The 3 Tips you MUST Know to Spot and Avoid Bad Buyers

[biyayaforro]

Thank you so much for this helpful advice… Me, personally, my buyer redflag is when they asked me to do something outside of my enclosed services. Also, I always take note of their nationality. Nationalities are also my buyer redflag.



More power to us! 🙂

[david388]

@biyayaforro - I totally agree about your first red flag (asking you to do something beyond your service), but I don’t agree with the second. Why should nationality be an indicator of someone’s quality as a Buyer?

[Guest]

Reply to @david388: I’m curious to see the answer.

[Guest kasijus]

Reply to @itsyourthing and @fonthaunt:



Could you just copy/paste the place in my comment where I said I don’t offer $5 gigs?



You are both missing the point. I never said I don’t offer $5 gigs, as a matter of fact, I’ve done a lot of them.



I am saying that the buyer should not imply that I am going to do whatever he needs for $5, and order the gig without first contacting me.

[Guest strokelogocomp]

Today i got one message from someone and buyer told me to design first and then buyer will pay me. I said no order me first to have your design ready. I don’t know why buyer thought that they get work for free or they leave a negative feedback in that case seller automatically cancel an order and asked buyer to remove review. it happen sometime with me too. That’s the only reason i don’t believe any new buyer but still i try my best to serve them brilliant services.

[Guest adrifz]

I really wish buyers had a time limit for leaving feedback. One of my bad clients has marked his order as complete, and now he is asking for more things via inbox. After having to deal with his requests and rudeness for a couple of weeks now, I just want to ignore him, but I’m sure he’ll leave a bad review!

[drribroshan]

Helpful advices, I also have bad experiences dealing with bad buyers.

[david388]

@strokelogocomp: I’d take what you’re saying one step further. With a buyer like that, I wouldn’t even tell them to order first. I’d just politely tell them I was too busy to take on new business, and avoid working with them, period.



Once someone demands that you do unpaid work for them, then even if you tell them to order first (and even if they do then place the order), odds are that this person is planning to avoid paying you anyway - probably by blackmailing you with a negative review, as you’re suggesting.

[david388]

@adrifz - I thought they did? I had a Buyer once come back after a few months to thank me for my work and ask to order some new material from me. And even though she was perfectly willing to place a review for her previous order at that point (I had politely asked her to), she wasn’t able to figure out how to do it. I assumed it was because the option disappears after enough time. Anyone else know the answer to this?

[david388]

Reply to @itsyourthing: me too…

[maddisont]

Reply to @david388: I’m not sure if this it entirely true or accurate, I’ve recently heard that the limit is 12 days. They have until the money from the order clears to leave a review, and change it.



Again, I’m not 100% on this, but it makes a lot of sense though.

[david388]

@maddisont - okay, got it. That definitely makes sense, from what my experience has been.



And @drribroshan, thank you !

[emasonwrites]

Reply to @maddisont: According to the TOS, buyers have thirty days to leave reviews, and three days to change a review after they’ve left it.

[fonthaunt]

Reply to @biyayaforro: If the flag says UK/USA/Canada but the buyer’s English isnt just poor (didn’t study) but really broken (using a proxy) I am more cautious. Many of my best, favorite and gracious buyers have been from countries where English is not the first language, though. When I am the buyer and the seller has a particular flag ID I admit it means something different for me. I would be truly interested to know about your thought on country identification for buyers.

[Guest]

Reply to @david388: I agree completely. New buyers can be too eager to please, but avoiding ‘bad’ buyers in the first place can make for a much more productive Fiverr experience.

[david388]

I’m telling you guys, sticking to your gut with this stuff totally works! Received a message late last night from someone who at the time seemed reasonable enough and had included an attachment of some writing to be edited. I replied that I’d take a look and write back today.



This afternoon, the person wrote me back, this time sending a message asking if I had read it yet, when I would be replying, and reminding me that the day was already half-way done (I’m leaving out the multiple rows of exclamation points and question marks).



Sensing this could be a bad sign, I wrote back that I had been tied up in the morning, and was sensing we might not be a great working match for each other. IMMEDIATELY he replied with a string of nasty insults, telling me how I had wasted “his team’s” day. SO happy he isn’t a customer of mine!

[gingerwriter]

What about when a buyer tells you they are only buying from you to “use up” credit from one of their “bad” orders? Saying they usually would have another writer handle it on their “other” account but since the refund was made to this account they chose me. Is that a bad sign? I feel pretty lucky right now you guys…

[abidagfx]

Great Tips.

[vitojamieson]

I find after doing thousands of orders the ones that get my “spidey senses” tingling are the ones who as question after question before ordering.



if they haven’t ordered by the 3rd question I will straight up “I’m quite busy for with my customers, I will give you great service but I will have to delay answering any more questions as those who have actually ordered get priority. Thanks for understanding” The really interested people will order the “bad” ones will go away.



I find the ones who ask a million questions are the most picky ones who want several retakes all for only $5. I find if you act desperate people will take advantage, if you act with confidence people wont try to get over on you

[vitojamieson]

Reply to @david388:



I agree, be nice at first and give them the benefit of the doubt. But if they are too rude and demanding let them know that “somebody else” will be happy to do the work but you have REAL customers to get work done for

[david388]

@gingerwriter, I’ve never heard that one but I’m sure I will one of these days… and will be conveniently too busy to take on new orders when I do!



@vitojamieson, I totally agree about that red flag.

[mhwoolz]

These are all great signs to watch out for! Another one that I’ve noticed is when a buyer brings up the possibility of cancelling before placing the order. He or she will say something like “If it isn’t perfect, I’ll cancel the order” or “Can I get a refund if I don’t like it?” Of course, I’m sure there are a number of great buyers who just want to understand how the Fiverr process works and if a refund is possible. In my experience, however, most of these buyers are just trying to lay the groundwork for unfairly cancelling their order after you’ve completed it. If they’re thinking about cancelling before you’ve even started, they might be trying to scam you out of being paid.

[david388]

@mhwoolz, thanks for throwing this one out there. You’re SO right.



One of my most difficult buyers recently had previously asked me during a pre-purchase discussion “how many revisions” he would receive if he had concerns. At the time, I thought nothing of it, but now After delivering a complete (and VERY polished) piece of sales copy to over a week ago, every single day I receive notification that my delivery to him has been rejected and that he wants additional copy written first. This process has repeated multiple times - it’s right up the alley of those people you’re describing!

[Guest astriddr]

This is very helpful! I hope I will get buyers soon.

[purpledog32]

I received a gig request from a buyer who needed 7 articles…100 to 200 words each…voiced asap. I gave him/her my rates and they said if I could give them a great deal, there would be another 85 articles…500 words each possibly coming my way. Then they said I was too expensive and I was passing up a great opportunity! I told them…sorry, those are my rates (in fact, was giving them 50% off). I told them they probably could find someone on Fiverr “hungry” enough to voice 1700 words total for $35 and good luck. There’s nothing more insulting than someone who is trying to “low ball” me on Fiverr! LOL