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'Bait and Switch' Tactics with Some Sellers?


ronasia

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From BUYER’S Perspective:

You frequently see Seller Ads like, “Will do 3 page Web Site for $5”.



Background | Every web site has a Home Page has a design theme (layout, color, type face,

HEADER and FOOTER). Once those elements are agreed to, building Page #2 and #3 takes

only minutes to complete (especially if copy is supplied ready for ‘copy and paste’).



Yet, often if the site is FOUR pages, the Seller’s price leaps 10 times or more.

Clearly out of proportion to, and spirit of, the original ad.



Once posted a request for a client assignment. Proposals came in ranging from $275 to $1,395.

For the SAME description. Again, clearly some Sellers were more efficient; others were gouging.

It could be a marketing ploy -reply with overpriced proposals, and every once in a while someone

might be dumb enough to buy.



Recently, a client requested a logo. I told them there were various vendors for $5 at Fiverr.

However, when contacted, the actual cost was not $5, but $25 (but you got 3 versions - haha).

____________________

Am sure than many Buyers have had similar experiences.



Being sort of ‘pimped’ for higher prices does not leave a

a favorable taste of all Fiverr Sellers - but especially for

the specific Seller playing pricing games.

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Agreed, Ron. The problem is that Fiverr continues to increase fees for sellers and add crud to them. This started out as a place to get things for $5 - it’s not so any more. The last homework helper who advertised $5 per problem only wanted to do the easy ones for $5. Everything else was an “extra”. I can get free help for the easy ones. The gouging sellers will state that they’re worth more than that – then go somewhere else or be upfront about it. I don’t mind paying for quality, but don’t try to bait and switch.

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Well, from a seller’s perspective, it seems to me buyers often “forget” to purchase the gig extras, or they waste my time asking stupid questions before they order. Questions like, are you available, what do you do, do you do x or y?

If the gig is active, if it doesn’t say “notify me,” then why ask?

I agree that some sellers might have dishonest gig titles, which is why you should read the entire gig, and see the gig extras. However, my titles are honest, it’s just that if you want more, you have to pay more. I’m not a charity.

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as a side note, if you are ordering a log design, the proper way to do something like that is to have a designer do up at least 3 or 4 different concepts, then usually you pick one or two, give some notes and changes and then the designer will work on the one or two until you narrow it down and then finish the job. $25 for a logo is still pretty cheap. For $5 you will most likely get someone using a template which you can do yourself online.

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Hi Ron - if you need a good contact for logos on fiverr, send me a contact message and I’ll let you know who is good. Web pages should be no more than $25 to $30 a page with design. There’s nothing for real web design for $5 and the old saying, you get what you pay for. Because fiverr states that sellers need to provide something that is $5, nobody really sells much for $5. So, the original concept of “Fiverr” is long gone! Funny enough, four years ago, almost everyone sold things for five! Now, this platform is over saturated, under managed, and somewhat out of control. There’s even people selling software, not to mention all the fake seo services, yet nothing is done to prevent this. Anyhow, send me a message so we can connect.

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What is wrong with making an upsale? After all, Fiverr is stating “prices starting from $5” not “everything for $5”.

You are right, some of the sellers are just trying to get a jack pock, but most of the prices are real and still cheaper than other services.

On a side note, anyone who is active in the online market place would know what is the actual worth of a web site, and definitely it’s more than $5 where you can only get a html template.

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ronasia said: Yet, often if the site is FOUR pages, the Seller's price leaps 10 times or more.

Clearly out of proportion to, and spirit of, the original ad.

Well, although your reasoning is right, things don't work like that from a business perspective. Many businesses offer some kind of ridiculously cheap bargain just to attract clients, and then, start charging the right price.For example, in McDonalds they charge very little for a basic burger. Then, if you want to add some more ingredients and order a fancier burger, the prices goes up out of proportion with what is added.

In Europe, we have an electronics chain called Media Markt, which is known for selling some products at a loss so clients have the illusion that it’s very cheap. But then, if you want a laptop with a little more RAM or faster processor than the one on the advertisement, it is much more expensive that the basic one offered.

So, I find that practice perfectly right, as long as they give you what they promise on their gig for your $5, and are clear about what you’re getting for your money.

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Reply to @fastcopywriter: Hey Fast Copy Writer - visited your Fiverr site. Nicely done.

I don’t think any BUYER’s (or at least not most of them) are suggesting that Seller’s are “charities”. Some Seller’s are here at Fiverr to generate fast cash (gigs); there is another crowd that are interested in acquiring LONG TERM business clients. They use Fiverr as a ‘lost leader’ to get in the door. Smart professional practice development.

THE PURPOSE OF THE POST was hopefully, to alert Sellers to the importance OF AVOIDING
what appears to be ‘deceptive advertising’. It turns BUYERS off (and the FTC doesn’t like it either).

‘Up sells’ to increase the ‘size of the average sale’ is OK - normal business stuff.
But the Up-sell should be reasonable, for example, NOT "3 pages for $5/4 pages for $50.

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Reply to @edume:

I was at Fiverr some years ago. It was a little to wild for my taste.

Seems to be a decent marketplace (with a lot of warts).

Agree with your statement, “Now, this platform is over saturated,
under managed, and somewhat out of control.”

Yeah, but this a large crowd to try and corral…

Ron


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There’s a lot of whiners here. As has been said by other people, Fiverr doesn’t mean “get everything for $5,” it means, “Buy in at $5, see how you like it, and then decide if you’re going to spend more.”

Plus, it’s a freelancer website which means that you’re not really doing business with Fiverr, but with an individual entrepreneur who decides how he or she is going to present his or her serves and what kind of offers will be made. Yes, Fiverr has a ToS that specifies certain things sellers must or mustn’t do, but beyond that? TRS, Super Seller, a million gold reviews, etc. - in a way, none of it means anything - you have to research any seller you’re going to work with and that includes deciding to spend $5 to determine the quality of work.

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This is the first time im commenting

If i dont like to eat macdonalds cos their burgers suck, i dont complain to macdonalds that they should make burgers the way i like them

I just go somewhere else. Many others will still go to Macdonalds

Now Go figure

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Vidno - you may get 1st prize for hitting the proverbial ‘nail on the head’.
Let people choose what they want. The original purpose of the post was:
(a) tell buyers what it is (and isn’t) - (b) don’t jack em with unreasonable
’Up Grades’ (in you case that might take the form of saying, “Get 30 sec Vid
for $5” OR get 45sec vid with same footage for $62.

Some will go for the 45sec version. But others may resent to sort of
’Bait and Switch’. No one wins. Maybe a lot of lost orders today (and
tomorrow).

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I don’t do 5$ orders, but fiverr automatically sets “for 5$” in all gigs that may confuse buyers. It probably does look deceptive. I hate this, but nothing can be done here yet.
Not everyone read my description carefully and I get such orders periodically, have to cancel each and one of them right away explaining the buyer that he didn’t read my description.
Sellers as myself who don’t provide identical services to all customers “on autopilot” cannot afford working with those basic gigs. Just customer’s requirements pretty often take 20-30 minutes (if not more than that) to digest.
I really hope that fiverr will make a bigger basic price available for all sellers one day. I understand that the designer can say I will draw only black and white, low resolution for that cheap price or translator can say I will translate couple of words for that…
I really have no idea what I could do to make myself and the customer satisfied for 5$…
write few words of code…, but it wouldn’t work if incomplete 🙂
For the different actual price after contacting seller - I don’t see anything wrong here.
I only provide quotes after the buyer sent me all requirements.
Price can depend on many things and if buyer doesn’t agree with it - he can always switch to another seller. I never regret loosing such customers.

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Reply to @ronasia: Thanks for the compliments. I agree with you. I used to charge $20 for domain search gig extra because that takes time, but few people were ordering, so now I charge $5.

I charge $10 for trademark searches because I hate dealing with TESS. Using that website requires clicking two different links to get started. Since business has slowed down, I’ve lowered my 24/hour rush fee to $10. Now if I had 50 or 100 people in my queue, I would probably be charging a lot more for the up sell.

Frankly, it’s always a tough decision. You can either be Walmart, and have Always Low Prices so people keep coming through the door, or you can be a Lamborghini dealership and wait for the richest clients. I like to be somewhere in between.

My goal is to get people to order gig extras. My dream is to make $400 a day, it hasn’t happened yet, but I will tell you I don’t want one hundred $5 orders. That would take more time than twenty orders for $20 or five orders for $80.

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Reply to @edume:
I beg to differ – yet again. You’re great at sharing your opinion (and subtly promoting your own services under the guise of “forum advice”), but not particularly understanding of the Fiverr platform and the benefits it continues to offer to buyers and sellers.

That being said, I know MANY sellers who sell a great deal of work for $5 each. I am one of them. The original concept is hardly long gone; in fact, if you’re following Fiverr’s updates even to a limited degree, you would see that they are making great strides to promote the $5 format, and the addition of Gig Extras to enhance those $5 services.

Fiverr is the epitomy of a free market. Sellers continue to do very well selling their services for what they feel is a fair price. And buyers continue to purchase the services that they feel are well priced within their budgets and most beneficial to their business needs – whether that be a basic $5, or a gig plus extras totaling $100.

Fiverr is a free market platform. Gig services vary widely, and differ in regard to Extras pricing. And, I hate to burst your bubble, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Fiverr is not dying, the site concept is not “long gone”, and the future of the Fiverr freelance services model remains as strong as ever.

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Reply to @ronasia and @edume: I just wanted to voice my opinion that the original concept of Fiverr is not long gone, although you do have to be very cautious and do your research. I would take care going with the word of only one person on who is good and who is affordable. I’m not disputing at all that @edume and his partner(s) may have some good suggestions but I would also hunt for yourself and see if others are willing to give opinions as well.

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Reply to @vidneo: Great point. I am not a McDonald’s burger fan either but I do find things (including fries 🙂 ) that I like on their menu - even the value menu. When I’m in the mood for cheap and fast food some fast and cheap places suit me just fine. When I’m taking my spouse out for a special dinner, we are heading to somewhere classier and paying accordingly. And, simply because the food thing fits still, I’ve also gone to very expensive places and found out that Taco Bell would have been better at five bucks than the $35 I spent at Yada Yada Grill.

Those are all principles that apply on Fiverr. Sometimes you know you are fine with those cheap fries and sometimes you know you’re want something nicer. On first tries with new vendors you just have to give things a try before you know.

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Reply to @jamesbulls: There is one exception, which is a certain category of sellers chosen for new beta pricing (in Animation only as far as I know right now) but if @ruslancer isn’t a part of that group, he is indeed breaking ToS.

This is unfortunately confusing to buyers already and I am seriously hoping if Fiverr moves forward with the new higher pricing options that they do so in a way that makes it easy for buyers to narrow their searches. If it were up to me, that would be through a subdomain or sister domain for these “Beyond Fiverr” offerings and I’d love to have it restricted to only sellers that meet a specific criteria.

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RE: Jamesbulls who wrote: “hat would be through a subdomain or sister domain for these “Beyond Fiverr” offerings and I’d love to have it restricted to only sellers that meet a specific criteria”

What a sterling idea. Would be an interesting Project to work on - develop. After all, we have ALL the skill bases already here and present.


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Reply to @fonthaunt:
I think that all sellers should be allowed to set any basic price they find fit for their work. I received recently a message that they allow now to set basic price for wordpress gig… why? wordpress is very common and amongst easiest things to work with…
There can be a section on the website “5$ offers” where buyers can be 100% sure that they can order just for this amount (like it is present on many other web resources).
The rest could be found using search or in the list of all gigs… I don’t see any problem here.
Reply to @jamesbulls:
yes, I know that. Truely speaking I don’t break anything, since I wrote in the description that I can answer few field related questions for 5$. Another thing is that people don’t usually need that and want me to actually code for this amount… which is crazy.

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Reply to @ruslancer: You have now written conflicting statements. You need to offer a clear $5 service in your gigs until you have the option from Fiverr to set a higher base price.

If you choose not to do this, your account is at risk. Stating openly that you do not do $5 orders can get you into trouble so I would advice following the current rules until Fiverr decides what and how to change them for everyone.

ruslancer said: I don't do 5$ orders, but fiverr automatically sets "for 5$" in all gigs that may confuse buyers.
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Reply to @fonthaunt:
My gig title looks like this now
"I will write a script in php, javascript, etc and consult for $5"
I meant that people sometimes ignore description and order for 5$ something that definately is gonna cost more, so it exceeds all expectations and I don’t do such orders. We have extra for that and buyers should ask what extra they need to order if it’s unclear, it’s pretty normal I think. Most of the buyers (who contact me) read description and do order properly.
It was probably unclear from my first message, that’s why I clarified.

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