Four "secrets" I've learned on Fiverr

[visualstudios]

Just out of interest, I was asked by a buyer a short while ago to do a job for $5 with no commercial license or broadcast fees to “keep the costs down” (for that read, “ensure he maximises his own profits.”) When I refused he told me that there are plenty of sellers on Fiverr that do not “demand” extras and that he’s go elsewhere. I cheerfully waved him off, but it grates when people under value their work.

Yeah, you did well.

However, it also annoys me the way certain fields price things. Voice over is a clear example.

The voice actor spends the exact amount of time and effort regardless of personal/broadcast use. Why is one more expensive than the other? I make video, and I don’t charge more or less for where the video is going to be used. I charge more or less based on how much money the client has.

I really don’t get the idea of literally reading words for 5 minutes and charging 10 bucks, but “if you want to put it on youtube, I’ll read the same words for the same 5 minutes and charge you 100 instead”.

Like… not gonna happen. I think all prices should have rights included. It doesn’t make sense for me to buy anything for which I don’t own the rights, so why would that even be an option? Why does the V/O actor care where the audio ends up, if not for price gouging reasons? It makes literally no difference to them. And if it’s just because he feels 10 bucks for 5 minutes is too little money for the work, then just charge more outright. It’s scummy.

[misscrystal]

On 1/20/2020 at 6:07 AM, visualstudios said:

I really don’t get the idea of literally reading words for 5 minutes and charging 10 bucks, but “if you want to put it on youtube, I’ll read the same words for the same 5 minutes and charge you 100 instead”.

It’s just how that field charges for things, it’s standard. 

You pay one fee for the performance and the second fee for commercial use of the performance. Actors have an informal union they developed to avoid being exploited. It compensates for them maybe charging ten bucks for something that earns the owner ten million dollars.

[visualstudios]

On 1/20/2020 at 10:54 AM, misscrystal said:

It’s just how that field charges for things, it’s standard. 

You pay one fee for the performance and the second fee for commercial use of the performance. Actors have an informal union they developed to avoid being exploited. It compensates for them maybe charging ten bucks for something that earns the owner ten million dollars.

I understand, but disagree. Just charge what you think your time is worth - it’s literally the same work to read something that will be used as it is to read something that won’t be. Decide how much you want to make per hour, price based on that.

[misscrystal]

I understand, but disagree. Just charge what you think your time is worth - it’s literally the same work to read something that will be used as it is to read something that won’t be. Decide how much you want to make per hour, price based on that.

It’s not about their time as much as it is how much money their performances generate for the owner. If a million people pay to see the performance are they just charging for their time spent doing it? Is that fair to them?

Tom Hanks could charge $100 an hour for a week of work. But that week of work could generate $20,000,000 in box office sales.

[visualstudios]

It’s not about their time as much as it is how much money their performances generate for the owner. If a million people pay to see the performance are they just charging for their time spent doing it? Is that fair to them?

Tom Hanks could charge $100 an hour for a week of work. But that week of work could generate $20,000,000 in box office sales.

That makes no sense. I charge for value, and that’s not what it means. Because that’s not what they are doing. Charging for value presupposes that I can get an idea of how much it is worth for the client. They don’t do that.

Example:

Person A hires a voice over to put on youtube. They own a small channel, it makes them 100 dollars in revenue. V/O actor asks them to pay 50 bucks in commercial rights.

Person B hires a voice over to put on youtube. They own a large channel, it will make them $10K in revenue. V/O actor asks them to pay… 50 bucks in commercial rights.

It’s fixed price. Therefore it’s not priced for value. If they charged a percentage of revenue, or whatever, fine. If they adjusted depending on how big the client is, fine. But they don’t do that. It’s literally an extra charge that everyone must pay… for nothing. They literally charge the same in “rights” for something that will be seen by 1000 people or 10 million, since they have no way of controlling that.

[misscrystal]

On 1/20/2020 at 11:08 AM, visualstudios said:

That makes no sense. I charge for value, and that’s not what it means. Because that’s not what they are doing. Charging for value presupposes that I can get an idea of how much it is worth for the client. They don’t do that.

Example:

Person A hires a voice over to put on youtube. They own a small channel, it makes them 100 dollars in revenue. V/O actor asks them to pay 50 bucks in commercial rights.

Person B hires a voice over to put on youtube. They own a large channel, it will make them $10K in revenue. V/O actor asks them to pay… 50 bucks in commercial rights.

It’s fixed price. Therefore it’s not priced for value. If they charged a percentage of revenue, or whatever, fine. If they adjusted depending on how big the client is, fine. But they don’t do that. It’s literally an extra charge that everyone must pay… for nothing. They literally charge the same in “rights” for something that will be seen by 1000 people or 10 million, since they have no way of controlling that.

I don’t care. Just told you the thinking behind it.

[visualstudios]

I don’t care. Just told you the thinking behind it.

I know the thinking behind it, but that’s not it. That’s what it should be, but it’s not what they do. I know, because I do that. I actually try to charge for value. That’s why I don’t have fixed prices for anything, I only have “suggested pricing” because Fiverr forces me to. All depends on the client.

[nyantsa]

I know the thinking behind it, but that’s not it. That’s what it should be, but it’s not what they do. I know, because I do that. I actually try to charge for value. That’s why I don’t have fixed prices for anything, I only have “suggested pricing” because Fiverr forces me to. All depends on the client.

I think in the end it’s all about how you negotiate with your client. Everybody knows the price on the gig is often used as an indication because most buyers will ask for a custom offer.

So this is what I suggest “them” (refering to the people you are talking about)

1. Discuss with the client how long is the V/O etc. All the details
2. Do some research: you probably have the name of the channel in the script (I’m not saying you should subscribe to the YouTube channel, and start communicating with your client etc…). Determine the number of subscribers, and how much would it worth
3. Charge accordingly

In fact you could just propose THE fixed price, but that is exactly where negotiation comes into play, to get your Value-based Price.

So for less subscribers, it would be $5, and for 10k subscribers it would be $100 (or whatever price you think of)

I hope this helps

Note

Analysing the channel is for research only, NOT to communicate with your client outside of Fiverr

If you don’t have any clue about the channel’s name, you can directly ask your buyer how many subscribers they have.

Thank you for your attention

[visualstudios]

On 1/20/2020 at 11:39 AM, nyantsa said:

I think in the end it’s all about how you negotiate with your client. Everybody knows the price on the gig is often used as an indication because most buyers will ask for a custom offer.

So this is what I suggest “them” (refering to the people you are talking about)

1. Discuss with the client how long is the V/O etc. All the details
2. Do some research: you probably have the name of the channel in the script (I’m not saying you should subscribe to the YouTube channel, and start communicating with your client etc…). Determine the number of subscribers, and how much would it worth
3. Charge accordingly

In fact you could just propose THE fixed price, but that is exactly where negotiation comes into play, to get your Value-based Price.

So for less subscribers, it would be $5, and for 10k subscribers it would be $100 (or whatever price you think of)

I hope this helps

Note

Analysing the channel is for research only, NOT to communicate with your client outside of Fiverr

If you don’t have any clue about the channel’s name, you can directly ask your buyer how many subscribers they have.

It’s tough. As a seller, I price for value, but as a buyer I’ll never want to buy a v/o that is priced for value. 

[nyantsa]

It’s tough. As a seller, I price for value, but as a buyer I’ll never want to buy a v/o that is priced for value.

Which means that (fairly speaking) you should not price for value as a seller if you’re not ready to buy for value as a buyer, as simple as that. Fiverr is all about fairness.

[visualstudios]

Which means that (fairly speaking) you should not price for value as a seller if you’re not ready to buy for value as a buyer, as simple as that. Fiverr is all about fairness.

Wait, what? That’s not how it works. I want to buy cheap and sell expensive. That’s the basis of all business. What do you mean, Fiverr is about fairness? Fiverr is not a person, it does not really have morals to speak of.

[nyantsa]

Wait, what? That’s not how it works. I want to buy cheap and sell expensive. That’s the basis of all business. What do you mean, Fiverr is about fairness? Fiverr is not a person, it does not really have morals to speak of.

I’m not an expert but I’m sure you can’t make an expensive V/O to be sold with cheap materials to start with.

Fiverr has it’s TOS to express its “Fairness”

Please let’s not drive away from this thread’s topic. Kindly start a new topic please, if you would want to discuss about how to price gigs the right way.

Thank you.

[catwriter]

On 1/20/2020 at 6:07 AM, visualstudios said:

I really don’t get the idea of literally reading words for 5 minutes and charging 10 bucks, but “if you want to put it on youtube, I’ll read the same words for the same 5 minutes and charge you 100 instead”.

$10 could be for a charity, or for an educational video for kids. 

[visualstudios]

I really don’t get the idea of literally reading words for 5 minutes and charging 10 bucks, but “if you want to put it on youtube, I’ll read the same words for the same 5 minutes and charge you 100 instead”.

$10 could be for a charity, or for an educational video for kids.

What do you mean? That you charge charities and educational videos less? Why?

[catwriter]

On 1/20/2020 at 12:13 PM, visualstudios said:

What do you mean? That you charge charities and educational videos less? Why?

Licenses for informational/educational stuff often cost less, I’m sure you’ve noticed.

As for me, there are certain types of businesses (pet or animal related) that I charge a bit less, in part because I love them so much, and in part because it usually takes me less time to do the work for them.

Then again, some of them buy at my regular prices because they choose to do so, and because they love my work as much as I love theirs. 

[melissabell161]

You also have to be careful of buyers flagging messages for spam or of possibly annoying buyers through messages they didn’t want. It might risk a warning messaging buyers when it’s not related to their current/recent order(s)/recent question they had or other message they sent.

I worry about this. There’s a fine line an i’ve already been warned once but i often run specials and want my repeat clients to be aware

[uk1000]

I worry about this. There’s a fine line an i’ve already been warned once but i often run specials and want my repeat clients to be aware

If you’ve been warned once from Fiverr about something I wouldn’t do it again (if it’s the same thing you were warned about, and it’s a TOS warning, 2 of the same type of warning can get the account deactivated I think). So I’d be careful of things like that and other things in the TOS.

[personalletters]

Just out of interest, I was asked by a buyer a short while ago to do a job for $5 with no commercial license or broadcast fees to “keep the costs down” (for that read, “ensure he maximises his own profits.”) When I refused he told me that there are plenty of sellers on Fiverr that do not “demand” extras and that he’s go elsewhere. I cheerfully waved him off, but it grates when people under value their work.

That happens on a daily basis to me too. The life of a VO.

[barrelofmonkeys]

that last one. Whoo. Hit home there. I do voice acting too and I’ve had to tell people that $5 for 1500 words is not going to cut it for me. And yeah, it stinks turning down money but I have to look out for myself and respect my time and effort I put in to each recording

[queenlolly]

I understand, but disagree. Just charge what you think your time is worth - it’s literally the same work to read something that will be used as it is to read something that won’t be. Decide how much you want to make per hour, price based on that.

Great idea. But I think it’s difficult to get orders when you don’t have Completed orders and reviews yet.

[amirmostofaa]

This is awesome? and Thank you.

[devsakwib]

I am new in fiverr. After reading many post learn many things.