Getting a message to do a gig unrelated to the seller's gig

[eugenekmoon]

Hello, my name is Eugene and I started fiverr this month with a focus of illustration and graphic design. Being fairly new here, I am still learning the ropes of being a seller. I received a message from someone to publish house rental information on Craigslist, and this person offered to pay me. Is this type of message common to new sellers? That offer has nothing to do with what I'm trying to sell here. Is this something I can ignore or do something about it? Any information will be much appreciated. 

[j6nyc6]

If I were in your shoes I would stay away from this project since the gig isn't related to the services you provide. You might think to yourself, well maybe I'm just lucky, but you should ask yourself a few questions first.

1) Why did they select you for the project?

2) Why didn't they hire someone who provides this type of service?

 

Reply back, tell them you aren't interested, and move on.

Edited June 29, 2021 by j6nyc6

[eugenekmoon]

Thank you for your response. Those are good answers and reasoning. Thank you again for your suggestions. 

[visualstudios]

Definitely suspicious. Usually if you can't see the logic behind a request, it's because there isn't one. Same if it sounds too good to be true.

Lots of scammers around lately.

[jkc_digitals]

big thanks to all.i am a new seller also

[catwriter]

7 hours ago, eugenekmoon said:

Is this type of message common to new sellers?

It happens. Sometimes it's because the buyer is also new to Fiverr and has no idea how things work, and sometimes it's a scam.

7 hours ago, eugenekmoon said:

Is this something I can ignore or do something about it?

If you ignore it (as in, don't respond at all) your response rate will suffer; you can just politely tell that person that you're sorry, but it's not a service that you offer, and then report their message as spam (that will also block them).

[goffer6575]

good to know this

[genuineguidance]

Call me a cynic, but placing ads for "rental houses" on Craig's List for someone else seems shady as ..... fill in the blanks.

I know there are a ton of fake "landlords" on Craig's List that take other people's money as deposits etc promising keys at another time - and, just maybe, they need some sap as a middleman/person to place the ads so the offender does not get in trouble if this is indeed some ruse to scam people out of money.

I  know this scam was going on when the housing crisis occurred in 2008 - lots of empty foreclosed homes and opportunity for fraudsters to break in, act as though they owned the joint and take lots of deposit money from unsuspecting renters, who upon trying to move in, could not.

Sad!

GG

Edited June 29, 2021 by genuineguidance

[sageofaquarius]

I’ve been on Fiverr for about a year but recently started advertising to sell services and have been approached twice by people for this rental ad scam. If I wanted to do that type of work it would be outlined in my Gigs, period. There’s a lot of people in the world who are trying to take advantage, just be careful. 
 

I needed a business plan formalized and was going to pay someone until I realized all of their reviews they wrote themselves (broken English). 
 

Lastly, I had to cancel 2 different jobs after the clients wanted more than I was currently offering. Don’t allow yourself to get bullied into anything you never initially set out to do. My Fiverr is a means to my self employment toolkit. Why work for yourself just to have clients dictate what you do? Stand firm and you’ll grow based on what’s comfortable to you. Never compromise. 
 

The logos I’ve purchased on Fiverr are nice and quality, but one buyer didn’t even bother to change the colors to what I asked, then asked for a “small token” to change it when I reached out a couple months later. $65 paid once to them and I didn’t want to pay more. I figured out how to match the text and just finished the logo myself.