Poll: Should sellers be able to accept and reject gigs before the delivery clock starts? Fiverr staff please take note!

[goodgift]

This topic has been discussed many times here on the forums. To be honest, it will ever happen. It is completely impractical, unrealistic, and makes the entire transaction process longer and less efficient. Fiverr exists as a shopping portal for buyers to find the freelance services they need. If they find something, they place an order expecting service.

You don’t go into a grocery store, choose to make a purchase, and then wait a few hours for the owner of the grocery store to decide whether he wants to sell you your apples or bananas. No, you choose your apples or bananas, take them to the cashier, and in minutes, those become YOUR apples and bananas. That is how Fiverr is designed to work as well (with the completion time for any service clearly noted on each service page).

Fiverr wants to be an efficient services marketplace, not a democratic – “must have a vote before purchase” political choice parliament.

The problem with this analogy is that items in a grocery store, with the exception of perhaps a deli or meat area, are packaged and ready to go. On a freelancing platform, a large portion of services offered need to be tailored specifically for each buyer, which requires communication on both ends. Ordering here is not like going into a grocery store at all. Sure, you can look at all the offerings, but buying something requires details and communication so that you get what you need. You can’t just pick it up off the shelf and be on your merry way.

I agree with you that it will probably never happen, but not for the reasons you present. 😉

[gina_riley2]

This topic has been discussed many times here on the forums. To be honest, it will ever happen. It is completely impractical, unrealistic, and makes the entire transaction process longer and less efficient. Fiverr exists as a shopping portal for buyers to find the freelance services they need. If they find something, they place an order expecting service.

You don’t go into a grocery store, choose to make a purchase, and then wait a few hours for the owner of the grocery store to decide whether he wants to sell you your apples or bananas. No, you choose your apples or bananas, take them to the cashier, and in minutes, those become YOUR apples and bananas. That is how Fiverr is designed to work as well (with the completion time for any service clearly noted on each service page).

Fiverr wants to be an efficient services marketplace, not a democratic – “must have a vote before purchase” political choice parliament.

I dunno Jon, 5r did start the “buyer’s review” after many, many times of being asked. People said that would never happen as well. 😉

You can’t get something unless you ask and then remind, over and over and over and . . .

I don’t see anything wrong with the seller having the option to “contact me” button vice “order” button. It should up to you, not 5r.

[ahlaj771]

Honestly I have in my Gig description multiple times to contact me prior to ordering. This prevents cancellations because I prefer to discuss the project/price which gives the Client a better idea of what to expect. I recently had a Client place an order (without contacting me prior) for $5. I kindly let them know that the order they placed needed to be $15 instead of $5. They got mad/irritated because it was going to be $15 instead of $5. They wanted me to cancel the job. -_-

[humanissocial]

As a buyer, it’s in your interest.

Let’s say you want a web page designed. You order it. The seller delivers a wonderful site, but there’s one problem. There’s no custom video, because the seller is a web designer, not a videographer.

So you file a modification request. The seller asks why you didn’t tell him you needed a video before you ordered, and you say you would have but you need it right away.

The seller can’t modify the project because its not in his skill set. Cancel the order now, after the seller worked hard and delivered a wonderful project? That’s not fair to the seller, because he won’t get paid for his hard work.

It’s not fair to you, either, because you’ll either get stuck in modification hell, or you’ll end up paying for a project you can’t use.

And mentioning the need for a custom video in the requirements section when you order (you do fill out the requirements in detail, right?) doesn’t help either, because once you complete the requirements the order goes through, regardless of whatever you put in it.

It happens all the time. Voiceover artists are asked to compose music, musicians to create music videos, and virtual assistants get orders to file legal briefs. Nobody is happy when this happens.

Many, if not most sellers respond to orders within an hour. That’s not a long time to wait for a gig to start.

As I said, it’s in the buyer’s interest too.

Then they should send a message to the sellers first. Buyers don’t even like to do that, so why would they want to be vetted like this? They’ll just leave and go somewhere else where they won’t have to wait and do the back-and-forth communication.

Fiverr isn’t going to enable this feature because they would lose business. It’s not going to happen. This has been discussed in the forum many times.

[uk1000]

Then they should send a message to the sellers first. Buyers don’t even like to do that, so why would they want to be vetted like this? They’ll just leave and go somewhere else where they won’t have to wait and do the back-and-forth communication.

Fiverr isn’t going to enable this feature because they would lose business. It’s not going to happen. This has been discussed in the forum many times.

so why would they want to be vetted like this

Because it could waste the least amount of time and money, probably both the buyer’s and the seller’s. It could make it so the buyer is more likely to get what they originally wanted and allow the seller to have known exactly what they wanted. It would save the buyer having to wait the duration of the delivery time on sellers who weren’t able to do exactly what they wanted for the price. Maybe what the buyer originally wanted isn’t possible but by contacting the seller, an alternative could be agreed on.

[humanissocial]

so why would they want to be vetted like this

Because it could waste the least amount of time and money, probably both the buyer’s and the seller’s. It could make it so the buyer is more likely to get what they originally wanted and allow the seller to have known exactly what they wanted. It would save the buyer having to wait the duration of the delivery time on sellers who weren’t able to do exactly what they wanted for the price. Maybe what the buyer originally wanted isn’t possible but by contacting the seller, an alternative could be agreed on.

They could do the same thing with a message.

I think it would be great if there was a form you could fill out in a message if you have an inquiry.

[uk1000]

They could do the same thing with a message.

I think it would be great if there was a form you could fill out in a message if you have an inquiry.

But just a message doesn’t stop them buying it in the first place. It might need some back and forth discussion and even then they might not have exactly the right seller for what they want.

Just a message doesn’t stop buyers asking for something against the TOS eg. copyright infringing, or inappropriate and cancelling those orders (unless CS agreed otherwise) would affect the seller’s stats.

[humanissocial]

But just a message doesn’t stop them buying it in the first place. It might need some back and forth discussion and even then they might not have exactly the right seller for what they want.

Just a message doesn’t stop buyers asking for something against the TOS eg. copyright infringing, or inappropriate and cancelling those orders (unless CS agreed otherwise) would affect the seller’s stats.

I know it doesn’t stop them. The point is that they don’t need to make an order to get the information they need.

As has been established in the forum many times, Fiverr would never, ever prevent a buyer from ordering until a seller accepts. That’s not how marketplaces work and Fiverr would lose money if they did it this way. It isn’t going to happen. This is a pipe dream. Sorry.

[uk1000]

I know it doesn’t stop them. The point is that they don’t need to make an order to get the information they need.

As has been established in the forum many times, Fiverr would never, ever prevent a buyer from ordering until a seller accepts. That’s not how marketplaces work and Fiverr would lose money if they did it this way. It isn’t going to happen. This is a pipe dream. Sorry.

As has been established in the forum many times, Fiverr would never, ever prevent a buyer from ordering until a seller accepts. That’s not how marketplaces work

Most good real life shops would allow a seller to not accept to do things that were against the law etc. without punishing them through the equivalent of a Fiverr evaluation. In a real life shop if someone asked for something illegal or asked the seller to break the law (eg. copyright) the manager would be happy the seller didn’t do what was asked, whereas Fiverr will increase the seller’s cancellation rate (and punish the seller in their stats and probably demote them) if they cancel an order for something that would infringe copyright or otherwise be illegal or inappropriate.

It shouldn’t be a “pipe dream” to expect a system that doesn’t punish sellers for not breaking the law etc. (ie. for cancelling stuff that would break copyright law etc.).

It’s the same thing if they cancel for something that’s the buyer’s fault like them not putting required attachments at the time of the order but starting the order anyway.

[silberma1976]

I think it is a dangerous game. If Fiverr decides to count it as a cancellation against our stats, that is no good. It makes the buyer a little weary and they may not come back to buy again from someone else. I think it hurts the platform more than it helps.

[humanissocial]

As has been established in the forum many times, Fiverr would never, ever prevent a buyer from ordering until a seller accepts. That’s not how marketplaces work

Most good real life shops would allow a seller to not accept to do things that were against the law etc. without punishing them through the equivalent of a Fiverr evaluation. In a real life shop if someone asked for something illegal or asked the seller to break the law (eg. copyright) the manager would be happy the seller didn’t do what was asked, whereas Fiverr will increase the seller’s cancellation rate (and punish the seller in their stats and probably demote them) if they cancel an order for something that would infringe copyright or otherwise be illegal or inappropriate.

It shouldn’t be a “pipe dream” to expect a system that doesn’t punish sellers for not breaking the law etc. (ie. for cancelling stuff that would break copyright law etc.).

It’s the same thing if they cancel for something that’s the buyer’s fault like them not putting required attachments at the time of the order but starting the order anyway.

“It shouldn’t be a “pipe dream” to expect a system that doesn’t punish sellers for not breaking the law etc. (ie. for cancelling stuff that would break copyright law etc.).”

You’re talking about two different things here: 1. sellers being penalized in their ratings for cancelling and

2. The proposal that buyers should be required to get permission before an order becomes active

You’re deducing that because I’m against 2 that I’m also against 1. That’s faulty logic and doesn’t at all represent my argument or my viewpoint.

We’re not even talking about that. We’re talking about buyers not being required to get permission before order. We’re NOT talking about penalties on sellers for cancelling.

[humanissocial]

As has been established in the forum many times, Fiverr would never, ever prevent a buyer from ordering until a seller accepts. That’s not how marketplaces work

Most good real life shops would allow a seller to not accept to do things that were against the law etc. without punishing them through the equivalent of a Fiverr evaluation. In a real life shop if someone asked for something illegal or asked the seller to break the law (eg. copyright) the manager would be happy the seller didn’t do what was asked, whereas Fiverr will increase the seller’s cancellation rate (and punish the seller in their stats and probably demote them) if they cancel an order for something that would infringe copyright or otherwise be illegal or inappropriate.

It shouldn’t be a “pipe dream” to expect a system that doesn’t punish sellers for not breaking the law etc. (ie. for cancelling stuff that would break copyright law etc.).

It’s the same thing if they cancel for something that’s the buyer’s fault like them not putting required attachments at the time of the order but starting the order anyway.

You’re assuming that I think sellers should remain penalized for unlawful orders. I don’t think they should be and you have zero reason to think that I do.

[uk1000]

“It shouldn’t be a “pipe dream” to expect a system that doesn’t punish sellers for not breaking the law etc. (ie. for cancelling stuff that would break copyright law etc.).”

You’re talking about two different things here: 1. sellers being penalized in their ratings for cancelling and

2. The proposal that buyers should be required to get permission before an order becomes active

You’re deducing that because I’m against 2 that I’m also against 1. That’s faulty logic and doesn’t at all represent my argument or my viewpoint.

We’re not even talking about that. We’re talking about buyers not being required to get permission before order. We’re NOT talking about penalties on sellers for cancelling.

But by having an accept/reject button it would allow the order where copyright infringement was requested to never start in the first place. The seller would never have to go through the cancellation requests or create support tickets to try to get it cancelled if the copyright infringing order (or order that likely breaks some other part of the TOS) was never placed in the first place. This is one way of stopping things like that and making it so the seller isn’t punished for doing the right thing (what’s lawful etc.).

A good online store would do their best to prevent illegal things from being ordered in the first place.

[humanissocial]

But by having an accept/reject button it would allow the order where copyright infringement was requested to never start in the first place. The seller would never have to go through the cancellation requests or create support tickets to try to get it cancelled if the copyright infringing order (or order that likely breaks some other part of the TOS) was never placed in the first place. This is one way of stopping things like that and making it so the seller isn’t punished for doing the right thing (what’s lawful etc.).

A good online store would do their best to prevent illegal things from being ordered in the first place.

It isn’t going to happen for the reasons I mentioned and wouldn’t prevent anything. If someone wants something illegal, they aren’t going to divulge or make that evident in a form… If there is an illegal order, it can be cancelled.

In any case, I have no idea why you deduced that I must be in favour of sellers being penalized just because I’m saying Fiverr would never allow sales to only become active upon seller approval.

I’m actually opposed to sellers being penalized, but you mischaracterized me as thinking the opposite, I presume so you could try to discredit my argument.

[uk1000]

It isn’t going to happen for the reasons I mentioned and wouldn’t prevent anything. If someone wants something illegal, they aren’t going to divulge or make that evident in a form… If there is an illegal order, it can be cancelled.

In any case, I have no idea why you deduced that I must be in favour of sellers being penalized just because I’m saying Fiverr would never allow sales to only become active upon seller approval.

I’m actually opposed to sellers being penalized, but you mischaracterized me as thinking the opposite, I presume so you could try to discredit my argument.

I’m actually opposed to sellers being penalized,

Then this “accept/reject” button could stop the (bad) order being placed which would prevent sellers from having to cancel such bad orders which would prevent them being penalised for that.

[humanissocial]

I’m actually opposed to sellers being penalized,

Then this “accept/reject” button could stop the (bad) order being placed which would prevent sellers from having to cancel such bad orders which would prevent them being penalised for that.

It isn’t going to happen and, again, that isn’t the only way to avoid penalizing sellers. Why would Fiverr do something that would make them lose business just to avoid penalizing us, especially when there are many other ways to avoid that?

If you don’t want us to penalized, then let’s talk about solutions that Fiverr would actually put into place.

This isn’t going to happen. This is a pipe dream.

[danieladgr]

I’m actually opposed to sellers being penalized,

Then this “accept/reject” button could stop the (bad) order being placed which would prevent sellers from having to cancel such bad orders which would prevent them being penalised for that.

which would prevent sellers from having to cancel such bad orders

I’m not sure if this would do that. A buyer can describe “everything” that needs to be done, and a seller might think it is OK and accept the order. How can you be sure that things will work out with this buyer? When revision time comes, the buyer might still change his/her mind and refuse to accept the delivery for any reason that wasn’t established from the beginning, even if the seller delivered a high-quality product according to everything that was set up from the start. Scammers will find their way and sellers will still face frustration regarding to these buyers.

[uk1000]

which would prevent sellers from having to cancel such bad orders

I’m not sure if this would do that. A buyer can describe “everything” that needs to be done, and a seller might think it is OK and accept the order. How can you be sure that things will work out with this buyer? When revision time comes, the buyer might still change his/her mind and refuse to accept the delivery for any reason that wasn’t established from the beginning, even if the seller delivered a high-quality product according to everything that was set up from the start. Scammers will find their way and sellers will still face frustration regarding to these buyers.

Yes it wouldn’t totally prevent things like that (eg. buyers asking for things like copyright infringing things, eg. mid-way through an order, whether in revisions requests or anywhere else on the order page after it’s started) but it would help prevent things like that from occurring. Good online stores don’t list illegal products on their stores so orders for illegal products shouldn’t be able to start. They shouldn’t need to cancel any orders for them. But a freelancing site where there’s a box where a user can ask for anything or put anything (whether related to the gig or not) where it could be illegal for a seller to do what is asked, could benefit from an accept/reject button that stopped bad orders from starting.

It would also prevent orders from starting where the buyer puts rubbish in every requirement field, starts the order then immediately says “ordered by mistake”, and without the seller being penalised for cancelling such orders.

[humanissocial]

Yes it wouldn’t totally prevent things like that (eg. buyers asking for things like copyright infringing things, eg. mid-way through an order, whether in revisions requests or anywhere else on the order page after it’s started) but it would help prevent things like that from occurring. Good online stores don’t list illegal products on their stores so orders for illegal products shouldn’t be able to start. They shouldn’t need to cancel any orders for them. But a freelancing site where there’s a box where a user can ask for anything or put anything (whether related to the gig or not) where it could be illegal for a seller to do what is asked, could benefit from an accept/reject button that stopped bad orders from starting.

It would also prevent orders from starting where the buyer puts rubbish in every requirement field, starts the order then immediately says “ordered by mistake”, and without the seller being penalised for cancelling such orders.

You’re assuming buyers would disclose the nefarious orders you would want to prevent. Of course they wouldn’t. If someone wants something illegal, they aren’t going to reveal that in a form.

Buyers don’t even like filling out order requirements properly, anyway! But they’d fill out these things properly? Okay then…

[uk1000]

You’re assuming buyers would disclose the nefarious orders you would want to prevent. Of course they wouldn’t. If someone wants something illegal, they aren’t going to reveal that in a form.

Buyers don’t even like filling out order requirements properly, anyway! But they’d fill out these things properly? Okay then…

Of course they wouldn’t. If someone wants something illegal, they aren’t going to reveal that in a form

Maybe they don’t really understand that what they’re asking for would be against the law (eg. copyright-wise). eg. they might ask in messages for a particular youtube video (that they have no rights to) to be edited in some way or maybe they just ask for particular images that they just found through Google to be used in a video or a video and say “don’t worry about copyright, this won’t be shown outside our organisation” or something. So if you could see what was written in the requirements and what was attached before the order actually started and with an accept/reject option you could prevent orders like that (with those requirements) from starting as well as the “ordered by mistake” ones. Or you could ask for changes to the requirements to be made before the order could start if relevant.

If someone wants something illegal, they aren’t going to reveal that in a form.

They’ve revealed in messages that they want stuff done that would actually break copyright law to do (even though they wouldn’t say to “break copyright law”), so if I didn’t have “please contact me before ordering” in the gigs they’d quite likely have asked for those same things in the order requirements section. They’ve also put images to use on an order page which couldn’t be used due to rights.

[cyaxrex]

Of course they wouldn’t. If someone wants something illegal, they aren’t going to reveal that in a form

Maybe they don’t really understand that what they’re asking for would be against the law (eg. copyright-wise). eg. they might ask in messages for a particular youtube video (that they have no rights to) to be edited in some way or maybe they just ask for particular images that they just found through Google to be used in a video or a video and say “don’t worry about copyright, this won’t be shown outside our organisation” or something. So if you could see what was written in the requirements and what was attached before the order actually started and with an accept/reject option you could prevent orders like that (with those requirements) from starting as well as the “ordered by mistake” ones. Or you could ask for changes to the requirements to be made before the order could start if relevant.

If someone wants something illegal, they aren’t going to reveal that in a form.

They’ve revealed in messages that they want stuff done that would actually break copyright law to do (even though they wouldn’t say to “break copyright law”), so if I didn’t have “please contact me before ordering” in the gigs they’d quite likely have asked for those same things in the order requirements section. They’ve also put images to use on an order page which couldn’t be used due to rights.

Maybe they don’t really understand that what they’re asking for would be against the law (eg. copyright-wise). eg. they might ask in messages for a particular youtube video (that they have no rights to) to be edited in some way or maybe they just ask for particular images that they just found through Google to be used in a video or a video and say “don’t worry about copyright, this won’t be shown outside our organisation” or something

This is the basic problem. Cancellations I’ve had this year include the likes of people asking me to copyright brands and business ideas. (One even asked me to copyright the word ‘trousers.’)

I’ve also had to cancel orders from people asking me to build them cryptocurrency exchanges, use copyright protected images and media in videos, and do other things I don’t offer.

In every case, I experience a slump in new orders and messages after cancellations. From a purely objective perspective, it could, therefore, be argued that Fiverr punishing cancellations like this actually puts sellers under pressure to break the law.

While Fiverr will never allow sellers to reject orders before they go live, it is odd how buyers have to confirm that they have read Fiverr’s TOS before they use the site, and also have to confirm that they have provided accurate order information when placing an order. After all, sellers have no ability to reject orders which break TOS or are placed by people who do not submit correct order information.

This is what Fiverr really needs. A no-penalty order reject button.

[misscrystal]

It’s always worth a try with customer support to notify them you need to cancel due to being asked to do something against TOS. You never know, they may be able to cancel it without it affecting your stats.

[uk1000]

It’s always worth a try with customer support to notify them you need to cancel due to being asked to do something against TOS. You never know, they may be able to cancel it without it affecting your stats.

Yes I could do in future. With the images I’d use something else (unless the rights to the others could be obtained) though that could obviously affect reviews as buyer’s aren’t going to be as happy after the order as they would if the seller had used the original images they wanted (even though there were no rights to use the ones they wanted) - though they’d probably be happier than if they got sued for using the ones they wanted. And mostly the contacting before ordering helps (but probably only because of what’s written in the gigs). It didn’t stop orders like the “ordered by mistake” one or the one who started the order without attaching everything they required for it.

But there should be something more built into the way the system works than manually contacting CS about this I think. Contacting CS about the order risks getting the buyer into trouble when sometimes just alternatives could be used (even though that might affect reviews). Also only higher levelled sellers get the quick responses from CS. This option would also prevent the “ordered by mistake” affecting completion rates too and that might not be possible for CS to cancel without it affecting stats. Though really that should be able to be done another way (the buyer should be able to select an option “I ordered by mistake” and it should be able to be cancelled without stats being affected, but it doesn’t).

[psychicbunny]

The only con for this is let’s say someone needs an order FAST. What if the buyer places an order, just so they receive a DENY 2 whole days later?
I buy stuff from Postmates and Doordash sometimes. I know restaurants have an ability to receive orders and deny them fast - but I don’t know how sellers would be able to do this. Maybe if Fiverr were to apply some applications from these sites something like this COULD happen… But it’s a tough call and things could get messy.

[uk1000]

The only con for this is let’s say someone needs an order FAST. What if the buyer places an order, just so they receive a DENY 2 whole days later?

I buy stuff from Postmates and Doordash sometimes. I know restaurants have an ability to receive orders and deny them fast - but I don’t know how sellers would be able to do this. Maybe if Fiverr were to apply some applications from these sites something like this COULD happen… But it’s a tough call and things could get messy.

Maybe the seller could be given a limited amount of time to accept/reject it and after that something predefined happens (eg. after a specified number of hours it could automatically get either accepted or maybe rejected, maybe depending on what the seller selects or whatever Fiverr decides).