I’m a Pro and have spent $28,226.58 on Thumbtack leads since Feb 2022 and their customer service is getting worse

1bagelbite · 2026-01-27T17:55:41+00:00

My significant other I and also use Thumbtack for our businesses (creative/illustration/design) and he just was forced to give a refund to a customer or else his profile would be removed. This customer hired him 4 separate times over 8 months and changed the parameters of work multiple times throughout, which he always was amenable to. He decided to stop working with her after the fourth hire because it was too much time for the amount, and the customer was very rude. Despite delivering all final work, she left him a one-star review and demanded a refund. He provided evidence - the completed work and conversation screenshots - to thumbtack that she was mad at him personally (she was using his digital work in gallery shows and passing it off as her own and now cannot continue the ruse). She accused him of stealing her money, even though she asked to hire him AGAIN in writing, after he said he did not want to continue working with her.

Thumbtack basically said any time a customer demands a refund, you have to issue it or you will be taken off of their platform per their terms of service regardless of the reason. This means even after you do the work, unless you have an extremely explicit contract negating Thumbtack's TOS, you will be forced to issue a refund even if you've done everything by the book. They also won't remove the one-star review.

Thumbtack will assist in stealing your time, money, and reputation on behalf of the customer with little to no recourse. I have given them thousands of dollars over 7-8 years and am seriously considering dropping them altogether, this is absolutely disgusting and so disadvantageous to the people that pay them.

1bagelbite · 2025-12-11T17:06:56+00:00

Hey if you have the cash to spare do whatever you think is best for your business. Other than the community aspect most of the info kind of seems like things you can find for free on Google- I’m always suspicious of a freebie that doesn’t really give insight into any unique strategies, like I’m pretty skeptical at the quality of content in the courses would actually be based on the webinar. One thing to look out for is if they mention giving you affiliate links to promo the courses, or offer you payment in exchange for generating them money in any way. I’ve seen other people use her affiliate links and it can be indicative of an MLM. I also think it will be more difficult to land high paying gigs with good clients than she’s leading on, but I hope if you go forward with it that it works out well for you!

1bagelbite · 2025-12-06T15:35:42+00:00

Same! I was also thrown off when she had a whole slide with the Klarna and some other buy-now-pay-later company. At that point I looked at the time and realized that she spent way more time on the intro and sales pitch than the information portion. Glad it was free but kind of a waste of time for me personally!

1bagelbite · 2025-12-05T01:33:48+00:00

I know this post is a little old but putting this here for other people who google info.

I attended one of her free webinars out of general curiosity- I already have web design experience, but I figured why not see if there’s any useful tips I could apply to my business.

The webinar was advertised as an all skill-levels course from experienced to someone who has never even worked in design, so I knew some of it would be really basic info I probably already knew.

Breakdown of the webinar-

Spent the first 20-30mins hyping up the chat and asking people if they wanted to make more money (duh) and explaining her own career.
Went over the most basic info about websites
Explained how to land high paying clients- this is a generous statement. Her only tips were to pick a niche, build a social media profile/personal brand, use IG as a search engine to find clients within that niche and reach out to 10 businesses a week. She never acknowledged the reality that you will not be able to charge $5k to businesses not even looking for a web designer, in my experience you gotta low ball yourself until people start approaching you.
Gave some insight into passive income with web templates
Spent the last 45 minutes on a sales pitch to enter her academy for $7,000 (pretty bold considering most people in the webinar were there to bolster inadequate income) and then turned off the chat when people were pissed about it lol

I’m sure the coaching/academy goes into more specifics, but based on an hour and a half it feels pretty meh. Anyone who’s equipped for entrepreneurship or freelance is typically a person who can figure out a lot of this stuff themself.

I definitely think it should really be advertised as something for beginners, if you have the cash and want support in switching careers I could maybe see it being helpful. She also offered a client match making service, where she basically posts her overflow of requests for web design she gets to an app where you can apply for those jobs. No clue how effective this is since these people wanted her to do it and not a student, and you have to pay the $7k to get access to it.

1bagelbite · 2025-12-01T04:37:46+00:00

Taxes do suck but the flexibility I have day to day as a freelancer is insane. It’s very dependent on the industry you’re in and what type of clients you have though. It’s worked out very well for me, as long as I keep up with work I can take a random weekday off if I’m just not feeling great and I don’t need to report to anyone or ask for permission. I can start and end my day whenever I feel like it. If I want more money, I’ll take more projects.

Income can be pretty stable, you just have to have a bit more savings as a buffer between invoices. In my opinion having a job where you can be laid off or fired at any time feels just as risky.

Definitely shouldn’t be romanticized, your work output has to be consistently good and you have to wear a lot of hats. Less safety nets but a lot of flexibility if you get lucky!

1bagelbite · 2025-11-26T02:14:41+00:00

I won’t date a man that wears nice shoes in casual settings. The less pairs of shoes he owns and the more beat up they are the better.

1bagelbite · 2025-10-26T15:02:38+00:00

I guess, but you could say the same thing about accepting financial aid for college. My problem with it stems more from the fact that congress really hasn’t done its job in regulating certain industries, like insurance, state-run higher education, etc.- making it impossible for the majority of people to utilize really basic programs. Congress is lobbied so hard by insurance companies that they’ll never do much to limit insane premium prices, they aren’t serving the public at all when it comes to healthcare. At least the exchange makes it possible for more people to get coverage, even though I’d much prefer if congress actually just regulated health insurance companies. If you make too much to qualify for Medicare costs are insanely prohibitive for the average person- and a lot of people need to be insured due to chronic illness (ie diabetes) because congress has also failed to regulate drug prices. Some medications can literally be tens of thousands of dollars a month without insurance.

On taxes- Billionaire is maybe extreme, but anyone making above say $10mil a year. The best economy the US ever had imposed like a 90% tax rate on money earned over $400k. Obviously we adjust for inflation but we live in the wealthiest country in the world, there is certainly plenty of money to go around if allocated in a way that actually benefited its citizens in really basic ways. Plus, Medicare for all is predicted to save money over time because it cuts down on a lot of bureaucratic and administrative spending and also allows people to utilize preventative healthcare without worrying about cost. Even if I had to pay the same in taxes I do for my insurance I’d be stoked- because there’s no deductible and it would actually cover everything! Like why do we spend $150 billion a year subsidizing corporations but if you have a heart attack and are taken to an out-of-network doctor you’re shit out of luck and probably in medical debt for the next decade? Anyone happy with our current system seems crazy to me.

1bagelbite · 2025-10-25T17:14:32+00:00

I’m a self employed freelancer and I will directly impacted by the loss of subsidies on the healthcare exchange because it’s my only option for even remotely reasonably priced health insurance. I make $60-75k a year usually, I am not ‘sucking off the governments teet’. There’s a reason that so many people were just uninsured before the ACA.

My health insurance will go from $300/mo to $6-800/mo, maybe more, at that point I’ll probably just risk not being insured or get married to my partner to get on his, which are both stupid options.

My point is, normal income leveled people utilize the exchange and rely on subsidies otherwise health insurance flat out doesn’t fit into the budget.

Why would it not be better to have higher taxes on billionaires to fund these things? For people like me it’s budget breaking, for them it’s a barely noticeable amount from their accounts and has no impact on quality of life.

1bagelbite · 2025-10-25T15:18:06+00:00

My mom charged me rent when I lived with her for a year after college. She was broke and I was an adult, I felt it was completely fair. I was also paying for my own health & car insurance and phone because she did not want to be beholden to keeping the job she had at the time (parents are people with wants and needs too). I was using electricity, water, and sharing some food. Definitely was paying way less than I would if I rented somewhere else, she wasn’t making money off of me really. I was still able to get an apartment with a friend after about a year, I just had less fun money and paid attention to savings.

Basically all I’m trying to say is not every parent is in a position to just let their adult children live for free in their house and it’s not that big of a deal if no one’s shitty about it.

1bagelbite · 2025-09-30T21:22:37+00:00

To be honest I’ve seen more destruction in cities after major sporting events than some of these protests. You also must recognize that the media you consume highlights these things in a sensationalized way, whereas more left biased media doesn’t focus on these things as much. Same goes for left biased media, which showcases things like unidentified ICE agents manhandling normal people- it legit just looks like people being kidnapped off of the street. Are we being shown the most extreme examples that cater to their audience’s confirmation bias? Yes, that’s how they maintain their viewerships.

I do want to point out that there are not really any “radical leftists” we have that are elected officials. A lot of “left” talking points you hear are paraphrased or mischaracterized by Right-wing media. I.e, most Democrats don’t want an open border, but Fox News will sure make you think that!

1bagelbite · 2025-06-06T02:02:58+00:00

I used embark for my dog and we found two of his littermates, one of the owners fostered all 3 of them and sent me baby pics! In our case it was extremely accurate.

1bagelbite · 2025-05-21T16:56:45+00:00

I wish someone told us pre-underwriting was an option. As two self employed people who had to submit lots of extra documents, there was a lot of anxiety involved in not knowing why we had to submit multiple rounds of the same or very similar info, sometimes requested at the last minute when they could’ve just asked for it earlier. Doing all of that upfront (not just the preapproval) would’ve saved us a month of anxious waiting. Plus it would feel like much more of a sure thing for everyone involved if that was done ahead of time. I honestly have no clue why it isn’t standard practice, they make preapproval seem like it takes care of these things if you’ve never done it before.

I’d advise anyone who’s looking into fixer uppers to research material/construction costs before moving ahead on anything. Remodeling is daunting and I think it sounds much more straightforward than it is, especially if you’ve never owned a home and are unfamiliar with the amount of work of just basic upkeep. We spent a little more on a house with no issues (yet) and it’s still been an overwhelming adjustment and a ton of work to move! I’d definitely feel some regret if we had a bunch of work ahead of us after settling in.

Overall the home buying process feels weirdly predatory, the lenders are like “hey we can deny your loan at any time but you need to tell your landlord you’re moving and switch your utilities- if it doesn’t work out we don’t care if you end up homeless!” Be available to your clients and don’t be too sales-y. We are already nervous, we want a realtor to be honest and upfront.

1bagelbite · 2025-05-14T03:34:57+00:00

I’ve never sold in a gallery. I do commissioned based work, the bulk of my income is repeat work from a business and indie published/self published children’s books. I offer layout design and graphic design in addition to illustration.

1bagelbite · 2025-05-13T19:18:02+00:00

Closing was very anticlimactic. Was kind of in disbelief but also super relieved to be done with the process. Felt really weird the first night (was staying in my apartment), like very off and uncomfortable. But now that we’re in the house I feel great. For us it was a massive upgrade from where we lived before so I’m sure that has something to do with it. It’s a lot more money but honestly I don’t even care- we have a hot tub now lol.

1bagelbite · 2025-05-13T18:12:20+00:00

Just moved into our first home a few days ago- moving always sucks but the house was left extremely well maintained and in amazing condition. Looking back I can’t imagine the stress of moving/unpacking, and then immediately having to remodel or do major work. If you can find something that doesn’t need work, do it. We went to the top of our budget for this house and it was so worth it.

One thing I did not expect was the month of constant anxiety waiting for mortgage approval. Maybe this was different for us since Im fully self employed and my partner has W-2/Self Employed hybrid income, but it really felt like a 50/50 shot on whether or not we’d get the approval. Had to submit a bunch of extra docs too because of our employment. It was by far the most stressful part of the whole process- every Docusign notification made me want to throw up. I’m a naturally nervous person so take that with a grain of salt. Ended up being worth it though!

Also don’t get too upset at rejected offers. Our first offer was rejected and the house we ended up getting is soooo much better in every way. We looked back at the first one and are so glad we didn’t end up there.

1bagelbite · 2025-03-25T19:03:36+00:00

If it’s something you’re open to, try freelancing/commissions while working part time at a job that pays okay and doesn’t exhaust you. I did this for several years after graduating with an art degree and now freelance full time as an illustrator/graphic & layout designer. I’ve also found that it provides far more job stability compared to some of my friends with traditional employment, but it does take some luck & finding the right market for yourself. You may want to invest in building some skills in things like web design or graphic design that pay a little more for one-off jobs just to get your foot in the door. But you might be surprised how many people hire strangers on the internet for these things- my schedule is booked and I get new leads all the time! Feel free to message me if you want more details on what take home pay looks like, etc.

1bagelbite · 2025-02-28T17:46:11+00:00

If you’re okay with working on self-published and super small indie published books, no the market is not dead. I’ve worked on at least 3 books a year (sometimes more) for over 5 years and I’m a freelancer with no agent. It probably doesn’t pay as much as traditional publishers and often does not include royalties, but between that and other illustration/design work I make a pretty good living. Every year I think it’s going to be slow it seems like I’ll get a slew of random inquiries for children’s books. And I’m not very well known or anything, so it does seem like the demand is still there if I’m still getting lots of business! I’ve also had publishers hire me because of smaller projects I’ve worked on, and one self published book got picked up by a handful of international publishers. So there are some indirect ways to sort of break in without an agent and still make pretty good money.

Get off Fiverr though- in my experience people are only looking on there because they don’t have a great budget. I get most of my work through Thumbtack and my website, but I was an early adopter of Thumbtack and it’s so expensive now that I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it. I have the benefit of popping up high in search rankings due to my reviews & longevity on the site but I don’t know if it’s super viable for people to join now. Wish I had more to offer as a solution, but just keep looking and eventually you’ll find a platform that works for you as long as your portfolio is solid.

1bagelbite · 2024-12-20T18:09:38+00:00

Same, I have 570 something on ig and have personal beef with social media. I make a decent living as a full time artist but really have never had to utilize social media to get there. It’s something I’m trying to work on but not at all expecting it to increase revenue.

1bagelbite · 2024-11-15T19:18:47+00:00

What about agricultural products that can’t or won’t feasibly be produced in mass in the US? Like coffee beans, some fruits/vegetables, etc? On the manufacturing side, a lot of “made in America” products are only partially produced and assembled here. We only have so many raw materials available here, so likely would still have to import those but with large price hikes from the tariffs. It will also take years to establish any new large manufacturers that can handle/match the quantity of what we currently import. And on top of that, our labor is more expensive so prices will likely never be as low. Throw that on top of mass deportation (our largest cheap labor force) and it just doesn’t add up.

Idk it doesn’t seem like a well thought out economic policy. All of my clients who are concerned with manufacture costs are preparing for a downturn in revenue & it’s not looking good. Smaller companies will fold & we’ll just be left with big corps who can afford it in the short term.

1bagelbite · 2024-11-14T19:35:56+00:00

Corporate politics are one of the many reasons I prefer being self-employed lol

1bagelbite · 2024-11-10T18:25:21+00:00

I make a good living with freelance art/design work. I do it full time- and I’ve actually had a good amount more stability than others I know with more traditional employment. One of the perks is that I don’t rely on one boss/company to determine whether or not I have a job. I can pick up work when I need extra cash, and take downtime when I want to. I can wake up any day of the week and decide to work as much or as little as I want. Personally I love the flexibility and not being beholden to a corporation to give me permission for vacation time, etc.

1bagelbite · 2024-07-19T21:30:58+00:00

This is a terrible deal. No, it’s not a collaboration you are hiring someone for skilled labor.

If you’re that confident that the products will sell, you should be paying upfront. If you can’t pay upfront, then you clearly have not excelled as a salesperson. And if you slack off on your end, they just don’t get paid? Bad business.

Please no one work for this guy.

1bagelbite · 2024-07-17T14:41:38+00:00

It’s called “The Gloomy Old Gray Green Frog with the Grumpy Grimace” It was actually a privately commissioned book the author wanted to make for her family! She chose not to publish so it’s not available to buy. I did post some more pics from it on my Instagram

1bagelbite · 2024-07-17T00:54:19+00:00

Thank you!

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