Tips to avoid crazy buyers who leave negative reviews

[Guest ajsbuya]

Hi there, it’s Ajsbuya. I have been Fiverr for about two months now, and have not had a single problem. I was recently promoted to level two and have about ten orders in the queue each day. Sounds great, right? It was , but I had an extremely negative experience with a buyer recently. So he contacted me several days ago saying basically do you want to work for me I have a lot of work. Hoping this was a great opportunity I said yes. He managed to get around your system by sending documents with text in them saying, “email me here if you agree and I’ll pay you via PayPal.” To this I responded that I only worked within Fiverr, if he want work done he can order, etc. So he/she’s like, “Oh I have another account I’ll order from there.” This was before I went over the TOS, so I did not know that was against the rules. He orders, and I complete the order. At about the same time, I get an order from another person and I see his name and I think to myself, “Didn’t you just see that?” and I did see it. I saw it on the document that the buyer who violated the TOS has. From this I deduced he was selling my work to other people at a higher rate without my permission. He asked if I wanted more work and I told him," I am not okay with you reselling my work… Would you please stop?" To this he replied along the lines of, “Why is this wrong, I am doing nothing wrong, and a couple more sentences of broken English. So after I didn’t respond to him, I thought he would leave me alone. Turns out a couple of days later, he sends me a message saying, “I have more work, Can you help me?” To this I replied knowing that we both know he was reselling my work, and I wrote,

“No I am totally swamped with orders right now. How about in a couple of days?” To this he responded by writing not only a negative review that was totally uncalled for as he said he was happy with the work and then he tried canceling another order by saying” Go to he**"



So here it is my tips for sellers to avoid the crazies out there (there are quite a lot of them):

1. If someone mentions working out of Fiverr, you should just stay away from them. This guy tried getting me to work out of Fiverr and tried scamming me.
   
2. Check on the buyer’s gigs who ordered from you, just in case he’s a competitor and trying to destroy your business.
   
3. Mentions something at all that is against the Terms of Services. If they say Paypal, give you an email, or anything like that, you may want to sever the relationship and/or tell them you can’t take orders.
   
   
   
   Well, that’s my story and some advice for you guys. I hope the same thing does happen to you!

[Guest laughingcrow]

First off it’s horrible when that happens. Fiverr as a platform simply is meant to bring buyers and sellers together, and some people make a real nasty metagame out of driving competition to the ground. But it’s money so it will happen - make sure to send this information to Customer Support so you can have a complaint filed on his account.



Second, it’s not allowed to call out users on the forum, so it might be better to snip off the left inch of the picture, so the username is gone.

[Guest ajsbuya]

Reply to @laughingcrow: Thanks!

[edwriter]

You’ll find those types on here, unfortunately. As far as reselling goes… It happens. It also happens a LOT. I’m not sure it’s something that can be prevented. Watermarking, maybe? I’d say make sure you price your gig to something you believe your time is worth. That way, whoever your buyer is (nutcase or not), they will pay the price. Don’t understand the let’s stomp on the competition thing, either.

[mgjohn78]

ajsbuya said: From this I deduced he was selling my work to other people at a higher rate without my permission

Unless you specify what rights you reserve according to fiverr terms you automatically give the buyers all rights to your work. Just add a line to your gig descriptions about what rights you give the buyer and optionally you can use gig extras to sell additional rights.

 

[alliemadison12]

I read through the whole post, and he was unjustified in leaving negative feedback, especially if he was so pleased with it that he wanted to order again. BUT, you should rethink your opinion of your work being resold.

I know it seems like it’s horrible someone is reselling your work for a higher profit, but, you chose your own prices. From there, who cares what they do with it? For example, let’s say a business owner wants reviews for their business, so they hire someone to do it, who in turn, hires you for cheaper. You are still doing the work for the same cost, and it’s not like the business would have hired you directly. The business doesn’t know you exist. Does that make sense to you? If you limit yourself to only working with people who use your work themselves, you might not get many orders. I personally don’t care how much my work goes for as long as people cooperate with my Fiverr prices. Just something to think about!

[inkpetal]

Reply to @arnevb: The farmer sees under a quarter of the profits of produce sold in supermarkets. Workers on minimum wage roll out thousand dollar gowns. Business is business, and it’s often cruel and unfair.



Add a clear description to your gigs that all work remains copyright to you, is for personal use only and may not be duplicated or sold without your express permission if you haven’t already. Probably also send this along when you deliver a gig/discuss it in-job with the client so they definitely have this information and you have a record of the agreement. 🙂

[alliemadison12]

arnevb said: would you be happy when your buyer, to whom you are giving your time and talent for a very low 'friendly' price, resellers that service for a couple of hundred dollars more? I see it as abusing your talent and pricing to make profit.

I do Fiverr for many reasons. The connections are great, it improves my skills, and it allows me to get paid for my hobby. That being said, Fiverr is currently my sole income as a student, so I can't reject half the orders that come my way. If i'm getting paid fairly for a video, it's honestly okay with me if they resell it. One of my buyers who resells is actually very generous to me, even though I know he is probably making a nice profit. If I could sell directly to these companies, I would, but I know that's not always possible. I understand and respect where you're coming from, but wanted to share a different perspective. To each their own!

 

[edwriter]

Reply to @arnevb:



No doubt I understand how something like this can be irksome. Especially with writing, because it’s not only reselling your work it’s also reselling your ideas. When I first started writing, I used to be very protective of my work. But by the time I reached college (long since graduated now…), my tune changed. I’m fine with it, as long as I feel I’m being paid the fee I require.



Selling directly is always ideal, but Fiverr (and its buyers) is a good middle-man…most of the time.

[inkpetal]

Reply to @arnevb:



Well… we do “need” it… it’s the agent. It’s the food shelf, it’s the supermarket that takes a slender-by-comparison 20%. I don’t have the transport or time or financial resource, and so forth, to provide services without Fiverr’s reach.

[alliemadison12]

arnevb said: But when people like the OP don't really like that their buyers are making profit, I can completely understand.

Yes, and so do I. That's why I specifically said I understand :)

 

[goodgift]

Did you mean tips to avoid crazy buyers who leave negative reviews?

[Guest ajsbuya]

Reply to @goodgift: Thanks, my bad!

[Guest ajsbuya]

Reply to @mgjohn78: Thanks for that great advice! :)>- :)>- :)>-

[Guest ajsbuya]

Reply to @inkpetal: Thanks! I think I am going to do just that.