buyers requests for free VO audio samples. unacceptable.

[pieraardessi]

I am sure I am not the only one here who finds the following unacceptable:

a large number of buyers, I would say at least 70%, ask for FREE voiceover samples to be heard by their clients before buying my services.
the demo gallery is available to everyone. what are the demos for if I have to make samples for free avery time?

these sly clients obviously won't show their customers my price list, because they will underpay my work and then re-sell it outside fiverr.
besides, it is likely that these buyers will use my free demos (and those of many other fiverr sellers) to build their own library of talents to resell at higher prices.
these buyers usually promise long term jobs, the truth is they never come back.

and I assume this happens in all categories.
the price of gig is already ridiculous here on fiver. out there, in the real world, prices are much higher. everyone knows.

fiverr as usual doesn't respect in any way the sellers.
you say "this is how it works, it's free market" ???
I DON'T WORK FOR FREE!

fiverr forbids talks outside the platform, preventing me from having private negotiations with my clients.
so why buyers can resell my work outside fiverr? they also resell my broadcast rights!
is this acceptable? NO!

I think fiverr should necessarily do something.
integrate some sort of paid-samples-option and pretend buyers to respect the hard work of the sellers.

Do you agree on that or not?
What can we do besides deny such requests?

I am done.

[donnovan86]

I am a writer, but again, the same thing applies, some want a sample on their own topic for free.

Either that, or they say that their client doesn't like the content and want a refund without stating what's wrong. That's why whenever I spot a reseller, I stay away from them. You can't spot them all, but if you do see them, stay away from them.

[letsgodigital]

I just clearly say no when a buyer is being unreasonable. Unfortunately it does takeaway some revenue and ranking.

[mizanur95]

It would be great for fiverr sellers to do this too. I agree with you

[rizwana_sattarr]

10 hours ago, pieraardessi said:

I am sure I am not the only one here who finds the following unacceptable:

a large number of buyers, I would say at least 70%, ask for FREE voiceover samples to be heard by their clients before buying my services.
the demo gallery is available to everyone. what are the demos for if I have to make samples for free avery time?

these sly clients obviously won't show their customers my price list, because they will underpay my work and then re-sell it outside fiverr.
besides, it is likely that these buyers will use my free demos (and those of many other fiverr sellers) to build their own library of talents to resell at higher prices.
these buyers usually promise long term jobs, the truth is they never come back.

and I assume this happens in all categories.
the price of gig is already ridiculous here on fiver. out there, in the real world, prices are much higher. everyone knows.

fiverr as usual doesn't respect in any way the sellers.
you say "this is how it works, it's free market" ???
I DON'T WORK FOR FREE!

fiverr forbids talks outside the platform, preventing me from having private negotiations with my clients.
so why buyers can resell my work outside fiverr? they also resell my broadcast rights!
is this acceptable? NO!

I think fiverr should necessarily do something.
integrate some sort of paid-samples-option and pretend buyers to respect the hard work of the sellers.

Do you agree on that or not?
What can we do besides deny such requests?

I am done.

Yes, strongly agree with you same happens to me last week😟

[yannisenglish]

I've found that sending a template response that links to a published portfolio greatly reduces my stress and frustration with such Buyers. At the same time, it ensures that legit prospects don't fly under the radar.

As a blog writer, I link to sites that have credited me for my work. I guess VOs could put together a YouTube channel or something to that effect. 

[theratypist]

20 hours ago, pieraardessi said:

what are the demos for if I have to make samples for free avery time?

That is true, its either you give them a watermarked sample or just advise them to purchase for a sample. I have seen some VO artists mention a quote for custom samples somewhere in their FAQs.

[sue_mcl]

I always send my demo reel to those who want a sample, then they can share that with their clients, without needing to tell their clients they are getting my services from fiverr.

If they want a custom sample, I simply let them know there is a cost for it.

I generally don't have any issues, simply stating that is how my gig works and have zero angst about the whole thing.

Some of my best repeat clients are those who re-sell it outside of fiverr or use it for work they are creating (ie the voiceover for a video).

[catwriter]

On 9/27/2021 at 8:59 PM, pieraardessi said:

integrate some sort of paid-samples-option and pretend buyers to respect the hard work of the sellers.

You can do that on your own: whenever someone requests a free sample, politely tell them that they can check your demo gallery, and if they wish a custom sample, they can purchase it for just (name your price).

Or you can simply immediately respond with a custom offer for that sample.

And if they complain, as some of them do, that actors go to unpaid auditions before being hired, you can easily point out that they audition for jobs that pay in hundreds of thousands, not for a job that would bring them $20.

[surajkartha]

Or.. maybe they didn't check your demo gallery? either ways, you can just forward them whatever you have in your demo gallery and see if they are still requesting for more.. in which case you might want to create an additional gig for those who want samples of what you do.. 

[enunciator]

Welcome to the forum! Not the happiest initial post I've read, but it is actually of substance rather than 90% of posts these days...

On 9/27/2021 at 11:59 AM, pieraardessi said:

a large number of buyers, I would say at least 70%, ask for FREE voiceover samples to be heard by their clients before buying my services.

Ouch. 😬  It seems you are primarily drawing in the (potentially dreaded) "reseller" crowd of buyers for your VO services. If you want to reduce the likelihood of being contacted by resellers, the best thing to do is to price yourself out of their budget and hopefully attract a different sort of buyer who'll not irritate you for free samples.

On 9/27/2021 at 11:59 AM, pieraardessi said:

I think fiverr should necessarily do something.
integrate some sort of paid-samples-option and pretend buyers to respect the hard work of the sellers.

There's already something on the platform that serves that purpose. If they want a demo of your abilities, create a small scale custom offer for like five bucks, and if they are unwilling to pay such a pithy amount, then that probably just screened out a terrible/troublesome buyer that would be better NOT to work with.