Jump to content

Accepting large projects sometimes is more expensive than you think


Recommended Posts

So, I received the same inquiry from 4 different buyers a few months ago. I ended with one order placed by the Buyer no. 1, who asked me to cancel one day after because he found another freelance with lower prices. It was a medium size order so I was already working on it and I invested my time and skills for nothing.

In the same afternoon the Buyer no. 2 wanted to place an order and I asked if his client approved the quotation (same price) since the past situation. He said yes. The day after it happened the exactly same thing. He told me that he found another freelance with lower prices and he was unnable to continue with the order with me since his client didn’t wanted to work at my prices anymore and it was not his fault. I canceled. After all that, I ended with my order completion rate lower and I was not earning any money.

The day after the Buyer No. 3 sent me a message asking a custom offer for the very same job. I explained what happened before and I told him that I was not interested.

Today I received a similar request from a few buyers. Same thing, different script. But people are getting very creative because this time most of them were communicating with me using Google Translate (I detected lots of mistakes and the sentences were not making very sense, so I asked) and they were unable to tell me exactly what they wanted after a few messages (they were just asking a quotation), so I had to gave up on that and I told them that I cannot make business with someone who is unable to communicate with me.

I’m just posting this because I believe that is important to every freelance to establish rules for his business and learn with every experience. Even if we all need money and want to sell our GIGs, it’s really important to discuss everything with a client before accepting to work at a large order. Most of the people that I know would send an custom offer immediatly, and that is a mistake (in my opinion). Large orders require a healthy discussion about the project, so the things can work fine during the process, otherwise freelancers may end living a strange situation like this or give a quotation that is not the most accurate for the troubles that they may get.

Lots of sales to all of you. 🍀

  • Like 21
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would refuse cancelation in all those cases. They are not entitled to cancel just because they found a cheaper seller. CS would side with you on that easily. Then if they tried to pull any shenanigans with revisions or review, you would have a pretty strong case to get rid of them with CS, since the client was unreasonable from the beginning.

  • Like 17
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is it possible that your competition is doing this on purpose?

When you say it’s the same thing but a different script, it sounds like someone is trying to de-rank your gig through order cancellations by creating new accounts.

Just an idea.

Is it possible that your competition is doing this on purpose?

When you say it’s the same thing but a different script, it sounds like someone is trying to de-rank your gig through order cancellations by creating new accounts.

Just an idea.

Thanks for your comment.

It’s the same behavior but the script is always the same (a few months ago the 4 buyers who asked me a quotation sent me the same script).

Today a few different buyers with a exactly the same script (not the same that at the past situation from a few months ago, but the same script shared by all of them today.

I never thought about competition doing this on purpose because those buyers sometimes are associated to the same country and some other times no. So, I have no clue about what people could benefit from doing this. In my analysis they are just buyers with almost no skills to do project management. Most of them ask me a quotation without even knowing the total amount of words to record (they just send me a text demo) and once I ask a few details about the project they just keep repeating the same speech without bringing anything new and demanding a quotation. But maybe they are the same users with different accounts.

  • Like 12
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is it possible that your competition is doing this on purpose?

When you say it’s the same thing but a different script, it sounds like someone is trying to de-rank your gig through order cancellations by creating new accounts.

Just an idea.

Thanks for your comment.

It’s the same behavior but the script is always the same (a few months ago the 4 buyers who asked me a quotation sent me the same script).

Today a few different buyers with a exactly the same script (not the same that at the past situation from a few months ago, but the same script shared by all of them today.

I never thought about competition doing this on purpose because those buyers sometimes are associated to the same country and some other times no. So, I have no clue about what people could benefit from doing this. In my analysis they are just buyers with almost no skills to do project management. Most of them ask me a quotation without even knowing the total amount of words to record (they just send me a text demo) and once I ask a few details about the project they just keep repeating the same speech without bringing anything new and demanding a quotation. But maybe they are the same users with different accounts.

I refuse to work with anybody who can’t communicate properly. I suggest you do the same.

  • Like 11
  • Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This sounds to me like money laundering or something - that’s what came to my mind when reading. I would suggest contacting support and blocking those users.

This sounds to me like money laundering or something - that’s what came to my mind when reading. I would suggest contacting support and blocking those users.

Maybe. Strange isn’t it?

I would refuse cancelation in all those cases. They are not entitled to cancel just because they found a cheaper seller. CS would side with you on that easily. Then if they tried to pull any shenanigans with revisions or review, you would have a pretty strong case to get rid of them with CS, since the client was unreasonable from the beginning.

Now when they are able to communicate I let them know than once they place an order I will not accept a cancelation request just because they keep searching quotations and change their mind.

Do the buyers have reviews?

If not, it could be very well that they are fake accounts created by your competition.

Some of them have and other don’t have one single review and the accounts were created this month or a few months ago. How it’s possible to people do this?! I hope that’s not true. Users can lie about their location? Fiverr has our IP adreess, so they shouldn’t do that, I guess.

I refuse to work with anybody who can’t communicate properly. I suggest you do the same.

I’m totally doing it. Thanks for your advice.

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I never would have thought that the competition could do this. Never would have. I hope you can find who is behind this! Lots of sales to you too

I never would have thought that the competition could do this. Never would have. I hope you can find who is behind this! Lots of sales to you too

Thank you. 🙂

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This sounds to me like money laundering or something - that’s what came to my mind when reading. I would suggest contacting support and blocking those users.

Maybe. Strange isn’t it?

I would refuse cancelation in all those cases. They are not entitled to cancel just because they found a cheaper seller. CS would side with you on that easily. Then if they tried to pull any shenanigans with revisions or review, you would have a pretty strong case to get rid of them with CS, since the client was unreasonable from the beginning.

Now when they are able to communicate I let them know than once they place an order I will not accept a cancelation request just because they keep searching quotations and change their mind.

Do the buyers have reviews?

If not, it could be very well that they are fake accounts created by your competition.

Some of them have and other don’t have one single review and the accounts were created this month or a few months ago. How it’s possible to people do this?! I hope that’s not true. Users can lie about their location? Fiverr has our IP adreess, so they shouldn’t do that, I guess.

I refuse to work with anybody who can’t communicate properly. I suggest you do the same.

I’m totally doing it. Thanks for your advice.

Now when they are able to communicate I let them know than once they place an order I will not accept a cancelation request just because they keep searching quotations and change their mind.

When they can’t, it’s even better. Keep refusing cancelation, take it to CS. They’ll get in touch with the buyer, and the buyer will start foaming in broken english and CS will side with you. The dangerous buyer is the one who is polite, smart, with good communication and knows exactly how to manipulate CS. Those just sound like free money to me, they are playing themselves.

  • Like 12
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This sounds to me like money laundering or something - that’s what came to my mind when reading. I would suggest contacting support and blocking those users.

This sounds to me like money laundering or something

Nah, AML rules say that businesses have to refund the exact same credit card a person pays with. Either this is a very stupid criminal, or they need a new dark web financial adviser.

Today I received a similar request from a few buyers. Same thing, different script. But people are getting very creative because this time most of them were communicating with me using Google Translate (I detected lots of mistakes and the sentences were not making very sense, so I asked) and they were unable to tell me exactly what they wanted

Back in 2017 and 2018, I had pretty much this exact problem with one of my gigs. I figured it was a competitor trying to sabotage me, as several people who did this were all fellow Fiverr users.

Maybe try raising your prices to scare them away, or pause your gig for a day. Neither solution is ideal, though. Make sure too to report all these messages as spam and check the profiles of buyers who you are not sure of. If profiles say they only created their account in May or June, assume these are spam accounts and block, even if you are not 100% sure.

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Filomena. I know exactly who you are talking about and they were all from the same country. I told them all ‘no thanks’ and blocked them. Too much nonsense, too much of a hassle. That’s my advice (to my competition :D)

  • Like 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now when they are able to communicate I let them know than once they place an order I will not accept a cancelation request just because they keep searching quotations and change their mind.

When they can’t, it’s even better. Keep refusing cancelation, take it to CS. They’ll get in touch with the buyer, and the buyer will start foaming in broken english and CS will side with you. The dangerous buyer is the one who is polite, smart, with good communication and knows exactly how to manipulate CS. Those just sound like free money to me, they are playing themselves.

The dangerous buyer is the one who is polite, smart, with good communication and knows exactly how to manipulate CS.

Totally.

Maybe try raising your prices to scare them away

I did it a few days ago because I started to receive $5 and people were asking $100 work or even more. If we offer a higher price people tend to read better what they are buying. But in this case they always send a message asking a quotation first.

Back in 2017 and 2018, I had pretty much this exact problem with one of my gigs. I figured it was a competitor trying to sabotage me, as several people who did this were all fellow Fiverr users.

Really?! OMG! That’s insane, but also means one thing to me: you are good at what you do, otherwise competitors would not even think about you.

I know exactly who you are talking about and they were all from the same country. I told them all ‘no thanks’ and blocked them. Too much nonsense, too much of a hassle.

Hi there! Yes, too much nonsense… just wasting our precious time. Do you also think that this is competition?

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The dangerous buyer is the one who is polite, smart, with good communication and knows exactly how to manipulate CS.

Totally.

Maybe try raising your prices to scare them away

I did it a few days ago because I started to receive $5 and people were asking $100 work or even more. If we offer a higher price people tend to read better what they are buying. But in this case they always send a message asking a quotation first.

Back in 2017 and 2018, I had pretty much this exact problem with one of my gigs. I figured it was a competitor trying to sabotage me, as several people who did this were all fellow Fiverr users.

Really?! OMG! That’s insane, but also means one thing to me: you are good at what you do, otherwise competitors would not even think about you.

I know exactly who you are talking about and they were all from the same country. I told them all ‘no thanks’ and blocked them. Too much nonsense, too much of a hassle.

Hi there! Yes, too much nonsense… just wasting our precious time. Do you also think that this is competition?

I don’t think it’s the competition angle. In your field of work, how could people from certain regions with broken english be competition? Makes no sense - unless the rabbit hole is deep to the point of people hiring others to do it.

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The dangerous buyer is the one who is polite, smart, with good communication and knows exactly how to manipulate CS.

Totally.

Maybe try raising your prices to scare them away

I did it a few days ago because I started to receive $5 and people were asking $100 work or even more. If we offer a higher price people tend to read better what they are buying. But in this case they always send a message asking a quotation first.

Back in 2017 and 2018, I had pretty much this exact problem with one of my gigs. I figured it was a competitor trying to sabotage me, as several people who did this were all fellow Fiverr users.

Really?! OMG! That’s insane, but also means one thing to me: you are good at what you do, otherwise competitors would not even think about you.

I know exactly who you are talking about and they were all from the same country. I told them all ‘no thanks’ and blocked them. Too much nonsense, too much of a hassle.

Hi there! Yes, too much nonsense… just wasting our precious time. Do you also think that this is competition?

Do you also think that this is competition?

No, I really don’t. There’s not many of us and I don’t think anyone would go through the trouble of doing that. However, I found it strange that these 3 people from the same country contacted us on the same day with the same kind of request :woman_shrugging:t2: (I didn’t bother to open the scripts so maybe it really was a coincidence)

  • Like 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don’t think it’s the competition angle. In your field of work, how could people from certain regions with broken english be competition? Makes no sense - unless the rabbit hole is deep to the point of people hiring others to do it.

I don’t think it’s the competition angle. In your field of work, how could people from certain regions with broken english be competition? Makes no sense - unless the rabbit hole is deep to the point of people hiring others to do it.

I agree with you. The only thing I know is that they try to hire my services to resell to other people.

However, I found it strange that these 3 people from the same country contacted us on the same day with the same kind of request

I think they simply send the same request to everyone to try to find the best price. I just checked the scripts because they all had the same name and I found really strange that their messages were sent almost at the same time. Like, with only 15-20 minutes in between.

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is it possible that your competition is doing this on purpose?

When you say it’s the same thing but a different script, it sounds like someone is trying to de-rank your gig through order cancellations by creating new accounts.

Just an idea.

Thanks for your comment.

It’s the same behavior but the script is always the same (a few months ago the 4 buyers who asked me a quotation sent me the same script).

Today a few different buyers with a exactly the same script (not the same that at the past situation from a few months ago, but the same script shared by all of them today.

I never thought about competition doing this on purpose because those buyers sometimes are associated to the same country and some other times no. So, I have no clue about what people could benefit from doing this. In my analysis they are just buyers with almost no skills to do project management. Most of them ask me a quotation without even knowing the total amount of words to record (they just send me a text demo) and once I ask a few details about the project they just keep repeating the same speech without bringing anything new and demanding a quotation. But maybe they are the same users with different accounts.

Sometimes I come across such clients as well, I’m very persistent about not giving a quote and starting anything without getting the requirements properly, sometimes clients get irritated due to that and for that irritation means unhealthy work relationship so I generally avoid those kind of contracts.

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sometimes I come across such clients as well, I’m very persistent about not giving a quote and starting anything without getting the requirements properly, sometimes clients get irritated due to that and for that irritation means unhealthy work relationship so I generally avoid those kind of contracts.

Sometimes I come across such clients as well, I’m very persistent about not giving a quote and starting anything without getting the requirements properly, sometimes clients get irritated due to that and for that irritation means unhealthy work relationship so I generally avoid those kind of contracts.

Welcome to the community. Yes, I do exactly the same, especially with medium size orders or large orders. I totally agree with you. If a client is not even available to discuss his project with me before placing a big order than it’s a “No!” for me too. Of course that we cannot control those situations when clients simply place an order without talking with us first and I had a few situations where I felt that I would prefer to not work with that specific client, but it’s also part of the job.

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...
On 6/4/2020 at 3:57 PM, visualstudios said:

I would refuse cancelation in all those cases.

I agree with you, however the downside to that, is that you will surely receive a bad public review and worse yet, a bad private review.

Regretably when you face such situation you will have to balance profit vs. damage to your profile / gigs.

It happened to me recently and I decided to ask CS to cancel the order but asking them that it will not harm my order completion rate so it won't affect my stats as in my case the buyer wasn't even answering anymore.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...