For people who are tired of buyers who place orders before contacting them

[marouanoukhabbo]

Hi, Here is a Tip for sellers who prefer to talk to their buyers before they place an order! 

Instead of putting a contact us first in your pack description, Try to give clients a slight discount if they contact you by putting "contact us for a 5$ discount"

[peninsula1]

7 minutes ago, marouanoukhabbo said:

Try to give clients a slight discount if they contact you by putting "contact us for a 5$ discount"

Lol

[zeus777]

Or maybe I can add a "if you place an order without contacting me first, I will charge an additional $5."

 

I know, just kidding, some people will still never read. 

[donnovan86]

30 minutes ago, marouanoukhabbo said:

Instead of putting a contact us first in your pack description, Try to give clients a slight discount if they contact you by putting "contact us for a 5$ discount"

What about people that charge $5? Do they work for free?

This is not the best idea, but you can try it for yourself if you want. Generally, a lot of people don't have a long attention span, so they will just see the gig and buy it. That's why a lot of people buy gig multiples and that became an issue especially for writers like me. You clearly say NOT TO BUY more than what's on display, and then you receive an order for 20x the maximum offer you provide.. stating that people need to contact you first is still the best way to ensure people contact you. I can assure you that giving a discount just to make people get in touch will do nothing 🙂 Most of them won't read anyway. 

[mehedi_shawon]

I don’t think 5$ discount is right way.

[newsmike]

9 hours ago, marouanoukhabbo said:

Here is a Tip for sellers who prefer to talk to their buyers before they place an order! 

Fiverr is not designed to work this way. I don't have to pass an interview before Starbucks makes my coffee, I just order it. There is no reason a professional who is competent at their craft and accurate in their gig description needs to have a romance with a buyer before ordering. In business, convenience and ease of ordering is provided for the customer, not the seller.  We serve them.  Why is this still a point of whining?

[catwriter]

18 minutes ago, newsmike said:

Why is this still a point of whining?

Possibly because for some services it does make sense to contact the seller first. Probably not for a VO, and in most cases my services can be ordered without contacting me first, or Vickie's, but what about web design, or web development, or complex videos like the ones that Frank or visualstudios make? For their work, it definitely makes sense to contact them first and discuss everything in advance.

[nikitakakade24]

9 hours ago, marouanoukhabbo said:

Hi, Here is a Tip for sellers who prefer to talk to their buyers before they place an order! 

Instead of putting a contact us first in your pack description, Try to give clients a slight discount if they contact you by putting "contact us for a 5$ discount"

I feel they simply ignore the gig description. 😕

[newsmike]

50 minutes ago, catwriter said:

For their work, it definitely makes sense to contact them first and discuss everything in advance.

What if the only item available for immediate purchase was a consultation at a low price?  For example, in the gig description could say (using my services for example)  "I charge $125 for each 150 words of narration. I'll be happy to send a custom offer if you wish to proceed after our initial consultation.  Just order the $10 consultation and attach your materials and requirements."

I realize it is not ideal, and not the way Fiverr is designed to work. It is a barrier to receiving an order, but for anyone who wants to mandate a conversation prior to ordering, they are already, obviously ok with making the ordering process more difficult for the buyer anyway. 

[raghnalltuathai]

1 hour ago, newsmike said:

There is no reason a professional who is competent at their craft and accurate in their gig description needs to have a romance with a buyer before ordering.

I often share your thoughts on Fiverr but here I have to disagree with you very strongly. This may apply to areas like voice over, spokesman services or basic video editing. But when we venture into technical areas like animation or VFX there are countless reasons, even the NEED, to be contacted first. Especially when buyers think something looks super cool and they would like to have it, but have no idea about the technical aspect. That's not a problem at all, that's what we are there for as sellers - but that's exactly why a briefing in advance is indispensable!

A few examples (all happened before!):

- Buyers don't understand the difference between 2D and 3D and expect you to be able to deliver anything with a number and a "D" in it, even if these are completely different work processes. Like going into a bike store and asking for an Audi - after all, both have tires and move.

- Buyers send me trailer and clips of Toy Story, Frozen or Ice Age and don't see the difference between a multi-million dollar production that took four years to develop by a team of a hundreds and a freelancer service. It's all 3D, isn't it?

- Buyers want me to create a game for them. That's 3D, too... right?

- Buyers send incompatible models created with a completely different software. But that should work, right... 3D software is 3D software!

- For VFX/CGI shots, as much image information as possible is needed (for tracking, for example). Resolution, lighting and camera setting also play a major role. Seeing the footage beforehand is necessary to be able to check whether certain effects can be applied at all or if we are in the realm of the impossible. - Buyer sends a shaky 360p cell phone video and a reference clip of the Avengers.

So, should these guys go ahead and order directly?

All these things can be clarified in minutes when we have a short briefing upfront. I understand that it's not what Fiverr is about. They don't want to make customers wait three days for a seller's confirmation first. It should be a fast, uncomplicated transaction, that's what the platform lives on. But to say that it's just unprofessional whining when some sellers should be contacted in advance is simply wrong and would have saved me many cancellations.

[newsmike]

15 minutes ago, raghnalltuathai said:

I often share your thoughts on Fiverr but here I have to disagree with you very strongly.

I understand what you are saying. Are you in seller plus, has this been discussed with SM?  

[miiila]

1 hour ago, raghnalltuathai said:

Buyer sends a shaky 360p cell phone video

Or a bad scan of a faded page, written in shaky handwriting, in a script that's obsolete since a few centuries 🙂

Personally, I favour the idea of a slider for "accepts direct orders", per Gig (ideally, even per Gig package, if technically not too complicated), just like we also have that slider for "accepts custom offer".

They could also implement a search filter for Gigs that allow placing direct orders, like the one for online sellers, for the sake of sellers who are afraid that it would turn buyers away. Then, anyone who doesn't want to "chat" with sellers, could use that filter and order directly, and sellers who don't opt out, wouldn't have a reason to complain about direct orders any more.

In general, I like the option of direct orders, and certainly would still offer a Gig or two that can be ordered directly, but more freedom for sellers to opt in/out of direct orders, would be nice.

[catwriter]

2 hours ago, newsmike said:

What if the only item available for immediate purchase was a consultation at a low price? 

Not ideal, like you said... I thought about another possibility, to put a super-high price on the gig, and write in the description to contact the seller for a custom quote. But that one wouldn't be ideal, either.

I like Mila's suggestion best, and it shouldn't be difficult to implement:

22 minutes ago, miiila said:

Personally, I favour the idea of a slider for "accepts direct orders", per Gig (ideally, even per Gig package, if technically not too complicated), just like we also have that slider for "accepts custom offer".

That way, those of us who don't mind direct orders would keep working as usual, and those who really need to discuss everything in advance would get that discussion first. Hopefully. Fiverr could add a notification for those services (like they add disclaimers for bunch of others) that they're complex and require a consultation first, or something like that.

[vickiespencer]

1 hour ago, newsmike said:

Are you in seller plus, has this been discussed with SM?  

Yes, I am, and I have spoken of this issue with my SPM. He was surprised that writers and proofreaders did not have a setup similar to the VO category.

 

[raghnalltuathai]

2 hours ago, newsmike said:

I understand what you are saying. Are you in seller plus, has this been discussed with SM?  

I am in the seller plus program, but actually I have been very lucky for a few months now. Those who order directly without contacting me had projects that I could create without any problems. And for everyone else, I've requested -thick and bold- in the gig video, gig description, and even the FAQ to contact me for a free briefing before ordering. In the worst case, I always contacted the CS, with whom I had great experiences in this regard. They were then able to cancle "such" orders without it affecting my stats. Some sellers reported that CS doesn't do that anymore, so I'll keep my fingers crossed that I don't come across such a case in the near future.

[newsmike]

56 minutes ago, vickiespencer said:

Yes, I am, and I have spoken of this issue with my SPM. He was surprised that writers and proofreaders did not have a setup similar to the VO category.

Yeah, what do you do if someone wants the bible translated to Klingon in 3 days?

 

[vickiespencer]

Just now, newsmike said:

eah, what do you do if someone wants the bible translated to Klingon in 3 days?

I would have to cancel that order as I do offer that service. But maybe @miiila knows Klingon?

[miiila]

I'm honoured by your trust in my capabilities. Not too well, though, I fear, I'd have to cancel that order. I can ask a Klingon where the bar is, though, if I meet one, that's probably more useful in a conversation with a Klingon than being able to quote from the Bible in Klingon. I might, however, take a chance on translating the bible to Elvish, if someone wanted to pay me fairly for my time, but all such languages tend to be difficult, even for short things like birthday wishes, or tattoos, because of a lack of canon vocabulary. I'm willing to invent new words, though, and new grammar, too, but the customer would have to give me in writing that this would be fine and not lead to them rejecting the delivery. Oh my, what was this about originally, I think we may have gone a little off-topic? Sorry, OP. 🖖🧝‍♀️  

[cs_evans]

8 hours ago, newsmike said:

Fiverr is not designed to work this way.

Absolutely right.  Fiverr is in the business of removing barriers to customers placing orders, not building them.  Can you imagine the massive revenue hit they would take if ever transaction required prior consultation?  

[mt_dev]

On 4/16/2022 at 11:54 PM, cs_evans said:

Absolutely right.  Fiverr is in the business of removing barriers to customers placing orders, not building them.  Can you imagine the massive revenue hit they would take if ever transaction required prior consultation?  

In case of the niche in which I work in, literally around 98% of buyers contact me before purchasing. The 2% which don't, almost always are frustrating, require modifications or simply end up being cancelled. I don't think the 2% having to contact you first wouldn't be a big deal.

What I would love to see is the possibility to accept or decline an order if it has been purchased by a buyer directly, and not via a custom offer. If you don't accept it within 12 hours, it gets accepted automatically.

I'd say this could be a toggable option for your gigs. If you have it turned on there could be a little icon to show the buyers that the order needs to be accepted first. If they don't want to wait then just go to a different seller.

[shawalshajib]

On 4/16/2022 at 7:36 PM, newsmike said:

Fiverr is not designed to work this way. I don't have to pass an interview before Starbucks makes my coffee

Maybe you are right but I think, ordering a cup of coffee in Starbucks is a completely different thing than ordering service here on Fiverr. At Starbucks after your order, they know what you want but imagine having to design a logo without even the name of the logo. Some people order a logo design without even mentioning the name for the logo and we all know there are many various ways to bypass the "Requirement" section in the ordering process.

[newsmike]

1 hour ago, shawalshajib said:

Maybe you are right but I think, ordering a cup of coffee in Starbucks is a completely different thing than ordering service here on Fiverr. At Starbucks after your order, they know what you want but imagine having to design a logo without even the name of the logo. Some people order a logo design without even mentioning the name for the logo and we all know there are many various ways to bypass the "Requirement" section in the ordering process.

I see your point, but I guess the problem is that Fiverr is not set up to work that way.  What about offering just a consultation gig, which then results in a custom offer if you wish to accept the job?  You could even credit the consultation fee to the order, to remove some of the additional barrier.