Custom pricing, order placed in error and stats

[pradeepcep]

I offer software development gigs, and I have mentioned in my gig descriptions that buyers must get in touch with me before they place an order. This is because the size, complexity and scope of custom web applications can vary widely from one to the other. Currently, there is no way for me to say that the pricing is "custom", as all gigs require a price to be set.

In the past, I have had a couple of instances where a buyer placed an order directly without contacting me, and it turned out that the order was placed in error (for example, let's say they wanted a desktop application and I only offer web applications; or they wanted to program in a language that was different from the one mentioned in the gig). I have then reached out to customer support to cancel the order and restore my stats.

But when it happened again a couple of days ago, I reached out to Support and they now say that buyers are not obligated to contact me before placing an order, and that they will not restore my stats. I am currently a Level 2 seller, and I risk losing that if this cancellation affects my stats. I understand these policy changes are made with the intention of protecting users, and I am all for it.

But my questions are these:

1. How do I create a custom software dev gig in this scenario? I've set a token price of 5 USD on my gig, but larger projects obviously cost more. Even if I were to raise my gig price or offer packages with different pricing, the problem of custom pricing doesn't go away.

2. If buyers can place an order without contacting me, how do I estimate the cost of the project without discussing the project first?

3. Even if I were to give them an estimate after the order is placed, and offered to add it as an "extra", what if they refuse? Disagreements on prices happen all the time, and it's perfectly fine. But in this scenario, if the order is cancelled, I still get my stats affected.

Overall, this feels like a lot of control and options have been taken away from me as a seller, and I can't help but feel a little bit exploited. If you're someone who offers gigs that can have varying prices from project to project, I would be grateful if you talked a bit about how you deal with these problems. I appreciate any input you lovely folks can provide. Thanks!

P.S: I am not trying to dump on the platform or its policies. Having Fiverr as my only source of income, and having invested over a year of my full time work into this, I am just trying to find out how I can keep my small business going.

[pradeepcep]

Update:

After refusing to give up for 3 days straight, pleading with Fiverr Support for the very survival of my business, and asking to speak to a supervisor, my stats were finally restored. I think I got seriously lucky this time, and I don't think this will happen again unless Fiverr brings about policy changes.

To avoid this scenario in the future, I've paused one of my 3 gigs, and then raised prices monumentally on the other two. I'm monitoring the impressions / clicks on the gigs, and waiting to see (what I guess will be) their inevitable spiral into the ground.

[vickieito]

Hi @pradeepcep, have you considered subscribing to the Seller Plus Premium plan? They have a feature called Request to Order and it has been a lifesaver for me. No one can place an order without first contacting me (the order button is grayed out).

Before that, I did have $5,000 on my gig prices to prevent people from ordering. Now I can list any prices that I want because no one can order.

[pradeepcep]

@vickieito Wow, thankyou! I had forgotten that this exists, but I was able to find the invite from long ago in my inbox. But it looks like I'm only eligible for the "Standard" tier right now, and not the "Premium" one. I tried to see if the perk of "Request to Order" is available in the "Standard" tier, but I don't see it explicitly mentioned anywhere.

Do you happen to know if I'll get the "Request to Order" feature if I just subscribed to the "Standard" tier of Seller Plus?

Sidenote: while it seems ridiculous to shell out 20 USD every month on top of the 20% platform commission, I suppose it's the cost of doing business. I'm not happy about it, but the fact that this exists is atleast a consolation. Whew!

[vickieito]

Hi @pradeepcep, you have to be on the Standard tier before you become eligible for the Premium. I lost the Seller Plus feature in May, but got it back in June (and I had to get on the Standard Plan and then the Premium plan back to back, see charges below). I did get the same rate of $29/mo that I had previously for the Premium plan (instead of the $39/mo), so that was nice:

If you want the Request to Order feature, you have to be on the Premium plan. When I lost the Seller Plus feature, I was willing to pay $40/mo just for the Request to Order feature (that's how much I love it)! It hasn't affected my sales at all - I actually make more and I have less cancelations.

Edited July 28, 2023 by vickieito

[vickieito]

I think it's worth it to have the Seller Plus Premium plan. We often get to try out Fiverr's newest features. I had the Request to Order feature when it was in beta mode.

I just used Fiverr's new partial refund feature - this allows you to give partial refunds on orders without canceling the orders. It seems to be working great so far!

[pradeepcep]

Thanks for the input @vickieito. I am considering joining Seller Plus soon 🙂

[pradeepcep]

For anyone else wondering, the "request to order" feature is only available as part of the "Premium" plan... It wasn't showing up for me a few days ago, but it is.