Who's standing between you and your customers
Twenty trades, and the platform taking a cut in each one. Rows marked ● are where it hurts most: a customer worth a lot, a steep cut, and buyers who search locally.
| Trade | In the way | How it bleeds them |
|---|---|---|
| ● Hair, nails, lash & brow | Booksy · Vagaro · StyleSeat · Fresha | A cut of every new client the marketplace sends you |
| Barbers | Booksy · Squire | Marketplace fees, and no loyalty to your chair |
| ● Med spas & aesthetics | Groupon · RealSelf · Mindbody | Deep discounts that bring in bargain hunters who never rebook |
| Massage & day spas | Mindbody · Groupon · SpaFinder | Booking fees on top of discounting |
| Gyms, yoga, pilates | ClassPass · Mindbody | A fraction of what a direct member is worth, per visit |
| ● PT, chiro & rehab | Groupon · Zocdoc · Healthgrades | Per-booking fees, plus paying to appear on someone else’s site |
| Cosmetic dentistry | Groupon · aligner lead-gen · Zocdoc | Discount patients and purchased leads |
| ● Trades — plumbing, HVAC, electrical | Angi · Thumbtack · Porch · Yelp | A subscription, then the same lead sold to several competitors |
| Landscaping & lawn care | Angi · Thumbtack · Nextdoor | Pay per lead, straight into a price race |
| Cleaning services | Thumbtack · TaskRabbit · Handy | Shared leads and a race to the bottom |
| ● Movers | Angi · Thumbtack · moving-lead brokers | One quote request sold to four companies at once |
| Auto repair | RepairPal · Yelp · openbay | Referral fees, and customers comparing on price alone |
| ● Restaurants & takeout | DoorDash · Uber Eats · Grubhub · Toast | A cut of every order, including your regulars |
| Hotels, B&Bs & short lets | Booking.com · Expedia · Airbnb · Vrbo | High commission — and the platform owns the guest |
| Tours & experiences | Viator · GetYourGuide · Groupon | Sold well below your own rate |
| Wedding vendors | The Knot · WeddingWire · Zola | Listing fees and pay-per-lead |
| Event entertainment | GigSalad · Thumbtack · The Bash | Commission and lead fees |
| Tutors | Wyzant · Varsity Tutors · Superprof | Commission on every lesson, indefinitely |
| Pet grooming, walking & sitting | Rover · Wag · booking apps | A platform fee on every booking, repeat clients included |
| Photographers | Thumbtack · The Knot · Yelp | Pay per lead |
Why those five
A customer worth a lot, a steep cut, and people who search locally. Everything else is a worse version of the same trade.
Paying to be one of four
A subscription and a fee for a lead three competitors are calling at the same moment. An exclusive, direct inquiry is not a better version of that — it is a different product.
High ticket, done with Groupon
The discount brings in someone shopping on price who never returns at full price. They know it, and most of them are already looking for the way out.
A patient is a plan of care, not a visit
One new patient books a course of sessions, so a direct inquiry is worth several times the headline figure — and several times the platform's cut.
High ticket, sold four times
Expensive, one-time, and the same quote request goes to several companies. Arriving first and alone is worth more here than almost anywhere.
The easiest first yes
A familiar commission model and heavy repeat business, so the cost of renting the relationship compounds visibly. Usually the quickest conversation to have.
Some of these trades cannot say what they like
Med spas and dental practices advertise under FTC rules on substantiation and endorsements, state medical- and dental-board advertising rules that differ line by line between states, and HIPAA the moment a patient is identifiable — a before-and-after photo or a review reply naming a procedure can be a disclosure. Attorneys and financial advisers work under their own regulators again.
Content generated for those trades needs guardrails from the first draft, not a review at the end, because the exposure lands on the business rather than on us.
βWave has a compliance filter in the generation path for exactly this reason. It is the least glamorous thing in the product and the one most likely to keep a client out of trouble. It is not legal advice and does not replace your own counsel — it stops the obvious things reaching a draft.
Which one is in your way?
We read your live site and name them. Free, read-only, about ninety seconds.