How much does a lead cost (and why price isn't what you think)
Everyone asks how much a lead costs. It's the wrong question. The right one is: how much does each customer I close cost me. We'll show you how to calculate it.
"What's the lead going to cost me?" It's the first thing almost everyone asks, and it's understandable: it's an easy number to compare. The problem is it's a number that often lies. A €5 lead can be very expensive and a €40 lead can be a bargain. It depends on something price alone doesn't tell you: how many of them end up as a sale.
Why price per lead is misleading
Imagine two providers. Provider A sells you leads at €6 and you close 1 in 50. Provider B sells them at €30 and you close 1 in 8. Which is more expensive?
- Provider A: 50 leads × €6 = €300 per sale.
- Provider B: 8 leads × €30 = €240 per sale.
The "expensive" one is cheaper. And that's without counting rep time: with provider A your team made 50 calls for one sale; with B, 8. If you value that time —and you should— the gap widens even further in favor of the "expensive" lead.
The metric that matters: cost per sale (or CPA) = (leads needed for one sale) × (price per lead) + cost of rep time. Everything else is noise.
What moves a lead's price
- Intent level. A lead who asked for a quote is worth far more than one who downloaded a PDF. You're paying for proximity to the close.
- Exclusivity. An exclusive lead —just for you— costs more than one shared among competitors, but your close rate rises. We analyze it in exclusive vs shared.
- Sector and ticket. An industrial solar lead is worth more than one for a €30 service, because the value of the closed customer is far higher.
- Freshness. An hour-old lead is worth more than a week-old one. Intent cools.
- Generation difficulty. Reaching a CFO costs more than a homeowner looking to switch energy tariff.
How much you should be willing to pay
The answer comes from your own numbers, not from a price list. The calculation is simple:
- Work out the value of a customer (average ticket × margin × recurrence).
- Decide what percentage of that value you're willing to invest in acquiring it. Many healthy businesses invest between 10% and 30%.
- Divide that budget by the leads you need for one sale. That's your maximum viable price per lead.
If a customer leaves you €1,500 margin and you're willing to invest 20% (€300) to acquire them, and you close 1 in 10 leads, you can pay up to €30 per lead and still profit. Any provider below that figure who keeps the close rate is worth your attention.
The mistake of chasing the cheapest lead
Optimizing for price per lead is like choosing a car by the price of fuel and ignoring consumption. The cheap lead is usually cold, shared and old —the three things that sink your conversion—. You end up paying less per contact and far more per customer. We see it again and again, and we list it among the mistakes that burn your budget.
The cheap lead is the most expensive of all once you count the calls that didn't close.
How we approach it at CompraLeads
We don't publish a single price because it would be dishonest: the fair price depends on your sector, your intent level and your volume. What we do is be transparent and optimize for what pays your payroll —your cost per sale— rather than a shop-window number. Write your target to contacto@compraleads.es and we'll send concrete numbers for your case, no commitment.