Charging the "Commercial Use" extra - YES or NO?

[charlespots]

Hi there!

So I did some editing on my gig (voice-overs) and didn’t notice that somehow the “Commercial Use” extra box was ticked automatically or by accident.

Now a highly valued repeat customer has placed an order and, lo and behold, there’s the extra in the order’s invoice. It’s only 5$ and maybe that’s why they didn’t object + we’ve had really great cooperation before, but still - this is new for me.

I’m kind of on the fence about using this extra. What’s your experience - voice-over and otherwise - regarding it? I mean, the level of service on Fiverr by some sellers is truly exceptional, and maybe it improves the perceived value of the seller and the gig… On the other hand, this is supposed to be a site for budget-friendly solutions…

Have you found new customers less willing to order after you’ve implemented “Commercial Use” or has it maybe even helped your sales? Any feedback would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Charles

[theratypist]

Well, I don’t offer voiceover gigs but I’ve purchased some before, and purchased all of them from the ones with no commercial license extras. 🙂 I notice even some top sellers do not offer this extra, perhaps to gain more sales or they just don’t feel like placing it. But that’s what’s amazing with Fiverr, you have the choice and freedom on your prices. If you feel more comfortable placing the commercial license extra then by all means place it! It will gain you some extra cash as well. I believe there are lots of people who would purchase the extra, most especially if the voice you use in your gig is something unique and different from the rest. 🙂

[whitehatseo10]

You want to become rich, aren’t you?
ps: I’ll never buy from you!!!

[fastcopywriter]

I think “commercial use” is a scam, and smart buyers will see it as such. I write brand names, 99.99% of brand names are for commercial use, so are voice overs, e-mails, resumes (you’re selling yourself), headlines, so are most things that get done on Fiverr. We should charge extra for extra work, not for what the client will do with the work. That’s my view.

P.S. Suppose I hire you and don’t pay you for commercial use. What will you do about it? How will you stop me? See? It’s a waste of time. Only buyers that don’t know better will pay you.

[emmaki]

I’m struggling to understand why you added the P.S., to be honest…

As for the original poster, just take the extra money and run. Anyone who moans about the extra $5 charge for what I presume is a license to use the VO anyway they feel fit in perpetuity is probably someone you don’t want to work with anyway.

[charlespots]

Yeah, I’m kind of on the same page, thanks! Except for a few college projects, all my jobs have been commercial, so there shouldn’t be a reason for me to start charging extra for them.

I already removed the extra from my gig, and now instead of being unsure I even feel good about my decision.

Thanks for the feedback!

[charlespots]

Thanks for the feedback! I totally agree with you regarding the democracy of the Fiverr platform, but it also illustrates perfectly that, with the extra in place, my gig could become uncompetitive. At the end of the day, it’s just 5$ - I value my clients more than that.

[charlespots]

Yeah, those 5$ will really push me towards finally buying a Ferrari. 🙂

[fonthaunt]

@whitehatseo You have the right to offer extras (or not) and not all types of extras will help make you rich. Depending on the type of gig, the personality type and skill of the seller and other factors, some extras can hurt sales. I don’t fault you for giving your opinion to the OP about getting rich, that’s fine.

I don’t understand your need to be routinely rude and mean to others on the forums. This one is minor and granted, I am willing to say that I wouldn’t buy from you either based on your attitude. I would buy from the OP based on attitude.

[mrvoicetalent]

New guy here. When I went through setting up my gig, I saw that option as well, and hesitated for a second. In the end, I agree with “fastcopywriter”, It’s kind of a given that most clients ordering voice over work will be using it some commercial capacity. I don’t feel like nickel-and-diming people.

[fonthaunt]

I personally wouldn’t use a Commercial Use extra if I had gigs where it was offered. I think it is not legally enforceable internationally, unlike copyright which is easier to define. As a buyer, I don’t buy from anyone who insists on charging me a commercial use fee. I have a lot of respect for you for asking and for thinking of your buyer. Sometimes repeat buyers are much more important than one-time buyers who realize that other sellers don’t charge a fee.

My general advice on this single episode is just to accept the extra money since it was paid for voluntarily. Fiverr automatically adds the Commercial Use fee as active unless you turn it off. As to the long term, you can always test it out. You could see for yourself if more buyers routinely buy as much or more than they did before, even if you charge the fee. If you don’t like the fee, though, it’s your right to turn it off as you wish. Good luck either way! 🙂

[charlespots]

Yes, totally. I put myself in the client’s shoes and the very basis of the extra does seem excessive for something that everyone knows will be used commercially anyway. Maybe there are gigs where this is useful, though.

Best of luck on your Fiverr journey, btw! 🙂

[charlespots]

Thanks! You put it perfectly - “As a buyer, I don’t buy from anyone who insists on charging me a commercial use fee.” I feel the same way and thus have removed the extra.

It worries me, though, that such a potentially sale-harming option would be automatic. There are probably gigs where this extra is needed or beneficial, but for VOs at least it does seem like overkill.

I have accepted the money and am providing syncing to video free of charge for the client. In the future, though, I will stay away from this extra.

[fonthaunt]

As a heads-up, Fiverr has recently begun auto-adding new features to the dismay of many sellers and buyers. Just in case, I try to glance over my active gigs often.

That’s also why I used the words “anyone who insists” on that fee. I realize that some sellers don’t mean to use those features. I have messaged a seller to ask if I can buy from them without paying the fee. Some get rude, some lie, but many admit they don’t know what it is. They don’t insist on it and then I will buy.

[gina_riley2]

I’m only a buyer and not a seller here on Fiverr. I have purchased eBook Covers from a few different sellers. Is there a reasoning behind the price set on Commercial Use; some seem to be pretty low at only an additional $5 while others as expensive as $25.00 and anywhere in between. They are all creating an eBook cover so why do some charge more than others?

Also, there are a great deal of great sellers who do NOT charge Commercial Use at all. I have two great sellers which I have used multiple times and produce exceptional work without all the added extras.

I had one seller who told me I had to pay $15 for the Commercial Use License or I couldn’t put the cover design on any website. With the extras, the total came out to $30 for a cover; not to mention they missed the deadline twice and never delivered.

I went to another guy who did an amazing job for only $5 and never asked me for anything extra. Since then I’ve used him multiple times.

[mariokluser]

I once hired a gig from a (voice)actor here and not just out of respect but also for legal reasons I asked beforehand if I could use the work he delivered for commercial purposes.
It should not be the question ‘How will you stop me if I use it commercially anyway?’.The question should be ‘What if he files a law suit and I have to stop the production of whatever I’m working on that includes his work’.
If you meet the wrong guy your business is toast!

[mariokluser]

If the more expensive guy had delivered an outstanding service (what includes on time delivery and good communication) you would have most likely stick by him and paid the $15,-

[magy1808]

I am in Design field, so this is my opinion and experience. I use a commercial license extra and I charge it $50, if there was an option to charge it more I would, most likely dependently on design up to $1000. WHY?

Here is the thing. I will use simple example as just an ordinary eBook cover. Lets do math here. So, I offer to do custom design (as I wont download the image from internet and put a title to it), I will in design use my own clip art, here and there free clip-arts with my arts, I invest time into doing it, and I do revisions if necessary to make it perfect, as well if my client wants specific font, and it has no commercial free license I will buy it or contribute to the designer (not recreate it), or I will use free font, standard font or make my own. Now that same book cover is representation of a book (we all know books do get judged by the cover), and if there on amazon or wherever is selling is not standing my name and surname and link to my fiverr profile as a contribution to a designer then my buyer has to purchase commercial license (I would like to see copyrights extra too). see, book might sell in millions and millions samples, by lowest royal rate on Kindle one sample will be 2,99; do the math and tell me that commercial license for distribution of your work after all you done to make it unique and not copycat of something else really worth nothing or $5 only?

Does your unique article distributed in commercial waters, or your specific voice worth only $5 or nothing when someone is actually after buying from you making money out of it?

If someone doesn t buy off of you commercial license and copyrights that all is still your property and in any time matter you have a full right to demand % of a sale. It is up to you how you want to brand and sell yourself. I know I want to be contributed and credit for my work or sell it properly. Thanks to that policy and rule I have, I have had buyers who made an account on fiver because of a cover I did for someone else who credited me for it. They made an account and purchased from me, coz they loved what I did, so that way I am selling myself and making me being a brand in something, slowly but progressively.

We are lets say more or less small sellers, and trying to do something here, be on market, but that doesn t mean we have to under value ourselves. Whatever you do, you are good at it, you get hired multiple times, which means what you do is selling amazingly good, so value yourself and charge it properly.

All my premium packages inside of GIGs are having an commercial license and full copyrights included, and guess what, I did get orders in worth of $250 for a design with commercial license and copyrights, because there are serious buyers who understands the law of market and want to own what they purchased.

[mariokluser]

Well said!

[gina_riley2]

So how does one determine how much to charge for commercial use license? Is it a personal choice?

So far, I’ve had some excellent experience with great sellers/designers. Most indie authors make next to nothing with their first set of books. At 35 cent royalty, I would have to sell 800 more eBooks to cut even; since I’ve spent over $300 in design and cover + tip, here and there, for several books. The rate I’m going, I will never cut even. Just FYI.

[gina_riley2]

Maybe. I found three excellent sellers with speedy service, great communication and no demanding extras. I try to leave them a tip for their professionalism whenever I can.

At a mere 99 cent to 2.99 per book with royalty set at 35% (not 70%). I’m losing money faster than making. I won’t quit my day job anytime soon; otherwise, I won’t even be able to afford the $5.00!!

[magy1808]

See things on market goes like this. You either do what you love to do and don t pay attention on what is selling, or you do a market research and sell what market needs and wants. Plus that you have to be aware of targeting audience, targeting market. Every market you want to sell on has its standard price and rules. I wrote book myself, way I wanted, way I liked it and enjoyed in it, and tbh here not much people are interested in reading my thoughts about relation quantum physic, religion and conscience trough confusing autobiographic weird story. But my goal was not to sell, it was to write and leave it there, so I draw my own cover and pages, it was more for me then for anything else. If I wanted to write a selling book I would write something like: 7 steps to ultimate happiness, because (no offense to anyone) that is a crap people buy thinking how it will magically solve their life problems.

If you want to earn a money with indie book and have a great inviting cover for that targeting market this is what you need: make yourself a brand, learn how to sell not just a book, sell your opinion, spread over social media, blog comments etc, do pr. That way you can afford great designer. You not making a cut is not because design and commercial license etc is very expensive (on fiverr is really cheap, try to buy a stock image with commercial license, with all benefits, format, quality and sale you wanna do with a book it will cost you approximately 900 euros, and that is just an image, you still need someone to format it correctly, put title etc), it is because you are not selling yourself. That is the same thing we keep saying new sellers here, want to sell, do it right: research, learn, use social media, be recognizable and be brilliant, better then others. And as I recall when you are self publishing with Kindle you have an option to determinate the price of your work on your own. I would rather buy a self-published book for $14,99 then $0,35, because it shows me the author knows him and his work worth more then 0,35.

And on the end, it is all business. Keep a track on it, be consistent, value yourself, respect your own work and yourself, push yourself to upgrade, develop and be better then you are, or let yourself to get lost in a see of million others trying to do the same thing.

[gina_riley2]

Good luck to ya. I wish you the best in your business. I do not have the artistic talents as many of the great designer on Fiverr; therefore, I come here to hire others that can do what I can not.

I have nothing to sell on FIVERR but I will continue to buy!!

[magy1808]

Most of us sellers buy here and there too. And trust me if you are creative enough to write, you most likely are able to envision artistic stuffs… 🙂

[zoranfiver]

As a fellow graphic designer, I understand why you use the Commercial Use Gig Extra - the buyers will use your work endlessly and without any limits. However, I don’t think charging so much for the license is a great idea, at least here on Fiverr.

Many buyers love Fiverr because of great services for reasonable prices, so making the license cost more than the actual service could potentially turn away a lot of buyers.