Sealed-bid service marketplace
The price comes down
when the envelope
stays sealed.
Bidmark is a nationwide sealed-bidding marketplace for every kind of service job — from a half-day handyman visit to a six-figure commercial build-out. Customers post the work. Licensed, insured pros post competing bids in private. Prices fall through real head-to-head competition rather than being pitched lead by lead.
Or, to see the mechanic without signing anything: open the live demo
- Bids per post
- 3–8
- Typical window
- 3–14 d
- Vetted states
- 50
Bids unsealed at deadline — ranked, anonymized, then surfaced to the project owner.
How it works
Post the scope. We verify the pros. You open the bids.
Bidmark is structured the way sealed bidding has always worked — the only difference is that the envelopes are digital and the window is yours to set.
- Step 0101
Post the scope.
Describe the work, the site constraints, and the bid window. Photos, drawings, and an inspection window help — the better the brief, the sharper the bids that come back.
- Step 0202
We verify the pros.
Only contractors with an active license on file and current insurance in the trade and state of the posting can see it. We re-check on every new bid so an expired license fails the gate.
- Step 0303
Window closes. You open the bids.
At the deadline the sealed envelopes are unsealed in front of you, ranked by price. You pick a winner. No cold calls, no chase, no negotiation dragged across three callbacks.
See Step 03 in motion: a live sealed-bid window counting down to reveal.
What changed
Side-by-side with the lead-auction incumbents.
Built specifically for the price-shopping fatigue and lead-quality complaints that frustrate users of today’s pay-per-lead marketplaces — and for the contractors who have been on the receiving end of them.
Shared leads, sideways prices.
- Leads
- Shared with 4–15 contractors competing over one phone call.
- Price pressure
- Sideways: contractors anchor to the cheapest bid they see first.
- Identity
- Opaque. Lead sellers rarely vet licensing once, let alone per job.
- Fee shape
- Flat per lead, regardless of the work’s actual dollar value.
- Visibility
- Your project details are circulated before you pick a winner.
Sealed bids, downward prices.
- Bids
- Sealed envelopes, opened only when the window closes.
- Price pressure
- Downward: every contractor prices blind against the market.
- Identity
- License + insurance verified once and re-checked per trade and state.
- Fee shape
- Tiered and scaled to the dollar value and complexity of the job.
- Visibility
- Your scope stays inside the bid window you set.
The verifier step
Sealed bids only work
if the bidders are real.
A sealed window is meaningless if anonymous bidders can stash their license. Step 2 of every Bidmark posting is the same: a license check, an insurance check, and a running record across jobs.
The verifier step is what makes the price pressure on Bidmark go down rather than sideways. On a pay-per-lead site, a low-ball bid wins on price alone; here, a low-ball bid has to come from a contractor whose license, insurance, and job history all clear.
License on file, by trade and state.
Every Bidmark pro clears a one-time license check before they can submit a single bid. We cross-reference the issuing board and re-verify on each new posting — so an expired or suspended license fails the gate, not the project.
Insurance current at the time of bid.
General liability and, where the trade requires it, workers’ comp coverage has to be in force when the envelope is opened. We pull the certificate of insurance at submission and surface it on the ranked-bid card.
A continuous record across jobs.
Verification isn’t a one-shot sticker. A contractor who cuts corners absorbs the cost on the next envelope, because their Bidmark history follows the bid. Bad bids don’t stay invisible.
Fee structure
Modest fees,
tiered to the job.
A $500 handyman visit should not carry the same access price as a $200,000 commercial build-out. Both sides of the marketplace pay a tiered fee calibrated to the dollar value and complexity of the engagement — so the marketplace price stays fair on every scale.
Fees are per side. The same tier applies to the customer posting the work and the pro posting the bid, so the marketplace has no incentive to either side.
Source-of-truth numbers live in your onboarding paperwork. The figures here reflect the published tier schedule at launch.
Handyman visits, single-room repairs, small installs.
Lawn care, painting, hauling, mid-size remodels.
Restoration, kitchens, electrical rewire, additions.
Multi-trade build-outs, land clearing, transport logistics.
Customers
Bring the envelope with you.
Tell us the scope, the site address, the dollar range, and the bid window you have in mind. We’ll reply with a tier quote and the matching contractor queue for your state and trade.
Average reply time during onboarding: under one business day.
Pros
Get on the bid list.
Send your trade, state, and license. Once your insurance certificate is on file and your license clears, sealed bids in your categories start landing in your inbox. No per-lead fee, no auction to undercut you on.
Or see it first: open the live demo