Home improvement is a popular task that people like to do in their spare time. During the COVID pandemic, with families spending more time at home than ever before, it’s easy to take notice of things around the home that could be changed or improved. Of course, major home improvement tasks can’t be completed without the help of qualified, experienced tradies.
Finding a good tradie is the first challenge faced by people interested in home improvement. They want to find someone reliable who is capable of handling the task and deliver exceptional results - all at a reasonable price. With the help of Hipages, over three million Australians have changed the way they find and hire trusted tradies. But, what exactly is Hipages and how does it work? What services does it offer? We have put this blog together to answer all these questions and more.
What is Hipages?
Hipages (or “Home Improvement Pages”) is an online platform that helps connect Australia with trusted tradies to simplify home improvement. For homeowners, Hipages provides a better, smarter way to connect to local tradies and get a job done well. Conversely, for tradies, Hipages helps them to grow their business by providing quality leads from customers looking for a specific trade. Currently, they generate a huge amount of traffic, with 1.5 million visitors every month.
The History of Hipages
Hipages was founded in 2004 by David Vitek and Roby Sharon-Zipser. The pair had recognised the value of developing a simple system to connect local businesses with consumers. They decided to start Home Improvement Pages, which was rebranded as Hipages in 2011. From then, the success of Hipages continued to grow. They introduced the Hipages app in 2013 with the aim of making it even easier and more convenient to hire tradies on the go. In the same year, they also entered into a partnership with IKEA, helping customers to locate tradesmen to install their kitchen cabinets and benches. By the time the 2017 financial year had ended, Hipages had seen massive growth and generated $2 billion worth of work for Australian tradespeople - making it the number one website for finding and hiring tradespeople in Australia.
How does Hipages work?
Customers can simply search for the service they require and the postcode in which the task should be completed, enter a few details about the task, and quickly get multiple quotes from professional tradies. In order to choose the best tradie for the job, users can compare profiles and verified recommendations to find the perfect match. With a whopping 100,000 jobs being requested on average every month, and a job posted every 23 seconds, Hipages creates $2 billion in job value for Australian tradies annually. Hipages currently has 34, 000 painters subscribed to its service - and with 16 years of experience in the industry, it’s easy to see why!
What can I do on Hipages?
Get Quotes
It’s easy to get a quote on Hipages, no matter what service you’re looking for. You start by searching the trade you’re looking for, such as plumber, electrician, builder, etc. Then you enter the location in which you need the task to be done. You also specify when you need the work to be done by choosing an option from ‘Emergency’ to ‘Next few months’ or in between. After entering specific task descriptions and details such as your budget, that’s it! Tradies will get in contact with you to provide their quotes, so all you have to do is sit back and wait for the phone call.
List your business
If you’re a business, you can join Hipages and let the work come to you. With new job leads being posted every 23 seconds, you can use these leads to choose which jobs you’re interested in. You can build your digital profile, showcasing your work, services, and reviews from past customers. For businesses, there are package options which you can choose from depending on your budget - starting from $99 per month on a six month contract. You don’t have to worry about paying commission either, with Hipages’ assurance that you won’t have to pay commission ever. If you don’t know where to start, Hipages also offers help constructing text or graphics for your profile.
Browse categories
Given the huge range of services available through Hipages, an easy way to find what you’re looking for is to browse through the range of categories on their website. Air Conditioning to Windows encompasses the wide range of categories on Hipages - almost 100 in total!
Read articles
Hipages has a wide variety of articles about different topics for you to browse. The topics range from how to paint, how to keep your room cool during summer, cost guides, and everything in between. If it’s to do with home improvement, the likelihood is that you’ll find it here! Articles are divided into categories including Kitchens, Bathrooms, Gardening, and Decking, so you can easily navigate through to find any topic you’re looking for.
Hipages app
The Hipages app allows you to grow business networks on the go. Lead invites are sent straight to your phone, allowing you to receive notifications when local job leads are posted near you. You can manage job leads directly in the app, as well as give quotes and chat to customers. By creating your business profile on the app, you can showcase your work and your recommendations and ratings, building trust with your customers along the way. Chatting with customers is instant and easy through the in-app messenger features.
What is the difference between Hipages and Airtasker?
Hipages runs on a similar basis as Airtasker. However, Airtasker focuses on a wider range of tasks that are not limited to a particular category while Hipages specialises in tradespeople, building and construction services.
Pricing and how it works
Cost of services
Individual users and businesses set prices for jobs and tasks on both Hipages and Airtasker. Airtasker provides recommended price guides for certain work however there is no obligation for prices to be set according to those guidelines.
Membership fees
Both Airtasker and Hipages charge businesses to use their services. Airtasker retains 15% of a job’s value as a service fee. To prevent users from avoiding this fee, Airtasker does not allow users to exchange contact information such as addresses, emails, or phone numbers directly through the app’s messaging system. Hipages also charges a fee when allowing businesses to provide a quote to the customer and receive their contact details. Although tradies and businesses receive all leads for free, they are still charged to quote - whether or not the customer chooses to hire the business.
How much does a Hipages membership cost?
Checking membership costs can help you stay within your budget. There are different types of memberships which you can choose from depending on your needs. Although plans have a 6 month contract term, the good news is that you can upgrade your plan at any time. Most painters begin with the $199 per month plan, which they can easily upgrade at a later time.
Minimum plan
- $125 lead credit
- You can add as many categories as you want
Basic plan
- $250 lead credit
- You can add up to three postcodes
- Set a 20km radius
$299/month plan
- $375 lead credit
$399/month plan
- $500 lead credit
$499/month plan
- $635 lead credit
$599/month plan
- $750 lead credit
$699/month plan
- $875 lead credit
$1599/month plan
- The largest plan available
- $2000 lead credit
What are lead credits?
A maximum of three painters receive the same lead, whilst only one will be successful in getting the job. If you are unsuccessful in getting the job, you still have pay for the leads itself with lead credits. But, what exactly are lead credits? The answer is simple, each plan has a set amount of lead credits which are then deducted when you receive a lead. The amount of credits that each lead costs will depend, they can range from as low as 12 credits to as high as 99 credits.
Hipages Reviews
Reviews of Hipages are generally positive - with an average of 4.1 stars on ProductReview and 3.3 on TrustPilot. A history of positive reviews is a good way to see that previous customers were satisfied with the service they received. However, the best way to find out if Hipages is to try it for yourself!
Is Hipages trustworthy?
Before you decide to create an account on any website, you’ll want to be able to know that it’s trustworthy. As an established business that has been around for more than a decade, with over 130, 000 registered users, Hipages has a solid reputation as a trustworthy site.
Trust and Quality Team
In order to check the qualifications of all businesses and tradespeople registered to the site, Hipages relies on a ‘Trust and Quality’ team who verify their users by screening them via a phone call. After the user is verified, they receive a ‘Verified’ icon on their profile. This helps customers rest assured that they are dealing with a legitimate business. If a tradie has many customer complaints, Hipages will contact them for mediation. However, only positive reviews are published on Hipages, so it’s important to keep this in mind. This means that you can’t communicate with others and hear their experiences unless they are positive.
