Group buys: book with your neighbours and pay less

When enough homes nearby need the same job, a pro can do them all in one trip and charge less for each. Join a group buy, watch the price drop as more homes join, and pay only if it goes ahead.

Gutter cleaning, furnace tune-ups, window washing: jobs every house on a street needs at about the same time. A pro who can do ten of them in one area spends less time driving between jobs, and a group buy passes that saving on to the homes that join.

How it works

A group buy is one job, in one area, in one month. Its price is a ladder: for example, $149 each at 5 homes, $129 at 10 and $109 at 20. You join with a tap, and the price can only go down from the one you joined at.

• If enough homes join by the deadline, it goes ahead at the price it reached. Handyman books the visit with the pro and asks for payment the usual way.
• If not enough join, it's called off, you owe nothing, and you're told either way.

What your neighbours see

Nothing about you. A group buy shows a month, an area, how many homes are in and the price ladder. It never shows names, streets, exact dates or "your neighbour joined": a trade, a day and a street together can point to one house, so a group buy simply doesn't show them.

Matched to what your home needs

Handyman suggests a group buy when the job is on your home's plan and due, and stops suggesting it once it's done. The gutter cleaning group buy turns up for a home whose gutters are due, not for the neighbour who had them done last week.

Ask for one in your area

Don't see the job you need? Ask for it. Requests from the same area are added up, and when enough homes nearby want the same thing, the team sets up a group buy for them with a local pro.

Where it runs

Group buys run where Handyman works with local pros, and anywhere else you can still ask for one, which counts toward opening it. Joining is free. Add your home to see what's running near you.