New Seller, Creepy First Buyer, Need Guidance

[Guest lindserly]

Hi there, I am a new seller on Fiverr and had my first zoom meeting with my first buyer today. The gig is for life coaching, and the buyer wanted to talk about some things that they felt uncomfortable talking with their friends and family about. No biggie. Things got creepy, though, when they wanted to take the conversation outside of the Fiverr platform. They wanted to send me a separate zoom link because they were concerned about the safety and security of the recorded zoom call/file on Fiverr. I refused to go off of the Fiverr platform. I ended up suggesting to the buyer that they find coaching off of the Fiverr platform altogether or that they agree to the terms and safety measures on Fiverr. We mutually agreed that our coaching relationship was not going to progress, and the buyer cancelled the order. 

Also, the picture and name on this buyer's zoom did not match the video of the person nor their name. In our gig conversation, the buyer did not answer the required questions accurately (just said "Thank you" in the required fields) until I asked a second time. The buyer did not answer two of my straight-forward questions regarding what they needed coaching about. Those were red flags to me, but having never worked with a buyer before, I wasn't sure of buyers didn't answer the required questions often.

As a new seller, did I do the right thing according to Fiverr? I believe so, and I want to double check. (I did the right thing according to my standards! lol)

Any counsel or guidance for how to avoid that argument in the future?

Thank you! 

[imagination7413]

Good for you. You did do the right thing, as leaving the Fiverr platform would have been a breach of the ToS. If you haven't already, I would suggest you report the message where the other user asked to leave. (If they don't trust Fiverr, why are they ON Fiverr?)

. https://community.fiverr.com/forums/topic/136314-the-power-of-saying-no/ 
. https://community.fiverr.com/forums/topic/222069-stand-your-ground-setting-boundaries-as-a-seller/ 
. https://community.fiverr.com/forums/topic/145429-the-art-of-saying-no-nicely/ 

 

[Guest lindserly]

1 hour ago, imagination7413 said:

Good for you. You did do the right thing, as leaving the Fiverr platform would have been a breach of the ToS. If you haven't already, I would suggest you report the message where the other user asked to leave. (If they don't trust Fiverr, why are they ON Fiverr?)

. https://community.fiverr.com/forums/topic/136314-the-power-of-saying-no/ 
. https://community.fiverr.com/forums/topic/222069-stand-your-ground-setting-boundaries-as-a-seller/ 
. https://community.fiverr.com/forums/topic/145429-the-art-of-saying-no-nicely/ 

 

Thank you so much for your response and the links to the resources about boundaries and saying no. How do I report the conversation (it was on zoom) to Fiverr? 

[Guest lindserly]

1 hour ago, corsogr said:

You did the right thing since doing otherwise would put your account at risk. Also, reminding the buyer to agree to the terms and safety measures on Fiverr was a good move.

Thank you so much! I appreciate your encouragement! 

[mahrukh_hassan]

you did the best thing which was possible at that time less you should always immediately report the TOS violations without any delay , the moment someone asks you to go beyond the limits of fiverr and is TOS just flag and report , cancellation is way better than a warning or a ban .

[imagination7413]

10 hours ago, lindserly said:

How do I report the conversation (it was on zoom) to Fiverr? 

I misunderstood. As far as I'm aware, you can only directly report messages in the Fiverr chat.

If this was through the Fiverr Zoom connection, I'm not sure how to report it easily. You could try filing a 'general ToS violation' ticket, https://www.fiverr.com/support_tickets/new, quoting the section of the ToS that states:

Quote

• To protect our users' privacy, user identities are kept anonymous. Requesting or providing Email addresses, s***e/IM usernames, telephone numbers or any other personal contact details to communicate outside of Fiverr in order to circumvent or abuse the Fiverr messaging system or Fiverr platform is not permitted.

...and state that this violation occurred in a Fiverr Zoom video, then ask what steps you need to take, if any.

[looseink]

As a new Seller, you acted using logic and common sense rather than focusing on the money.

Good for you.

Never ignore red flags and never be afraid to turn down business if it doesn't feel/sound right.

As for the future, expect to encounter more of these kinds of Buyers.

However, you will also find many legitimate Buyers as well.

Just be careful.

[khalifacyrusuk]

You did the right thing. The only time you should use Zoom is when you have a Fiverr Business Client (which will be clearly shown), and you must use the Zoom service that is embedded within Fiverr (it will be obvious when you get one of these orders).

Don't accept cancellations if you've done nothing wrong. If your buyer requests something not in the scope of the order, and then gets upset about it, you must stand firm - a poor review is better than a cancellation (trust me!). 🙂 

[a_aladin]

36 minutes ago, khalifacyrusuk said:

Don't accept cancellations if you've done nothing wrong. If your buyer requests something not in the scope of the order, and then gets upset about it, you must stand firm - a poor review is better than a cancellation (trust me!). 🙂 

This is the worst advice you could ever receive as a new seller. Unless you have a few dozen great reviews then a bad review will totally kill your account and you'll have to start again. 

[khalifacyrusuk]

14 minutes ago, a_aladin said:

This is the worst advice you could ever receive as a new seller. Unless you have a few dozen great reviews then a bad review will totally kill your account and you'll have to start again. 

Most reviews for work that met the criteria of the scope are 5 stars in my experience. Therefore, providing you've done more than 5-10 orders - one review that is 1 star (which, even if the seller DOES review the work [many don't], then you would only experience a few decimal places difference, which will make even less of a difference if this is a long term occupation for you). 

If you're a new seller and you get a cancellation - it'll make even MORE of an impact on your gig.

Say you had done 5 orders and once cancellation, your order completion rate would be 80% (which is absolutely awful and wouldn't allow you to progress). Not to mention the impact on your further orders, as you would be bumped to the absolute bottom of the listings.

Say you had done 5 orders, one was 1 star (unlikely) and the rest 5 star - your average rating would be 4.2, which is very good.

Please do the maths before giving a completely unhelpful quote. Thanks! 🙂