Buyer Requests, better communication between buyers and sellers needed

[totage]

I’ve been looking in the Buyer Request section to offer my services. I like that we can send offers and remove requests from our listings. I do wish that we could browse different categories, not just subcategories, but I can also understand the logic in this restriction, so not such a big deal.

One thing that really bothers me is that we can not contact buyers other than by sending an offer. I would like clarification from buyers and to be able to ask some questions before wasting an offer on something that may not be what I want to do or what the buyer wants.

[rankinfinite]

Some spammers will destroy a large number of Fiverr clients if they are allowed to contact the buyers. I think 10 offers are enough for new sellers like you and me.

[totage]

Some spammers will destroy a large number of Fiverr clients if they are allowed to contact the buyers. I think 10 offers are enough for new sellers like you and me.

I’m not talking about the offer limit. I’m talking about communication between buyers and sellers, maybe like a forum that buyers can ask questions, buyers can answer before an offer is sent.

[rankinfinite]

I’m not talking about the offer limit. I’m talking about communication between buyers and sellers, maybe like a forum that buyers can ask questions, buyers can answer before an offer is sent.

The spammers will drive the prospect away if the Fiverr does that. The number of spammers is much higher than that of genuine sellers here.

[totage]

Limit the amount of questions you can ask, like with the offers, questions can’t contain links and are limited to a certain number of characters, etc. There’s ways to have better communication without making it easy to spam.

[rankinfinite]

Limit the amount of questions you can ask, like with the offers, questions can’t contain links and are limited to a certain number of characters, etc. There’s ways to have better communication without making it easy to spam.

They will find a way then too in my personal opinion. Anyways, it is a nice suggestion.

[Guest uxreview]

I’ve been looking in the Buyer Request section to offer my services. I like that we can send offers and remove requests from our listings. I do wish that we could browse different categories, not just subcategories, but I can also understand the logic in this restriction, so not such a big deal.

One thing that really bothers me is that we can not contact buyers other than by sending an offer. I would like clarification from buyers and to be able to ask some questions before wasting an offer on something that may not be what I want to do or what the buyer wants.

I would like clarification from buyers and to be able to ask some questions before wasting an offer on something that may not be what I want to do or what the buyer wants.

I agree with @rankinfinite spammers would abuse it.

I think a better solution would be educating buyers on how to make a proper request. You’re providing SEO reports. Wouldn’t it be nice if users would actually provide their website address to check if your service is what they need in the first place?

For example, if a buyer chooses website revamp as the category then Fiverr should offer a field for URL to remind them that it’s needed.

Every single day I see requests “I need help with my website”. What are we supposed to do with it? How can we make an offer if we don’t know anything about the website?

Right now I simply ignore such requests because if a buyer didn’t bother to take 5 minutes out of their day to write a proper request then why should I spend 5 minutes to respond? 🙂

PS. I did make a suggestion a while ago that you should get 2500 chars to write a proposal. 800chars is not enough to write a proper offer and ask questions. It’s not a problem on other freelance websites, but it has been discussed many times before. Fiverr is not really relying on buyer requests, they are focusing on search function where buyers look for sellers rather than post job requests.

[totage]

I would like clarification from buyers and to be able to ask some questions before wasting an offer on something that may not be what I want to do or what the buyer wants.

I agree with @rankinfinite spammers would abuse it.

I think a better solution would be educating buyers on how to make a proper request. You’re providing SEO reports. Wouldn’t it be nice if users would actually provide their website address to check if your service is what they need in the first place?

For example, if a buyer chooses website revamp as the category then Fiverr should offer a field for URL to remind them that it’s needed.

Every single day I see requests “I need help with my website”. What are we supposed to do with it? How can we make an offer if we don’t know anything about the website?

Right now I simply ignore such requests because if a buyer didn’t bother to take 5 minutes out of their day to write a proper request then why should I spend 5 minutes to respond? 🙂

PS. I did make a suggestion a while ago that you should get 2500 chars to write a proposal. 800chars is not enough to write a proper offer and ask questions. It’s not a problem on other freelance websites, but it has been discussed many times before. Fiverr is not really relying on buyer requests, they are focusing on search function where buyers look for sellers rather than post job requests.

That would be very helpful as well. Although you can set requirements for an order, you still waste an offer when you send one out “blindly” as it seems to be at this point with many buyers. Then again, like you mentioned, why bother with it when the buyer themself doesn’t take the time to make a clear request?

[gina_riley2]

I’m not talking about the offer limit. I’m talking about communication between buyers and sellers, maybe like a forum that buyers can ask questions, buyers can answer before an offer is sent.

Actually, that’s a fantastic idea!

Serious sellers are interested in asking me serious questions about my serious buyers request post.

This would help me filter out all the ones with canned bids and the joke bids. Last time I used BR, only one bidder actually read my request.

All 30+ sellers, except one, sent me canned response about their expertise. I don’t freaking care about their darn experience, from 6 years ago, working for some high tech company that I never heard of. I got so mad, I didn’t hire anyone. That was a joke.

If there was an area where sellers could ask me questions on my request, then I would know for a fact they read it, understood it and they will be great sellers. I’d be less concerned or skeptical contacting them as I know they won’t spam me in the future for more work.

I hate contacting unknown sellers because I never know who will send me weird custom offer I never asked for. Yes, this happens.

Can we set aside a section on this forum for that? A link on BR to forum section? If buyer doesn’t respond, seller knows it’s not serious and save their bid.

[totage]

Actually, that’s a fantastic idea!

Serious sellers are interested in asking me serious questions about my serious buyers request post.

This would help me filter out all the ones with canned bids and the joke bids. Last time I used BR, only one bidder actually read my request.

All 30+ sellers, except one, sent me canned response about their expertise. I don’t freaking care about their darn experience, from 6 years ago, working for some high tech company that I never heard of. I got so mad, I didn’t hire anyone. That was a joke.

If there was an area where sellers could ask me questions on my request, then I would know for a fact they read it, understood it and they will be great sellers. I’d be less concerned or skeptical contacting them as I know they won’t spam me in the future for more work.

I hate contacting unknown sellers because I never know who will send me weird custom offer I never asked for. Yes, this happens.

Can we set aside a section on this forum for that? A link on BR to forum section? If buyer doesn’t respond, seller knows it’s not serious and save their bid.

Yes Gina, that’s pretty much what I’m talking about, maybe just a new forum section for buyer/seller Q and A.

[sergioherrer577]

Yeah, sending a message that HAS to contain an offer is a bit of a bummer… especially if they’re request isn’t that specific. I’ve found that being straight-forward helps: “The pricing and delivery time in this offer is a very rough estimate, please message me before accepting and we can discuss the project in further detail.” So far, this has worked. Buyers message me to discuss specifics, which then allows me to create more suitable offers for their projects.

[Guest amazingdindin11]

I’ve been looking in the Buyer Request section to offer my services. I like that we can send offers and remove requests from our listings. I do wish that we could browse different categories, not just subcategories, but I can also understand the logic in this restriction, so not such a big deal.

One thing that really bothers me is that we can not contact buyers other than by sending an offer. I would like clarification from buyers and to be able to ask some questions before wasting an offer on something that may not be what I want to do or what the buyer wants.

I would like clarification from buyers and to be able to ask some questions before wasting an offer on something that may not be what I want to do or what the buyer wants.

I agree on that. Sometimes buyers tends to post requests that are too general and I get confused what exact service they need. So most of the time I end up sending general offer which I am not sure if it is what they need.