Got in mess on first gig

[drawn_sigil]

I live in the United States. I created a gig for sending a index card sized drawing to anyone for $5. With Fiverr’s fee and and $1.20 for shipping a letter globally there won’t be much that I get, but I figured it’d give me practice and after I get a few orders under my belt I can up my price to $10 so I’m not losing as much on shipping and fees.

Well I just got an order from someone from China. They ordered the basic, which is only one index card, but sent me what looks like pictures of 3 cats and a dog as reference. The first time they contacted me(before they ordered) my gig didn’t specify that it was for only a single character. They asked me if I shipped overseas, but said nothing about what subject(s) they wanted painted. They took a little while(close to a day) to decide to order though and in that time I updated my gig to specify 1 subject/character. In the extras I have additional figures for $5.

As you can see the drawings/paintings I have in my gallery aren’t the best, so hopefully the buyer isn’t expecting a ton. I’m capable of a little better but I honestly rushed making the examples and figured if the examples weren’t the best the buyer wouldn’t expect too much from me and if what I delivered ended up being better that’d just make them happier.

I also am not sure how to ship to China. If the fact they use different Chinese Characters from English will be a problem. From what I understand from a brief search is that I’d use English characters when writing the Address. When they sent an address after fiverr translated it, it was like this

Fictional Name

Fictional University of Fiction, 12 Fiction Avenue
Fiction District, Fiction City, Fiction Province
China

+12 345 6789 123

I changed the numbers on it for privacy reasons. Not sure what the last number is on it. From what I’ve read I might need a zip code. Do I have all I need to ship?

Thanks for any advice. This is my first gig. I’m guessing canceling will screw me over on fiverr, but they might give me negative reviews if I tell them it is extra for multiple pets anyway. If you think I’m risking trouble I’m willing to try to do the 4 pets assuming I can figure the shipping out.

[jalaluddin_lead]

I live in the United States. I created a gig for sending a index card sized drawing to anyone for $5. With Fiverr’s fee and and $1.20 for shipping a letter globally there won’t be much that I get, but I figured it’d give me practice and after I get a few orders under my belt I can up my price to $10 so I’m not losing as much on shipping and fees.

Well I just got an order from someone from China. They ordered the basic, which is only one index card, but sent me what looks like pictures of 3 cats and a dog as reference. The first time they contacted me(before they ordered) my gig didn’t specify that it was for only a single character. They asked me if I shipped overseas, but said nothing about what subject(s) they wanted painted. They took a little while(close to a day) to decide to order though and in that time I updated my gig to specify 1 subject/character. In the extras I have additional figures for $5.

As you can see the drawings/paintings I have in my gallery aren’t the best, so hopefully the buyer isn’t expecting a ton. I’m capable of a little better but I honestly rushed making the examples and figured if the examples weren’t the best the buyer wouldn’t expect too much from me and if what I delivered ended up being better that’d just make them happier.

I also am not sure how to ship to China. If the fact they use different Chinese Characters from English will be a problem. From what I understand from a brief search is that I’d use English characters when writing the Address. When they sent an address after fiverr translated it, it was like this

Fictional Name

Fictional University of Fiction, 12 Fiction Avenue

Fiction District, Fiction City, Fiction Province

China

+12 345 6789 123

I changed the numbers on it for privacy reasons. Not sure what the last number is on it. From what I’ve read I might need a zip code. Do I have all I need to ship?

Thanks for any advice. This is my first gig. I’m guessing canceling will screw me over on fiverr, but they might give me negative reviews if I tell them it is extra for multiple pets anyway. If you think I’m risking trouble I’m willing to try to do the 4 pets assuming I can figure the shipping out.

they use different Chinese Characters from English will be a problem

I think you should ask the address that write in english. That might help

[drawn_sigil]

they use different Chinese Characters from English will be a problem

I think you should ask the address that write in english. That might help

Is the fiverr translation of their address likely to be off? I changed the names to protect their real address, but it came out like this

Fictional Name

Fictional University of Fiction, 12 Fiction Avenue

Fiction District, Fiction City, Fiction Province

China

+12 345 6789 123

I guess I could ask them if the translated version looks correct

[genuineguidance]

What a mess.
First, I wouldn’t have a Gig that you need to ship out - especially since it appears you didn’t think through the possibility of having to spend $$$ to send your work overseas. This little parcel you are sending could cost you more than you will make on this Gig! Most artists here do not sell actual physical drawings. People print them off. If you want to continue to send out postcard size drawings, you would want to up your price to at least $20 to cover time, costs of shipping and supplies. I would nix sending to other countries other than the US or Canada (even though Canada can be real expensive to send things to as well) I know a lot of people are just sending stuff to their own countries due to the mail being so out of whack right now. A parcel to China is probably going to take up to a month or more to arrive, depending on the delivery you choose to utilize. I am not sure how you would mark the order complete - unless you include a copy of the artwork you would be sending in physical form.

I have no idea how to mail things to China. If you are set on sending out this physical order, what I would do, is get the shipping address and then go to your local post office and ask them how to send it. Has the buyer asked for more than one drawing?

GG

[drawn_sigil]

What a mess.

First, I wouldn’t have a Gig that you need to ship out - especially since it appears you didn’t think through the possibility of having to spend $$$ to send your work overseas. This little parcel you are sending could cost you more than you will make on this Gig! Most artists here do not sell actual physical drawings. People print them off. If you want to continue to send out postcard size drawings, you would want to up your price to at least $20 to cover time, costs of shipping and supplies. I would nix sending to other countries other than the US or Canada (even though Canada can be real expensive to send things to as well) I know a lot of people are just sending stuff to their own countries due to the mail being so out of whack right now. A parcel to China is probably going to take up to a month or more to arrive, depending on the delivery you choose to utilize. I am not sure how you would mark the order complete - unless you include a copy of the artwork you would be sending in physical form.

I have no idea how to mail things to China. If you are set on sending out this physical order, what I would do, is get the shipping address and then go to your local post office and ask them how to send it. Has the buyer asked for more than one drawing?

GG

From what I’ve looked up a global forever stamp for a letter sized envelope only costs $1.20 . Plus the cost of an envelope and supplies. I did look this up before placing the gig and I am aware that anything bigger will cost a lot more to ship and require a customs declaration. I set delivery time at 45 days to include overseas. This was intended to be an introductory price and am aware that after Fiverr’s fee I’ll be lucky if I make $2 for my time.

Either way, I’m probably reconsidering doing gigs that require shipping. I’ll see how this goes, but seems too much trouble especially when Fiverr doesn’t seem really setup for physical shipping.

The buyer bought the basic, but under my question about the subject sent me pictures of 4 pets and said “them”. They didn’t specifically ask for more than one drawing. My listing specifies that for Basic it is one 3x5 inch sized drawing. The description includes the size in cm (7.62x12.7cm).

My main question is if I’m obligated to send them a drawing with 4 subjects. When they contacted me to see if I shipped overseas my gig didn’t specify it was for only one subject. In the first contact they only asked shipping though and didn’t tell me it would be for multiple subjects. In the meantime I updated my gig to say it was only for one subject. Almost a Day after my gig was updated they chose to order. For me at checkout it lists Additional figures as a $5 extra. Also, if they click “View What’s Included” it says

"Drawing of your choice

Color 3x5 inch 1 subject/character Shipping included

• 45 Days Delivery
• Include Colors In Illustration
• Shipping"

I’ll wait awhile longer to see if I get any other forum advice, but unless someone says it is a bad idea I’ll probably try to contact them. I’ll tell them that multiple subjects is supposed to be a $5 extra and that they can cancel if they want.

Thanks for any advice

[enunciator]

Yikes. There are buyers from all over the world on Fiverr, so there is always the possibility of trying to mail something to a tiny village in the Sahara desert, a remote work camp in the Serbian tundra, or who knows what other obscure, virtually impossible to reach location. The act of shipping makes this gig seem to be a potential logistical nightmare…

Just a reminder, it is far easier to recover from a cancellation than a negative review, especially when starting off. Reviews are permanent on the profile and gig, while cancellations only affect completion rate for 60 days. Both actions harm gig analytics, but you are between a rock and a hard place currently.

[drawn_sigil]

Yikes. There are buyers from all over the world on Fiverr, so there is always the possibility of trying to mail something to a tiny village in the Sahara desert, a remote work camp in the Serbian tundra, or who knows what other obscure, virtually impossible to reach location. The act of shipping makes this gig seem to be a potential logistical nightmare…

Just a reminder, it is far easier to recover from a cancellation than a negative review, especially when starting off. Reviews are permanent on the profile and gig, while cancellations only affect completion rate for 60 days. Both actions harm gig analytics, but you are between a rock and a hard place currently.

Thanks, I think I’ll go with the cancel like you suggested and stick to digital goods. Did want some practice shipping overseas, but since Fiverr to my knowledge doesn’t let you restrict where you ship to seems like to much potential for headache.

[katakatica]

Mailing to China shouldn’t be much different than mailing to any other country outside of the US (sources: spent a year in China) but you’d probably do better to copy the address both in English and in Chinese characters on the envelope (just because I’ve been taken to the wrong place by taxis because of misunderstandings!)
That being said, I’d probably try to clarify with the buyer- did they really want it mailed? Especially now, it’ll probably take a while to get there (a recent package of mine from Japan took 3 weeks or more to get to the EU), it might be possible to negotiate with them! THAT being said, have more faith in your art. You will definitely improve as you grow, but a good bit of confidence (and showcasing your best stuff! in the beginning can help you start off on the right foot!)

[drawn_sigil]

Mailing to China shouldn’t be much different than mailing to any other country outside of the US (sources: spent a year in China) but you’d probably do better to copy the address both in English and in Chinese characters on the envelope (just because I’ve been taken to the wrong place by taxis because of misunderstandings!)

That being said, I’d probably try to clarify with the buyer- did they really want it mailed? Especially now, it’ll probably take a while to get there (a recent package of mine from Japan took 3 weeks or more to get to the EU), it might be possible to negotiate with them! THAT being said, have more faith in your art. You will definitely improve as you grow, but a good bit of confidence (and showcasing your best stuff! in the beginning can help you start off on the right foot!)

Thanks for the reply. I ended up asking the buyer to cancel(only cancel option I could find) and then deleted the gig. This just was a bad idea on my part especially considering I’m new to fiverr. I explained to the buyer in the cancel that I wasn’t experienced enough at shipping overseas and didn’t want to risk his drawing not arriving.

Had considered doing what you said of doing the address in both English and Chinese.

Thanks for the encouragement on my art.