Bark Leads: What They Really Cost an Installer

Bark gets mentioned a lot when I talk to installers, usually in the same breath as Checkatrade. The story tends to be the same: it looked cheap, the credits went quickly, and it was hard to say how many jobs actually came out of it. Here's how it works and how to find out whether it's paying for itself.

How Bark works

1. 1A homeowner fills in a request on Bark: what they need, where, and some details.
2. 2Bark shows that request to businesses in the category and area.
3. 3Each request has a price in credits. You decide whether to spend them to reply.
4. 4If you reply, you get the homeowner's phone number and email.
5. 5From there, it's you and up to four other businesses trying to win the job.

Credits and what they cost

According to Bark's UK help centre at the time of writing (September 2026):

• The standard price is £1.80 per credit, cheaper in bigger packs.
• Each lead's credit cost depends on the service, the size of the job, the area and how ready the customer seems to hire. You see the price before you reply.
• Credits bought from 1 November 2025 expire three months after purchase, and unused credits can't be refunded.
• Bark says it will return your credits if you don't win any business with your first pack. Check the current terms before relying on it.

You're one of up to five

Bark's help centre says a customer can receive up to five responses. You can see how many have already replied before you spend your credits.

That changes the maths completely. With five firms ringing the same homeowner:

• Speed matters most. The first firm to get through often sets the price.
• The homeowner is comparing you directly, usually on price first.
• Some homeowners get overwhelmed and stop answering the phone.
• You pay the same whether you're first or fifth, and whether you win or not.

Cost per job, not cost per lead

The only number that tells you whether Bark works for you:

Total spent on credits ÷ jobs won from Bark = cost per booked job.

"£20 a lead" sounds cheap. "£400 a job" is the real number. Whether £400 is good depends entirely on what you make on the job. For a £6,000 gate install, it might be fine. For a £700 loft ladder, it isn't.

What installers tell us about Bark

From conversations with installers. Personal experiences, not a survey, and yours may be different:

• "The credits disappear fast." A few replies to requests that go nowhere and the pack is gone.
• "Half of them never answer." You've paid to reply, but the homeowner has already spoken to someone else, or stopped picking up.
• "It's a race to the bottom." With several firms quoting, it's hard to win on quality.
• "I can't tell if it's working." Without logging every reply, it's difficult to know what you've spent against what you've won.

How to test Bark properly

1. 1Set a fixed budget for the test, say one pack, and don't top up until you've counted the results.
2. 2Only reply to requests that match the job you want, in the area you want. Skip the rest.
3. 3Favour requests where few or no others have replied yet.
4. 4Ring within minutes of replying. Five minutes beats five hours.
5. 5Log every reply: date, credits spent, spoke to them (yes/no), quoted, won, job value.
6. 6At the end, work out cost per booked job and compare it with your profit per job.

When Bark makes sense

• You need work quickly and have nothing else bringing in enquiries.
• You can ring every lead within minutes, all day.
• Your prices are competitive and you're happy to quote against others.
• You're testing a new area before putting more money into it.

If you install something visual and high value, and you want steady work of one type in one area, enquiries that only you receive usually work out better over time. That's what Local Jobs does: adverts in your name, from your own Meta account, so the homeowner contacts you and nobody else. See how it works, or compare with whether Checkatrade is worth it and what home improvement leads really cost.

Common questions

How much does a Bark lead cost?

Each lead has a credit cost that depends on the service, job size, area and how ready the customer is to hire. At the time of writing, credits cost £1.80 each at the standard UK rate, cheaper in bigger packs. You see the cost before you reply.

Are Bark leads exclusive?

No. Up to five businesses can reply to the same request.

Do Bark credits expire?

Yes. Credits bought from 1 November 2025 expire three months after purchase, and unused credits can't be refunded.

Is Bark good for installers?

It can work for smaller, quicker jobs if you're fast on the phone and competitive on price. For high-value specialist installs, work out your cost per booked job over a fair test before committing.