~Keep Calm & Breathe, When Buyers Don't Read~

[speedy876]

Hello Again Fiverr Community,

I realize that quite a few persons have queried how to maintain 100% rating and not start world war 3 each time an “aggressive” buyer hits “Order Now” without reading the gig details.

1. The sooner we understand that nobody’s perfect, the easier it will be to pile on extras versus mounting cancels.

2. The average person may work during the day, have a ‘life’ after work and only have a limited amount of time when they log in to Fiverr to get a quick task done. (NB. Could be a parent of 8 or 12, or Bill Gates trying to order with his phone while dodging the cops before heading into a meeting.)

3. Bottom-line: They are willing to pay you to do something, whether they read your post or not… Be grateful they actually hit your “Order Now” button vs. the millions of sellers here. Kindly remind them that your terms state it’s an additional $10/$20 to “pilot a rocket to Mars in 24 Hours.” (whatever your gig may be about), and let them know they can attach it from the top of the order page / you can add it as a custom extra (from that same message).

If they decline based on their budget:
A) It won’t hurt to offer a slight discount.
B) If they seem to be a Fiverr Top Buyer, offer to just do the order seeing it’s their first with you, and advise that future jobs will require the standard charges.
C) Guide them to a cheaper seller who may be able to accommodate, advise them to do their research before ordering and let them know they may sacrifice quality for quantity, but will still get their job done.

Wish all customers a great day, and keep yourself having an even better week.

                   “Expect problems and eat them for breakfast.”                                         — Alfred A. Montapert

Cheers,
Speedy876

[gailbunning]

While I think this is decent advice, I personally am not keen on discounting for not reading. It’s not that much to read, ha ha!

[Guest nicktribedesign]

The lesson here is keep your gig description super simple so everyone can quickly understand it with little reading required.

[speedy876]

@gailbunning - we know this feeling all too well, but it helps if it is a large enough order for someone who is potentially cash strapped. You may feel a little strange cancelling a $80 order if the buyer came up $20 short 🙂

@nicktribedesign - Very good point, but we have to remember, there will be customers who will order our well described gig, but expect a lot more than we actually offer. Even ‘very little reading’ is a large task for some buyers at times.

Best Regards,
Speedy876

[julipalmer7]

I like this post, I agree, in instances where a buyer orders without contacting me I give them two options to choose, either what I offer for $5 or the actual amount of what I do offer what they placed for their order.

[Guest havardh]

I agree with you @speedy876

[solow13]

Discounts? not a great tip on Fiverr!

[abuhena45]

Very Important Information

[emmaki]

Discounting people who don’t read gig descriptions sounds like a FABULOUS idea!!!

How about I order a $5 gig from you while expecting whatever your most $$$ service is. Oops, didn’t read the gig description, but I heard you give out discounts because you don’t mind since you’re desperate for the money so my $4 will help!!! And if I don’t like it, well, sucks to be you, because I’m going to slam you for being “difficult to work with” and giving me a “poor customer experience”.

I often wonder about the legions of people who say “great post/nice tip/thanks/very important information” to this kind of post. I don’t think they read the OP either. It’s an epidemic!

If a buyer for some reason hasn’t understood, I pretty much follow what @julipalmer7 does.

…Of course, sometimes there’s no response at all and so I just deliver and then get messages like “I didn’t see that” (dude, I messaged you daily with a quick reminder for a week, don’t lie) and finally “this is awful customer service”. I had quite a few options. I chose c).

a) let it all spin out until late delivery, reducing my delivery stats and leaving myself open for automatic bad reviews
b) cancel–but with a non-responsive buyer, it likely wouldn’t have been accepted. Net results: a black mark against my account.
c) contact CS. They told me to deliver and see what happens, and then “work with the customer” after he got disgruntled.

These are the kind of people I should offer discounts to? No way. At least this seller promised not to leave me a negative review. Oh hell, have the final feedback from him.

So no, don’t give out discounts. You’re cheating yourself–and I suspect this buyer relies on discounts. You can have him.

[emmaki]

Like you, I only offer discounts to clients I’ve worked with for some time, and it’s more a less a “thank you”. This is not a digital product where a perma-slashed 85% discount applies, this is us putting in our time and talent into our service. So pay us. Once we have a great relationship, then you can enjoy little discounts as and when I, as a business, choose to do so.

Don’t get me started on the “if this goes well, you’ll have tons of poorly paid work if I remember” crowd. Just another fact of freelancing. The only thing I like about Fiverr is not having to bid.

B) is ridiculous in itself. Your first charge sets the standard. This OP genius doesn’t even understand the first rule of haggling. Just roll over like a kitty and purr for the cents and hope the dollars come later. Oh boy…

(I have stopped caring about offending people)

[speedy876]

@emmaki - Your standpoint is understandable, but please note that these are options in my post. Additionally, please remember it is only one point that is an option I would recommend for persons who are new sellers and may be struggling to get at least a sale per month. It is still imperative to not forget that none of us started as a L2 or a TRS. The good ol days of praying for a $5 order are gone, but are still the current nightmare for a lot of newbies out there.

Also - By suggesting a slight discount, is quite the opposite of “a $5 gig from you while expecting whatever your most $$$ service is”… it’s just a suggestion if you may be new, finally got a $20 order and they forgot to add the extra $5/10. In the beginning, I am sure we all preferred to nail a sale, rather than expect to be rich the next day, as in those days - a positive review was indeed worth more than an extra 5/10 bucks. Per your last comment, by no means would an experienced seller roll over and pur like a kitty for cents, but as a new seller, we all didn’t start with a mindset of “stop caring about offending people” else majority of us wouldn’t be where we are today. However - like I said, the outlined are still just options in the event that a new seller may be trying to rack up sales - not a pledge one has to sign to avoid being peeled alive.

@myvideoservice - I am in full support to be wary of buyers who will issue these meaningless statements to try to catch a ‘free’ ride, and also agree with only giving thought to granting discounts to repeat buyers and long term customers. - I do believe though, that these tips are genius and also what majority of us ‘experienced sellers’ have seen first hand, but I still keep in mind the newer members, who may need to get their 1st or 2nd sale after 3 months, just to energize their confidence; for them - they are still in the dark about repeat buyers. I would implore them to be careful, but if they really want to get their ball rolling, I think taking $20 for a $25 order if an extra was missed in the order phase, could go a long way for them in the long run. Not to become a habit, but to understand the process of give and take, to get their sales moving.

At times, I may review a new seller’s profile just to help them out, and if they’re doing everything correctly, but no sales yet - I find it quite painless to order a $5 order from them, just to get them on the radar, because I know how hard it can be to get that engine started… So all suggestions are just options that may help, possibly not immediately beneficial (financially), but in any business start-up - Good Service is Good Business. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Best Regards,
Speedy876

[fonthaunt]

Well, your name doesn’t even look Hawaiian but who knows?

[Guest funky_master]

One should not give attention to such acts from the clients !