Avoid These Buyers

[alexandamedia]

A lot of sellers come to the forum with problems and the situations are often due to bad buyers. I am by no means an expert seller but through Fiverr and clients offline I have noticed there are some different red flags and buyers you should avoid.

Some of these are more relevant to my field of graphic design or business outside of Fiverr but all of it should help you generally.

The TOS Breaker

This one is specific to Fiverr and should be obvious. If a buyer suggests talking off the platform, paying outside of Fiverr, or paying after the work is done then stop… I know new sellers can be eager to get sales, but another buyer will come. Just report them, block and move on.

The Discount Asker

Generally I recommend avoiding buyers who ask for a discount. I think negotiating a price and coming to an agreement is fine, but if a buyer repeatedly or rudely asks to lower your prices then they are saying your work isn’t worth what you price it at.

I rarely give discounts and only for loyal customers, buyers purchasing multiple projects or items, or for projects I’m personally very interested in.

For example one of my repeat clients outside of Fiverr receives a discount because they’ve been a stable and loyal client for over a year now. That relationship, the guarantee of multiple projects a month and paying for multiple projects at a time is worth the discounted rate for me. They didn’t ask for the discount.

The Rude Buyer

If they are rude, insult you or insult your work then avoid them. There is a big difference between criticism and insults. If they use phrases such as “are you serious”, “this sucks”, “your work is terrible”, “you aren’t creative” etc. then don’t work with them if possible. That being said, if you are working with a rude client, don’t bring yourself down to their level; reply clearly and kindly even though you may feel otherwise on the inside.

The Bad Communicator

If a buyer’s language skills aren’t good enough or they can’t effectively explain their brief in a manner that you can understand then it’s probably best to avoid them. These buyers can be more difficult in the long run if you decide to work with them and it takes multiple revisions to get what they want.

The Doubter / Prove Yourself Buyer

These buyers will question the quality of your work before ordering or question your abilities. Even if they aren’t rude it is probably best to avoid. If a buyer doesn’t think my work is good quality then even if I put 100% into the project then there is a high chance they won’t be satisfied, wasting the time of both of us.

This can be even worse with the “prove yourself” buyer. These people will ask you to prove your skills or quality, often asking for free samples or extras. Avoid these buyers. That being said, it’s completely fine for a buyer to ask to see a portfolio.

Asking for unlimited revisions

This is more relevant on Fiverr. If a buyer asks for unlimited revisions that is an immediate red flag. You will have no leg to stand on if the buyer wastes your time and keeps requesting revisions.

The "Expert"

This buyer is one of my most disliked. In the graphic design field it seems like these are common. These buyers will state how much of an expert they are and how easy the job is. They might say “this job is super easy, why do you charge so much?” or “why is it taking so long, I know how long this work takes…”. They can often become micromanagers for the project. If a buyer says that the job is “very easy” then I am often cautious about it.

The Price Analyst

This is less common on Fiverr but can still be a frustrating experience. These buyers might ask you to break down your price or ask how many hours it will take you to determine your hourly rate. I’ve had buyers ask how many hours a logo project would take as they didn’t want to pay somebody more than $15 an hour. I told them that they would be punishing experts and efficient workers who could deliver better quality work in less time. These buyers will often try and get you to lower your prices. Normally I flat out refuse to tell buyers my hourly rate as that’s not how I work. Fortunately this is rare on Fiverr.

(Note this is different to buyers asking how long it will take to complete the project, I’m specifically talking about customers who want to break down the price)

The Unreasonable Buyer

These buyers are anyone who doesn’t respect your boundaries, your input or has unreasonable expectations from you. For example: “I need this done in 2 days” for a 2 week project or “I have a budget of $25” for a project that is worth over $400

The Exposure Buyer

These buyers will promise exposure or future work in order to get you to provide a discount or extras. I avoid any buyer who promises me that the work I do will give me amazing exposure to other businesses and future sales. Similarly if they promise to return back for future work be cautious.

These are just some situations and of course there is always nuance. You should try to be positive and make sales, but also don’t be afraid to stand your ground or to say NO to a bad buyer. I’d love to hear if there are any other buyers or red flags that you guys have experienced.

[zeus777]

On 5/19/2021 at 3:03 AM, alexandamedia said:

They might say “this job is super easy, why do you charge so much?”

Oh you gotta love those. I usually respond to that saying

“yes it is easy for me because it took me 10 years to get to a point where I can finish the job in 10 minutes, so you are paying for my skills.”

In most cases they work but sometimes not. Block them and move on! 😅 

[alexandamedia]

On 5/19/2021 at 3:40 AM, zeus777 said:

Oh you gotta love those. I usually respond to that saying

“yes it is easy for me because it took me 10 years to get to a point where I can finish the job in 10 minutes, so you are paying for my skills.”

In most cases they work but sometimes not. Block them and move on! 😅

Yep its really difficult to work with a buyer who perceives the value of the work so differently to you. If they massively lowball me I just politely decline and suggest they look for somebody cheaper. 

[miiila]

Nice and pretty comprehensive classification, was fun reading 🙂

I have another one, although I think it might be a subtype of the Doubter/Prove yourself:

The “What can you do for me?”

Well, how about reading through my Gig packages and descriptions for a start. And if you want something that’s not mentioned there, how about you telling me what you want/expect from me, as precisely as possible, to waste as little time as possible for us both, and I’m happy to tell you yes, no, yes but, or no but.

[callyofficial]

Great post. Thankfully most of my buyers are awesome, but I can definitely relate to all of these.

[jeekay4u]

Hi,
This is a great post for any one who wants to know about the type of buyers and how to deal with them but I have a question.
If buyers comes and we refuse to work because of low price/budget it will reduce our conversion rate.
So how much important is the conversion rate for a seller Account or it is just a %age?

[alexandamedia]

On 5/19/2021 at 9:58 AM, jeekay4u said:

This is a great post for any one who wants to know about the type of buyers and how to deal with them but I have a question. If buyers comes and we refuse to work because of low price/budget it will reduce our conversion rate. So how much important is the conversion rate for a seller Account or it is just a %age?

Nobody can say for sure, but conversion rate may well be a factor that is considered by Fiverr’s algorithms. That being said in the long run, it is still better to refuse work from bad buyers in my opinion.

[david_post]

The TOS buyer is very critical to watch out for among buyers

[akib0079]

On 5/19/2021 at 3:09 PM, alexandamedia said:

I have a budget of $25” for a project that is worth over $400

Eventually I face this kind of buyer once in a while… Their statement is like I want this full feature from this reputed website but my budget is fixed 20$ (●’◡’●) 

[porma9]

I respect your decision making process…which buyer types do you like though? In other words, what are the traits that you seek from buyers?

[catwriter]

On 5/20/2021 at 1:50 AM, miiila said:

The “What can you do for me?”

“What can you do for us” is typically asked at job interviews, so it always puzzles me when someone messages me to ask me that, especially since they’re not messaging me after I’ve responded to their BR. I definitely didn’t apply to work for their company.

I got the impression that the ones asking that are trying too hard to appear as serious and important. Or simply don’t really know how to communicate. 

[alexandamedia]

I respect your decision making process…which buyer types do you like though? In other words, what are the traits that you seek from buyers?

I think the main thing it comes down to is buyers who trust me and are fair.

Buyers who communicate in a polite manner but at the same time will give direct and pragmatic feedback are great. I find it much easier to work with buyers who are honest with their feelings on a project instead of being wishy-washy and unsure.

The best buyers are those who understand and see the value in my work and trust my expertise. Fortunately I’m lucky in that the vast majority of my clients have been great.

[porma9]

I think the main thing it comes down to is buyers who trust me and are fair.

Buyers who communicate in a polite manner but at the same time will give direct and pragmatic feedback are great. I find it much easier to work with buyers who are honest with their feelings on a project instead of being wishy-washy and unsure.

The best buyers are those who understand and see the value in my work and trust my expertise. Fortunately I’m lucky in that the vast majority of my clients have been great.

Nice. I think sometimes it’s hard to tell when to give feedback because we are all dealing with people we don’t know and on top of that we are dealing with people with different disciplines (I don’t know diddly about coding or music making for instance and they probably don’t know about fiction writing). I also like to work with sellers who are receptive to feedback, but it’s hard to tell that in the very beginning. Don’t want to come out swinging with critical feedback and sour the project.

In other words, can’t read minds, especially of brand new people. But what you said makes sense. Getting on the same page is paramount. Maybe each gig should say “Things I Don’t Like To Hear” or “Please be Kind” or “Be Honest” etc. I guess finding a way to trust someone while also administering feedback at the same time is the goal.

[grayprogrammerz]

just adding my 2 cents
The Exposure Buyer
Some buyers do say, I need trading bot and if we will earn well, we will reserve %xx of the profit to you.
So don’t apply for them. These are clearly frauds.

[positivezahid]

On 5/21/2021 at 10:13 PM, jeekay4u said:

If buyers comes and we refuse to work because of low price/budget it will reduce our conversion rate.

Actually all the marketplace are buyer focused. They use to confirm buyers interest as they usually spend money. The condition given by fiverr is to confirm sellers responsibility. I think we should not take any order until i am happy with client and his conversation.

My Satisfaction and happies also should be prioritized. if i am not happy or not comfortable how can i deliver my best service.

On 5/21/2021 at 10:20 PM, alexandamedia said:

I think the main thing it comes down to is buyers who trust me and are fair.

Buyers who communicate in a polite manner but at the same time will give direct and pragmatic feedback are great. I find it much easier to work with buyers who are honest with their feelings on a project instead of being wishy-washy and unsure.

The best buyers are those who understand and see the value in my work and trust my expertise. Fortunately I’m lucky in that the vast majority of my clients have been great.

Some time my client use to give me the instruction and resource that need to solve problems. He use to study and share his idea with me. He encouraged me and extended the time so that i can complete without pressure. 

[gongor32]

On 5/24/2021 at 12:22 AM, alexandamedia said:

The Doubter / Prove Yourself Buyer

I always get these buyers. Is there any possible manner that I can share my portfolio ? without violating TOS

[alexandamedia]

On 5/24/2021 at 12:29 AM, gongor32 said:

I always get these buyers. Is there any possible manner that I can share my portfolio ? without violating TOS

I think there is a list of approved sites that you can link to in the TOS but I prefer to keep everything on the Fiverr site just to be sure. So I created a small PDF document with some of my recent work that I send to buyers if they want to see my portfolio 

[eliza_09]

thank you for the advise. as a new seller this was quite helpful for me.
will keep them in mind when handling my next client.

[mockupoint]

I have heard incidents where buyers request a refund after the final product is done. I am a new seller that does graphic designing as well Alex!

[contractchecker]

The buyers that concern me are 1) those that expect that my $30 gig will revolutionize their business and make them a million dollars and 2) those that think I can read their minds!!!

They tend to be inexperienced. And they are the ones which get me into trouble with Fiverr and get my levels reduced.

I have done over 800 gigs.

[designer_tanvi]

This is useful for the beginner level seller like me. Thanks @alexandamedia for characterized your experienced and shared through forum for us.

[ziaul_moudud]

Thanks for sharing this information. I have faced a problem from *********** buyer; she offered of paying later & do her work right now as she is in hurry & she does not have much money in her wallet. I just report about this buyer to the FIVERR & later on blocked her.

Mod Note: Country/region reference removed.

[Guest misterbrettc]

To add to this list -

THE YOUTUBE VIDEO MAKER.

This person makes amazingly outrageous demands for studio quality audio from a voice over artist. Demands captivating and exciting script from copywriters. Requests enthralling video editing and graphics and special effects from video editors.

All while offering to pay $3-$5 EACH! They do no work themselves at all to create these channels (of which there are far too many of right now), demand professional level work but refuse to pay for it.

Folks of Fiverr - STOP WORKING FOR THESE PARASITES! PLEASE.

The promise of LONG-TERM “employment” by these fools is not something to look forward to. You’re setting yourself up for constant demands, long hours of work for extremely little money.

[shadiqurshaon]

On 5/29/2021 at 4:21 AM, alexandamedia said:

or paying after the work is done then stop

This one is very helpful because in some cases some work is never done with some Byers. we should avoid them and this is a good guideline. 

[qubemotion]

On 5/29/2021 at 7:35 AM, alexandamedia said:

The Bad Communicator

If a buyer’s language skills aren’t good enough or they can’t effectively explain their brief in a manner that you can understand then it’s probably best to avoid them. These buyers can be more difficult in the long run if you decide to work with them and it takes multiple revisions to get what they want.

I really understand this problem, my client was a French student, He did know English a bit but not like what I can understand easily. I finally asked him to speak in French I can use translate, and it was much better.

Maybe a native English would understand but not me because it’s my second language, it doesn’t matter if I’m fluent or not there are sometimes that only a native can understand those are bad in their language.

Luckily we have google translate and it really translates French to English well but imagine you’re having a Korean or Arab customer, google translate lacks in some languages, I know that since I know Arabic and Hebrew a bit and when I see translations it’s really bad.

I think I’m lucky google translate works well, at least for now.