Deals for local services, which include handymen, painters, portrait photographers, wedding planners and house cleaners, make up 11% of all Groupons, but based on a small study by Thumbtack, they don’t actually save consumers money.
Thumbtack is a directory of service providers that helps users find and vet those professionals. The company looked at 50 different service providers and their rates. Twenty two professionals charged $23.50 an hour, while the lowest bid came in at $17.50 an hour. Then Thumbtack compared those rates to Groupon. The rates on the higher end of the spectrum were, for example, still $1 less than the Groupon deal for two hours of home cleaning services in Phoenix for $49, which boils down to $24.50/hour.
Similarly, a Groupon for two hours of maid service in Chicago for $45, which comes down to $22.50/hour from a regular rate of $45/hour, seems a bit on the high side; bids on local service site Thumbtack ranged from $16-$20/hour.
