job carries the cost of all of them. A lead that looks cheap can be expensive per job, and a pricier one can be good value if you usually convert it.
So the useful question isn't "is this lead cheap?" but "what does a job from this source cost me, and what does it earn?" Put those two numbers side by side and the decision tends to make itself.
The sum
Working out whether a lead source pays
Add up the spend
Take everything paid to one lead source over a set period: lead fees, subscription and any extras.
Count the jobs won
Only jobs from that source, in that period, that went ahead and paid.
Divide one by the other
That's your cost per job won. What is cost per lead? and true cost per job won explain the difference between the two measures.
Add your time
Estimate the hours spent on calls, visits and quotes for leads that didn't convert. It's a real cost even though nobody invoices you for it. The admin cost of winning work shows what to include.
Compare with your margin
If the typical profit on those jobs comfortably exceeds the cost per job won, the source pays. If it doesn't, it's costing you money.
For reference
Published lead prices, and what they become
The price per lead is the input. The cost per job won is the answer.
Platform pricing as published by Trades Grow, One Base Media, Sleepless Tradesman and SwiftLead, 2026. Rates change, so check current pricing before relying on these figures. Google Ads figures as published by PositionWorks (2025 UK home services benchmarks, roofing) and Aimpro Digital (2026). Click prices vary by area, service and how well the account is run.
What tips the balance
Six factors that make a lead worth more, or less
Job size and margin
A lead for a large job can justify a higher price than one for a small repair. Match what you pay to what the work is worth.
How many others get it
Shared leads cost less each but convert less often. Exclusive leads cost more but face less competition from the same source.
Qualification
Leads with a clear scope, location and timescale convert better than vague ones.
Your capacity to respond
A lead is only worth buying if you can reply quickly. Paying for enquiries you answer the next day wastes much of their value.
Your conversion rate
Know what share of leads you usually win. What is a good lead conversion rate? helps you judge yours.
The work you want
A lead for a job you'd rather not do is poor value at any price.
The part most people skip
Where the time cost hides
The time cost is the part most contractors leave out, and it's often the part that changes the answer. A lead that needs a phone call, a site visit, an evening of pricing and a couple of follow-up messages represents a real chunk of work before any money is earned. If you win one job in several, that effort is repeated for every lead you lose.
Travel matters too. An enquiry at the edge of your area can cost more in time and fuel than one nearby at a higher lead price. When you run the sum, put a rough value on your own hours, even if it's only what you'd pay someone else to do the same admin. It makes the comparison between sources far more honest.
Costs vary by trade and area. Roofing is covered in how much do roofing leads cost? Test small, measure cost per job won, and scale only what works.
The other option
Work you don't pay for upfront
Some contractors would rather not do this sum at all. In Mortaro's network there is no lead to pay for: no joining fee, no subscription and no charge per enquiry. We generate the enquiry, appoint one contractor to it, and handle the quotation, follow-up and payments. Our fee is added on top of your trade rate in the customer's quotation, so the cost of winning the work isn't yours to carry. See do you charge for leads?
The trade-off is that you price at trade rate and work to the network's standards, including same-day responses to new opportunities. That suits some businesses better than others.
Straight answers
Lead value questions
Is an expensive lead ever worth it?
Yes, if you convert it often and the job is large enough. Price per lead means little on its own; cost per job won set against your margin is what counts.
Should I count leads I never responded to?
Yes. If you paid for it, it's part of the cost of the jobs you won from that source.
For contractors
Tell us about your business
Your trade, the areas you cover and the size of work you take on. A person reads every enquiry, and if it looks like a fit we will send you the full application.