Sellers, how do you vet buyers?

[Kesha]

On Fiverr, we spend a great deal of time educating buyers on how to choose the right freelancer for their projects. While it’s crucial for buyers to do their homework before placing an order, sellers should also vet buyers before agreeing to take on a project. This is because not every willing and ready buyer will prove to be a good fit. 

For example, you might find that a buyer's communication style clashes with yours or that their expectations don’t align with your terms. While it can be tempting to accept every inquiry, knowing when to accept or reject a project is key to maintaining both your metrics and your peace of mind.

So, how do you vet buyers to decide if it’s a good fit? What are some major red and green flags for you? 

Share your insights and tips with the community below! 

[priyank_mod]

1. Green Flags - Politeness, calm demeanour, respectful, their ABILITY to read and understand my gig offerings, clarity of thought, articulation abilities, understands VALUE of my work and its corresponding cost, average rating given & received should be above 4.8 etc 
2. Red Flags - Too demanding, in rush/sounds too anxious, doesn't understand nuances of creative work, expectations don't align with my body of work, bargains on cost (I do not entertain discounting), sounds haywire etc 

I usually know from the first text itself or max within 2-3 texts whether it is going to workout mutually or not!! 

 

And I always trust my intuition much much much more than money/business on the table. 😇

 

 

[melanielm]

1 hour ago, priyank_mod said:

• Green Flags - Politeness, calm demeanour, respectful, their ABILITY to read and understand my gig offerings, clarity of thought, articulation abilities, understands VALUE of my work and its corresponding cost, average rating given & received should be above 4.8 etc 
• Red Flags - Too demanding, in rush/sounds too anxious, doesn't understand nuances of creative work, expectations don't align with my body of work, bargains on cost (I do not entertain discounting), sounds haywire etc 

These are all excellent, especially this: "their ABILITY to read and understand my gig offerings," to which I'll add their ability to read and understand my messages to them or my answers to their questions.

Another red flag for me is buyers who don't know what they want. Lack of specificity increases the risk of disappointment or frustration because, while they can't explain it, they often seem to have expectations that don't conform to reality.

[mandyzines]

There have been some great responses so far, but I'll add a red flag of wanting free or even paid custom samples while withholding what their budget for the entire project is. I have had a lot of that. 

[mateusbl]

5 hours ago, Kesha said:

knowing when to accept or reject a project

All points listed are important, but Fiver should not use cancelations in the metrics to impact the sellers profiles. In all business and services is normal have cancelations due many factors from buyers to sellers. 

[googleads_360]

46 minutes ago, mateusbl said:

All points listed are important, but Fiver should not use cancelations in the metrics to impact the sellers profiles. In all business and services is normal have cancelations due many factors from buyers to sellers. 

Exactly, Fiverr should change cancelations in the metrics to impact the sellers profile.

[texvox]

A few of my biggest red flags when vetting a potential client are:

1. Extremely "vague" project proposals. I have found that clients who are overly cryptic about their project are often quite difficult to work with. If the client needs to keep some info close to the vest to respect an NDA that's fine; they can tell me that up front and most do. But if there is no apparent reason for vagueness it's a major red flag that could indicate the client will be difficult to get responses from mid-project when questions arise, and even more difficult when it comes to getting an invoice paid afterward. 

2. Clients who have no idea what they want. As a voice actor it's a major red flag for me when I ask a client about their goals or desires for the performance and they say something like "Just do what you think is best." I'm always up for collaborating with someone to dial in the tone or emotion of the project, but I am not the creative director. Only the client can truly decide what their brand needs. In my experience clients who have no clue what they're after often become clients who send me an abnormal number of revision requests. You can't hit a target you can't identify. 

3. "Middle-men" who throw the end client under the bus. As a voice actor I am often approached by middle-men video producers who have been hired by an end-client. Some that I have worked with have spoken extremely poorly of the end-client to me, blaming that client for every little thing that is confusing, or that they don't like. If they're willing to say negative things about the client to me, what are they willing to say about me to the client? To me these are untrustworthy people to work with, and if I smell this I weed them out quickly. 

[Kesha]

On 8/20/2024 at 4:41 PM, mateusbl said:

All points listed are important, but Fiver should not use cancelations in the metrics to impact the sellers profiles. In all business and services is normal have cancelations due many factors from buyers to sellers. 

 

On 8/20/2024 at 5:32 PM, googleads_360 said:

Exactly, Fiverr should change cancelations in the metrics to impact the sellers profile.

Hi there! We understand that some cancellations are inevitable. That's why cancellations due to misunderstandings or mistakenly placed orders do not impact your success score. However, to protect your success score, we encourage you to do your due diligence in vetting buyers and ensuring you're aligned on expectations before proceeding with an order.

[Kesha]

I agree with every single one of these tips! Thanks for sharing, everyone. 

[asif255]

On 8/20/2024 at 9:15 PM, Kesha said:

On Fiverr, we spend a great deal of time educating buyers on how to choose the right freelancer for their projects. While it’s crucial for buyers to do their homework before placing an order, sellers should also vet buyers before agreeing to take on a project. This is because not every willing and ready buyer will prove to be a good fit. 

For example, you might find that a buyer's communication style clashes with yours or that their expectations don’t align with your terms. While it can be tempting to accept every inquiry, knowing when to accept or reject a project is key to maintaining both your metrics and your peace of mind.

So, how do you vet buyers to decide if it’s a good fit? What are some major red and green flags for you? 

Share your insights and tips with the community below! 

If the buyer is good at providing details, it's a green flag. If the buyer does not respond well, it's a red flag.