A lawn mowing marketplace that started in Mill Park.

Why we built it

Getting a lawn mowed in Melbourne is harder than it should be. You ring three numbers, wait for someone to call back, get a price that changes on the day, and hope they turn up. The mowers, mostly one person with a ute and an ABN, spend their evenings driving out to quote jobs they don't get, or pay lead-generation sites for leads that go nowhere.

So we measure the lawn from the aerial before anyone bids. A mower in the next suburb can quote it from the truck and know what they're quoting. Bids are binding. The customer's card goes in when they hire, and it's charged after they've seen the photo. If something goes wrong, we step in.

How Mowie makes money

Customers never pay to use Mowie. Mowers pay 10% + GST* commission on jobs they win through us, taken automatically when the customer pays. On an $110 mow that's $11.00; the mower keeps $95.73 after fees. Joining is free, bidding is free, and we don't charge on customers a mower already had. Founding partners pay 0% for 3 months from their first paid job, then 10% + GST locked until 31 Dec 2027.

The rules we keep

• Photo before payment. Every job ends with a photo sent to the customer. Approve it or raise an issue. You're not charged for work you haven't seen.
• Prices from bids that won. The price guide comes from the measured lawn area and what mowers have been winning nearby. It isn't a number picked to get you on the phone.
• Mowers own the customer. Regular customers belong to the mower. We don't get between them, and we don't charge on work that didn't come through Mowie.
• Reviews only from paying customers. Only someone who paid for a job through Mowie can review it.
• Local first. We're opening suburb by suburb, starting with 11 across Mill Park and the Plenty Valley, then the Wyndham corridor in the west from September, so every listing gets bids from mowers who actually work there.

Trust and safety

Every mower's ABN is checked against the Australian Business Register. Stripe, the payments company behind Uber and Airbnb in Australia, checks their identity and bank details. Mowers who upload a certificate of currency get an Insured badge. Gate codes and exact addresses are only shared with the mower you hire. Disputes are reviewed within 24 hours.

A note from the founder

I started Mowie after watching a mate with a mowing round lose half a Saturday quoting jobs that went to someone cheaper on the phone, while my neighbour couldn't get anyone to call her back about a lawn that was knee-high. The fix seemed obvious. Measure the lawn first, let the local mowers bid, and don't ask anyone for money until the job's done. That's the whole company.

If you mow lawns in the north or the west and want a say in how this works, email me at info@mowie.com.au.

Clyde Macababbad, founder · Mill Park, Victoria