Combatting Abusive Buyers on Fiverr: A Proposal for Seller Protection

[protectsellers]

Hi everyone (sorry my bad english)

I am a seller on Fiverr and I sell content-ready materials such as templates for videos, photos, and websites. All of the products I sell are already made and all the buyer has to do is edit the file. In the description of each gig, I provide a demo and I always make sure to show the demo to interested buyers. In fact, in the gig requirements, I even ask if they have checked the demo. If they answer no, I will show them the demo and make sure to confirm that they like it before I deliver the order.

However, I have been experiencing a problem on Fiverr where buyers are canceling or disputing orders after receiving the product. I have spoken to these buyers before they placed their orders and they were satisfied with what they were getting, yet they still choose to cancel or dispute the order after receiving the product. This has been happening to me a lot and Fiverr is not protecting sellers. It seems that buyers are always favored and some buyers take advantage of this protection by abusing it.

I have even received messages from buyers who have canceled their orders and have taunted me, laughing and saying it's not the first time they have done it and that they will keep doing it. When I contacted Fiverr support about this issue, they told me there is nothing they can do and that they can't force someone to buy something they don't want.

I think this is unfair and I have an idea for a solution. I think sellers should be able to give ratings to buyers who cancel orders. This way, if a buyer decides to do the same thing to another seller, that seller will be able to see the buyer's dispute ratings and take that into consideration before accepting their order.

Edited January 1, 2023 by protectsellers

[ptrgar]

It's a big problem of Fiverr and there are too many cases of the same behavior but I don't think they will allow to rate buyers who cancel orders.

Maybe we sellers should create a website to post scammers so we can consult them before accepting an order.

Besides that we have to make sure that before accepting an order every aspect of the work needs to be clear. So there is no way that in the future they can say you didn't do your job.

Maybe someone can clear this up, but I don't think buyers can cancel orders just because they don't want the work anymore, that would be extremely unfair. If they can show that you didn't do your job then it would be fair for them to request a refund.

I think having the conversation 100% inside of Fiverr chat also helps, I don't give any other contact information. I guess when they told you they have done this in the past and will do it again it wasn't in fiverr chat because it would be a solid proof that they are scammers.

[vickieito]

1 hour ago, ptrgar said:

Maybe we sellers should create a website to post scammers so we can consult them before accepting an order.

Actually, if you are on Seller Plus, you will have access to Buyer Insights. This tells you the buyer's order completion rate, their reviews, the price range that they operate in, how often they tip, what type of gigs they order, and a number of other factors. This has helped me to block and avoid buyers who have low order completion rates, low prices, or low reviews.

7 hours ago, protectsellers said:

I have even received messages from buyers who have canceled their orders and have taunted me, laughing and saying it's not the first time they have done it and that they will keep doing it.

1 hour ago, ptrgar said:

I guess when they told you they have done this in the past and will do it again it wasn't in fiverr chat because it would be a solid proof that they are scammers.

I agree with @ptrgar! 

@protectsellers - you can report the individual sellers who said this to you because it is evidence that they plan on scamming sellers.

7 hours ago, protectsellers said:

I am a seller on Fiverr and I sell content-ready materials such as templates for videos, photos, and websites.

There aren't any gigs on your profile, @protectsellers. Did you create this account just for the forum? If you have more than one Fiverr account, that violates Fiverr's ToS and risks getting both/all of your accounts shut down.

[moonstaredits]

As @vickieitosaid, Seller Plus already has that. But I would be more than glad if all sellers could access that information about buyers. Our payment can't be this volatile. 

You should report them if they told you they plan on scamming sellers. It is not allowed on Fiverr, obviously. Maybe with some luck you can get your money back if you can prove they're scammers and you did nothing wrong.

The kind of service you offer is pretty much defenseless against buyers who run away with your work (aka scammers). Maybe try to send the file ready to use instead of an editable one? If it's an image or video it has Fiverr's watermark until the buyer accepts the order. Sometimes this doesn't stop fraudulent "buyers" from asking for a refund later, but makes things more difficult for them because once you accept an order is somewhat implicit you're content with the delivery you got, therefore making a case against the seller less possible to win.