How bidding works

Once your job is posted, verified pros in that trade can bid on it. A bid is not a phone call — it arrives in the app with a price, what the pro intends to do, and how long they expect it to take.

Nobody calls you out of nowhere

On lead-selling platforms, one form submission can trigger a run of cold calls, because the platform sold your details to several contractors at once. FastHands does not sell leads, so that cannot happen. Only the pros you allowed to bid can reach you, and only through the app until you sign an agreement.

How to compare bids properly

The lowest number is not automatically the best bid, and the highest is not automatically a rip-off. What matters is whether they are quoting the same work.

• Check the scope matches. If one bid includes replacing the shut-off valve and another does not, they are not the same job.
• Look at what happens if they find something behind the wall. A bid that says nothing about this is a bid that will surprise you.
• Read the timeline honestly. The fastest start is not always the best crew.
• Ask a question in chat. How someone answers before they have your money is a good predictor of how they answer after.

Bids are locked to the pro who makes them

A contractor who bids on your job has locked that lead — no one else can outbid them on it. This matters to you, not just to them: it means the person quoting is not padding the price to cover the four other leads they paid for and lost. You can read the contractor side of this in how bidding and locked leads work.

Choosing

When you pick a bid, you and the contractor sign a digital agreement covering scope, price, and timeline before any work starts. Payment goes into escrow at that point — see how paying through escrow works, which is worth reading before you hire rather than after.