FAQs
Is Bark free to use?
Bark is completely free to use for customers looking to hire a professional. You can post a job request and receive quotes without paying any fees.
However, Bark charges professionals and small businesses who use the platform to find work. Professionals must purchase digital credits, which they then spend to access a customer's contact details and send a quote.
What are Bark credits?
Bark credits are the digital currency used by professionals and services on Bark. When a business sees a local job lead they want to apply for, they use credits to unlock the customer’s phone number and email address to contact them. Professionals buy these credits in bulk packs, and Bark takes zero commission on any final money earned from the job.
What is the Get Hired Guarantee?
The Get Hired Guarantee is a safety net for professionals when they receive their first pack of credits. If a professional spends their entire first credit pack responding to leads but doesn't get a job, Bark will refund all the credits to their account so they can try again. To claim this offer, a pro must contact Bark customer support within 3 days of running out of credits.
What is a Bark Elite Pro membership?
Bark Elite Pro is a monthly subscription service for professionals. Instead of just buying standard credits, Elite Pro members pay a monthly fee to boost their profile's visibility. The membership also includes background checks to earn a verified badge, higher placement in local search directories, and dedicated tools to display past customer reviews.
Bark Saving Tips
Turn Off Auto Top-Up: When you buy your first set of credits, Bark often turns on the auto top-up feature by default. This automatically charges your saved card for a new credit pack the moment your balance drops to zero. To keep strict control of your budget, go into your account settings and turn this feature off. Buying your packs manually also lets you apply active discount codes from here at Tom's Guide to the checkout box before you pay.
Buy Credits in Bulk: Bark prices its credits on a sliding scale. This means the cost per credit drops when you buy in bigger amounts. So, if you run a busy company and rely heavily on the platform for daily leads, buying an 80-credit pack is a much better long-term value than constantly buying smaller 10-credit packs at a higher price.
Refer a Friend: If you know other tradespeople, freelancers, or business owners looking for work, you can use the Bark refer-a-friend offer. When you send your unique referral link to another professional, and they sign up for the platform, Bark gives you both 2 free responses. There is no limit to how many professionals you can refer, allowing you to build up a steady supply of free credits. To refer a friend, log in to your account, click your logo (top right of the page), then click the link that says "refer a friend".
Article continues belowElite Pro Membership: Bark offers an Elite Pro monthly subscription. Despite the monthly fee, it offers a permanent 20% discount on all future credit pack purchases. It also gives members two free responses per week to older leads that have sat on the platform for 48 hours without a reply. If you often buy multiple large credit packs each month, the 20% discount quickly outweighs the subscription cost.
Use the Get Hired Guarantee: If you are new to the platform, you can buy a Starter Pack of credits at a 20% discount. Bark attaches the get hired guarantee mentioned in the FAQs above to your purchase. If you spend every credit in your starter pack pitching to customers but fail to secure a single job, Bark will refund all the credits back to your account so you can try again for free. To claim this offer, you must contact the Bark customer support team within three days of spending your final credit.
Refunds on Dead Leads: You do not have to accept wasted money and take the loss if a customer provides fake contact details. Bark has a credit return policy for professionals, so if you spend your credits to unlock a lead, but the provided phone number is disconnected, or the email address is fake, you can report the lead through your dashboard. Bark will investigate and refund the credits you spent to your digital wallet.
How to use a Bark Discount Code
- Browse the active Bark.com discount codes on this Tom's Guide page and copy your chosen code to your clipboard.
- Log into your Bark professional dashboard and click on your current credit balance at the top of the screen to open the 'Buy Credits' page.
- Choose the specific credit pack size you want to purchase and proceed to the payment screen.
- Locate the 'Promo Code' or 'Discount Code' box situated near your order summary.
- Paste your copied code into the empty box and click the apply button.
- Check that the page updates your final total to reflect the new discounted price before you enter your payment details and confirm the purchase.
How we source voucher codes
The codes listed on each vouchers page on Tom’s Guide have been sourced by our dedicated vouchers team, who find the latest codes through the web and our relationships with retailers and affiliate networks. Each page is updated every few days to include up-to-date offers and ways to save, and our London-based commercial team uses our connections with retailers to source exclusive codes directly from some of the biggest brands on the market.
How we test voucher codes
Every voucher code on Tom’s Guide has been tested by our offers team, based in Cardiff, to make sure they work before we upload them. The codes on Tom’s Guide can be used for a wide range of savings, covering student discounts, free shipping deals, and site-wide or product-specific savings.
We want to make sure every voucher is ready to use whenever someone visits one of our pages, so we don’t include any user-specific or one-time use codes. Each offer also includes as much information as we can find on its terms and conditions to keep things clear, and any applicable expiry dates will be listed next to the offer details. You can view the full list of terms and conditions by clicking the corresponding text below the main offer text and expanding the section.
What to do if a voucher code doesn’t work
Although we work hard to only include tried and tested vouchers on our pages, sometimes codes can expire or terms and conditions can be changed before we have a chance to update the code or our pages. If your discount isn’t being applied at the checkout, there are a number of things you can do.
First, check you meet any listed requirements such as multibuy offers, minimum spends, or product-specific deals. For example, you may need to buy 3 items to receive your discount, or your code may only be applicable to orders with certain models (i.e. 10% off specific smartphones). If you need to review the details of your chosen deal, click the text that reads “View terms and conditions” below the main text.
If you are still experiencing issues applying your discount, don’t worry - our team is on hand to help. Just email coupons.tomsguide@futurenet.com and include information on the code you tried to redeem and which of our pages it was listed on. A member of our team will be in touch to offer support as soon as they can.
How we make money
Tom’s Guide makes money from vouchers on a commission basis. We have agreements with every retailer that has a vouchers page for, and for every order placed using one of our codes, we earn a portion of the order total back in commission from that retailer.
Using this model means all of our profits are paid for by the retailers we partner with, and we do not pass any costs on to our users. Using one of our vouchers will never cost you anything - you’ll only pay for the discounted products you’re looking to buy, so you can rest easy knowing you get exactly what it says on the tin.
Want to read more about Tom's Guide vouchers? You can find more information on our dedicated page, where we break down How We Source Voucher Codes and How to Use Them on your online orders.
