Stop hiring bad sellers! ?

[gina_riley2]

It boggles my mind when I see buyers come onto this forum to complain about a seller, when clearly it was their (client) fault.

When I check the gig the seller is offering, it is something that is way below market value, has atrocious writing skills, items in portfolio are unmistakenly stolen, or the profile picture is a celebrity model. 😑

I don’t have time to scroll thru bunch of “good job” reviews, but I do take the time to read thru the gig description and such. Yes, I have been duped even though I am careful but as harsh as this may sound, 75% of the time, it’s the buyers fault.

A simple inbox message could have solved their issue. Because they live in a fantasy la la land, they pay someone $5 or $10 to do work, they know in the real world should be at least $100 or more.

Expecting a unique logo for $20 then surprised that it was stolen after they’ve printed flyers, :woman_facepalming:t2:.

They say it takes money to make money. If you are a serious buyer or a small business owner, do yourself a favor, set aside at least $100 to experiment.

Buy a bunch of $5 gigs for $7.27 to see how well you mesh with the seller during the process, to see what the procedures are here, and finally what the end product looks like.

** NEVER ** buy from a seller that has a short gig or profile description. It’s short for a reason.

A seller doesn’t have to be proficient in English to be legit as long as they don’t offer writing gigs. An artist that cares, will take the time to hire someone to write them a great gig.

My suggestion, if you hired a seller without communication, with a short & poorly written description for $10, you are getting your just deserved payback.

Don’t expect freelancer to give you samples for a $10 project you are going to buy. Time is money, so if you have a large project, pay the measly $5 to get a sample.

It will be well worth the time, money and headache you saved yourself.

Finally, stop complaining about bad sellers, when it’s your fault. All freelance platforms have doozies and this one is no different. Pouting and saying you won’t ever buy here again is childish. There are great sellers here who offer top notch, professional work. You just have to find them.

[looseink]

You make many valid points.

As I have 40+ years experience in Media/Marketing, have owned and operated a storefront business (newspaper) and currently operate two home-based businesses (media marketing and a specialty food product) I know a bit about pricing and pricing for quality.

There have been thousands of new Sellers join this platform since COVID and self-isolation became topics of discussion.

Many have come here due to a reduction in work or job loss at the hands of the pandemic.

Sadly, a fair percentage of those new Sellers are under-qualified.

We are currently living in difficult times.

Shopping for things online at freelance platforms is going to be a crap shoot at the best of times as a result.

That doesn’t make it right, but it is what it is.

[enunciator]

Barriers to entry for sellers on Fiverr are minimal to non-existent and being able to meaningfully validate a seller’s services and skills is not possible without fundamentally changing the structure of Fiverr. Due to this, Fiverr truly is the wild west with sellers ranging from the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Poor and scammy sellers almost always have blaring warning signs for buyers to stay away, but unfortunately, many buyers purposefully overlook these signs as they are primarily driven by trying to find the cheapest service possible…

The rotten apples drag the entire platform down, but they are oblivious of the harm they inflict and only focus on attempting to extract as much money as quickly as possible from the site, apathetic of the damage in their wake.

[smashradio]

On 5/15/2021 at 1:18 PM, gina_riley2 said:

It boggles my mind when I see buyers come onto this forum to complain about a seller, when clearly it was their (client) fault.

When I check the gig the seller is offering, it is something that is way below market value, has atrocious writing skills, items in portfolio are unmistakenly stolen, or the profile picture is a celebrity model. 😑

I don’t have time to scroll thru bunch of “good job” reviews, but I do take the time to read thru the gig description and such. Yes, I have been duped even though I am careful but as harsh as this may sound, 75% of the time, it’s the buyers fault.

A simple inbox message could have solved their issue. Because they live in a fantasy la la land, they pay someone $5 or $10 to do work, they know in the real world should be at least $100 or more.

Expecting a unique logo for $20 then surprised that it was stolen after they’ve printed flyers, :woman_facepalming:t2:.

They say it takes money to make money. If you are a serious buyer or a small business owner, do yourself a favor, set aside at least $100 to experiment.

Buy a bunch of $5 gigs for $7.27 to see how well you mesh with the seller during the process, to see what the procedures are here, and finally what the end product looks like.

** NEVER ** buy from a seller that has a short gig or profile description. It’s short for a reason.

A seller doesn’t have to be proficient in English to be legit as long as they don’t offer writing gigs. An artist that cares, will take the time to hire someone to write them a great gig.

My suggestion, if you hired a seller without communication, with a short & poorly written description for $10, you are getting your just deserved payback.

Don’t expect freelancer to give you samples for a $10 project you are going to buy. Time is money, so if you have a large project, pay the measly $5 to get a sample.

It will be well worth the time, money and headache you saved yourself.

Finally, stop complaining about bad sellers, when it’s your fault. All freelance platforms have doozies and this one is no different. Pouting and saying you won’t ever buy here again is childish. There are great sellers here who offer top notch, professional work. You just have to find them.

I agree with you on this one. Post-covid, it’s been even worse, as the quality has dropped a lot among both the sellers and buyers. Companies are looking for great deals on services that they used to pay a lot more for, so they often go for the cheapest deal possible. Then they are surprised when it turns out to be low-quality or stolen content.

With all that said, I think it’s just as much the seller’s responsibility, if not more. When a seller offers stolen crap or delivers horrible content, they lie to their buyers in their marketing and stealing content from others. That’s unethical, even if the price is low.

The fact that these sellers are allowed to continue operating is not the buyer’s fault, and I prefer to hold each individual 100% responsible for their own decisions. I wish the bad sellers would be held accountable, even financially, when they offer stolen or lousy content.

I think a bigger problem is sellers complaining about bad buyers when it’s the seller’s fault. This happens way more on this forum than the other way around, in my opinion.

But, I agree 100% when it comes to expectations. I charge relatively low rates, but if you need anything extra, you have to pay. My base price is for a basic service and nothing more. Still, I do get buyers who seem surprised that they have to pay extra to use my voice in commercials on the radio.

And hey, if you don’t like what this platform has to offer, you’re of course free to not use it, but the fact remains that Fiverr has plenty of genuinely great talent at bargain prices. And when I say bargain, I mean 200 bucks for a custom professionally designed logo by someone who used to work as a graphic designer for big studios etc. and not 5 dollars for an automatically generated logo.

Quote

Don’t expect freelancer to give you samples for a $10 project you are going to buy. Time is money, so if you have a large project, pay the measly $5 to get a sample.

You’re absolutely right.

[moikchap]

On 5/15/2021 at 2:08 PM, gina_riley2 said:

If you are a serious buyer or a small business owner, do yourself a favor, set aside at least $100 to experiment.

That’s basically what I was thinking when I came in. Part of my budget is just “learning Fiverr” where I take losses to run into all the pitfalls without being too disrupted by it.

I essentially pay people to audition (after checking first via Contact Me, I pay for a Basic tier just to see what I get for a Basic tier). I go through 20 people, find 5 people I like and want to continue working with. What actually happens though is those 5 people raise their prices and I’m back where I started needing to pay people to audition. A buyer’s scouting/try-out budget needs to be very high, both in cash and time.

I don’t think there’s going to be a good general rule of thumb though. But probably, the more nitpicky technical the thing is you’re buying, probably the higher ratio the scouting budget will need to be. My “fail” rate on $5 artists is about 25%, but for $25 D&D writers it’s about 80%. For artists, I can easily say “close enough, ship it”, and plop it on a page. For D&D writers, when considering things I don’t want on a page, there’s spelling, grammar, internal consistency, gameplay balance. It’s rare I regret my art orders. It’s common I regret my D&D writing orders.

[ahmedservice24h]

How to find a bad buyer ??? As a new seller very bad effect to Fiverr profile for the bad buyer review, fixed Budget then more and more demand work. they cannot satisfy anymore. as a result of a bad review.

[porma9]

I usually message sellers and have a micro interview with them. I ask 3 or 5 questions, slowly drilling down until it is known if they offer what I want, at an agreeable price. Lately I’ve been hiring illustrators, so my questions will start a little broad (can you do this art style, can you draw this object) and after a few questions I can generally figure out if the person meets my requirements or not. Hope that makes sense.

I don’t really hire anyone without at least a small conversation. My project is pretty specific and I tend to unleash a flood of words for my actual gig project (lol, I’m such a writer), so the questions help me understand if the seller can fit the slot or puzzle piece of my project’s super specific need(s).

[anapdcarvalho]

Be careful with translation gigs. I am surprised with the grammar mistakes I find on sellers’ gig descriptions. I understand that more often than not, the buyer does not know the foreign language they are translating into, but please interview the person and ask for samples and links to other platforms to check their work. Many times, the seller makes serious mistakes with English as well, and that should raise the flag!

[vickiespencer]

Be careful with translation gigs. I am surprised with the grammar mistakes I find on sellers’ gig descriptions. I understand that more often than not, the buyer does not know the foreign language they are translating into, but please interview the person and ask for samples and links to other platforms to check their work. Many times, the seller makes serious mistakes with English as well, and that should raise the flag!

I see translations that have been done by apps that come to me for proofreading. I have had to cancel two orders in the last two weeks because even though every word in the text was English, the sentences made little sense.

[rabiul2222]

Do buyers also see fiverr forum?

[mariashtelle1]

Just now, rabiul2222 said:

Do buyers also see fiverr forum?

Yes they do. Anyone can see and join fiverr forum, however it’s naturally more sellers than buyers visiting forum to get an advice 

[florence_111]

On 5/15/2021 at 12:25 PM, gina_riley2 said:

It boggles my mind when I see buyers come onto this forum to complain about a seller, when clearly it was their (client) fault.

When I check the gig the seller is offering, it is something that is way below market value, has atrocious writing skills, items in portfolio are unmistakenly stolen, or the profile picture is a celebrity model. 😑

I don’t have time to scroll thru bunch of “good job” reviews, but I do take the time to read thru the gig description and such. Yes, I have been duped even though I am careful but as harsh as this may sound, 75% of the time, it’s the buyers fault.

A simple inbox message could have solved their issue. Because they live in a fantasy la la land, they pay someone $5 or $10 to do work, they know in the real world should be at least $100 or more.

Expecting a unique logo for $20 then surprised that it was stolen after they’ve printed flyers, :woman_facepalming:t2:.

They say it takes money to make money. If you are a serious buyer or a small business owner, do yourself a favor, set aside at least $100 to experiment.

Buy a bunch of $5 gigs for $7.27 to see how well you mesh with the seller during the process, to see what the procedures are here, and finally what the end product looks like.

** NEVER ** buy from a seller that has a short gig or profile description. It’s short for a reason.

A seller doesn’t have to be proficient in English to be legit as long as they don’t offer writing gigs. An artist that cares, will take the time to hire someone to write them a great gig.

My suggestion, if you hired a seller without communication, with a short & poorly written description for $10, you are getting your just deserved payback.

Don’t expect freelancer to give you samples for a $10 project you are going to buy. Time is money, so if you have a large project, pay the measly $5 to get a sample.

It will be well worth the time, money and headache you saved yourself.

Finally, stop complaining about bad sellers, when it’s your fault. All freelance platforms have doozies and this one is no different. Pouting and saying you won’t ever buy here again is childish. There are great sellers here who offer top notch, professional work. You just have to find them.

I absolutely agree with you.Sometimes the buyers come  and message for some samples.After getting that samples they just go away without saying anything.So disappointing. 

[gina_riley2]

1st,  don't give free samples.

2nd, every mistake is a learning experience.

Good luck. 😄

 

[kreativzak]

I agree with you too.

Buyers should check carefully before the select a gig. Actually, it is not even the buyer's fault. Is it a crime to trust somebody?

[barrisam]

 

On 6/26/2021 at 7:19 AM, kreativzak said:

Is it a crime to trust somebody?

I wonder

[shadiya646]

On 5/16/2021 at 10:34 PM, ahmedservice24h said:

How to find a bad buyer ??? As a new seller very bad effect to Fiverr profile for the bad buyer review, fixed Budget then more and more demand work. they cannot satisfy anymore. as a result of a bad review.

There is no way to find bad buyer without you working with them. Before taking any order you can check their account review what other seller said about them.

If you faced any rude buyer than further don't need to take any order from them.

[moikchap]

How does someone know a bad buyer when looking at their buyer profile? A lot of people are going to hesitate to put negatives in a review in case they miss out on future work. I assume if a buyer profile just says "Outstanding experience!" over and over, there's possibly nothing good to say about that buyer and maybe stay away from them.

[catwriter]

9 hours ago, moikchap said:

I assume if a buyer profile just says "Outstanding experience!" over and over, there's possibly nothing good to say about that buyer and maybe stay away from them.

Not really. It used to be the automated response that would show up if someone clicks on 5 stars but doesn't bother to write a review. I'm not sure if it's still the case (as in, I'm not sure if those automated responses still exist), but "Outstanding experience!" could simply mean that sellers were leaving reviews in a hurry or just didn't have anything special to say (once you leave 100+ reviews, whether for a buyer or a seller, it can be difficult to come up with something unique to say, plus it's possible for sellers to just want to leave a review, see what kind of review they got, and then go back to working on other orders).

9 hours ago, moikchap said:

How does someone know a bad buyer when looking at their buyer profile? A lot of people are going to hesitate to put negatives in a review in case they miss out on future work.

That is true, but it's also possible, once a seller checks the reviews on the buyer's profile, to visit the profiles of the sellers who left those reviews, see what review the buyer left for them, and the response that the sellers left for that review on the gig page. That can give a lot of info.

For example, if it's common for that buyer to leave less than 5 stars, it's very possible that they're problematic, and that it would be a good idea to avoid them.

Plus it does happen that a seller leaves a bad review for the buyer, if the experience was truly awful. It's rare, because sellers fear retaliation, but it does happen.

[donnovan86]

11 hours ago, catwriter said:

I'm not sure if it's still the case (as in, I'm not sure if those automated responses still exist)

I believe you can leave a 5 star review from mobile without actually saying anything and it says outstanding experience. I think that was the case a while ago when a buyer did this for one of my orders. I could be wrong though.

 

[barrisam]

On 7/10/2021 at 8:04 PM, donnovan86 said:

I believe you can leave a 5 star review from mobile without actually saying anything and it says outstanding experience. I think that was the case a while ago when a buyer did this for one of my orders. I could be wrong though.

 

You're not wrong. It is still the same. I hardly leave personal reviews for my buyers, so i just click the five stars and 'Outstanding experience' will display on their profile. But strictly on mobile. On desktop, you must say something

[surajkartha]

I beg to differ. Every buyer and seller has the right to express themselves here so long till they are not violating any of the policies. And when this platform's unique selling point itself is to enable people to avail services for as low as $5, in my humble opinion, it's not fair to be too critical of such buyers of low priced gigs. That being said, yes I agree that one has to spend "test money" to unearth hidden gems on this platform owing to low barriers to entry. And I also agree that due diligence is required on part of buyers before they place their orders, guess that's true for everything we buy. Personally, I've found great sellers who offer their services at $5 and do a better job versus the sellers who offer similar services at say $50.. just saying that $5 gig doesn't always mean bad quality service. Also $5 might mean a lot where I am from. So chances are that I might find a top notch seller, selling their services at $5 just because they decided to price their gig low because the low cost of living permits them to. Just my thoughts, but feel free to skip if it looks too lengthy lol

[samdotdesign]

Recently I have talk to a seller regarding a website making , so he describe on his gigs in $5 he building a website system. But when I started conversation he told me in $5 how could it possible. Then I have asked then why you wrote in your Gigs description that on $5 you are building a website. 

That is the problem in fiverr. Most un-exprience sellers are selling their services in cheap price which is really not comes in $5 .

But If some one need a professional and quality service, then my suggestion is to go for it's best pricing. And hire a professional by seen the Gigs service reviews. 

 

 

Edited July 21, 2021 by samdotdesign

[checheugene]

Thank you for bringing this up. I'm new to the marketplace, so I don't have any experience as a buyer yet. Until now, I have only been a performer. It was very interesting to read about how the situation looks from the side of the buyer.
Now I will put more effort into not making mistakes that create a bad impression due to inexperience.
 

On 7/22/2021 at 6:56 PM, samiaislam26 said:

some buyers even ask for free sample 😞 

Oh, and I usually offer myself a free test task. Do you think this is wrong? I am worried that my style will not suit the buyer, so I do a test

[workinghub28]

On 6/26/2021 at 2:57 AM, gina_riley2 said:

1st,  don't give free samples.

2nd, every mistake is a learning experience.

Good luck. 😄

 

Absolutely Yes!

Giving free samples is a kind of desperate attitude so you can simply share your portfolio with the buyers

Also agree with your 2nd point as one can be a pro after a continuous failures and mistakes  

[cesareriverso]

I've had sellers give me stuff off ThemeForest and ignore all the UX designs I gave them didn't even use icons and also artwork was done where I give them details and they pick and choose whatever they want and ignore everything else even not using the correct color pallet that was provided or icons