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Buyer asking me to join their Discord Server


thewritingbuff

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So yesterday, a buyer recruited me after I responded to their BR regarding a paid test for a game development project. I delivered the order today and they accepted the delivery and gave me a good review and even a tip! Hooray! They then messaged me saying that I passed the test and they would like to collaborate long term with me! Double hooray! 

This is where things get interesting. Their next message said that they are going to contact me via their Pro account. 

Wait what?! A second account?! Okay, I don't know how Pro accounts work so I tapped down on my knee jerk reaction to block their account then and there. Let's see where this goes 👀

 

Their next message from their Pro account said that they would like me to join their Discord server where they are gathering a team of writers for this project. 

It was at this point that I freaked out and came running to the forum to seek advice. Wouldn't communication on Discord count as "communication outside the platform"? Isn't that a clear clear violation of TOS? What should I do in this situation? 

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I'm not an expert and I'm sure the veterans of this forum can give you better advice/insights! I looked on Fiverr to see what they say about Fiverr Pro and they say this; 

Taking business off of the Fiverr platform

  • Fiverr Pro sellers may communicate with their buyers off-platform, but please be aware that:
    • All off-platform communication must be documented on Fiverr to allow Fiverr to protect you in case of any buyer–seller dispute. Any attempt to take business/sales off Fiverr will result in Fiverr blocking your account, according to Fiverr’s Terms of Service

So I guess it will be a violation if you conduct the actual business (i.e. payment) outside Fiverr. But this is for Pro Seller accounts and you don't have that, only this buyer does so that complicates it a bit too (for me haha). 

In order to be safe; wouldn't it be possible to share your enthusiasm of being part of such a team, but you'd like to deliver your contributions through Fiverr? And also explaining that you prefer this approach, because Fiverr doesn't allow such communications and you don't want to risk your account?  

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6 minutes ago, sabinespoems said:

I'm not an expert and I'm sure the veterans of this forum can give you better advice/insights! I looked on Fiverr to see what they say about Fiverr Pro and they say this; 

Taking business off of the Fiverr platform

  • Fiverr Pro sellers may communicate with their buyers off-platform, but please be aware that:
    • All off-platform communication must be documented on Fiverr to allow Fiverr to protect you in case of any buyer–seller dispute. Any attempt to take business/sales off Fiverr will result in Fiverr blocking your account, according to Fiverr’s Terms of Service

So I guess it will be a violation if you conduct the actual business (i.e. payment) outside Fiverr. But this is for Pro Seller accounts and you don't have that, only this buyer does so that complicates it a bit too (for me haha). 

In order to be safe; wouldn't it be possible to share your enthusiasm of being part of such a team, but you'd like to deliver your contributions through Fiverr? And also explaining that you prefer this approach, because Fiverr doesn't allow such communications and you don't want to risk your account?  

Thanks for digging this up! 

That's interesting. Fiverr mentions that Pro "Sellers" may communicate with their "buyers" off the platform. But in this situation, I am the seller and they are the buyer? 🤔

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Exactly why it complicated it for me haha! Because the fact that they are a Fiverr Pro Seller, does not mean they have the same privileges as a Fiver buyer I reckon. 

So in short, I think it's better to just keep the communication on Fiverr to make sure you won't get a warning. Also, the fact that this buyer apparently has a second account as well already seems fishy too, since that's not allowed either... 

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5 hours ago, sabinespoems said:

Exactly why it complicated it for me haha! Because the fact that they are a Fiverr Pro Seller, does not mean they have the same privileges as a Fiver buyer I reckon. 

So in short, I think it's better to just keep the communication on Fiverr to make sure you won't get a warning. Also, the fact that this buyer apparently has a second account as well already seems fishy too, since that's not allowed either... 

Thanks a lot! 

Okay, so when I made this topic on the forum, it was pretty late. I sent a message to CS, explaining the situation to them and attached screenshots of the conversation. I woke up to this reply from Justin (this was the fastest CS ever responded to me. They usually take anywhere over 12 hours) 

Polish_20210701_064249863.thumb.jpg.3b2db0212c9c68d21db86bbbc2b840df.jpg

So, yeah. I am so glad I trusted my instincts and just didn't jump on the offer. This buyer would have gotten me into serious trouble 😐

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It's good when your internal alarm bell rings when two or more accounts are mentioned, but there are indeed constellations where that's okay. For example, there could be someone who has a seller account here but also manages a Fiverr business account for a company they belong to. In your case, I'm not quite sure why someone would use their seller account to buy if they also have a buyer account, but whatever. 

In any case, I'd also interpret that § as PRO sellers may communicate with their buyers, not with other sellers off-platform, although the requirement to document all of it on Fiverr sounds pretty much as if you'd just want to keep it on Fiverr then anyway, too much of a hassle else, and a risk too, especially with a buyer you don't know yet.

It wouldn't make much sense if Fiverr allowed off-platform communication even now that they offer on-platform communication via Zoom between Business buyers and sellers since a while, as that option is one of the perks of the (paid) Fiverr Business membership. 

In your case, if that buyer could live with a Zoom call instead of Discord communication, they could look into upgrading their buyer account to a Fiverr Business account.
That is, if you actually would want to do it in the first place. Sometimes, it might be warranted, but there are also downsides, like the "documentation", the need to schedule a time, to record and store, maybe replay the session and take notes vs having the info all easily accessible and quickly scrollable in text form in your Fiverr Messages. It might cost you more time, all in all, and you might want to figure that into your pricing, or set up some kind of live consultation Gig for it to get paid for the time you put in, unless the "main Gig" covers it, or you're fine with not getting paid for that time because it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, or whatever.

zoom.thumb.png.c532aea397e78758f023ee91be35171f.png

 

Clicking that Learn More link leads to this page, in case you haven't stumbled over it yet and want to, well, learn more 🙂 : https://www.fiverr.com/content/sellers-fib-order

I've also found support to typically be very strict regarding the exchange of communication info and off-platform communication thing, even when I did ask in a few cases where I thought they might say yes, so my advice is definitely to not rely on forum info but to ask support if in doubt in matters that might get you a warning or worse.

 

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