How to tell people to buy more

[Guest marsch001]

I wasn’t quite sure what to name this, but basically; I have this issue with not wanting to “upset” buyers (you know how they can get, I’ve read plenty of bad stories and the ‘fear’ of a cancellation I think affects us all) so when they send me something to translate that’s over the amount I’ve stated I will do for the first $5, I usually let it slide (under a certain amount).



I also recently added ‘Express’ of 1 day, but still let is slide if people don’t buy it, but want something done within 24 hours. I need to get better at saying “yes, I can do it within 24 hours, but please then buy the express gig extra to ensure that”, if not also to say “this is almost a 100 words over my limit, please buy another gig or extra to cover it”. I am great at telling people, if they contact me in advance, how many gigs they will need to buy to cover the work, but not if they’ve already bought it without saying anything first.



Anyone else have this problem, or used to have it but have now gotten over it (and if so, how?)? I would dearly like to know, and I’m sure others would also.

[Guest cust0mcr3ationz]

Most of my customers contact me for a quote and I sometimes inflate it by 1 gig to see if they will order 1 extra gig…lol. If it’s a 1 gig project i’ll tell them honestly it’s one gig unless they want fast service but if they want multiple gigs i will give a ballpark estimate.

[mirenbaines]

Well my good lady, the reason to have such filters is to insure you can provide what you are promising in a timely fashion without breaking your nerves/back. If you stated a certain price, it should be met, otherwise — please move on to the next. If they are asking for something beyond what the first initial gig calls for, you must then explain it is too much, and therefore you will need to either order another gig… or you simply accomplish as much as your rules state. Example — I don’t think I ever met a jeweler that sold a diamond ring that had just a few more carats at the same price as a lesser diamond, otherwise he or she would be out of business. If it isn’t toooo far from what you normally do, I can see where there is a justification to just go ahead and finish the project but if its waaaaay beyond, they need to pay that extra rate you are asking… otherwise… why have such rates? You’ll be fine. I see you are a 2nd level seller so, someone can’t say your work isn’t good due to its reputation. Stick with your rates! Work load abuse only benefits the buyer not the seller.

[cheezees]

Reply to @mirenbaines: Well said!

[jasveena]

Reply to @mirenbaines: very well said ! i have to agree with you. I faced the same issue when people were demanding extra offer when it’s a bit too much for me to do

[Guest marsch001]

Reply to @mirenbaines: I will just have to get better at saying “it’s not enough to cover the gig”, I think! Thank you. 🙂

[Guest marsch001]

Reply to @cust0mcr3ationz: I guess it depends on what kind of work you do; mine is easily calculated, so I can’t inflate even if I wanted to. And not everyone asks for a quote before they order - the ones that do mostly do it because they contact several different sellers and just buy from the first one who replies (or has the lowest rate, though it’s usually not a big difference in rates for translations).