Stop Working For Free! The New Trend Now on Fiverr is BAD!

[vira_lanka19871]

Everything is evolving.And i dont think “Customer is king” will be the quote in the future. 😃

[jonbaas]

Everything is evolving.And i dont think “Customer is king” will be the quote in the future. 😃

Everything is evolving.And i dont think “Customer is king” will be the quote in the future.

“The customer is king” has never been a legitimate quote. The buyer still has to abide by the terms of the business or company which which they choose to do business.

[jonbaas]

I have never asked for a free sample.

Nobody asked me for free work but YES sometime clients says “this is educational or welfare project and we are in tight budget” but not like Do it for free.

YES sometime clients says “this is educational or welfare project and we are in tight budget”

As a Fiverr freelancer, never work for free. Period.

[irisuryo]

This is not about looking smarter than anyone else and arguing about safety

I’m sorry - I don’t know what you mean by this, but I do agree with you about using common sense.

Common sense dictates if somebody asks for/demands work for nothing, you say no. Can’t see a problem with that.

The problems start when people say yes and give work away for nothing - if everyone were to do that then we would all be working for nothing.

Professional consultants do that often (offer samples), but no one expects this to be used for reselling or because they are not careful or b/c they don’t have common sense. They do it as it is a way to show potential client that they know their trade, even if some potential clients don’t come back to hire them. It is about establishing a relationship of trust with your buyers. If most marketplaces would establish policies and procedures to identify scammers and protect everyone, rarely complains would take place. The lady is right to ask for some sort of action, and to me the responsibility falls in the managers laps of each platform. Don’t just tell us: Be Careful! …Please take action and fast on your part as well. The whole community would benefit, including employees responding to this community forums, as they will have to answer to fewer complaints.

[jonbaas]

Professional consultants do that often (offer samples), but no one expects this to be used for reselling or because they are not careful or b/c they don’t have common sense. They do it as it is a way to show potential client that they know their trade, even if some potential clients don’t come back to hire them. It is about establishing a relationship of trust with your buyers. If most marketplaces would establish policies and procedures to identify scammers and protect everyone, rarely complains would take place. The lady is right to ask for some sort of action, and to me the responsibility falls in the managers laps of each platform. Don’t just tell us: Be Careful! …Please take action and fast on your part as well. The whole community would benefit, including employees responding to this community forums, as they will have to answer to fewer complaints.

Professional consultants do that often (offer samples), but no one expects this to be used for reselling or because they are not careful or b/c they don’t have common sense. They do it as it is a way to show potential client that they know their trade, even if some potential clients don’t come back to hire them. It is about establishing a relationship of trust with your buyers.

True. But that doesn’t apply here on Fiverr, because the vast majority of buyers asking for free work in this marketplace aren’t doing it as a way to test a seller, they’re doing it because Fiverr promotes “cheap” work, and those buyers think that that can push “cheap” to “free”.

In this market, if buyers want to test a seller’s skills, they can purchase a small order, and compensate the seller for their time and skills. Then, if they like the results of the test purchase, they narrow down their list of potential sellers, and can place orders for the full scope of work from their chosen seller(s).

[Guest uxreview]

Professional consultants do that often (offer samples), but no one expects this to be used for reselling or because they are not careful or b/c they don’t have common sense. They do it as it is a way to show potential client that they know their trade, even if some potential clients don’t come back to hire them. It is about establishing a relationship of trust with your buyers. If most marketplaces would establish policies and procedures to identify scammers and protect everyone, rarely complains would take place. The lady is right to ask for some sort of action, and to me the responsibility falls in the managers laps of each platform. Don’t just tell us: Be Careful! …Please take action and fast on your part as well. The whole community would benefit, including employees responding to this community forums, as they will have to answer to fewer complaints.

Professional consultants do that often (offer samples), but no one expects this to be used for reselling or because they are not careful or b/c they don’t have common sense.

They offer free samples as part of their marketing strategy. They will make that money back from clients who sign up for their service. If they don’t then they will be soon out of business. We can also offer free samples hoping that we will sign the client, but it’s a risk and if you get scammed then it’s your own fault because you took the risk. It has nothing to do with Fiverr or its CEO. Fiverr is a marketplace for freelancers to sell their services. As long as you follow TOS it’s up to you how you sell your service.

That being said, if you offer a free sample then a user has no obligation to buy your service, there’s no commitment so you can’t even complain if they walk away with your sample. There’s nothing to report either because you volunteered to give out that sample.

[markp]

I get this all day every day. If someone asks for samples I send them a polite message stating I do not provide samples and telling them to just order the basic gig … Anyone sending messages like this is not going to order anything.

I replied with a link to this thread. Say hello if you are reading this!

[Guest uxreview]

I get this all day every day. If someone asks for samples I send them a polite message stating I do not provide samples and telling them to just order the basic gig … Anyone sending messages like this is not going to order anything.

sample request.png1040×529 21 KB

I replied with a link to this thread. Say hello if you are reading this!

no samples no work - wow 😃

Dodged that bullet. Like you contacted them asking for work 😃

[ansari007]

Yeah absolutely this kind of mentality is harmfull for geniune freelancer.i totally agree with you.

[ansari007]

I get this all day every day. If someone asks for samples I send them a polite message stating I do not provide samples and telling them to just order the basic gig … Anyone sending messages like this is not going to order anything.

sample request.png1040×529 21 KB

I replied with a link to this thread. Say hello if you are reading this!

Well-done.brother good response to the buyer

[Guest offlinehelpers]

Professional consultants do that often (offer samples), but no one expects this to be used for reselling or because they are not careful or b/c they don’t have common sense. They do it as it is a way to show potential client that they know their trade, even if some potential clients don’t come back to hire them. It is about establishing a relationship of trust with your buyers. If most marketplaces would establish policies and procedures to identify scammers and protect everyone, rarely complains would take place. The lady is right to ask for some sort of action, and to me the responsibility falls in the managers laps of each platform. Don’t just tell us: Be Careful! …Please take action and fast on your part as well. The whole community would benefit, including employees responding to this community forums, as they will have to answer to fewer complaints.

The lady is right to ask for some sort of action, and to me the responsibility falls in the managers laps of each platform. Don’t just tell us: Be Careful! …Please take action and fast on your part as well.

Ah - now I understand now - you think I’m employed by Fiverr possibly?

Nope - I’m just a buyer and seller like everybody else round here. 😃

[Guest badcatworks]

I have people ask me to do “test” whatevers for them… illustrations, or voiceovers, or translations.

Perhaps they’re genuine in that they want to be reassured that I can do what they want… Perhaps they’ve been burned by bad sellers before… Perhaps they’re cleverly trying to approach lots of different sellers for “test” items so they can get their whole project done for free. I really don’t care which.

If it’s on Fiverr, I simply say that I do not offer that here, but they are welcome to look at my portfolio to see if I’ve made similar things to what they are looking for.

I have only ever once made a sample for a buyer on Fiverr before they purchased a gig, because it was a special circumstance, and it landed me some stable, bigger volume work. They also DID NOT ASK it of me – I did it voluntarily because I thought it was a smart choice, and the gamble worked. I will never make a free sample if they ask. Those that do are not buyers that I want to work with.

[anon17757046]

Samples can be a great way of getting a buyer to order your gig. For translation services, etc. You could define a sample as “up to 50 or 100 words” so they can get an idea of your writing style.

I’m not sure if that’s something you can incorporate but I’m sure there are alternatives for your niche. Doing a complete job before any order is something I would not recommend. These type of buyers are not the type of persons you wish to do business with 😉

[agwakash]

I do give samples of my old work and obfuscate things.
If it’s something I can show as a image I keep my old works sample saved as a image with watermarks. If is a data / excel / reports sample I have them saved with *** on columns.

And I send them the most similar samples I have.
If they ask for actual sample I reply with custom offer. 🙂

Professional buyers like it when they see you actually charge for samples, they understand how serious you are to your work and time management.

Some buyers hate it because they came for $5 thing in mind, get their $50 worth of work done at $5. I really don’t need those buyers. I have tried to work for them at start when I joined Fiverr but not now.

Those buyers are good to get your first few orders. When you are new with no orders you can accept orders from these people but come out of this very fast. See them as your interview orders.

[cyaxrex]

I’ve never had bad experiences like that because I’m protected by:

1. My firm belief that all people are pieces of [guess] until proven otherwise. Therefore - I never give anyone undeserved benefit of the doubt.
2. Great respect for my time, work, and attention.
3. Disdain for time wasting and dealing with idiots.
4. Reasonable intelligence.

So in a nutshell - no. Feudal slavery has ended centuries ago and anyone trying to blackmail me into doing free work, with any technique, including but not limited to: promise of future reward, threat of a bad review, pleading, begging or “inquiring to see how good are my skills before placing a huge order” will encounter:

1. Ignoring.
2. Firm "I’m a professional and I’ll only do this for [$price]
3. Ridicule

Depending on my mood.

Therefore, to answer your questions - no, I’ve never had them. And I don’t consider them a problem as individuals have been taking advantage of the weak (physically and mentally) since the dawn of time.

Nothing new on Fiverr. Nothing new under the Sun.

It’s up to you how you’ll react to it and let it affect you.

I’ve never had bad experiences like that because I’m protected by:

My firm belief that all people are pieces of [guess] until proven otherwise. Therefore - I never give anyone undeserved benefit of the doubt.

Great respect for my time, work, and attention.

Disdain for time wasting and dealing with idiots.

Reasonable intelligence.

If I ever get gender resignment surgery I’m going to track you down and marry you.

[cyaxrex]

Samples can be a great way of getting a buyer to order your gig. For translation services, etc. You could define a sample as “up to 50 or 100 words” so they can get an idea of your writing style.

I’m not sure if that’s something you can incorporate but I’m sure there are alternatives for your niche. Doing a complete job before any order is something I would not recommend. These type of buyers are not the type of persons you wish to do business with 😉

Samples can be a great way of getting a buyer to order your gig. For translation services, etc. You could define a sample as “up to 50 or 100 words” so they can get an idea of your writing style.

I’m sorry but this is simply not true. if you are priced at $5 - $20, the majority of people asking to see samples will have no intention of buying anything from you. In fact, the easiest way to demonstrate this is by looking at people who ask for writing samples when they obviously can’t speak or write passable English themselves. How are such people possibly going to assess the quality of what you send them?

In answer, they’re not. This is like asking a homeless person with one shoe on to quickly assess the mechanical build quality of an Audi. All 99% of people who ask for samples want is work which they can use to present as samples of their own work to their own clients.

If you are a writer, set up a free portfolio blog which you can direct people to whenever they ask to see samples. Wait six months, and then run each of your samples through a plagiarism checker. You will find them everywhere.

If someone wants a sample and isn’t prepared to pay $5, thinking that pandering to their wishes will benefit you is just silly. Even homeless people have more self-respect.

[misscrystal]

Samples can be a great way of getting a buyer to order your gig. For translation services, etc. You could define a sample as “up to 50 or 100 words” so they can get an idea of your writing style.

I’m sorry but this is simply not true. if you are priced at $5 - $20, the majority of people asking to see samples will have no intention of buying anything from you. In fact, the easiest way to demonstrate this is by looking at people who ask for writing samples when they obviously can’t speak or write passable English themselves. How are such people possibly going to assess the quality of what you send them?

In answer, they’re not. This is like asking a homeless person with one shoe on to quickly assess the mechanical build quality of an Audi. All 99% of people who ask for samples want is work which they can use to present as samples of their own work to their own clients.

If you are a writer, set up a free portfolio blog which you can direct people to whenever they ask to see samples. Wait six months, and then run each of your samples through a plagiarism checker. You will find them everywhere.

If someone wants a sample and isn’t prepared to pay $5, thinking that pandering to their wishes will benefit you is just silly. Even homeless people have more self-respect.

That’s so grim and pathetic it makes me laugh, to think of people not only asking for free samples to sell when they can barely speak English but the thought that there are sellers providing them, thinking it will lead to a sale… it’s hysterical.

[eoinfinnegan]

Samples can be a great way of getting a buyer to order your gig. For translation services, etc. You could define a sample as “up to 50 or 100 words” so they can get an idea of your writing style.

I’m not sure if that’s something you can incorporate but I’m sure there are alternatives for your niche. Doing a complete job before any order is something I would not recommend. These type of buyers are not the type of persons you wish to do business with 😉

For translation services, etc. You could define a sample as “up to 50 or 100 words” so they can get an idea of your writing style.

Fiverr translation services tend to be as low as a tenth of the going rate for certified translation. Any serious buyer knows this (which is why they are here), if they are not prepared to pay for a sample then they are beyond cheapskates. $5 for a couple of hundred words is nothing when you consider the going rates of English to Dutch being around $80/1000 words.

[eoinfinnegan]

I get this all day every day. If someone asks for samples I send them a polite message stating I do not provide samples and telling them to just order the basic gig … Anyone sending messages like this is not going to order anything.

sample request.png1040×529 21 KB

I replied with a link to this thread. Say hello if you are reading this!

So many new SEO sellers ask for samples it is crazy - it’s clear they are looking for samples which they can pass off as their own!

[markp]

So many new SEO sellers ask for samples it is crazy - it’s clear they are looking for samples which they can pass off as their own!

Its more than just that. They are just trying to copy what you are doing. I’ve even had buyers admit it

[cyaxrex]

That’s so grim and pathetic it makes me laugh, to think of people not only asking for free samples to sell when they can barely speak English but the thought that there are sellers providing them, thinking it will lead to a sale… it’s hysterical.

What gets grimmer is when you see what some people with no grasp of English manage to pass off to their end clients.

I have one buyer who doesn’t like my high prices. In this case, he gets the bulk part of the content he needs form someone who clearly has no ability to write. He then hires me to write important things like landing page content.

I go to the sites he sends me links to and nothing makes sense. Blog, service page content, about pages, they’re all appallingly written and nothing but off-putting to real website visitors. I then write a landing page and the buyer goes away thinking that just by slapping a nice cover on their latest Wordmess website, it will be a roaring success.

It’s so silly but at the same time incredibly shocking how this person as a reseller gets away with it. It’s like each such business is the result of an idiot pyramid made up of several tiers of people, none of whom have any ability to assess the quality of what is being purchased and delivered to them.

[misscrystal]

What gets grimmer is when you see what some people with no grasp of English manage to pass off to their end clients.

I have one buyer who doesn’t like my high prices. In this case, he gets the bulk part of the content he needs form someone who clearly has no ability to write. He then hires me to write important things like landing page content.

I go to the sites he sends me links to and nothing makes sense. Blog, service page content, about pages, they’re all appallingly written and nothing but off-putting to real website visitors. I then write a landing page and the buyer goes away thinking that just by slapping a nice cover on their latest Wordmess website, it will be a roaring success.

It’s so silly but at the same time incredibly shocking how this person as a reseller gets away with it. It’s like each such business is the result of an idiot pyramid made up of several tiers of people, none of whom have any ability to assess the quality of what is being purchased and delivered to them.

It reminds me of some of the Chinese junk I see resellers trying to sell on Amazon. I get a mental image of it decaying in a dump as soon as I see it. I’ve marveled at a lot of websites like you are talking about with nonsensical horrific writing.

[strictevolution]

Most of you made very valid inputs. I will not work for free. As it is, while the Fiverr platform starts at $5USD I’ve seen so many gigs that would be deemed “under valued” in more traditional settings. However, to each his own and what works for the individual, clearly works for them. I can not respect a “potential” buyer who would try to solicite work for free here. Thousands of talented, dedicated and educated persons use this site and each should be awarded their just due a.k.a. their money. Point blank. Portfolio is there for a reason, even if there are none to limited reviews. I agree with one of the above statements that a $5 gig option can be considered a sample for such persons looking for one as it is a gamble for the buyer as well if they are unsure of the quailty of the result.

All the best in business to everyone.

[anon17757046]

Samples can be a great way of getting a buyer to order your gig. For translation services, etc. You could define a sample as “up to 50 or 100 words” so they can get an idea of your writing style.

I’m sorry but this is simply not true. if you are priced at $5 - $20, the majority of people asking to see samples will have no intention of buying anything from you. In fact, the easiest way to demonstrate this is by looking at people who ask for writing samples when they obviously can’t speak or write passable English themselves. How are such people possibly going to assess the quality of what you send them?

In answer, they’re not. This is like asking a homeless person with one shoe on to quickly assess the mechanical build quality of an Audi. All 99% of people who ask for samples want is work which they can use to present as samples of their own work to their own clients.

If you are a writer, set up a free portfolio blog which you can direct people to whenever they ask to see samples. Wait six months, and then run each of your samples through a plagiarism checker. You will find them everywhere.

If someone wants a sample and isn’t prepared to pay $5, thinking that pandering to their wishes will benefit you is just silly. Even homeless people have more self-respect.

I’m speaking from my own experiences, I haven’t seen any buyer go away with my free sample and instead bought my gig.

[muhammad_osman]

I am also dealing with a bad buyer.