Free Samples

[biaynamahari]

I created a topic yesterday about this but it disappeared. I'm not sure how moderation works here so I'll try again. 

I've been contacted by a client - which I was very happy with, because I'm a newbie here. After discussing a few things they asked for a free sample. The price I charge here so far is very low compared to my normal life price, so I politely refused. 

So I wanted to ask if there is anyone who actually gives free samples and has seen any good outcome from that ? Isn't it a red flag not to work with a client that asks for free work ?

[grayprogrammerz]

4 minutes ago, biaynamahari said:

I created a topic yesterday about this but it disappeared. I'm not sure how moderation works here so I'll try again. 

I've been contacted by a client - which I was very happy with, because I'm a newbie here. After discussing a few things they asked for a free sample. The price I charge here so far is very low compared to my normal life price, so I politely refused. 

So I wanted to ask if there is anyone who actually gives free samples and has seen any good outcome from that ? Isn't it a red flag not to work with a client that asks for free work ?

Normally clients do ask for samples.

But not free work, probably its red flag. They are scammers, not buyer.

 

[priyank_mod]

I have never submitted a work sample to any buyer on the platform (even when I was a newbie here just like you). Always re-directed them to my gig gallery to check my work.

PS Your gallery looks compelling and has enough width in terms of samples. 

So to answer your query, avoid the freeloaders!!

[catwriter]

8 minutes ago, biaynamahari said:

Isn't it a red flag not to work with a client that asks for free work ?

It is.

If your gallery isn't enough for them, you can offer them a small paid sample for $5 or $10 or whatever you feel it would be worth. As soon as they say no, you'll know that you've dodged a bullet, and that they have never intended to buy anything from you.

[ajpirela27]

My story is quite different, I encourage buyers to give them a free sample draft anytime I can, that way I make sure to be always on the same page, sometimes I can't because I lack the time and I just jump on the order, but for me, it works better when a draft is already approved. I did it when I started 6 years ago and I still do. But I guess it depends on your workflow

[newsmike]

22 hours ago, biaynamahari said:

I created a topic yesterday about this but it disappeared. I'm not sure how moderation works here so I'll try again. 

I've been contacted by a client - which I was very happy with, because I'm a newbie here. After discussing a few things they asked for a free sample. The price I charge here so far is very low compared to my normal life price, so I politely refused. 

So I wanted to ask if there is anyone who actually gives free samples and has seen any good outcome from that ? Isn't it a red flag not to work with a client that asks for free work ?

Never give free samples. It's the sure sign of either a scammer or an inexperienced buyer, neither of which you want. Most often, they tell you they need 5,000 words written for example, but want a paragraph listing the details of the product as a sample, to make sure you can do the job.  You write the paragraph, they steal it and ghost you because that's all they ever needed, and every minute inexperienced sellers fall for this scam. 

In fact when asked, I refuse and tell them, "Although I don't do free samples, there are many new new sellers here who will do it for practice."

Edited February 27 by newsmike

[mandyzines]

22 hours ago, catwriter said:

you can offer them a small paid sample for $5 or $10 or whatever you feel it would be worth.

To me, that's just another thing that could have a botched review. 

I don't offer paid or free custom samples. I tried it for a while back in my $5 - $10 gig days and found people were even less capable of providing needed directions. Most of the time, they couldn't even tell me what they heard of mine that they liked and made them think I was a good fit for their project--probably because they never listened to them before contacting me in the first place.

In addition to my gallery and portfolio, I have a link to my SoundCloud account with probably too many samples for them to listen to posted on my gigs.

Once an order is placed, if it's more than 300 words, I do require them to review a sample read of the first couple of paragraphs before I proceed with recording the rest. I might adjust things in order to do it with smaller orders as well, in light of recent changes.

Edited February 27 by mandyzines

[catwriter]

40 minutes ago, mandyzines said:

To me, that's just another thing that could have a botched review. 

 

After the recent changes, yes. In theory. However, what actually happens is that they refuse to purchase the paid sample, and don't place an order at all.

[biaynamahari]

21 hours ago, ajpirela27 said:

My story is quite different, I encourage buyers to give them a free sample draft anytime I can, that way I make sure to be always on the same page, sometimes I can't because I lack the time and I just jump on the order, but for me, it works better when a draft is already approved. I did it when I started 6 years ago and I still do. But I guess it depends on your workflow

This is interesting. Do you mean you agree to do free samples or you suggest free drafts for people who have intention to hire you ? I think these are two very different things and may work very different ways. 

[biaynamahari]

4 hours ago, mandyzines said:

I might adjust things in order to do it with smaller orders as well, in light of recent changes.

Can you please explain what you mean ? I'm new as I said, I'm trying to understand what has changed, so far I only know everyone is unhappy:) So the ranking system is more sensitive to accidental bad reviews now than it used to be ?

[catwriter]

24 minutes ago, biaynamahari said:

So the ranking system is more sensitive to accidental bad reviews now than it used to be ?

Yes, and it seems it's easier to get an accidental bad review than before.

Plus, on Fiverr, anything less than 5 stars can create problems down the road.

[biaynamahari]

3 minutes ago, catwriter said:

Plus, on Fiverr, anything less than 5 stars can create problems down the road.

I found the perfect time to join haha:))

[catwriter]

Just now, biaynamahari said:

I found the perfect time to join haha:))

Try not to worry about it, every time has its challenges. And welcome! 🙂

[ajpirela27]

1 hour ago, biaynamahari said:

This is interesting. Do you mean you agree to do free samples or you suggest free drafts for people who have intention to hire you ? I think these are two very different things and may work very different ways. 

Both, also it depend on how they asked you to do it. But I think I have around 30 to 40 % success of orders placed after a free sample both if they asked me first to do it or if they are willing to put the order and I said to wait until I can do a free sample. This is for new clients of course

[newsmike]

7 hours ago, mandyzines said:

Once an order is placed, if it's more than 300 words, I do require them to review a sample read of the first couple of paragraphs before I proceed with recording the rest. I might adjust things in order to do it with smaller orders as well, in light of recent changes.

That is a great way to make sure you don't have to do it all over again.  I will often send a sample of the first couple lines to make sure that they like the delivery, of course only on an order that's already been placed. 

[biaynamahari]

7 hours ago, newsmike said:

That is a great way to make sure you don't have to do it all over again.  I will often send a sample of the first couple lines to make sure that they like the delivery, of course only on an order that's already been placed. 

Unfortunately it doesn't work with design, I wish I could send half a logo 🙂 But I either have it or not :))

[newsmike]

4 hours ago, biaynamahari said:

Unfortunately it doesn't work with design, I wish I could send half a logo 🙂 But I either have it or not :))

You are still talking about starting work before the order is placed though. Why would you do that?  That's what a portfolio is for. If someone looks at your portfolio and says, "But I still need to see how my logo would look," prior to placing an order, they are a scammer, or a noob that you don't want to work with.  You should only start designing anything once an order is placed and paid for. As for drafts once the order is placed, are you aware of watermarking? 

Edited February 28 by newsmike

[biaynamahari]

6 hours ago, newsmike said:

You are still talking about starting work before the order is placed though. Why would you do that?  That's what a portfolio is for. If someone looks at your portfolio and says, "But I still need to see how my logo would look," prior to placing an order, they are a scammer, or a noob that you don't want to work with.  You should only start designing anything once an order is placed and paid for. As for drafts once the order is placed, are you aware of watermarking? 

If I was able to do half a logo, I would show it to ask if the direction is right, I agree that it may help. That's what I was talking about. With the logos unfortunately it's not possible. 

[mandyzines]

23 hours ago, biaynamahari said:

Can you please explain what you mean ? I'm new as I said, I'm trying to understand what has changed, so far I only know everyone is unhappy:) So the ranking system is more sensitive to accidental bad reviews now than it used to be ?

I'm a Voice Actor without Request to Order (because I don't have the top-tier Seller Plus subscription) and a base price of $25 for the first 100 words, which includes usage rights for use in un-paid marketing campaigns. My revision policy is: any mispronunciations or audio glitches are included; changes to the script are additional; re-reads aren't revisions, so if vocal directions are changed in comparison to the order requirement form then there's an additional charge. I also require there to be an approval of a sample read once the order is placed for anything over 300 words before I record the rest of the script.

I want clients who are more involved in (and satisfied with) the process and are willing to pay for me to customize things. So, I plan on increasing my base price, extending delivery days, requiring approval of sample reads for all scripts once an order is placed, offering to re-read anything under 300 words once at no additional charge, dropping my promoted gigs, upgrading to Seller Plus Premium, and continuing to work on ways to not be confined to Fiverr.

 

Edited February 28 by mandyzines

[zerlina84]

Let me just offer a different perspective: I do offer free samples IF it’s 2 or 3 sentences. And 99% of the times they end up ordering.

however, I’m a voiceover artist. It’s not that hard to record 2 or 3 sentences just to make them happy; but I think that doesn’t make sense with art or design gigs, because it takes a lot more work to come up with a custom sample.

[catwriter]

1 hour ago, biaynamahari said:

If I was able to do half a logo, I would show it to ask if the direction is right, I agree that it may help.

How about a rough sketch? Would that work?

(Just an idea, I'm not a designer, so I don't know if it might work that way)

[imagination7413]

Yes, it's a red flag, a pretty major red flag, but that doesn't automatically mean 'scam'. There are new people who don't know any better joining all the time. Now days, it's become somewhat a part of our jobs as freelancers to educate potential clients, sometimes in the basics of what our jobs entail. It's extremely helpful to have some educational resources handy for some of the FAQs that make us question the standard educational system. Fortunately, Wikipedia links are permitted by Fiverr. It's a red flag for me if a potential Buyer ignores my attempts to help them understand what they are asking for. 

For your consideration, here are two topics from both sides of the argument: 

https://community.fiverr.com/forums/topic/285673-the-importance-of-free-sketches-and-why-you-should-always-requestoffer-some/

https://community.fiverr.com/forums/topic/168855-so-you-want-to-hire-a-writer-should-you-ask-for-samples/ 

(As for your missing post, please read the forum rules.)