# What is a good cost per lead? UK benchmarks

A good cost per lead depends on your average order value and how often you close, not a fixed figure. In the UK, shared consumer leads often run from a few pounds to the low tens, and exclusive high-value leads from the tens into the low hundreds. The number that actually matters is your cost per acquired customer.

Category: Costs and pricing  
Reading time: about 6 minutes

## Why average cost per lead is misleading

People ask what a lead should cost as if there is one answer. There is not. A £5 lead is expensive if none of them close, and a £120 lead is cheap if it lands a £6,000 job.

Chasing a low cost per lead often means buying worse leads, which quietly costs you more in wasted time and lost sales.

## The only number that matters

Work out your cost per acquired customer. Take what you spend on leads and divide it by the number of customers those leads produced. Compare that to what a customer is worth to you.

If a customer is worth £2,000 in profit and it costs you £200 in leads to win one, that is a strong return. The price of an individual lead is a distraction.

## Rough UK ranges

As a starting point only, and always test against your own numbers:

## How to work out your maximum

Multiply your average profit per customer by your close rate. That is the most you can pay per lead and still break even. Aim to pay a fraction of it so you make money on every batch.

A model where you reserve leads for free and only pay when one becomes a customer flips this on its head, because your cost only appears once the revenue does.

## Frequently asked questions

### Are cheap leads a false economy?

Often, yes. Very cheap leads are usually old, heavily shared or poorly qualified. You pay less per lead and more per customer once you count the wasted time.

### How do I lower my cost per customer?

Buy better-matched leads, contact them faster, and follow up more times. Improving your close rate lowers your cost per customer without spending a penny more on leads.

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Source: https://aceleads.co.uk/guides/good-cost-per-lead-uk
Last reviewed: 2026-08-13
Contact: info@aceleads.co.uk
AceLeads is a UK-registered business.