Hi and welcome! BidMyAtoZ in now officially live with our website and blog. We've been operating for quite a while already but were mainly focused on our first service, BidMyCleaning.com that launched in April 2008.
My name is Candice and I will be the most frequent voice on our blog, although I will be joined from time to time by Gavin who will blog about our technology and new feature launches, Ray our CEO who will share his insights into the online service industry and our place in it and O'Brian who is our provider and operations expert.
With the launch of BidMyCleaning.com we became the first online marketplace for services that allows you to receive instant bids from several local service providers, review them by reading their profile information and customer reviews and then schedule online immediately.
The internet had made finding and reviewing service providers easier, but there had been little improvement in the process of getting comparative pricing, scheduling the services and making payment – certainly compared to the point, click and wait for delivery that we enjoy when purchasing products online. Living in an eBay and Amazon world where books, clothes, music and a host of other physical goods can be found and purchased in just minutes, we have come to appreciate the convenience and time saving the internet can offer. We have come to expect the ability to log in to our account at any time to make changes, view our transaction history and update our preferences.
So, why was there no similar online offering for services that combined comparison shopping, ratings and reviews and immediate transactability together with the convenience of 24/7 account management. When Craiglist launched they provided the ability to find many providers with a quick search but you'd still have to e-mail or call each of the providers to get a bid and then after choosing one, to schedule a service. There was also no easy way to know whether you were dealing with a reputable provider that would render a quality service. Sites like AngiesList, Yelp, Kudzu now provide the ability to find providers and read customer reviews but once you find one you like you still have to complete the rest of the process offline. Recently some new sites began to offer you the ability to schedule and make payment online but you can only do this with one single service provider so you have to know who you want to use.
Our vision for BidMyAtoZ is to make it quick, easy and convenient for anyone to connect with a service provider and provide the tools to schedule an appointment and manage an ongoing relationship over time. We set out to build a marketplace where you can go to find any one of a whole host of services and from one account manage your relationships with all your service providers whether it be your maid, your gardener or your pest control provider. If you move, your account will move with you and it will be as easy as logging in and doing a new search for local providers to get you all set up with your regular services.
We hope you join us as we grow our marketplace from our first service, BidMyCleaning.com (maid service, window cleaning and carpet cleaning) to a marketplace where your every service need will be represented. Watch this space for announcements about new launches, new features and any other news and insights we have to share. Visit us here to join in the conversation about how we can make our marketplace truly meet your needs.