Can a seller do a pro bono Gig?

[talk2sydney]

There seems to be lots of high ranking sellers on Fiverr, which makes it a tad difficult for us newbies to get orders because we have no reviews. Is it possible for a seller to do pro bono Gigs? perhaps this will help with reviews which would further boost confidence from buyers.

Also, can top rated sellers give endorsements to newbies? you know so buyers can also have confidence in them. This would be a goo add.

Let's discuss.

[joshnadin]

33 minutes ago, talk2sydney said:

Is it possible for a seller to do pro bono Gigs? perhaps this will help with reviews which would further boost confidence from buyers.

It is not possible, and it also would not be of any benefit to sellers on the platform, new or experienced.
This would generate behaviour of buyers not wanting to ever pay for anything if they can just get new sellers to do what they want for free. It would generate a dynamic of what the buyer request section currently is, and abused like the buyer request section currently is also.
Literally ever seller started off with no reviews, it's your job to figure out how to generate orders. There are many ways to establish credibility without reviews, and convince buyers to choose you. If there wasn't, literally no one would ever make any sales.
Yes, it is difficult to get your feet off the ground and get established. But you can't have the same privileges top rated and experienced sellers have, without putting in the same hard work and figuring out what they have figured out.

37 minutes ago, talk2sydney said:

Also, can top rated sellers give endorsements to newbies? you know so buyers can also have confidence in them. This would be a goo add.

Why would top rated or experienced sellers want to do this though? Why would we turn down business and give it to another seller? There isn't any benefit to both parties, only benefit to the new seller. Experienced and top rated sellers have worked extremely hard to get where they are, only to give away clients? The only time I could see this happening if is a seller is unavailable to take on any more work due to their order queue being full, or being on vacation and unavailable.

If it's the case of recommending or endorsing another seller because it's not within the clients price range, then perhaps.
But, as I always say. If a buyer is in my inbox asking me to work for cheaper than what I offer, I always say no. There is a reason that buyer is having the conversation with me, and it's because he wants the quality I deliver, but doesn't want to pay the price. There are many services already available within their budget, so why aren't they using the services within their price range? Clearly they value my quality, so they should also value what I charge, my experience, and me as a professional.

So it is going to be of any benefit to recommend a cheaper, less experienced seller to a buyer that clearly is interested in you because of the quality that you offer? Probably not, or they would have placed the order with the other seller in the first instance, as that seller would have been within their budget.

[melanielm]

According to Fiverr's TOS, no, you cannot do gigs for free.

Top rates sellers CAN suggest new sellers to potential buyers directly if they want to, but why would they? Most importantly, sellers can NOT message other sellers begging for work or asking for endorsements. That is also against TOS, and from personal experience, it's really, really annoying.

[catwriter]

3 hours ago, talk2sydney said:

Is it possible for a seller to do pro bono Gigs?

No. The only way for a buyer to leave a review is if they place an order first, and to place the order, they have to pay.

3 hours ago, talk2sydney said:

Also, can top rated sellers give endorsements to newbies?

The only way for a top rated seller to give an endorsement to a newbie would be through a review (if they place an order like any other buyer). Which actually happens sometimes, if they happen to need something that a newbie is offering.

[talk2sydney]

18 hours ago, joshnadin said:

It is not possible, and it also would not be of any benefit to sellers on the platform, new or experienced.
This would generate behaviour of buyers not wanting to ever pay for anything if they can just get new sellers to do what they want for free. It would generate a dynamic of what the buyer request section currently is, and abused like the buyer request section currently is also.
Literally ever seller started off with no reviews, it's your job to figure out how to generate orders. There are many ways to establish credibility without reviews, and convince buyers to choose you. If there wasn't, literally no one would ever make any sales.
Yes, it is difficult to get your feet off the ground and get established. But you can't have the same privileges top rated and experienced sellers have, without putting in the same hard work and figuring out what they have figured out.

Why would top rated or experienced sellers want to do this though? Why would we turn down business and give it to another seller? There isn't any benefit to both parties, only benefit to the new seller. Experienced and top rated sellers have worked extremely hard to get where they are, only to give away clients? The only time I could see this happening if is a seller is unavailable to take on any more work due to their order queue being full, or being on vacation and unavailable.

If it's the case of recommending or endorsing another seller because it's not within the clients price range, then perhaps.
But, as I always say. If a buyer is in my inbox asking me to work for cheaper than what I offer, I always say no. There is a reason that buyer is having the conversation with me, and it's because he wants the quality I deliver, but doesn't want to pay the price. There are many services already available within their budget, so why aren't they using the services within their price range? Clearly they value my quality, so they should also value what I charge, my experience, and me as a professional.

So it is going to be of any benefit to recommend a cheaper, less experienced seller to a buyer that clearly is interested in you because of the quality that you offer? Probably not, or they would have placed the order with the other seller in the first instance, as that seller would have been within their budget.

I totally agree with you, Perhaps I was thinking about the pro bono gig from one angle and not looking at the bigger picture. However, I believe top rated sellers can endorse newbies. Please note that they won't be giving away their gigs or buyers, there would only be some form of indication from them that the seller in question is capable of doing what he says he can do (i.e. of course when they know this seller and have confirmed their work). Endorsements are present on LinkedIn and it never stopped the endorser from getting called by Employers. If anything, it gives you more exposure because when a buyer comes across a gig with an endorsement, they would want to see who endorsed the seller and also confirm your portfolio. #my2cents

[talk2sydney]

15 hours ago, catwriter said:

No. The only way for a buyer to leave a review is if they place an order first, and to place the order, they have to pay.

The only way for a top rated seller to give an endorsement to a newbie would be through a review (if they place an order like any other buyer). Which actually happens sometimes, if they happen to need something that a newbie is offering.

Thank you so much for your contribution.

[talk2sydney]

18 hours ago, melanielm said:

According to Fiverr's TOS, no, you cannot do gigs for free.

Top rates sellers CAN suggest new sellers to potential buyers directly if they want to, but why would they? Most importantly, sellers can NOT message other sellers begging for work or asking for endorsements. That is also against TOS, and from personal experience, it's really, really annoying.

Lol..I can imagine the 'begging for work' part. But I was thinking of endorsements with some kind of control measure to avert abuse and 'annoying' feats.