Can I contact other sellers to ask them ...?

[eliza_09]

On 6/12/2021 at 2:25 AM, katakatica said:

They most likely aren’t spammers (unless they ask you to give them work to do!) they might just move on or get busy with their lives. It happens - some people don’t like to say ‘sorry I chose someone else’ outloud because it’s awkward (or that’s what I think at least.) Fake buyers are people who ask you to do work for them BEFORE placing an order.

oh okay. now that helps. one more thing. as response time counts, some said it only counts for the first response time when someone messages you, and some said it counts the whole conversation when responding. which one is correct?

 

genuinely saying, thank you for sharing your thoughts. it was really confusing for me. i was worried if i report an actual buyer or keep entertaining a fake client.

[katakatica]

On 6/12/2021 at 2:38 AM, eliza_09 said:

genuinely saying, thank you for sharing your thoughts. it was really confusing for me. i was worried if i report an actual buyer or keep entertaining a fake client.

No worries, I was always bummed at first as well (but as long as long as you don’t give them any free work you’re fine!) re.: the response time, for NOW it seems to me that it’s only the first message that counts but it could be changing/different but I’m not 100% sure myself but maybe someone else knows!

[afarigh]

No worries, I was always bummed at first as well (but as long as long as you don’t give them any free work you’re fine!) re.: the response time, for NOW it seems to me that it’s only the first message that counts but it could be changing/different but I’m not 100% sure myself but maybe someone else knows!

Hi. There are new changes. It’s not the first message that is taken into account now. The whole conversation. However, later messages after the convo is concluded may not count according to new info on Fiverr help.

[miiila]

i have a question. i am a new seller and all i know is that response time matters. sometimes i get messages from i don’t know fake clients i guess asking questions over questions and then after a day they disappear. should i be reporting them just leave it like that? and never answer them back?

In theory, there could be “fake customers” among them in the sense of other sellers trying to get information out of you, but it’s much more probable that it’s just people who “window-shop around” and go with someone who offers cheaper or faster work, or they prefer to work with for whatever other reason, or they might decide to do it themselves and not buy from anyone in the end in some cases, or it might be hopeful resellers who are looking for the least to pay for the highest margin.

You can set up some quick responses if you end up typing (almost) the same things regarding their questions, then you’ll waste less time.

Reporting people only makes sense if they somehow violate Fiverr’s terms of service.

---

Regarding the response rate/time, here’s the FAQ: https://www.fiverr.com/support/articles/360010452637-Response-Time--Rate-FAQ

However, I guess nobody is completely sure if it still applies after the recent changes, as afarigh said. Maybe we’ll hear from someone who’ll ask support about it if their rate seems to suffer because of that.

[zeus777]

I’ve messaged other sellers before to ask their opinion/help etc,
I’d say in most cases they responded nicely and politely since I made sure I myself
sounded polite.

There was one time where I messaged someone ( a fellow translator) several years ago
to ask a question, she responded in a very short message and blocked me.
OK…pardon me if I sounded “spammy” to you 😲

On the other hand I’ve had sellers ( both new and experienced) messaging me asking for help/ideas/suggestions, and as long as they make their points clear and sound professional I tried my best each time to help them.

[bethanyvo]

What about if you get a sketchy/unresponsive buyer and you look at their one seller review (which was vague) and wonder how that seller dealt with them? I had one come up a while back. I plowed through and made it to the end but it would have been encouraging if I could confirm with the prior seller that buyer was legitimate-only just difficult.

But that would probably lead to an abuse of that too I suppose. Would have been nice though:)

[miiila]

On 6/12/2021 at 9:52 AM, bethanyvo said:

What about if you get a sketchy/unresponsive buyer and you look at their one seller review (which was vague) and wonder how that seller dealt with them? I had one come up a while back. I plowed through and made it to the end but it would have been encouraging if I could confirm with the prior seller that buyer was legitimate-only just difficult.

But that would probably lead to an abuse of that too I suppose. Would have been nice though:)

The way how someone messages surely plays a role in the reaction of the messaged person, in addition to the reason. I didn’t and still don’t block/report everyone, just the other day I wrote a pretty long reply to someone. Ironically, while it affected me via having to reply, costing me time, and reducing my conversion rate, the person who messaged then said in their reply to my reply that they actually don’t want to work on Fiverr.

Well, it all depends; in the end, you can but you shouldn’t if you care about potentially getting a warning, suspension, or ban. Especially since I have the impression that many of the people who send “spammy” messages might easily collect another warning on their way.

My quick response for the “usual spam” includes a link to the ToS and Help Center.

Maybe it helps the one or other person, but honestly, I can’t see a future on Fiverr for most of the people whose messages I’d count as spam, unless they choose another niche, perhaps, maybe.

On 6/12/2021 at 9:52 AM, bethanyvo said:

wonder how that seller dealt with them?

Well, the same is true for that; essentially, you can but you take the risk of getting reported, because that’s using the messaging option for something else than it’s intended for, so, if the messaged seller wants to report you, nothing keeps them from doing so.

Personally, I’d not report you but would probably tell you something like, sorry, can’t answer that for privacy reasons. It is or was my customer, after all, unresponsive or not.

I’ve been messaged by someone who wanted to ask me about a gig/seller I’d left a review for. I didn’t like it. They can read my review, that was what I had to say about the gig/seller. If anything, it made me consider to either never buy on Fiverr again or to not leave reviews in future.

I realize that the situation you describe is a bit different, and that seller might be even happy to tell you everything but IMO, you’d still ask them to break confidentiality in a way.

Whether that potential report would lead to a warning, I can’t tell you, that’s something you’d need to ask support.

[theratypist]

Thanks for sharing this tips…

Thanks for sharing this tips…

Did you read the whole text?

[vickiespencer]

I appreciate the that

I appreciate the that

thanks for sharing the tips

Thanks for sharing this tips…

Did you read the whole text?

Of course, they did not! :woman_facepalming:t2:

[theratypist]

I appreciate the that

thanks for sharing the tips

Thanks for sharing this tips…

Did you read the whole text?

Of course, they did not! :woman_facepalming:t2:

Here’s some emojis to brighten your day, Vickie! haha 🍰

[zeus777]

Here’s some emojis to brighten your day, Vickie! haha 🍰

I’m sorry, but first of all, that made me laugh out loud, and second of all, that is so cute/sweet!! :rofl:

Seriously though…why do not people read…

[catwriter]

On 6/13/2021 at 1:20 AM, zeus777 said:

why do not people read…

It takes too much effort, and besides, the Fiverr guru on YouTube told them to post on the forum, not to read.

[shiro_i]

Why don't fiverr create a dedicated part in the conversation, so that the sellers could communicate with each other for advice and so on ?

[imagination7413]

41 minutes ago, shiro_i said:

Why don't fiverr create a dedicated part in the conversation, so that the sellers could communicate with each other for advice and so on ?

Fiverr Terms of Service:

"Phishing and Spam - Members’ security is a top priority. [...] Please respect our members privacy by not contacting them with offers, questions, suggestions or anything which is not directly related to their Gigs or orders."

[vickiespencer]

53 minutes ago, shiro_i said:

Why don't fiverr create a dedicated part in the conversation, so that the sellers could communicate with each other for advice and so on ?

That is the purpose of the Fiverr Forum. 

[catwriter]

1 hour ago, shiro_i said:

Why don't fiverr create a dedicated part in the conversation, so that the sellers could communicate with each other for advice and so on ?

You mean, like a forum? Like this forum, where sellers can communicate with each other for advice and so on, and have been doing it for over a decade?

[shiro_i]

39 minutes ago, catwriter said:

You mean, like a forum? Like this forum, where sellers can communicate with each other for advice and so on, and have been doing it for over a decade?

No, I mean a conversation, where you can contact a specific seller.

[vickiespencer]

On 3/31/2023 at 2:18 PM, shiro_i said:

No, I mean a conversation, where you can contact a specific seller.

That would be against Fiverr’s’s terms of service. 

[shiro_i]

57 minutes ago, vickiespencer said:

That would be against Fiverr’s’s terms of service. 

In the topic she said you can contact another sellers who offer the same service as you, but they don't reply and spam you, because it would affect them.
What I mean here, Is why don't fiverr it self provide a way for sellers to chat with each others for advice and change the terms?
It's important for beginners like me to ask people from the same field for advice.

[shiro_i]

8 hours ago, imagination7413 said:

Fiverr Terms of Service:

"Phishing and Spam - Members’ security is a top priority. [...] Please respect our members privacy by not contacting them with offers, questions, suggestions or anything which is not directly related to their Gigs or orders."

I'm not asking for information about them, I'm asking for information about fiverr itself and the system and I'm replying to a topic not a gig.

Edited April 1, 2023 by shiro_i

[imagination7413]

22 minutes ago, shiro_i said:

In the topic she said you can contact another sellers who offer the same service as you, but they don't reply and spam you, because it would affect them.
What I mean here, Is why don't fiverr it self provide a way for sellers to chat with each others for advice and change the terms?
It's important for beginners like me to ask people from the same field for advice.

Quote: 

On 6/11/2021 at 5:41 AM, miiila said:

The simple answer: you can - technically - because, unlike users who are exclusively buyers who can’t be contacted at all unless they initiate contact with a seller (because they’d get bombarded with spam else), other users need to be able to contact sellers to ask about custom offers if the Gigs offered aren’t what they need and they intend to buy from that seller.
But you shouldn’t, because it’s considered spam and against Fiverr’s Terms of Service (read the ToS if you haven’t yet, it might save you from getting banned from the platform forever).

Quirk of the English language: 'can' versus 'should' or 'may. 'Can' indicates 'ability to do'. NOT permission. 

I 'can' jump out in front of high-speed traffic, but that most certainly does NOT mean I 'should'.

I 'can' drive a stranger's car, but that does NOT mean I 'may' drive without permission.

16 minutes ago, shiro_i said:

I'm not asking for information about them, I'm asking for information about fiverr itself and the system and I'm replying to a topic not a gig.

Short answer: Fiverr's platform, Fiverr's rules.

No DM-ing without permission. Fiverr forum participation is voluntary.

Edited April 1, 2023 by imagination7413

[vickiespencer]

28 minutes ago, shiro_i said:

On the topic she said you can contact another sellers who offer the same service as you, but they don't reply and spam you, because it would affect them.
What I mean here, Is why don't fiverr it self provide a way for sellers to chat with each others for advice and change the terms?
It's important for beginners like me to ask people from the same field for advice.

@miiila warned new sellers not to contact other users to discuss how Fiverr and its system work or seek advice. There are plenty of Forum users to discuss those things with. 

 See below: 

On 6/11/2021 at 3:41 AM, miiila said:

The simple answer: you can - technically -

But you shouldn’t because it’s considered spam and against Fiverr’s Terms of Service (read the ToS if you haven’t yet, it might save you from getting banned from the platform forever).

And you’re likely to get reported by the seller you’ll spam, so don’t do it.

[catwriter]

5 hours ago, shiro_i said:

What I mean here, Is why don't fiverr it self provide a way for sellers to chat with each others for advice

That's what the forum is for. You don't have to contact another seller directly to ask them for advice. You can post a topic (here on the forum) where you ask for advice, and state that you are, for example, a graphic designer looking for advice from other graphic designers.

It's also possible to contact other sellers directly through the forum DMs, but you should ensure first that that specific seller doesn't mind if you contact them like that.

[miiila]

15 hours ago, shiro_i said:

No, I mean a conversation, where you can contact a specific seller.

You can, generally, also do that on the forum – that is if the seller is on the forum and has the option for others to dm them activated. Some simply don't want to receive private messages (maybe they got too many spam or other bothersome messages).

You need to keep in mind that while you may think you're the only one who contacts that seller, and they'll be thrilled to chat with you, that seller may receive a dozen spam messages and similar messages to what yours would be, daily. And has to react to each and every message, even to absolute spam.

The Fiverr main site is a platform where, typically, sellers go to sell their services and earn money, not to chat. Plus, on the main site, sellers already have to react to each and every message, including absolute pure spam and scam attempt messages, within 24 hours, to not have their Response Rate drop (which can even cost them their level if it's below 90% during the monthly level evaluation)

The place to chat is the forum, so you can find sellers who like to chat now and then there. And even then, many prefer to just chat publicly, within the forum topics, and not per dm. But at least, there's no penalty for not responding to forum (spam) messages, so if I absolutely wanted to contact other sellers privately (also, keep in mind that there is no real privacy in "private messages", neither on the main site or the forum, where staff can read any message if there seems to be a need for it), I'd do so on the forum, if they are on there, and not bother them (and potentially risk being reported) on the main site.

You see, the crux is actually the Response Rate/obligation to respond to every single message one gets. If there was no response rate, sellers could just ignore spam and other messages they don't want to interact with, but the Response Rate is one of the metrics that affect sellers' accounts.

Edited April 1, 2023 by miiila

[visualstudios]

On 4/1/2023 at 2:03 AM, shiro_i said:

In the topic she said you can contact another sellers who offer the same service as you, but they don't reply and spam you, because it would affect them.
What I mean here, Is why don't fiverr it self provide a way for sellers to chat with each others for advice and change the terms?
It's important for beginners like me to ask people from the same field for advice.

Sure, are you willing to pay? Book a consultation call then. Or do you want a successful seller to spend their time, for free, answering your questions?