I stopped offering expedited deliveries and doubled my delivery times ... and this is what happened

[vickieito]

Last month I received a huge influx of orders. Instead of doing 1-4 orders a day, I was suddenly forced to do 6-8 orders a day. On top of the regular orders coming in, there were buyers placing orders for expedited 24-hr deliveries. So I decided to remove all options to expedite and extended my delivery times from 2-5 days to 10-14 days on my packages. I also increased my gig prices.

It's now been a month since I made the changes and I'm reluctant to change it. I love the longer delivery times! I usually deliver in half the time, but there have been some instances when I needed all 14 days. It's great to have that flexibility. I also love the visibility it gives my business. I used to schedule orders out only 1 week in advance but now I can schedule orders out a month in advance based on the orders in queue. This means I can have a good idea of how much I'll make before the month even starts and can take action earlier if I need to make more income. The best thing is that my buyers aren't even asking for shorter delivery times (many have asked for more time).

So for me, the longer deliveries have been working really well so far.

I know every business is different, so I'm curious. How are delivery times working for you? Do you find yourself needing to expedite orders to stay competitive? Or are you enjoying longer delivery times like I am?

 

[mariashtelle1]

👏 Well done, girl! 
 

at some point most businesses have to make that decision. 
I had to put my prices up and longer delivery times at some point in time. I’ve been overwhelmed, I’ve been working on 10+ orders a day and at some point I just decided to put it in a financial model and calculate how many orders per month I will have to get if I put my prices higher x, y or z times and which one made more sense even if I loose 50% of the business with lower orders and at what price point I can give better value for clients of my time without compromising my income. 

[jonbaas]

1 hour ago, vickieito said:

I know every business is different, so I'm curious. How are delivery times working for you? Do you find yourself needing to expedite orders to stay competitive? Or are you enjoying longer delivery times like I am?

My standard delivery time has been seven days for many years now, and it's been working out just fine for me. I also offer 3-day expedited delivery, which has attracted a fair number of buyers. Of course, I still get the "I need this in 24 hours" buyers here and there, even a few, "I need it in 6 hours", but I always say no, and redirect them to MY delivery lengths, and explain why MY delivery lengths exist as they do. Some of those "I need it now" buyers have ended up hiring me at my 3-day delivery time.

Always go with the delivery times that work for you. If you have a service others value, they'll see the value in the longer delivery times as well.

[williambryan392]

Good post and a fresh topic, nice!

I offer consultancy mainly, so my delivery time is 14 days, this just gives flexibility to schedule but most of the time the calls happen within 72 hours of purchase and I think fiverr likes this because I'm regularly delivering very early. I was getting super busy last month so put the prices up 20%. Let's see how it works out....

My only non-consultancy gig is LinkedIn. This is a 14 day delivery (changed from 10 yesterday), but again I regularly deliver within a week. I did add expedited 7 day delivery though for an extra 40% just yesterday, not sure how popular it will be. I do get some that want it super quick though. Had a call with a buyer this morning that wants it in 4 days because he's selling his business. He needs his profile and 2 company pages and all in with the expedited fees this is my largest single order to date! Woohoo!

Ultimately I like long lead times as I don't want the stress, but hey, if someone is willing to pay a decent extra I will oblige! I also think sometimes buyers equate delivery times with quality. I'm not saying they should, but I think sometimes they do. Same with prices, if it's too cheap they think hmmmm. Any regular fiverr buyer has learned 'buy cheap, buy twice'- at least I certainly have!

[williambryan392]

2 hours ago, mariashtelle1 said:

10+ orders a day

I feel stressed just reading this!

[katakatica]

So... 

I am currently debating raising my delivery times back (for some of my gigs.) 

See, I think it was around January that I made them shorter, I finally caught up with the bigger projects completely, and I also increased my prices (by quite a bit) at the time, so it felt like a good deal to everyone.

For my biggest packages, I have them on 30 days or so (because for 20k words, I need the time to prepare/etc. - OR if I'm crazy, I can write just two pages a day for the project and have some extra time in case something goes wrong.) Now, this is nice and all, but... lately, I've been getting a LOT of inquires again (and many of them turn into future orders), but I often have to say 'come back in a week or so'. I want to be able to have a bit of a bigger queue, so by doing what you did (extending the delivery times, etc.) I'll likely be able to sleep a bit easier (I won't be in a rush with anything AND will get to work on EVERYTHING.)

The other factor for me that often COMPLETELY messes this 'schedule' I'm trying to create though is... inspiration. Sometimes I get an order for 5000 words and in a day it'll be written and edited (even though I have like, 10 days or so for it.) I try to follow my heart when writing a lot, but of course that's not always the best idea....

That being said, a lot of things have changed in the past year or so (I started focusing fully on Fiverr towards the end of 2021), so I think delivery times/prices/etc. will still sort of change as I figure things out more and more. 

[sabinespoems]

This decision process of yours @vickieitofeels very similar to what I went through! Long story short; I increased mine too and it gives me some creative breathing space (or just some time to relax when I don't feel like writing) and it's really great. 

A benefit I noticed from having longer delivery times than I actually need is  good ol' psychological one; people's expectations. If I put 4 days and I deliver in 2 days people often think 'wow she's so fast!', and leave that in their reviews as well. Let me be clear that I'm not saying that I do this on purpose to trick them 😇sometimes I actually do need the full time haha.

Also interesting, I've now put 7 days so due to some personal things to give me some extra freedom. I think for a poem of 16 lines that's a bit long in comparison to my competitors, but I simply had to increase it since I didn't want to pause my gigs. I currently have 6 orders in queue, so it's safe to say that competitive speaking I don't have to work my buttocks off for fast deliveries to stay ahead! I'm thinking about increasing my gig prices as well, I'm curious how that will play out though. 

It's nice to know that as a freelancer you've made this decision for yourself to give some more peace, and it's actually working so yay for you 😄🎈

[vickieito]

20 hours ago, mariashtelle1 said:

I had to put my prices up and longer delivery times at some point in time. I’ve been overwhelmed, I’ve been working on 10+ orders a day 

 

... 10+ orders would've killed me! 😂 Really, I start complaining if I have to do more than 2 orders a day. I'm glad the longer delivery times are working for you too! Like you said, it's a balancing act trying to figure out the financial model that works best, without compromising too much in income, quality, or sanity. I'm glad you were able to find a system that works for you!

19 hours ago, jonbaas said:

My standard delivery time has been seven days for many years now, and it's been working out just fine for me. I also offer 3-day expedited delivery, which has attracted a fair number of buyers. Of course, I still get the "I need this in 24 hours" buyers here and there, even a few, "I need it in 6 hours", but I always say no, and redirect them to MY delivery lengths, and explain why MY delivery lengths exist as they do. Some of those "I need it now" buyers have ended up hiring me at my 3-day delivery time.

Always go with the delivery times that work for you. If you have a service others value, they'll see the value in the longer delivery times as well.

Good points here, and well said too. I used to think that sellers had to offer the quickest times to their buyers. So I would often let buyers push me around and I would sacrifice everything to get the orders out as quickly as I could. This seems to be another "myth" or "rumor" that is floating around... 🤔

Being firm with what we will and will not do gives buyers reason to respect and value our services even more. I'm surprised with the number of buyers who want to work with me even though I my delivery times are longer than what they were initially asking for.

19 hours ago, williambryan392 said:

I offer consultancy mainly, so my delivery time is 14 days, this just gives flexibility to schedule but most of the time the calls happen within 72 hours of purchase and I think fiverr likes this ...

Had a call with a buyer this morning that wants it in 4 days because he's selling his business. He needs his profile and 2 company pages and all in with the expedited fees this is my largest single order to date! Woohoo!

Ultimately I like long lead times as I don't want the stress, but hey, if someone is willing to pay a decent extra I will oblige! I also think sometimes buyers equate delivery times with quality. I'm not saying they should, but I think sometimes they do. Same with prices, if it's too cheap they think hmmmm. Any regular fiverr buyer has learned 'buy cheap, buy twice'- at least I certainly have!

That's true, isn't it? Fiverr likes it when we deliver much quicker than our stated delivery times. I'm like you...I offer 14 days on things that usually take only a day or so to do.

Congratulations on your big order!!!! 🥳🎉

I honestly have never figured out how to price expedited deliveries (that buyers will pay and that is worth it for me). How much do you charge? Double rates? 

I agree with your statement on delivery times, quality, and price. The buyers who are willing to go with my longer delivery times do so because value quality over time. And I have definitely learned the 'buy cheap, buy twice (or thrice)' lesson as well!

 

 

 

 

[vickieito]

16 hours ago, katakatica said:

... lately, I've been getting a LOT of inquires again ... so by doing what you did (extending the delivery times, etc.) I'll likely be able to sleep a bit easier (I won't be in a rush with anything AND will get to work on EVERYTHING.)

That being said, a lot of things have changed in the past year or so (I started focusing fully on Fiverr towards the end of 2021), so I think delivery times/prices/etc. will still sort of change as I figure things out more and more. 

The decision I made was definitely survival instinct rather than a strategic plan like @mariashtelle1 did ... the changes felt quite drastic at the time but I was in survival mode and just wanted to stop the influx before I broke down. 😂 Luckily I was able to keep up with it all.

I listed my first gig Nov 2021, so I'm like you too, I'm still trying to learn how to run this business in a sustainable way. 

13 hours ago, sabinespoems said:

This decision process of yours @vickieitofeels very similar to what I went through! Long story short; I increased mine too and it gives me some creative breathing space (or just some time to relax when I don't feel like writing) and it's really great. 

A benefit I noticed from having longer delivery times than I actually need is  good ol' psychological one; people's expectations. If I put 4 days and I deliver in 2 days people often think 'wow she's so fast!', and leave that in their reviews as well. 

... I'm thinking about increasing my gig prices as well, I'm curious how that will play out though. 

I'm glad the longer delivery times are working for you as well! ....And what you said about the psychological advantage is true! I was thinking I was just awesome (getting good reviews), but it looks like a lot of my good reviews are because I'm delivering early. 😅

On prices, I ended up increasing the minimum package from $15 to $50. My orders are about 50% what it was before, but I still get orders every day, so I'm not too worried. I hope you're able to figure out prices that work for you, too!

[mariashtelle1]

39 minutes ago, vickieito said:

The decision I made was definitely survival instinct rather than a strategic plan like @mariashtelle1 did

I have economics education and background so I do like numbers and data ha ha  🙈 

[williambryan392]

4 hours ago, vickieito said:

That's true, isn't it?

I think so yes.

4 hours ago, vickieito said:

How much do you charge?

About an extra 40%, I think I set it to an additional $150. Will see how it goes....

[design_geniee]

On 5/25/2022 at 9:02 AM, vickieito said:

I know every business is different, so I'm curious. How are delivery times working for you? Do you find yourself needing to expedite orders to stay competitive? Or are you enjoying longer delivery times like I am?

 

Although my journey with fiverr is short and did only 25 order in 3 months; yet I have found that when I have 3-4 or 3-5 days delivery time but I deliver the work in one or two days, buyers become very much happy. Extra fast delivery helped to earn buyers trust and gain repeat orders!

[ozan_erdi]

I usually need 2-3 days to finish a regular order. But i put a week just in case. It helps agaisnt suprises and to be honest i dont want to be bothered by rush 😄 I dont perform very well if i have couple hours to finish something. Altough i realised i have doubled my drawing speed without compromising the quality. Which is good news for everybody. So if i get a fast feedbacks during the sketch phase, i can finish my standart package in 2 days at most. 

I dont have any plans of shortening the delivery times. But getting closer to the top rated people out there, i need to deliver tons of orders to compete against them. I can mostly do the same quality except some pro's. Those pros are at least a year of practice ahead of me. But other than that, i need numbers of reviews to compete. So getting fast is good for me, but i cant take any risks of shortening the delivery times since im not doing freelancing full time.

[finndev478]

Since I only had rather big orders and my clients understood the complexity of it, I usually went for 1-2 weeks with a 30% extra. I really dont like stress and if there is enough time I can properly solve the problems and deliver a high quality result. In most cases, my clients preferred that over a quick delivery eventually resulting in a bad quality. I rarely had orders with high urgency, but if so, I tried to manage it as fast as possible. ~48 hours (if possible). 

Generally, I believe if you outline what you have to do for their project, its always benefical to give an estimate time to finish and then add up to those days for unexpected challenges or personal stuff.

[melanielm]

I haven't offered expedited delivery times for a few years now. I used to offer 48-hour turnaround for a rather ridiculously high extra charge. A few people ordered! However, I prefer more concrete scheduling these days. Due to circumstances not specific to my work life, shoving in even one extra hour of work on short notice is quite difficult for me.