Plenty of people on Facebook ask their friends for recommendations for an appliance-repair person, air-conditioning contractor or kitchen-remodeling company. Now a collaboration between Handy, HomeAdvisor and Porch on Facebook Marketplace is meant to make it easier to connect with home services providers.
Consumers can search and be matched with home services providers and request quotes through Facebook Messenger. According to Facebook, 1 in 3 people on the site use Facebook Marketplace already. The new service will allow users to browse through thousands of providers.
The site will include ratings, reviews, credentials and location information for the service providers. Users can request several simultaneous quotes by describing their project and sending it to several providers at once.
Facebook Marketplace bridges the gap between search and social, said Chris Terrill, CEO of ANGI Homeservices, the parent company of HomeAdvisor.
Not everyone, however, is excited about the new service.
“While this might appear convenient for the average user, the reality is that it’s essentially just a referral process,” said Daniel Shaked, CEO and founder of ClipCall, a provider of a mobile platform that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to facilitate home repair and improvement projects. “What these companies should be building instead is a controlled marketplace that provides a cohesive and secure platform that connects users with certified home repair professionals from the beginning to the end of the transaction, which minimizes the risk of subpar services being provided.”
For more information, visit facebook.com/marketplace/learn-more.