You Pay When an Inspection Actually Happens
By Luis Johnson, founder of Lunere Digital. Published
The unit you pay for is one qualified inspection that actually takes place. Not a lead, not a call, not a form fill, and not a click. If the homeowner isn't at the house when your estimator gets there, that's not an inspection and it's not a charge.
The reason the unit matters more than the price is simple: a unit you can count yourself is a bill you can check. You already know how many inspections happened last week.
The short version
- The charge follows an inspection that happened, not a lead that arrived.
- Qualified means he owns the home, named a symptom, has a timeframe, decides, and is in your area.
- Billing runs weekly in arrears, with the names on it.
- No-show or not qualified, reported within 72 hours, is refunded with no argument.
- Nothing is charged monthly, so a quiet month is a cheap month.
What has to be true before it counts
A booking is only billable when all of this holds
- The homeowner owns the house.
- He named a real symptom off the list, not "nothing yet".
- He has a timeframe, not "just researching".
- He is the one who decides, or the person who decides with him is flagged to attend.
- The address is inside the ZIP codes you gave me.
- It's a dated slot on your calendar with a time and a name, not a callback request.
- He isn't already your customer and not a duplicate of a booking you already have.
Why I bill weekly and not at the moment of booking
Because the 72 hour window has to close first. Charging you the second a slot is booked would mean billing you for appointments that haven't happened yet, and then arguing about refunds afterwards.
So the charge runs once a week, in arrears, covering the bookings whose window has already closed. You get the list in the same message. A line you don't recognize is a line you can dispute before you've paid it.
What a lead vendor charges for instead
| Model | What triggers the charge | Who carries the risk of a bad one |
|---|---|---|
| Shared leads | A form fill or a call, sold to several shops | You, unless you win a credit dispute |
| Pay per lead, exclusive | A form fill, sold once | You, the appointment is still your job |
| Agency retainer | The first of the month | You, every month, booked or not |
| Pay per qualified inspection | An appointment that happened | Me, I'm not paid for the ones that don't |
If you don't get qualified inspections, I don't get paid. That's not a slogan, it's the invoice: the fee and the thing you wanted are the same event.
What if the homeowner cancels the morning of?
Tell me within 72 hours and it's refunded. No form to fill in and no argument about whose fault it was, unless your own side caused the miss.
What if he shows up but isn't serious?
If he failed one of the qualification criteria, report it in the same window and it comes off. If he was qualified and simply didn't buy, that one stands, because closing the job is your half.
Can I cap how many I get in a month?
Yes. The volume moves with the ad budget, so a full calendar means we turn the spend down, and a quiet week means we turn it up.
Read next
- 10+ Booked Inspections Every Month. Or I Pay You Back.The guarantee in full, with every condition on it: when the count starts, the spend it applies at, the cap on what comes back, and how you claim it.
- Pay Per Lead vs Pay Per AppointmentPay per lead vs pay per appointment for foundation contractors: what each billing trigger really buys, who chases the homeowner, and which one fits your shop.
- What This Costs, and How the Math WorksHow the money works: a one time setup, then a flat fee per qualified inspection that happens, no retainer, and ad spend that goes to the platform on your own card.