'Winning' Buyers Requests

[karura_art]

Hi everyone,

I’m pretty new to the site and everyone seemed to be advising using the buyer requests to get your first few gigs. Since my account is so new I see a very limited amount of requests, but it is slowly becoming more.

However, what I want to discuss is the nature of ‘winning’ these requests. I draw characters and my base price is $20. However, I often see people who basically budget themselves $5 per character. Am I really supposed to work basically for free just to win these requests?

I’m not sure how much other people are underselling themselves on this site. Is everyone offering $5 jobs done with one day delivery? Are you supposed to meet the budget they give you or go way below it? I do not want to undersell myself, but if that means I have no chance of winning these requests I’d rather know now and not waste my time with it. Your thoughts are very appreciated!

[wolfhowler]

It can pay dividends to do a couple of buyer requests for low amounts, when you get a couple orders and reviews then your gigs will become more visible on their own and you should start to see orders coming in. Buyers are usually weary of people with no history on Fiverr.

[karura_art]

It can pay dividends to do a couple of buyer requests for low amounts, when you get a couple orders and reviews then your gigs will become more visible on their own and you should start to see orders coming in. Buyers are usually weary of people with no history on Fiverr.

So it’s basically a calculated risk you have to take; work very cheaply in order to gain some traction. I feel quite uncomfortable offering my services for next to nothing though 😕 Might be an emotional hurdle I have to get over.

[muztre]

I put my price gig not on the lowest price I found on the market, however, I reduce the price on the buyer request especially to met their criteria. I have done this, so that I can win the buyer request.
I never won one though. I am also new

[wolfhowler]

So it’s basically a calculated risk you have to take; work very cheaply in order to gain some traction. I feel quite uncomfortable offering my services for next to nothing though 😕 Might be an emotional hurdle I have to get over.

Yep a calculated risk. Same as the chocolate shop giving free samples outside the shop to show everyone how good their chocolate is with the hope they will come in and buy a box.

[karura_art]

Yep a calculated risk. Same as the chocolate shop giving free samples outside the shop to show everyone how good their chocolate is with the hope they will come in and buy a box.

Haha, good analogy! I’ll try to switch my mindset.

It would still be nice if you could actually see the counter offers, so you know what your competitors are offering. And maybe be notified when a request has been fulfilled. Now the list of send offers just kind of sits there.

[wolfhowler]

Haha, good analogy! I’ll try to switch my mindset.

It would still be nice if you could actually see the counter offers, so you know what your competitors are offering. And maybe be notified when a request has been fulfilled. Now the list of send offers just kind of sits there.

Just relating your response to the request is a massive step above the competition. So many people send a copied and pasted message. Be genuine and just message them like a person, as you would in real with someone asking about what you can offer.

[karura_art]

Just relating your response to the request is a massive step above the competition. So many people send a copied and pasted message. Be genuine and just message them like a person, as you would in real with someone asking about what you can offer.

Yeah, I read a lot of the tips on the forum. I’ve been sending personalized messages to everyone, acknowledging the request, stating what product I will make for how much in what time span. But I guess if someone does it for less in less time, they’ll still go with the latter 😅

[wolfhowler]

Yeah, I read a lot of the tips on the forum. I’ve been sending personalized messages to everyone, acknowledging the request, stating what product I will make for how much in what time span. But I guess if someone does it for less in less time, they’ll still go with the latter 😅

Not always, if I put in a buyer request I would probably ignore the first offers that came through that was either copied or just had terrible English. I’d also look for someone genuinely looking for a break. Just because it’s cheap and quick doesn’t mean it will be good. Yes some buyers are looking for cheap and quick, others are looking for quality.

[karura_art]

Not always, if I put in a buyer request I would probably ignore the first offers that came through that was either copied or just had terrible English. I’d also look for someone genuinely looking for a break. Just because it’s cheap and quick doesn’t mean it will be good. Yes some buyers are looking for cheap and quick, others are looking for quality.

Well, I certainly hope the buyers out there think the same! It can be tough selling art, especially non-artists have no idea of the time and effort that actually goes into making it. I try to price my art based on how long it takes me to make it and give myself minimum wage. However that just doesn’t translate to the whole request ordeal.

[wolfhowler]

Well, I certainly hope the buyers out there think the same! It can be tough selling art, especially non-artists have no idea of the time and effort that actually goes into making it. I try to price my art based on how long it takes me to make it and give myself minimum wage. However that just doesn’t translate to the whole request ordeal.

No, but it’s something you could achieve after an order or two. It’s probably worth taking the hit and doing the work for next to nothing to get yourself a review or two. After that, up your prices and keep your fingers crossed. It’s not a proven technique but it will certainly be a positive more for people looking at your gigs.

[helenabester]

Just relating your response to the request is a massive step above the competition. So many people send a copied and pasted message. Be genuine and just message them like a person, as you would in real with someone asking about what you can offer.

Just relating your response to the request is a massive step above the competition. So many people send a copied and pasted message. Be genuine and just message them like a person, as you would in real with someone asking about what you can offer.

Great advice, @wolfhowler

It is my best kept secret - this.

[eoinfinnegan]

So it’s basically a calculated risk you have to take; work very cheaply in order to gain some traction. I feel quite uncomfortable offering my services for next to nothing though 😕 Might be an emotional hurdle I have to get over.

I feel quite uncomfortable offering my services for next to nothing though

Think of it like this:

To gain clients who are willing to pay the rate you want, you need to have reviews as proof of your competence - there are many who are incompetent beyond taking someone else’s images and creating a gig.

By doing $5 jobs which get you a 5* review, you gain that proof and build trust.

After 10 or so of these, you can safely charge higher rates which are more in line with your quality.

Now, alternatively consider the cost of attracting clients yourself, without Fiverr. How much would you spend on a website or how much time building up social media channels, how much on paid ads etc. All of those things would be done with no guarantee of success.

At least when you do discounted gigs, you are just spending time and even earning a couple of dollars - it’s a big difference and very worthwhile compared to the alternative.

[karura_art]

I feel quite uncomfortable offering my services for next to nothing though

Think of it like this:

To gain clients who are willing to pay the rate you want, you need to have reviews as proof of your competence - there are many who are incompetent beyond taking someone else’s images and creating a gig.

By doing $5 jobs which get you a 5* review, you gain that proof and build trust.

After 10 or so of these, you can safely charge higher rates which are more in line with your quality.

Now, alternatively consider the cost of attracting clients yourself, without Fiverr. How much would you spend on a website or how much time building up social media channels, how much on paid ads etc. All of those things would be done with no guarantee of success.

At least when you do discounted gigs, you are just spending time and even earning a couple of dollars - it’s a big difference and very worthwhile compared to the alternative.

Very well put! As I mentioned above, I guess it was a mental hurdle I had to get over. It’s all about mind set, haha! I’ll definitely be changing my approach to buyer requests 🙂 Thanks everyone for your input!

[humanissocial]

So it’s basically a calculated risk you have to take; work very cheaply in order to gain some traction. I feel quite uncomfortable offering my services for next to nothing though 😕 Might be an emotional hurdle I have to get over.

Good for you. I’m all about value, too. I don’t deserve to be treated like garbage to land a sale

BR is typically full of difficult buyers who want people to work with peanuts.

Some categories have more of them than others. When I started out I fortunately found a couple of sellers via BR who were very professional and they accepted my appropriately priced offers.

So you can keep looking. Occasionally there is the odd professional buyer.

But in any case you don’t need to land BRs to be successful here. That’s a myth a lot of unsuccessful sellers like to parrot here to try to look smart. They saw it in a video or something and they post on many forum posts that people should do that.

[karura_art]

Good for you. I’m all about value, too. I don’t deserve to be treated like garbage to land a sale

BR is typically full of difficult buyers who want people to work with peanuts.

Some categories have more of them than others. When I started out I fortunately found a couple of sellers via BR who were very professional and they accepted my appropriately priced offers.

So you can keep looking. Occasionally there is the odd professional buyer.

But in any case you don’t need to land BRs to be successful here. That’s a myth a lot of unsuccessful sellers like to parrot here to try to look smart. They saw it in a video or something and they post on many forum posts that people should do that.

Yeah, I got that vibe from BR. I draw characters and with art in general some people just don’t understand the time and effort that goes into it. But I’m glad you look at it like that as well. I’ll just keep an eye on it, but not sweat it if I can’t land any jobs 🙂

I’m currently working with a very nice client, but I am drawing 4 characters for the price of 1 😅 You win some, you lose some, I guess.