What's the most ridiculous way a buyer has tried to trick you?

[gwyneth_galvin]

Exactly.

I hate it when buyers try to be charged based on time.

I tell them, that actually doing this within 10 minutes or faster makes me want to charge you more.

Time is a factor no doubt, but the faster the job is done the more I charge, this is where me and these buyers do not agree.

But to be fair, most of my buyers actually pay me more for my speed.

doing this within 10 minutes or faster makes me want to charge you more.

Yes exactly!! If you and I have never worked together before and you message me at 9 PM asking for next-morning delivery, I don’t care how simple the job is. You’re going to pay extra for me taking time out of my day to complete the project that quickly.

I actually have another job, as I’m sure many other Fiverr sellers do, that takes priority over Fiverr. It pays less, but it’s my day job and I can’t risk losing it. So if you want me to bend over backwards in my free time for you, you have to pay for it.

But to be fair, most of my buyers actually pay me more for my speed.

I’m really lucky here too - most of my buyers are sound. And I’ll actually do quite a bit of extra work (for cheap or free) for my buyers who are kind and patient. A little goes a long way.

[ammarshrf]

doing this within 10 minutes or faster makes me want to charge you more.

Yes exactly!! If you and I have never worked together before and you message me at 9 PM asking for next-morning delivery, I don’t care how simple the job is. You’re going to pay extra for me taking time out of my day to complete the project that quickly.

I actually have another job, as I’m sure many other Fiverr sellers do, that takes priority over Fiverr. It pays less, but it’s my day job and I can’t risk losing it. So if you want me to bend over backwards in my free time for you, you have to pay for it.

But to be fair, most of my buyers actually pay me more for my speed.

I’m really lucky here too - most of my buyers are sound. And I’ll actually do quite a bit of extra work (for cheap or free) for my buyers who are kind and patient. A little goes a long way.

And I’ll actually do quite a bit of extra work (for cheap or free) for my buyers who are kind and patient.

Yes I do that too, for customers who value my work and time.

Oh yes, I remembered one case, it was an old one, when my prices were less than they are now.

After agreeing on the price & everything. I delivered the work (I write scripts in Excel) so the buyer saw that the script is easy (and it is doing what they wanted) but got angry and wanted a refund (probably because he couldn’t find out how to do it). Of course I refused, then he started to insult my family and my race, I immediately contact CS and they banned him and refunded the order but gave me compensation because I finished the work.

Another buyer recently sent me a file and wrote (Hi, how much does it cost to do this? File has description)… When I downloaded the file it was a virus (surprised that Fiverr’s scanner did not catch that)… Then I ignored that buyer, after a while he sent me " F*** you N****" then of course got banned.

[steve_maxell]

their client doesn’t like it

I am not responsible for your client! YOU ARE! This makes me so angry. I do NOT work for your client. I don’t care if they’re displeased. That is a risk YOU take when you outsource your work. Ugh!

Fiverr needs to add this to their TOS. So if buyers who say this request a refund Fiverr won’t give one. We need an outsourcing subsection on the TOS. If you do the work that’s the end of it. Especially when a lot of clients who ask for cancelation don’t even as for a revision.

[ahmeddev125]

I’m a voice-over artist and here are my most common ones:

• Deleting spaces between sentences to make the word on their script count lower (I charge per word)
• Telling me that they need me to do a custom demo “for the client”… (beause they don’t want their client to know that they’re outsourcing the voice-over for cheap on Fiverr!)
• Telling me that if I give them a discount now they will be back for more work at full price later!

The cheek of it!

Telling me that if I give them a discount now they will be back for more work at full price later!

That one is common on Fiverr. 2-3 days ago client ask me to fix his site and said that I do his work in small price if he like my work he continuously give me projects but nothing hear after from him. LOL

[humanissocial]

“I have a very simple task”

“I can do it, but I have no time, I’d rather pay to get it done…”

“Based on your profile, this shouldn’t take you more than 10 minutes to do”

These are the ones I get from time to time, and most of the time, I end up not doing their work, because of course, their budget is ridiculous.

Thanks for sharing those great warning signs that a buyer is going to take advantage of you.

Sorry you deal with that, but I’m glad you take action to avoid it! Good for you. Kudos.

[personalletters]

their client doesn’t like it

I am not responsible for your client! YOU ARE! This makes me so angry. I do NOT work for your client. I don’t care if they’re displeased. That is a risk YOU take when you outsource your work. Ugh!

Do you try and get the commercial rights out of them for this?

I get underpaid so often it hurts!

[personalletters]

Fiverr needs to add this to their TOS. So if buyers who say this request a refund Fiverr won’t give one. We need an outsourcing subsection on the TOS. If you do the work that’s the end of it. Especially when a lot of clients who ask for cancelation don’t even as for a revision.

I think it would be solved with a supply chain network.

I don’t mind my work being resold, but I need paying for it.

If every designer on here had to come to me through the supply chain network I’d understand what the gig was about and be paid properly,.

[gwyneth_galvin]

Do you try and get the commercial rights out of them for this?

I get underpaid so often it hurts!

Do you try and get the commercial rights out of them for this?

I used to charge between $5-10 for commercial rights per 500 words, but I’d say 5 out of 10 times it just led to an angry buyer who thought they were only going to have to pay $5 for a voice-over (to use on their $75 animation). So I stopped charging for them but increased my base price by about 100%.

It’s a win-win because I no longer get “$5-buyers” (this has been hashed out ad nauseam on the forums so I won’t go there 😂) and I don’t have to explain to anyone why commercial rights are important. To be honest, I never really understood the line between commercial and non-commercial anyway, so it’s a lot easier for me this way!

[gwyneth_galvin]

I think it would be solved with a supply chain network.

I don’t mind my work being resold, but I need paying for it.

If every designer on here had to come to me through the supply chain network I’d understand what the gig was about and be paid properly,.

I’d understand what the gig was about and be paid properly,.

There have been so many times where I have actually really needed to speak to my client’s client in order to clarify something. How many revisions have I done that could have been avoided if I’d just been able to have one simple conversation with that buyer? Too many to count.

[rohitsolanki]

I sell ebook formatting and Paperback formatting.
A client bought paperback and after I delivered he said that he mistakenly said paperback and demanded ebook for free. Trickster.

[gwyneth_galvin]

I sell ebook formatting and Paperback formatting.

A client bought paperback and after I delivered he said that he mistakenly said paperback and demanded ebook for free. Trickster.

after I delivered

😐

[humanissocial]

Do you try and get the commercial rights out of them for this?

I used to charge between $5-10 for commercial rights per 500 words, but I’d say 5 out of 10 times it just led to an angry buyer who thought they were only going to have to pay $5 for a voice-over (to use on their $75 animation). So I stopped charging for them but increased my base price by about 100%.

It’s a win-win because I no longer get “$5-buyers” (this has been hashed out ad nauseam on the forums so I won’t go there 😂) and I don’t have to explain to anyone why commercial rights are important. To be honest, I never really understood the line between commercial and non-commercial anyway, so it’s a lot easier for me this way!

Great idea. Most people who buy want it for commercial use, anyway, plus you save yourself administrative headaches.

[rohitsolanki]

after I delivered

😐

He did not accept the delivery

[gwyneth_galvin]

He did not accept the delivery

OMG. Did you end up having to refund him?

[colegordon]

This happened today.

BUYER: Sends message saying “I have a project with 15,000 words, can you send me an offer?”

Le ME: Sends offer expressing how nice it is to work with them again

BUYER: Places order and sends MS Word file which clearly says 16,000 words

So, do I ask for the extra or not? It’s an extra $10 on a $135 order.

Personally I just couldn’t be bothered this time as I didn’t discount it at all when I sent the offer which I often do for repeat clients. I apologize in advance to @jonbaas and @cyaxrex who are disappointed in me I’m sure.

This is something I would have let slide for a repeat client also. Especially if the job is over $100.

[rohitsolanki]

OMG. Did you end up having to refund him?

No. I ended up giving him both jobs. I was new and wasn’t sure what would have been a good choice.

But it is kind of a learning process. Encounters with these type of clients made me better at communicating.

[humanissocial]

This is something I would have let slide for a repeat client also. Especially if the job is over $100.

The problem is that some buyers become repeat clients to exploit the seller and imply they owe them. With this approach, you enable that.

[colegordon]

He did not accept the delivery

This is why I believe Fivver should put in place some sort of protection like they do with watermarks on graphic designs. Maybe allow only 80% of the work to be downloaded by the client unless they approve delivery. Or something! Because at the end of the day, people can simply download the delivered work and then reject the order.

I do formatting also, but I no longer receive these clients because I can now tell from a client’s first message if they are going to be a problem client and immediately tell them I’m not available for the job. In book formatting, I find too many clients trying to dictate to me what I should be charging for the job.

I turn down a lot of orders and it has saved me a lot of headaches. I only accept orders from clients who come knowing exactly what they want and doesn’t balk at the price or try to get a discount. In my experience, these clients are usually super easy to please (because they know what they want) and they always, always tip. And always come back. Really, as long as you have a steady set of non-problematic repeat clients, you should be fine.

[colegordon]

The problem is that some buyers become repeat clients to exploit the seller and imply they owe them. With this approach, you enable that.

True. I guess it depends on the quality of the repeat client. I survive mostly off repeat clients and I can say none of them tries to exploit me like that (sneaking in an extra 1k words etc). If a repeat client did that once,I would give them the benefit of the doubt and let it go. But if they did it a second time I would know for sure I’m being exploited and call them out on it.

I always have good, jovial conversations first regarding the order with these clients anyway before I send them a custom offer. It helps me to deliver them exactly what they need, but it also prevents them from being decietful (conscience).

[rohitsolanki]

This is why I believe Fivver should put in place some sort of protection like they do with watermarks on graphic designs. Maybe allow only 80% of the work to be downloaded by the client unless they approve delivery. Or something! Because at the end of the day, people can simply download the delivered work and then reject the order.

I do formatting also, but I no longer receive these clients because I can now tell from a client’s first message if they are going to be a problem client and immediately tell them I’m not available for the job. In book formatting, I find too many clients trying to dictate to me what I should be charging for the job.

I turn down a lot of orders and it has saved me a lot of headaches. I only accept orders from clients who come knowing exactly what they want and doesn’t balk at the price or try to get a discount. In my experience, these clients are usually super easy to please (because they know what they want) and they always, always tip. And always come back. Really, as long as you have a steady set of non-problematic repeat clients, you should be fine.

I am applying these rules too since many months now and I am getting very good clients. I do not accept orders from clients I think will be a problem.

I am selling good and my profile is good and it actually helps in getting me some professional clients.

I also sell book covers. Fiverr puts a watermark on the delivery images and clients gets the cover without fiverr’s watermark after they approve the delivery. This is a good step. But the problem lies in the formatting documents.

The problematic clients make new sellers their target and takes a lot out of them for very less money.

[anabellamadeo]

I just got my new favourite one:

“We consider the price to be very high. You can take over the style, the font, the background, etc… We have the impression that you know exactly that we are happy with you and take our dependence on you as an advantage.”

(For context, I offered the 35% discount for the first project which went well – which is silly, don’t do that – 40% on the second one because it was for the same occasion).

"We have the impression that you know exactly that we are happy with you and take our dependence on you as an advantage.”

That was amazing! They’re blaming YOU for their cheapness, I can’t believe it!

[alaminlinkon]

"We have the impression that you know exactly that we are happy with you and take our dependence on you as an advantage.”

That was amazing! They’re blaming YOU for their cheapness, I can’t believe it!

@anabellamadeo

Nice answer 🙂

[lenasemenkova]

"We have the impression that you know exactly that we are happy with you and take our dependence on you as an advantage.”

That was amazing! They’re blaming YOU for their cheapness, I can’t believe it!

It also reads like an accusation that I’ve made too much of a good work intentionally to hook them on my stuff. :)) I blocked “them”.

When the buyer uses a royal “we” it’s almost never a good sign.

[melanielm]

I nodded so much while reading this thread that my neck is sore.

My personal pet-peeves are clients who put the order in revision limbo while they go consult with someone who either doesn’t exist or doesn’t want to answer them, and ones who argue with me about prices. I simply state, “I’m sorry. Your budget doesn’t align with my prices” and usually get a “But wait…” before they try to convince me why $30 really is appropriate for a 10k-word ebook.

[cyaxrex]

I nodded so much while reading this thread that my neck is sore.

My personal pet-peeves are clients who put the order in revision limbo while they go consult with someone who either doesn’t exist or doesn’t want to answer them, and ones who argue with me about prices. I simply state, “I’m sorry. Your budget doesn’t align with my prices” and usually get a “But wait…” before they try to convince me why $30 really is appropriate for a 10k-word ebook.

I simply state, “I’m sorry. Your budget doesn’t align with my prices” and usually get a “But wait…” before they try to convince me why $30 really is appropriate for a 10k-word ebook.

I feel like blowing my top when I get buyers like this. They are a monumental waste of time. The first warning sign is that they can rarely say what they want in anything less than 4-messages. It’s always, "Hi, do you do web content?" - Followed by the slowest build up to something mundane like "I have a pet website" in history.

Then there is the big reveal of "my budget is half or quarter of your usual rates."

I had an old buyer who recently seemed confused by the fact that my rates are higher than they were when they last ordered in 2016. I felt like asking if they were similarly bewildered by how petrol costs more, groceries cost more, and pretty much everything in life costs more than it did in 2016.

In every case, I know to avoid working with anyone who asks for a discount upfront. From experience, all that doing this does is say "by the way. just so you know, I’ll also be asking for 20 revisions later too."