Bullied by a buyer

[pghhearts]

I have a buyer who orders one of my writing gigs at least 3-4 times a day. Great, right? Nope.



He’s constantly pushing the limits of my gig description. Some examples:

• I advertise an article UP TO 500 words. He rejects based on word count when the article is completed at 467.
  
• One article per order. He’ll order 2x250 word articles per order (which doubles my research time).

[emasonwrites]

I have a gig similar to yours, stating that I will write “up to 500 words” and it always amazes me when buyers get testy when I deliver “only” 450 words. People will put in their instructions something like “I need at least 500 words,” or “500+ words needed.” Well, you should probably order an extra then, amiright?



Have you informed (or reminded) him of your gig’s parameters? Especially the “one article per order” aspect? I feel like that might be a low-intensity way to remind him that he has to follow the rules, perhaps explaining that the $5 (really only $4) has to cover research time and writing time, and doubling up on topics doubles the amount of time it takes you to complete the gig. Sometimes when buyers get this way with me, I inform that they are technically paying for my time, not just for a word count, so if they want quality, they should budget accordingly.

[aingham69]

I would get this a lot, so I now make it clear in my gig description that articles will be between 350 and 400 words (my gig is for up to 400 words). I then state that if they want over 400 words, they must order the gig extra. If I get an order where they ask for 400+, I state that I’ll follow my gig description and only deliver 400+ words if they order the extra. Most of the time they either get back to me saying up to 400 is fine or will pay the extra without question.



As for the one article per order, you need to state it in your gig otherwise people will ask for two 250 articles instead of one 500 word article. I will get questions like this from time to time but make it clear that it is one article per gig. If they get annoyed at that, I explain politely that it takes time to research and write a piece and my concern is quality more than anything else.



It can be difficult with repeat buyers that you’ve let get away with it so far, but it’s time to draw a line now and state clearly what you’ll do. Explain that you’ve been over-delivering lately and change your gig description to clearly spell everything out.



Good luck!

[andrea777]

Our gigs aren’t that similar but I often have occasions where buyers don’t understand exactly what my gig entails and expect me to do things that I have not agreed to. So what I did was create a client worksheet that allows me to express what the gig entails i greater depth, outlines expectations, and asks them to provide the information I need. If they do not agree with the process I outline in the worksheet then I politely request a cancellation. In the future I’ll probably put a link to a pdf download in my description that outlines expectations as well so there’s no confusion.



I hope this helps,

Andrea

[brandontvedt]

Just so you folks are aware, word count is usually a very strict metric, for a number of reasons.



You’re all talking about numbers in excess of 300, so you’re not talking about the Google mandated unique content minimum, but depending on where your writing is being published, that isn’t the only consideration.



Plenty of news aggregators, content farms, and other popular places your content may end up sometimes require the body of text uploaded to be 500 words or greater, for example.



The implication is that when people order an article of X words, they quite literally mean that it needs to be exactly X words long, or slightly over.



So while ~40 words out of a 500 word article may not seem like much to you, professional writers, it could very easily be preventing publishing by some person who really stinks at writing and can’t easily come up with those last 2-3 sentences to fill the gap.



Writers who may not fully understand SEO are often unaware of this, but it is a legitimate and serious concern.

[wizwiz]

I second what aingham69 said, it’s better to write “between xxx and xxx words” than “up to xxx words”. It not only gives people a more precise idea of what they’re getting, but it’s also way better for non-native English speakers, who might not all understand exactly what “up to” really means.

[Alex.M]

You have a nice ‘‘report’’ button 😃 It’s meant to be used

[victoria91]

I say up to in my writing gigs too. I wonder if they turns buyers away? I haven’t had anyone complain about the word counts. However, I have had buyers place a order for one gig and send me a 800 word article and then complain when I cut it down to 400.