Could there be a separate rating system for interactions with users when no purchase is actually made?

[asyranok]

Hi,

I am curious if there could be a separate rating system for each person that can be rated when no actual purchase takes place. I've had two people stop communications with me abruptly, and they don't respond any further. But I can see that they are still coming online, so it's clear that they wanted to cease communication for some reason. That's fine in its own right, because sometimes you just aren't interested in the specific project a customer wants you to do.

I totally understand that, and have had several Fiverr folks tell me that the thing I wanted them to do was one of the following:

1) Too much work when they already have a full plate
2) Asking for an aspect of work that they aren't comfortable with; like a request for a scene with some people drawn in, when the person doesn't like to draw people, but only places/scenes.

So I totally empathize with that and thank them a ton for their time and move on to find someone else. But I've also had two people just ghost. If they told me they weren't interested, I'd totally appreciate it and move on. But then I follow up, and wait a little etc. I end up wasting some game dev time that I am working under milestones/timeframes that are fairly tight. So I'd appreciate the instant rejection so I can move on.

But I think that experience is a little odd too. If they don't come online at all, I'd assume something important and personal happened and not think twice. But when they are online several times since my message, I'd like to let other people know about the experience.

Maybe even a thumbs up/thumbs down system would work for that.

[vibronx]

No. We are already judged on way too many things. If I had to be scared of getting a thumbs down from a buyer without a purchase even being made because they didn't like the way I interacted, I would quit right away. Fiverr is already hard enough on my mental health as it is.

Edited December 4, 2023 by vibronx

[asyranok]

You would quit because someone can give a thumbs up or down on their pre-purchase experience with you? Interesting response. Especially when it's all part of the experience that buyers could have opinions on. And I think sellers being able to do the same with buyers would be great.

[maitasun]

Imagine you, or any other buyer, giving me a thumbs down just because you didn't like the price I gave you or I declined working with you for whatever reason, and Fiverr hitting my stats. Do you find it fair?

Buyers' accounts aren't affected by any metrics, only sellers' accounts.

Edited December 4, 2023 by maitasun

[vibronx]

9 minutes ago, asyranok said:

You would quit because someone can give a thumbs up or down on their pre-purchase experience with you? Interesting response

Thanks for the sarcastic response. It really is the height of arrogance to come into this forum 25 minutes after joining and then give a response like this to a seller. You have only seen the buyer side of things on this platform. You have no idea what kind of people message us.

Just now, maitasun said:

Imagine you, or any other buyer, giving me a thumbs down just because you didn't like the price I gave you or I declined working with you for whatever reason, and Fiverr hitting my stats. Do you find fair?

Buyers' accounts aren't affected by any metrics, only sellers' accounts.

Exaaaaactly!

[asyranok]

1 hour ago, maitasun said:

Imagine you, or any other buyer, giving me a thumbs down just because you didn't like the price I gave you or I declined working with you for whatever reason, and Fiverr hitting my stats. Do you find it fair?

Buyers' accounts aren't affected by any metrics, only sellers' accounts.

So Fiverr freelancers are the only ones in the world who shouldn't be rated until a purchase is fulfilled, while in any other scenario, companies and individuals can be rated at any time? And then that system that's worked fine for a long time in society would negatively effect only the people on Fiverr?

Given your example, someone can very easily reduce your rating for that reason after a purchase is completed.

I can't imagine why it would possibly be bad for anyone unless they have poor initial interactions. Because everyone else would be subject to this, and their ratings would reflect the same thing as all of the other great Fiverr freelancers that also strive for good initial interactions. So you would not be uniquely negatively affected. 

Edited December 4, 2023 by asyranok

[maitasun]

@asyranok, you're welcome to message me on the marketplace any time. 🙂

Edited December 4, 2023 by maitasun

[voicedbyken]

Such a system would be highly abused by both buyers and by the sellers competitors. I work on several freelance platforms and this isn't a feature on any of them, thankfully.

Why do you want to hurt someone just trying to make a living on the platform? Many of us use the app from our phones and don't see all the notifications we get. The seller could have the app open in the background showing them online when they are not actually looking at their phone to see your message.

I could accuse 80% of my buyers of ignoring my messages because I will see them online, but I don't because I have no idea what they are actually seeing and doing. To automatically assume someone is ignoring you is a big issue with all social media type apps. It's a flaw in perception. You think you know what's happening on their end when in reality nobody does except them.

Based on your original post, you're clearly not asking for this feature in order to give someone positive feedback. Not saying that you would vindictively use such a system, but most would.  

Feedback is for the experience when purchasing a service as it should be. 

I know that Amazon allows folks who didn't purchase a product to rate and review and it makes finding honest reviews on products very difficult. This is not a option any seller would want and you as a buyer should be against it as well, because what's to stop a seller from having a bunch of random folks from twitter give them fake positive reviews when they should be a 2 star seller, but you see them as 5 star?

I hope this makes sense.

 

[katakatica]

1 hour ago, asyranok said:

I can't imagine why it would possibly be bad for anyone unless they have poor initial interactions. Because everyone else would be subject to this, and their ratings would reflect the same thing as all of the other great Fiverr freelancers that also strive for good initial interactions. So you would not be uniquely negatively affected. 

Sometimes, I don't reply to messages because they get buried in spam. At other times, I genuinely just forget - it's human nature. There are, yes, times when I just don't think we're the right fit and I try to let the potential client know, but if I were to say it the wrong way, they could place an order in revenge (which, trust me, some people would...) With your idea, they wouldn't even have to spend money to potentially get my ratings down.

I also get many new sellers begging for money (yes) or work... Can you see how that could be an issue if the feature was implemented in a less-than-ideal manner? 

On most other pages, you are rating a business as a whole. Several people, the place's tidiness, etc. You can have an opinion on it.

When you just chat with an artist or writer (or whatever) you would be rating them based on yes, their professionalism, but also whether you like them or not as a person, because it's not like you can see their shop/etc. (other than the gigs we have.)

Judging at the end of the order gives you something concrete to judge (plus some other aspects.)

Sellers already have a lot going on, so this really wouldn't be a good idea. I get the frustration though, but I really don't think it's as deep. Buyers often contact up to 10 sellers at a time as well, so... a lot of times we might even assume that they just went to someone else. (for example, if someone said bye, talk tomorrow about the project' to me, I wouldn't be the one to seek them out first unless they are a return buyer and we've discussed it prior.)

[asyranok]

"Why do you want to hurt someone just trying to make a living on the platform?"

This is an incredibly ungenerous statement and you know it. Not a helpful way to get your opinion across.

[asyranok]

 

On 12/4/2023 at 5:15 PM, katakatica said:

Sometimes, I don't reply to messages because they get buried in spam. At other times, I genuinely just forget...

 

Thanks for the logical response with good points that really explain the reasons not to do it in a way that I can actually get behind!

Edited December 6, 2023 by asyranok

[donnovan86]

On 12/4/2023 at 9:52 PM, asyranok said:

Especially when it's all part of the experience that buyers could have opinions on.

That's not a buyer if no purchase is made. In order for someone to become a "buyer", they need to "buy" something. But if no purchase is made, that's just a random person wasting your time. I had instances when people sent over 10-20 messages and tried to squeeze my brain of ideas, then they never came back. In general, you would expect a purchase to be made after 2-4 messages back and forth. If someone just takes a LOT of time to reply and they clearly don't want to purchase anything, it's just a waste of time. 

[tintran]

As a seller, I would vote no to having such a system.
As I can be judged on messages that asked for favors. If someone was super people pleaser and got ratings on such a system, everyone would contact them to get favors done and Fiverr wouldn't even make money. If Fiverr doesn't make money, then the platform dies.


 

[glow_writer]

Who knows.