Who really owns your customers?
You spent years earning their trust. They search for you by name. But when they book, the booking runs through a marketplace app, and that app is where other businesses are listed.
Your customer. Their profit. This isn't a bug — it's the business model.
Exhibits A–D attached · the numbers are the receipts
Booking receipt
Sample
Illustrative — Fresha charges 20% on new clients found via its marketplace
The discovery myth.
Marketplaces promise discovery. Here's what actually happens.
Customer finds you.
Via Google, Instagram, word of mouth. You earned this.
They decide to book.
"Book Now" redirects them to Fresha or Booksy.
Now they’re in the marketplace.
Booked through your own link, there's no new-client fee. But your client now has a marketplace account, and the marketplace can show them other businesses. Put your own numbers on this.
The marketplace isn't helping you get found. It's inserting itself after.
You spent years building a path to your door. Then someone built a toll booth on that path, and started handing out maps to your competitors.
This isn't a bug. It's the model.
They own the relationship. They own the data. They build tools to keep customers coming back through the platform, where you're just one replaceable option. Amazon did it to sellers. DoorDash did it to restaurants. Fresha and Booksy are doing it to salons.
How customers actually find you
Finding 01
of US consumers say they use Google to find local businesses.
Finding 02
say they use Apple Maps. People could pick more than one source.
When marketplaces help. And when they trap you.
The equation, read across three entries in the ledger.
Months 0–6
Marketplaces help.
New business, no customer base, no reputation yet. The marketplace brings you your first bookings. You get instant legitimacy, discovery for an unknown name, no upfront capital.
What you get: real value. Bookings you wouldn’t have won on your own.
Months 6–24
The equation flips.
Many of your bookings are now repeats and referrals. Your Google presence is strong. You have a following. A client booking through your own link costs you no new-client fee, but they now have an account with the marketplace, which can show them other businesses.
The realization: they’re not bringing customers. They’re intercepting them.
24+ months
The lock-in.
Five hundred reviews you can’t export. A customer list you don’t control. "Just send the Fresha link" is muscle memory for your staff. And the sunk-cost voice says leaving would waste everything you’ve built.
Meanwhile: your clients have accounts on a platform that lists your competitors.
The pattern
Every marketplace starts as a partner and ends as a landlord. By the time you feel the rent, moving out seems to cost more than staying.
We've been here before.
Three acts. Same script. Every marketplace runs the playbook.
Act 01
Attract.
"Partner with us! Great terms!"
Build critical mass. Create network effects. Become the default everyone lists on.
Act 02
Extract.
"Everyone’s here now."
Add fees. Control visibility. Lock in the data nobody can export.
Act 03
Replace.
"We don’t need you."
Launch competing services. Make businesses pay for visibility.
Here are some examples.
Amazon
Analyzed seller data, launched Amazon Basics, gave it preferential placement. The original sellers got buried.
DoorDash
Started at 15% commission. Now 30%+. Owns the customer relationship. Restaurants work harder for less.
Uber
Decreased driver pay year over year. Algorithm controls every ride. Drivers absorb all the risk. Now on its way to introducing driverless cars.
The timeline.
The question
Would Fresha or Booksy be different? They're VC-backed, need massive returns, and already control your customers. Will you wait to find out?
Own your business.
Don't rent it.
There's a different model. One where success compounds for you, not for the platform.
They own the relationship. They control the communication.
You own all customer data. You talk to them directly.
Trapped on their platform. Can’t move them to Google.
Reviews live on Google. Portable. Yours.
Fees on new clients found through the marketplace.
Priced on completed appointments. No commission. Equity compounds.
Compete with direct competitors on the marketplace.
Your storefront, your brand, exclusively.
Ten years of fees. Nothing you own.
A subscription. Full ownership.
Hover the blacked-out clause to read the ten-year terms.
Making the switch.
The common objections — and the honest answers.
Objection 01
"But I have 500 reviews there."
Every day spent there is a day too late. Start slowly. Gradually shift returning customers to direct booking and build Google reviews in parallel.
Objection 02
"My customers are used to the app."
They adapt in one booking. And most prefer not to remember another password or install another app. They want easy booking. Loyal customers follow you, not the software.
Objection 03
"But I will have to spend days doing setup and training?"
Askie is built to import all your data and get you started within 30 minutes. Start taking bookings the same day.
Ready to compare concrete options? See the side-by-side fee breakdown in Askie vs Fresha, then work through the full guide to Fresha alternatives in Canada, or enter your own team and appointment numbers to compare booking software pricing, or check your own booking flow with the free booking scorecard.
Ready to build outside the marketplace? Start with your own booking path.
Try Askie free for 1 month, or book a demo if you want to talk through the switch.
No commission. No marketplace. Your clients stay yours.