Religion and business do not mix (Avoid this!)

[smashradio]

I've seen multiple buyers who mention their religion in gig descriptions and profile descriptions. One seller even mentioned it twice in his gig description, for a totally non-religion-related gig. 

I don't care if you're a Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu or Satanist. Religion and business do not mix. 

Trying to convince a non-muslim buyer that you're trustworthy because you're a muslim will not get you sales. The same goes for any other religion, too. 

It's unprofessional and it will scare off many buyers. So do yourself a favor: never, ever, bring up religion while doing business, unless you're offering some religious service. 

P.S. This is not a discussion about religion. I don't care about what you believe in. This is about business, and how it should be conducted if you want to convert prospects into clients on an international platform. 

Edited September 17, 2021 by smashradio

[newsmike]

41 minutes ago, smashradio said:

I don't care if you're a Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu or Satanist.

OK, I'll be the guy to point out that only one of those groups does this. When have you ever seen "Praise Satan's Hell Hounds, I made $5."  

Edited September 18, 2021 by newsmike

[smashradio]

Just now, newsmike said:

OK, I'll be the guy to point out that only one of those groups does this. When have you ever seen "Praise the Hellhounds of Satan, I made $5."  

Now you've made me want to make a new post: "Hail Satan! I got my second order!". 

[rachelbostwick]

49 minutes ago, newsmike said:

1 hour ago, smashradio said:

I don't care if you're a Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu or Satanist.

OK, I'll be the guy to point out that only one of those groups does this

Idk I swear someone recently made a post thanking Jesus for their recent order 😉

[gajuseidi]

3 minutes ago, rachelbostwick said:

Idk I swear someone recently made a post thanking Jesus for their recent order 😉

Blasphemy! The only religion we believe here in the FF is Conga.

[visualstudios]

I had a client asked me on a call what my religion was, and was pretty insistent on a particular one, and it wasn't the one that springs to mind immediately. When I didn't play ball with that, he just ended the call and that was that. Very weird.

Only happened once though, and I have done videos for several church events in the US, for example, where they never asked anything related to that.

Edited September 18, 2021 by visualstudios

[smashradio]

4 minutes ago, visualstudios said:

I had a client asked me on a call what my religion was, and was pretty insistent on a particular one, and it wasn't the one that springs to mind immediately. When I didn't play ball with that, he just ended the call and that was that. Very weird.

Only happened once though, and I have done videos for several church events in the US, for example, where they never asked anything related to that.

I was asked to do a Scientology voice over once. They wanted me to sign a contract stating I would be held responsible for anything I do now or in the future, that in any way reflects badly on their church. I politely said no thanks. 

[newsmike]

1 hour ago, rachelbostwick said:

Idk I swear someone recently made a post thanking Jesus for their recent order 😉

Satire, pure satire. Which went entirely over the heads of the intended audience. Now I know how Eric Bogosian felt most of his career. 

[katakatica]

I've seen a few BRs where the buyer was looking for someone with a specific religion - and I think one or two people have messaged me looking for a writer who's religious as well. Since I don't write nonfiction there's not much I could do for them. As an outsider, admittedly my POV would be very different which could only work for a very small amount of people for sure. 

(That being said I also don't think it's good to justify you being an honest seller by saying you are from x religion. When I was looking for nanny jobs many fake parents would claim not to be scammers based on how god-fearing (and the like) they were. I always found it an odd thing to say (but scammers are scammers and they did have a specific audience so...)

[melanielm]

I agree completely. I've had people message me with things similar to, 'god willing, you will take my order.' Ick. I turned down a buyer the other day (service I didn't provide) and their response was, 'I'll pray for you."

To each their own when it comes to religion, but no deities are going to convince me to take you on as a client. 

All glory to Fiber forever. Congas! 🙌

[newsmike]

On 9/18/2021 at 9:54 AM, melanielm said:

I agree completely. I've had people message me with things similar to, 'god willing, you will take my order.' Ick. I turned down a buyer the other day (service I didn't provide) and their response was, 'I'll pray for you."

To each their own when it comes to religion, but no deities are going to convince me to take you on as a client. 

All glory to Fiber forever. Congas! 🙌

May the Conga gods bless your tribe.

Abracadabra!!!

[olyasr]

I had a situation when I ordered a service. The deadline was very tight, and it was really important. He convinced me that he would meet the deadline.

Two days later he delivered an empty order. To my question, he replied: actually, we have a religious holiday today, don't you know? Please respect my religion. I will do it, but after the holidays. That was funny 🤪

I mean, I always respect personal boundaries, but there was a deadline, and I didn't place an order before contacting him-he told me that he will do this on time for sure, and then and then he blamed me for not respecting personal boundaries. 

[vickieito]

4 minutes ago, olyasr said:

Two days later he delivered an empty order.

This has nothing to do with religion.

What the seller did is just a poor excuse for bad quality and ethics. If you wanted to cancel the order, you could. You wouldn't even have to mention religion. The seller convinced you he could meet your tight deadline, couldn't deliver according to the agreed order requirements, failed to communicate honestly with you, and violated ToS by misusing the delivery button. 

If the seller wants someone to respect his religion, he needs to do things the right way - be completely honest upfront, keep his promises (and Fiverr ToS), and if he forgot it was a religious holiday (or is running behind schedule) ...admit it and request an extension of the delivery date via the Resolution Center.

[olyasr]

1 hour ago, vickieito said:

 If you wanted to cancel the order, you could. You wouldn't even have to mention religion. The seller convinced you he could meet your tight deadline, couldn't deliver according to the agreed order requirements, failed to communicate honestly with you, and violated ToS by misusing the delivery button.

I canceled that order. I completely agree - we need mutual respect. I am a seller, but sometimes I order some services - in that case, it was a service that I don't familiar with, and I don't know how many days it really should have taken, but an order on Fiverr is a business, it's like a contract. And its terms have to be fulfilled.

And because I am also a seller, I try to be as respectful as possible to other sellers. But we don't have to know every religious holiday. If I took a job, I never told- hey, it's Christmas, don't you know?

[vickieito]

3 hours ago, olyasr said:

I canceled that order.

Sorry you had to deal with that seller! Hopefully you also reported him for violating ToS!

3 hours ago, olyasr said:

If I took a job, I never told- hey, it's Christmas, don't you know?

Or if you did take a job, you would at least have the decency of mentioning that upfront (and working the extra days into the delivery to allow for the holiday). You definitely wouldn't make false promises, mislead the buyer, send an empty delivery, and blame the buyer for the order running late (claiming religious exemption)!

If I do run behind schedule, the buyer is usually aware of it, and I always go through the Resolution Center to request an extension of the delivery date.

[noirparliament_]

I think many people (the sellers) are unaware of this issue. Fiverr should make new users sit for a test on basic etiquette. That way they can filter out people who are not fit for this platform.  

Thanks for bringing this up.

[levelup_graphic]

I think new sellers are concerned with these. An experienced seller would never do this. Because they know how to work with fiverr. What keywords to use in the gig description 🙂

Thanks 

levelup_graphic

Edited December 10, 2022 by levelup_graphic