I'm new on Fiverr and my first buyer is acting quite weird, help!

[bleachedsharona]

Hello there, guys.

This is my first time on Fiverr and I’m still a bit lost using it, but few days ago I got my first buyer, this person said that is a “best seller” writer and that he’s looking for an Illustrator to illustrate his next book.



This is not exactly what I’m offering, but is ok because at the end of the day I can do what he’s asking for.



The thing is that, he haven’t make the order, but he keeps insisting about how wanderful the drawing is going to look, sending pictures for references and giving me details. The other day I asked him really politely to make the order for me to start drawing, for a moment I thought he didn’t know how it works, like me, and I explained to him…and he said he has done at least 80 transactions on fiverr before and worked with many illustrators, but he wants only one now.



He said "he wants to know first what can I do and then he’ll decide"



I even made another comment about a custom offer, because what he’s asking for is quite more work than I’m actually offering, to what he said "But 10$ is the max per drawing!"



Anyways, maybe I’m being paranoid, but…why if he has done other trasactions in the past, he stills without making the order? Does that means that if I send him my sketch, I could not get paid?

And, if he has being working with so many illustrators, why he’s interested in my work now? What he’s looking for is not what I’m offering and I’m not really showing something like that on my photo gallery.



Am I being paranoic?

[david388]

Hi @bleachedsharona, I’m glad you reached out to us on the Forum for help! Whatever you do, DO NOT do business with this person. This is an example of someone who is trying (already) to take advantage of you. In the best case, you will end up wasting hours and hours for someone who will be blackmailing you with the threat of a negative review, and in the worst-case this may happen AND he could still leave you one.



The great news is that as long as he hasn’t placed an order, you can cut off contact and not have to deal with him. And if he does, I’d recommend canceling it and giving a polite excuse why you’re not available.



Also - when you have a minute, check out a discussion board I built a few weeks ago to help teach fellow members about “red flags” like this. And if you’d be willing to share the wisdom you’ve gained from this, it would be a huge help for all of us here! Here’s the board link: http://forum.fiverr.com/discussion/60907/how-to-spot-and-avoid-bad-buyers/p1



Good luck with everything! Feel free to reach out if you ever need more advice.

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[Guest ryan9999]

Hi,

I think he is just wasting your time. Perhaps, flirting with you.

[timelyservices]

Hello,

Just forget the person and move on. We have such buyers that will do nothing but waste your precious time.

[jamesbulls]

Heh, you’re getting taken for a ride. Tell him to pay up or find somebody else to do the work.

[karmatam]

HE’s excitied that why

[fonthaunt]

He either doesn’t know how Fiverr works or he’s deliberately trying to scam you. I’d guess the second one. I sense red flags all over this one, though, and I’d say you just tell him that you won’t be able to help him and recommend that he look for someone else. It’s not worth any promised price to find out later you are going to get nothing or worse, a bad review and nothing.

[graphics_proff]

The buyer seems to have taken you as a novice… You should also read more about Fiverr.com, so you can conform with the norms

;😉

[throttled829]

Anyone with a “Best Seller” book would likely want to spend more then 10 bucks on the cover for it, least I would think so.



Lots of tire kickers on fiverr. Which is understandable considering buyers have a lot of options here when it comes to choosing a seller. Best thing, in my opinion, is to learn to be straightforward with potential buyers. Be professional about it but give them a price on what you’re willing to do custom work for right away or be very specific and request the info you need in order to come up with a price. Be on point and firm. Be in charge of yourself and sound like it.



The more you treat fiverr like a business, the better off you’ll be. Perhaps though, as a new seller looking to build up your profile and social proof that you are a reliable and talented seller, it is good to do some work for a little less for now.



In order to do that, you need to be on the alert for the right kinds of buyers. This guy doesn’t sound like the right kind of buyer. One that you can really overdeliver for and give them a great service for less to ensure that you get a glowing review for your profile. He sounds like he may just take advantage of you as a new seller. 80 transactions on fiverr is plenty enough to know there are a lot of people here doing too much for too little just because they want to grow their profile or they feel it will lead to more business. A lot of times it just ends up giving a buyer a whole lot for very little and they disappear into the void.



This is just my honest opinion, fiverr is not an easy thing to have success with, it takes the right kind of recipe but nobody knows all the ingredients or amounts to mix in. Keep that in mind and put in the time to keep moving your profile forward. Analyze and improve upon your gigs, try different keywords, descriptions and tags. Always keep moving towards optimizing your profile to be attractive to potential buyers.



It is a hard thing to work through and definitely takes a lot of hard work. If you’re talented and dedicated to your business though, you should do well.



I’d start with adding more gigs. This is something I need to do too and am working on it. More gigs means more exposure means more options for you to find the right kinds of buyers. Best of luck to you.