💰10 Kinds of Buyers – What kind are you? … and which types do you deal with as a seller?

[vickieito]

I had fun looking into my buying habits yesterday and started thinking about the buyers I deal with.

• As a buyer, I have been every type that I listed below. I'm usually #1 or #3. I'm trying to be #4. And every now and then, I like to be #10. 😊
• As a seller, I normally deal with #1 and #9. 

How about you? What type of buyer are you? What types of buyers do you deal with?

 1) Indecisive Buyers – Not sure what they want but are pretty sure the seller will come up with something they'll like (they’ll know it when they see it)!

 2) Walmart Shoppers – Trying to get the most for the cheapest prices.

 3) Window Shoppers – No real intent to buy … just looking around.

 4) Strategic Buyers – Knows exactly what they want, their budget, and turnaround (this is rare!)

 5) Disappearing Buyers – Here one day, gone the next. Where did they go???!!!!

 6) Impulsive Buyers – Anything is good, they’ll order simply because the button is green!

 7) Fence-Sitters – Here to buy … but need the seller to convince them to.

8) Desperate Buyers –  It doesn’t matter what your service is … they need you!!!!

 9) Lonely Buyers – Just wants to chat (and chat … and chat … and chat).

10) Royalty – Like to be told how awesome they are and need special treatment.

 

Edited June 15, 2022 by vickieito

[rabihumakhan]

I'm a buyer who doesn't have the ability to decide.  

I purchased several gigs of resume writing and none has worked for me. Recently, a 'LinkedIn specialist' told me that my current resume is pathetic. 

 

You are a great buyer though. 

[r_f_riyad_]

Indecisive Buyers – Not sure what they want but are pretty sure the seller will come up with something they'll like

I got this type of buyer When that's my first order.

[rabihumakhan]

Let me tell you something interesting. Recently a buyer asked me if I could help him write a compelling letter to one of his family members. 

As soon as he received the letter, he praised my writing but asked for a revision telling me that 'they' don't talk like this in home. 

 

I was discombobulated as how could I know how they talk in their home. 

[theratypist]

I'm a strategic buyer for work related stuff or (serious?) stuff, actually I don't know the proper description. I just mean that I'm strategic for stuff that usually involves work or business purposes.

Haha, I honestly window shop at the Lifestyle section though! Its soooo much fun.......... 😂😂😂 

It gives me ideas for future purchases, like the birthday greeting I purchased for a friend. 

[vickieito]

33 minutes ago, rabihumakhan said:

I'm a buyer who doesn't have the ability to decide.  

30 minutes ago, r_f_riyad_ said:

Indecisive Buyers – Not sure what they want but are pretty sure the seller will come up with something they'll like

I got this type of buyer When that's my first order.

Who's willing to bet that the "Indecisive Buyer" is the most common one?

33 minutes ago, rabihumakhan said:

I purchased several gigs of resume writing and none has worked for me. Recently, a 'LinkedIn specialist' told me that my current resume is pathetic. 

Did he really use the word "pathetic"?! That's really sad! ... Let me know if you need someone to look at your resume or LinkedIn for you! 😉

25 minutes ago, rabihumakhan said:

Let me tell you something interesting. Recently a buyer asked me if I could help him write a compelling letter to one of his family members. As soon as he received the letter, he praised my writing but asked for a revision telling me that 'they' don't talk like this in home. I was discombobulated as how could I know how they talk in their home. 

I know some members in my family (the older generation) can't say "I love you" and they really struggle to compliment other family members. They also tend to use the words "stupid," "fat," and "ugly" a lot. I wonder if your buyer had a similar type of family?

1 hour ago, theratypist said:

I'm a strategic buyer for work related stuff or (serious?) stuff, actually I don't know the proper description. I just mean that I'm strategic for stuff that usually involves work or business purposes.
Haha, I honestly window shop at the Lifestyle section though! Its soooo much fun.......... 😂😂😂 

It gives me ideas for future purchases, like the birthday greeting I purchased for a friend. 

I love window shopping too! Earlier this year, I was looking at some gigs to teach me how to rap (I had this idea that I could learn to be more assertive in business and life in general if I could learn how to rap with attitude). My family quickly talked me out of that idea! 😂 I have ended up buying things from window shopping though. I think the last impulsive buy was a gig teaching me to speak several Arabic words and phrases.

I'm glad you are able to separate your serious strategic buying from your nonbusiness buying. I sometimes have a hard time drawing the line between the two when I do both types of buying on the platform!

[moikchap]

I'm sort of 1, definitely 2, sort of 4. The thing muddying the waters for 1 and 4 are that I'll write a big spec with references and then accept the first delivery, or ask a single revision at most when unprompted. There's a Venn Diagram of "What I Want" and "What I Can Use". "What I Want" is a tiny circle mostly enclosed within the massive balloon of "What I Can Use". It feels like it's easier to adapt my project to the delivery than chase an exact match of "my vision".

[wordsfire]

  

On 6/15/2022 at 5:55 AM, vickieito said:

 4) Strategic Buyers – Knows exactly what they want, their budget, and turnaround (this is rare!)

I had to look through this. Since the last year when I returned on Fiverr, all my buyers have been strategic ones. Except for the one who cancelled right after purchase. 

On the other hand, I'm mostly a strategic buyer + window shopper. My purchases remain strictly strategic. But I have like 5x lists of gigs I plan to buy someday. One of which has been sitting there since 2016-17. I seriously think the window shopping instinct is what keeps me from impulse buying. 

Edited June 17, 2022 by wordsfire

[vickieito]

On 6/16/2022 at 1:19 AM, moikchap said:

I'm sort of 1, definitely 2, sort of 4. The thing muddying the waters for 1 and 4 are that I'll write a big spec with references and then accept the first delivery, or ask a single revision at most when unprompted. There's a Venn Diagram of "What I Want" and "What I Can Use". "What I Want" is a tiny circle mostly enclosed within the massive balloon of "What I Can Use". It feels like it's easier to adapt my project to the delivery than chase an exact match of "my vision".

It sounds like you know exactly what you want! Hopefully you aren't compromising or "settling for less" too often!

15 minutes ago, wordsfire said:

  I had to look through this. Since the last year when I returned on Fiverr, all my buyers have been strategic ones. Except for the one who cancelled right after purchase. 

On the other hand, I'm mostly a strategic buyer + window shopper. My purchases remain strictly strategic. But I have like 5x lists of gigs I plan to buy someday. One of which has been sitting there since 2016-17. I seriously think the window shopping instinct is what keeps me from impulse buying. 

You're a lucky to have strategic buyers, and to be one yourself!

I'm the opposite of you - window shopping feeds my impulse buying, so I have to wear blinders and shop with lists so that I'm not distracted from the goal. Shopping without a list is very dangerous for me!

[smashradio]

On 6/15/2022 at 1:55 PM, vickieito said:

I had fun looking into my buying habits yesterday and started thinking about the buyers I deal with.

• As a buyer, I have been every type that I listed below. I'm usually #1 or #3. I'm trying to be #4. And every now and then, I like to be #10. 😊
• As a seller, I normally deal with #1 and #9. 

How about you? What type of buyer are you? What types of buyers do you deal with?

 1) Indecisive Buyers – Not sure what they want but are pretty sure the seller will come up with something they'll like (they’ll know it when they see it)!

 2) Walmart Shoppers – Trying to get the most for the cheapest prices.

 3) Window Shoppers – No real intent to buy … just looking around.

 4) Strategic Buyers – Knows exactly what they want, their budget, and turnaround (this is rare!)

 5) Disappearing Buyers – Here one day, gone the next. Where did they go???!!!!

 6) Impulsive Buyers – Anything is good, they’ll order simply because the button is green!

 7) Fence-Sitters – Here to buy … but need the seller to convince them to.

😎 Desperate Buyers –  It doesn’t matter what your service is … they need you!!!!

 9) Lonely Buyers – Just wants to chat (and chat … and chat … and chat).

10) Royalty – Like to be told how awesome they are and need special treatment.

 

As a seller on here since 2014, I've had all these. But you missed an important one:

11) The Scrooge McDuck-buyer – Will try to get lower rates like their life depended on it. Worse than the Wallmart shopper, since they would prefer you to pay them for the honor of getting to work with them if they could. Genetic combination of numbers 1, 2, 3, 7, 8 and 10. 

I mostly deal with 1 and 7. 

Since I'm a male, I don't think I fall victim to the number 9 buyer very often. Except that 60 year old author who wanted me to translate her book and move in with her. She was lonely. Very lonely. 

My most annoying buyers must be the number 11 (as described above) and 7s. 

Surprisingly, a lot of my buyers are 4s. The order lands with a message: "Please, do this. Here's the details... Followed by a detailed list and examples." This is my favorite type of buyer. 

As a buyer, I'm always 4. I'll plan days ahead of ordering. I'm currently working on a gig video involving 5 different sellers. The Evernote doc is now 29 pages long, with ideas, plans, task lists, dates, links to files, scripts, instructions to sellers, order numbers, and a summary for each seller to use while creating their part of the project. 

It's 60 seconds of video. So far, I've been working for 6 weeks on the planning stage alone. 😂

 

Edited June 17, 2022 by smashradio

[infectedhl]

Wow, this is a great list! I can definitely relate to being different types of buyers at different times. I think it's interesting how our buying habits can change based on our mood or the type of item we're buying. For example, when buying a big ticket item, I'm usually much more of a strategic buyer. I'll do my research ahead of time, figure out exactly what I want and need, and have a clear budget in mind. I think this is because I want to make sure I'm getting the best possible value for my money. Also, I shop through Shopping.io because it allows me to pay with crypto, saving me money.

Edited November 11, 2022 by infectedhl

[strategist_ceo]

You have listed many different types of buyers, but generally there are only five main types.

• The Browsing Customer: They can also be called window-shoppers who have no intention of buying anything except for wandering around. Moreover, they can produce traffic on the business site but not make any purchases.
• The Bargain Hunter Customer: This type of eCommerce customers normally comes to a website for flash sales offers, deals, discounts, etc. Because they only get attracted by huge deals and sales. They will get a thrill from purchasing virtually any product at a discounted price and can be convinced to buy more products if they get a good deal. They end up with new sellers.
• The Buying Customer: The only mission of this customer type is to buy, not to wander around. They shop regularly and need exactly what they want. They are practical purchasers. These are people whose shopping is a necessity. Yet they do appreciate the fact that shopping online saves their time. In other words, they are likely to be internet-savvy. Level one and above with lots of reviews.
• The Impulse Buy Customer: These customers will buy something from an eCommerce store simply because they come across an item that they wanted or got attracted to. Their buying behavior is unpredictable and spontaneous. They don't do any beforehand research and purchase on a whim or for non-material reasons. Everyone but I think they will be attracted to Level one and above, with a good value proposition with non-generic gig descriptions.
• The Loyal Customer: Loyal customers are supposed to make repeated purchases for a long period of time. No matter whether to shop for a bargain or shop on impulse. They are loyal to the business. Everyone.

Because of my business model, I often send buyers on a "research period" and they come back and order from me 2 weeks or more later (one client came back to me after 14 months to my surprise), which allows me to have high success rates for clients who engage in my services. However, this approach has lowered my review rate for some reason (my review rate for business category is below 40%).

I believe that I took a more personalized approach to making them "research" rather than asking them to "buy immediately."; this business model is not perfect, but I have had a very high conversion rate with those who have engaged in a lengthy conversation with me. That gig is fairly successful now, and I have reached my intended cap price until I reach 100 reviews. (60 more to go!)

And because I don't sugarcoat the truth, some clients—who are likely to fail—end up buying my services anyway. And at times this leads to a heated conversation or two.

Regardless of who they are, buyers usually know what they're getting into when they deal with non-native English sellers or new sellers without any reviews. 

Edited November 11, 2022 by strategist_ceo

[mahmud_sharif]

On 6/15/2022 at 8:16 PM, r_f_riyad_ said:

Indecisive Buyers – Not sure what they want but are pretty sure the seller will come up with something they'll like

I got this type of buyer When that's my first order.

That sounds great.

[asifkhan328]

1st and 4th type of buyers are good for health 😛 .

[nickj2013]

On 6/15/2022 at 10:20 AM, rabihumakhan said:

Let me tell you something interesting. Recently a buyer asked me if I could help him write a compelling letter to one of his family members. 

As soon as he received the letter, he praised my writing but asked for a revision telling me that 'they' don't talk like this in home. 

 

I was discombobulated as how could I know how they talk in their home. 

 

I see stuff like this in what used to be Buyer Requests. People asking for freelance writers to write material for their class project, wedding, even funerals. And these are things that are supposed to come from the heart. Or at least some attempted version of it. I couldn't imagine hiring someone to write kind words for a friend or loved one. If you can't come up with something satisfactory on your own, maybe it's time to do some self-reflection.

[gayanchamira]

Number four clients are wellcome.......