Dont ask if i we are doing X if that is what the gig is!

[doruku]

I see this happening all the time and i find it absolutely disrespectful to me / my time. Why do you ask if i am doing X, if thats what i am telling i am doing in my gig description !?!?



I am not talking about details here, i am talking about basics. eg; I say i am delivering YYY wp theme for the basic gig and the guy comes and asks if am delivering YYY wp theme… Serious ?



If you wanna know if am still delivering or still active, just ask that. Which again in most cases is not needed too since you can see my average response time, latest delivery, all the feedback and so on, you KNOW i am active and a good seller, just order.



When a buyer comes with such a silly question or message, be assured that the seller will raise his/her guard immediately as the buyer started wasting time right at the start of everything…



Be logical, use common sense and RESPECT…

[misscrystal]

Here is the reason they do that possibly:



They want to open up a dialog with you and don’t know how to do that in a smooth way.



Do not raise your guard as a seller over dumb questions. Use this opportunity to show what a patient, caring seller you are, willing to answer the dumbest questions nicely. 😉

[doruku]

Reply to @misscrystal:

Alltough i admire and respect your way of handling things, i am a firm believer of efficiency and this kind of situation is a waste of time for both sides. It would be much better if buyers would approach sellers for needed situations only and handle the rest of things via order page. At the end the basic gig is 5, they can always get a refund so whats all the pre-hassle for ? Necessary questions pre-sale are fine, but unnecessary pre-hassle is not imho.

[catsquirrel]

Part of the problem may also be the threads that clearly indicate that buyers should always contact the seller first. Obviously, not all sellers agree with the advice, but if such a thread happens to be in the top three or four “Tips for Buyers” section when a buyers is considering whether to order, then he or she is likely to take the advice at face value.

[fonthaunt]

Reply to @doruku: I agree with @misscrytal. Refunds aren’t always ideal because you might be offering such a good price they’ll have trouble finding another gig they can buy with credits. If you are priced higher because of the quality of your extras and they get a refund, they may find a cheaper price elsewhere and have leftover credit.



I use a canned response for questions like these. It says "Thanks for contacting me. I am active and ready for orders as described in my gig description."



That takes a second to send, gets me buyers and it is worded to fit all my gigs.

[fonthaunt]

Reply to @catsquirrel: This is an important point. I see seller forum rants saying “Don’t contact me, just order!!!” and the next one down might say "Contact us before you order!!!"



Buyers who read the forums end up confused.

[misscrystal]

I like having people contact me first and I do not mind ANY question whatsoever as it gives me an opportunity to let them know I am most caring, kind and generous about answering questions and helping them in any way I can. This is what 50% of my service to buyers is all about; helping them, communicating with them, and letting them know that they will be getting a kind, compassionate helpful person who is tolerant and won’t judge them or get angry at dumb questions.



We as sellers do not have the luxury of turning away or getting upset at dumb questions.

Do so at your own risk.

[meggananderson]

I turn away buyers all the time when they ask questions that are ALREADY ANSWERED ON MY GIG PAGE! They tend to be the scammers, the bad reviewers (for not getting free work), etc. It is absolutely rude rude rude to contact ANY seller asking questions that have been ALREADY ANSWERED on our gig pages. I honestly spend more time with that weekly than the actual production of my gigs, and remember, we don’t get paid to “just chat,” as so many “leads-to-nowhere” do here. It’s unprofessional and rude!

[sue_mcl]

Whilst I do prefer people to just order and not do the chit chat before order thing or send me their script and ask me how much etc, I recognise that is my personal preference and buyers also have their preferences (which could just be to feel comfortable with a seller before buying, by asking them some questions to see how they respond and if they will like working with you - as is often recommended as good buyer practice here on the forums and elsewhere), so I am more than happy to answer questions, even if the answer is already on my gig.



So much of what we do as freelancers is about building a relationship, and that initial contact is a perfect place to start. I’ve had recurring and big orders come from clients who were initially asking “stupid” questions, or questions that could be answered by reading my gig, but if I hadn’t taken the time to walk them through things, they may well have not become those great repeat clients and gone to someone else. Also, I’ve answered people and thought I had wasted my time or they weren’t interested as they didn’t respond, but then weeks later they’ve come back and ordered, sometimes big orders.



Some clients as well are brand new to fiverr, new to working with freelancers etc and sometimes it is easy to think they should just know something because we deal with it every day, but for them, it may be the very first time they have worked like this, so I don’t think it is rude for them to ask questions I think they should already know the answer to. I see every contact from a buyer as an opportunity to add another client to my client base and the more clients I have the better I think 🙂

[doruku]

Reply to @myvideoservice:

had the same thing, probably it is to prevent spam that has been coming lately…

[misscrystal]

When I buy something on fiverr I like to first send a question to a seller partially to see how they handle it. If they are nice and respond fast and tolerant I know I can work with them easily. So if anyone sends me any question as a preliminary opening conversation I take it as possibly a trial in that way to see if I am someone who they can communicate well with.

[catwriter]

Some buyers are not native English speakers, or are new, or are unsure how to start a conversation. There are cultural differences, too; in some cultures, it’s rude to get straight to the point, the polite way would be to start with something like “Hello, how are you?”.



I find it annoying when buyer’s first message to me is “Hi”, or “I need a script”, or “I have a website, what can you help me with?”, but I try to keep in mind that it might be the appropriate way to start a conversation in their country.

[Guest seobookmarkbest]

I tend to reply to the message, after the buyer’s order.



It has a value that the buyer is in desperate need of my services.



Approximately 100 messages, you only 2 order, it happened because the buyers to compare your products with the products of others

[thecreativeguys]

Reply to @misscrystal: Well answered.

[thecreativeguys]

Reply to @meggananderson: I really disagree with that. In truth, real buyers want to be assured that the seller can delivery what he needs. That’s okay with lower level sellers, but with TRS, that shouldn’t happen much.

[thecreativeguys]

Reply to @myvideoservice: Like what??

[fastcopywriter]

Reply to @catwriter: I’m the opposite, I love it when they get right to the point.

[themaritimer]

Some buyers also may be testing you to see how quickly you respond to their messages… even if it’s a simple (or possibly viewed as a dumb) question. How you handle these questions probably depends on where you are in your business… just starting out, or having trouble keeping up with the flood of orders you get. If you’re just starting out, you’re going to be quick to answer those questions, no matter how stupid you think they may be. As your business grows, you’ll probably find those questions to be more of a waste of time.



Just my $0.02 🙂

[misscrystal]

Communication is our number one tool here. Use it to full advantage.

Project a friendly efficient professional helpful manner in all communications.

It’s just common sense.

[catwriter]

Reply to @fastcopywriter: I prefer it when they get right to the point too. It’s great when buyers tell me exactly what they need in their first message.

[corsara]

Reply to @misscrystal: Agreed! I am more than happy to answer simple questions. Maybe that is just because I am a beginning seller, but its not that much of a hassle to reply.

[handwritten_sol]

Reply to @themaritimer: While there is a good point in what you have said, there are still some potential sellers that are just going withe their questions beyond the normal :).



I had situation with a seller discussing the services I offer for 2 months, asking me a ton of questions, like I was a mentor him basic IT stuff and at the end he said he don’t need such service? ??? Why he was wasting my time asking all those questions for such long time for nothing?



Of course I was hoping that I might get potential order and I was polite and professional all the time, but it really doesn’t make a sense.



Like doruku said, basic gig is $5 anyway. If anyone potentially interested in my services in a long term doesn’t want to spend $5 to check the quality of my work, then I don’t need such client. Further more I have offered him some free test work, he accepted it and then haha he didn’t have a need for my services. Great! Wasted a ton of my time 🙂

[Guest seobookmarkbest]

Usually the buyer to send a message, but the seller was slow to reply to messages.



Slow does not mean bad.

Because we can not stay 24 hours in fiverr sites.



We are only 12-hour stay.

And separated by time zones.

I feel one day replying to a message that has been very good

[lissa_1]

Sometimes people need reassurance, especially new buyers. They may feel unsure about working with a seller they have never ordered from before. They may not understand how we operate, individually, as sellers. Either way, I don’t take it personally when buyers ask about gigs, details, or progress. I see it as the buyer being interested. As a seller, I love hearing from buyers. That being said, efficiency is important but not more important than the buyers needs. It is far more efficient to have loyal and happy customers than not.

[vonnyrobertson]

Maybe they saw one of your other gigs for ABC and didn’t see your gig for AAA, so they contacted you to ask if you do AAA.

There are many reasons why, but it doesn’t matter. Whats important is that they want human interaction before placing an order. I am a new buyer on here and I personally won’t buy from someone who is impatient or doesn’t spend time communicating back and forth answering my questions, no matter how stupid they might think my questions are. I am a successful Etsy seller and spend most of my day answering people’s questions. If I can engage with someone, thats how I turn them from "just browsing’ into buying from me:-)