Increasing Price & Returning Customers

[rainydaysandbub]

As I was a newbie on Fiverr, my prices were pretty low which helped me get my first customer. She quickly became a returning customer, maybe because I was already briefed on the product. However, as time goes by, I decided to revise my rates to remunerate my efforts and time. Somehow, I feel guilty (?) for doing this especially when this returning customer, at one time, questioned my increased rates.

Appreciate it if anyone can share how you tackled this issue if you’ve ever had a similar experience. Logically speaking, if I were advising a friend, I would think that it’s totally normal and a right of the seller and it’s up to the buyer if he/she would like to proceed with the offer. But when I am the one experiencing it, it becomes a little more tricky 😦

Any advise or tips to share on how to help clients understand the need for a rate revision?

[cubittaudio]

As I was a newbie on Fiverr, my prices were pretty low which helped me get my first customer. She quickly became a returning customer, maybe because I was already briefed on the product. However, as time goes by, I decided to revise my rates to remunerate my efforts and time. Somehow, I feel guilty (?) for doing this especially when this returning customer, at one time, questioned my increased rates.

Appreciate it if anyone can share how you tackled this issue if you’ve ever had a similar experience. Logically speaking, if I were advising a friend, I would think that it’s totally normal and a right of the seller and it’s up to the buyer if he/she would like to proceed with the offer. But when I am the one experiencing it, it becomes a little more tricky 😦

Any advise or tips to share on how to help clients understand the need for a rate revision?

Appreciate it if anyone can share how you tackled this issue if you’ve ever had a similar experience.

We’ve had this happen a few times.

In our line of work (Voice Over), we were able to justify it by the cost of investing in new, better equipment (all true), and the fact that the overall quality of what we were offering had vastly improved from when we first started out. We felt that our quality and our price were no longer matched. Like you, we started cheap to get some reviews, but we started REALLY cheap, and there was simply no way we could sustain that kind of price forever.

Some customers ‘got it’, and have stuck with us for a long time. We have one repeat customer who bought from us early on, and still comes back now, even though we cost about 4 times what we cost when we first started out. He often tips as well. He gets that Fiverr providers are often cheap compared to the rest of the market. He’s a great buyer!

Some customers felt we were now too expensive, and chose to go elsewhere. But honestly, we’d rather they did that. And you’ll actually find that a lot of buyers will overlook the cheap sellers because they assume they’re poor quality, and we’ve gained a lot of buyers who only started to reach out to us once we hit a certain price-point.

My advice is try not to feel guilty. You’ve given the client what they paid for, so you’ve done what’s required of you. You’re not under contract to offer that price forever, and if the buyer feels like your prices are too good to be true, then they must realise that it can’t last forever.

All the best! 🙂

[mariashtelle1]

As I was a newbie on Fiverr, my prices were pretty low which helped me get my first customer. She quickly became a returning customer, maybe because I was already briefed on the product. However, as time goes by, I decided to revise my rates to remunerate my efforts and time. Somehow, I feel guilty (?) for doing this especially when this returning customer, at one time, questioned my increased rates.

Appreciate it if anyone can share how you tackled this issue if you’ve ever had a similar experience. Logically speaking, if I were advising a friend, I would think that it’s totally normal and a right of the seller and it’s up to the buyer if he/she would like to proceed with the offer. But when I am the one experiencing it, it becomes a little more tricky 😦

Any advise or tips to share on how to help clients understand the need for a rate revision?

returning customer, at one time, questioned my increased rates.

You can always say that it was a discounted price exclusively for fiverr when you were starting and now you are slightly increasing prices to their normal rate but still keeping them lower than a market rate. + your experience are growing hence the “yearly” pay rise to cover the inflation and your expertise.

[vovkaslovesnyy]

Some of them will never understand you, while others will continue buying your services no matter what.
If you want to retain that specific customer, you can always make a small discount from the basic price (which will not harm you in a serious way) to show them your approach.
At the same time, don’t be scared to lose them because other people will definitely appreciate your work.
When I decided to raise the prices, it was one of the hardest decisions for me. However, I was surprised with the results, because I got a lot of new professional customers (legal agencies and enterprises), which would never hire me for $5 (it was too cheap according to them).
At the same time, I created special pricing for several customers, who place orders on a regular basis (mostly non-commercial projects with easy content, so it would be a cruel joke to ask them to pay more).
At the end of the day, everything depends on you 🙂

[melanielm]

Some of them will never understand you, while others will continue buying your services no matter what.

If you want to retain that specific customer, you can always make a small discount from the basic price (which will not harm you in a serious way) to show them your approach.

At the same time, don’t be scared to lose them because other people will definitely appreciate your work.

When I decided to raise the prices, it was one of the hardest decisions for me. However, I was surprised with the results, because I got a lot of new professional customers (legal agencies and enterprises), which would never hire me for $5 (it was too cheap according to them).

At the same time, I created special pricing for several customers, who place orders on a regular basis (mostly non-commercial projects with easy content, so it would be a cruel joke to ask them to pay more).

At the end of the day, everything depends on you 🙂

If you want to retain that specific customer, you can always make a small discount from the basic price

I have done this the few times I have raised prices. I offered a limited time (a few months) discount to repeat buyers if they ordered from me again. Most were quite happy with the offer.

[rainydaysandbub]

Some of them will never understand you, while others will continue buying your services no matter what.

If you want to retain that specific customer, you can always make a small discount from the basic price (which will not harm you in a serious way) to show them your approach.

At the same time, don’t be scared to lose them because other people will definitely appreciate your work.

When I decided to raise the prices, it was one of the hardest decisions for me. However, I was surprised with the results, because I got a lot of new professional customers (legal agencies and enterprises), which would never hire me for $5 (it was too cheap according to them).

At the same time, I created special pricing for several customers, who place orders on a regular basis (mostly non-commercial projects with easy content, so it would be a cruel joke to ask them to pay more).

At the end of the day, everything depends on you 🙂

Thank you for sharing your experience. This is very reassuring. Noted on offering discounts and even cheaper rates for simple jobs.

[rainydaysandbub]

Appreciate it if anyone can share how you tackled this issue if you’ve ever had a similar experience.

We’ve had this happen a few times.

In our line of work (Voice Over), we were able to justify it by the cost of investing in new, better equipment (all true), and the fact that the overall quality of what we were offering had vastly improved from when we first started out. We felt that our quality and our price were no longer matched. Like you, we started cheap to get some reviews, but we started REALLY cheap, and there was simply no way we could sustain that kind of price forever.

Some customers ‘got it’, and have stuck with us for a long time. We have one repeat customer who bought from us early on, and still comes back now, even though we cost about 4 times what we cost when we first started out. He often tips as well. He gets that Fiverr providers are often cheap compared to the rest of the market. He’s a great buyer!

Some customers felt we were now too expensive, and chose to go elsewhere. But honestly, we’d rather they did that. And you’ll actually find that a lot of buyers will overlook the cheap sellers because they assume they’re poor quality, and we’ve gained a lot of buyers who only started to reach out to us once we hit a certain price-point.

My advice is try not to feel guilty. You’ve given the client what they paid for, so you’ve done what’s required of you. You’re not under contract to offer that price forever, and if the buyer feels like your prices are too good to be true, then they must realise that it can’t last forever.

All the best! 🙂

This is very reassuring. Thank you!