Amazon’s always-expanding product lineup now goes beyond products. The e-commerce giant has launched a new section of its website where consumers will be able to hire local service providers, like plumbers, singers and even — as many tech sites have been quick to mention today — a goat grazing service to help clear out unwanted vegetation.
It’s called Amazon Home Services, and it puts Amazon squarely in competition with the likes of Yelp, Angie’s List and general local search/listing providers like Google and Bing. Amazon Home Services is live now in the U.S. — primarily in major metropolitan areas, with further coverage of more rural areas promised in the future.
Amazon says it currently has more than 700 professional verticals listed, with a total of more than two million unique service offers available. Professionals have to be invited to participate, and Amazon says it’s spent 123,000 hours doing background checks on service providers — only three percent of which get accepted.
Consumers can review their service providers, but only after purchasing a service — something that should add credibility when compared to other local service/local search sites where fake reviews are a problem.
According to The Verge, Amazon is getting a portion of the providers’ fees, ranging from 10-20 percent depending on the nature of the service.
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