How Sealed Bidding Works
GroundBid uses sealed bidding: when you post a job, providers submit their price without seeing what anyone else bid. You only see how many bids have come in, not the amounts, until you're ready to review them. Here's exactly how that works from posting to payout.
1. Post your job
Add photos, video, a pinned map location, and square footage. The more complete this is, the more confidently a provider can price it — vague or incomplete jobs tend to get fewer bids, not lower prices.
2. Bidding opens for 24 hours
The moment your job is published, a 24-hour countdown starts. Any vetted provider whose service area and category match your job can submit a bid during that window: a price, an estimated duration, an optional start date, and notes. Providers can revise their bid before the window closes, but only ever have one active bid on your job at a time — not multiple competing offers from the same provider.
3. Bids stay sealed
No provider can see what another provider bid — only the total number of bids your job has received. This is deliberate: it's designed to get each provider's honest, well-considered price the first time, instead of a back-and-forth of last-minute undercutting.
4. You choose — not necessarily the lowest bid
Once the window closes (or before it closes, if you don't want to wait), you can review every sealed bid and accept whichever one you want. Price, timeline, and the provider's verification status, Trust Score, and portfolio are all visible to you before you decide.
5. Payment moves to escrow immediately
The instant you accept a bid, GroundBid charges the full bid amount and holds it — the provider is not paid yet. Every other bid on your job is automatically declined.
6. The provider does the work
Your provider completes the job and attaches a time-stamped completion photo before the job can move to your confirmation step.
7. You confirm, and payment releases
Once you're satisfied, you release payment with a code only you and your provider have. GroundBid keeps a flat 10% commission from the payment — the provider is paid the rest, and that's the only fee anywhere in this process: no listing fees, no per-lead fees, no subscription.
What if something goes wrong?
If there's a disagreement about the work, either side can open a dispute. It moves through three stages — direct resolution, platform mediation using the job's photos and messages as evidence, and, if still unresolved, a final platform decision — and the escrowed funds stay frozen the entire time. See Trust & Safety for the full policy.
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