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Tips for Buyers From a Buyer & a Seller


mithunbaiju

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Hi there.
This is the first time I am posting something in this section (Tips for buyers). I just browse this section from now and then.
I am a seller and also a buyer. I’ve bought a few awesome gigs, from both top rated sellers and level 2 sellers. Most of them are SEO gigs, voice overs, and graphic design related gigs. So, this makes me a decent buyer.
Today, I am going to give you a few advice on how to handle and maintain a good relationship with your seller. I hope you guys find this one useful.
TIP #1:
If you are paying only $5, please don’t ask the seller to over deliver. Frankly speaking, don’t expect some sort of miracle. If you are paying only $5, you will only get what you were promised. Also, some buyers argue that all the services should be made available for only $5. If you pay $5, the seller only gets $4 in his/her Fiverr account, and when this seller tries to withdraw the money, he only receives somewhere around $3.9.
Think of it like this: If you pay $5, a seller should only work for 15 minutes to get the job done so that he/she could at least make $10/Hour.
Please try to understand that all the services on Fiverr are not offered for $5. Only very basic services are available for $5. Even when ordering these gigs, you will have to pay extra if you want something extra.
So, make sure that you don’t get frustrated when the buyer doesn’t over deliver.

XX==XX

TIP #2:
Please send all the required information to the seller as soon as you place the order. Especially, if you are hiring a web designer/writer/graphic designer…, it is your responsibility to submit the information immediately after placing the order. If you wait for 3 days to send the information, it will only delay the whole process and you might have to extend the time frame for the job.
Now, a seller also has to protect his on-time delivery stats. It is unfair that a seller should suffer due to the delay from your end.
If he/she delivers the work before completing the job, you should understand and give him at least 3 days before asking for a refund.

TIP #3:
Contrary to the popular belief that sellers are robots programmed to work 24X7, they are human beings just like you. They also have a family. They also have other things to do like eating, sleeping and taking showers. Sometimes, sellers may have to leave the computer and go out for a shopping trip or maybe they have their life partner and they want to spend some quality time with them.
Please don’t expect anyone to reply to all of your queries as soon as you hit the “send” button. Wait for 8 hours for a reply from the other side.
If you keep sending them 20 messages every hour and expect them to reply to your messages, maybe the order will not be delivered on time. I work with codes. By codes, I mean really complex MySql and PHP functions. If you keep sending me messages one after the other, I will have to take a small break from my code editor to reply to your messages. This not only breaks the coding flow but also increases the chances of bugs because when things get mixed up, it sometimes becomes virtually impossible to detect those errors at that time because we have a time-frame, your 50 messages, and a live server to deal with. If we don’t reply to your queries, you get angry, if we don’t deliver on-time, Fiverr gets angry, if we carelessly add codes, your server goes down.
To avoid these things in future, please give the seller some space. You will have enough time to point out the mistakes after the delivery. You should wait for the product delivery.

TIP #4:
Modification/Revisions don’t mean new things. Delivery revisions are made available so that you can request a seller to correct a few things that he/she missed out on or didn’t properly correct it. Don’t misunderstand it for a cool new way to pressurize a seller to over deliver. If you want more work, buy more gigs.
Revisions are useful if you think that something that the seller promised before placing the order isn’t complete. You can request a revision and ask the seller to complete the job properly.
Don’t request the modification if you are the one who is delaying the entire project. If for example, you don’t send any information until the last day of delivery, you shouldn’t request a modification. You should wait for the seller to deliver the work. If he/she isn’t charging you for the extra time he is going to spend, you shouldn’t make them suffer for an error from your end.
Please make sure that you have everything you need to get the order started and please, don’t request modification just because you want something more than what was promised to you.

TIP #5:
Please don’t threaten people who are honest and hard working. You are not going to go far by threatening people. And honestly, if you threaten someone, be prepared for the worst. If you threaten a seller, it is most probable that Fiverr’s Customer Support Team will take the seller’s side because threatening someone is illegal and against the TOS of Fiverr. If you feel that you are being cheated, calling someone by names or trash talking will not help at all. If you have a problem with a seller, you should contact customer support team to resolve the issue in a professional way. You will be digging your own grave by threatening someone.

TIP #6:
Try to always maintain a healthy relationship with your seller. If you are being nice, we may give you some bonus. I always give a few extra things to my clients who are really nice to me and appreciate my work.
The rating systems mean nothing if you guys aren’t happy with our service. It makes us happy when we see our clients appreciate our work. I think every other seller feels the same way. Even if the job was really frustrating, a few kind words can take all the heat away and put a smile on our faces. Believe me, it makes us feel special.

TIP #7:
Don’t ask for sample work, Design Mock-up or client names. There’s a reason why Fiverr offers you a great live portfolio option where you can see the number of reviews, delivered work, and client feedback.
In the line of web design, some people don’t like others to find out where they hired the web designer. They want to keep it a secret. It would be unprofessional to share their website link with you just to get your interest.
Some newbie sellers on Fiverr message level 2 & top rated sellers for these things because maybe they don’t have many clients and want to impress their future clients. They contact reputed sellers on Fiverr and ask for previously developed websites, logo design and what not. These sellers then claim that these websites were developed by them when they show it off to their future clients. This is wrong on so many levels.
So, if you come to us and ask for our sample work, please try to understand to why we are not willing to show them to you.

TIP #8:
Never use the line, "I will send more buyers your way. OR. I will give you amazing review. If you offer me this service for $5"
On an average, a web designer on Fiverr charges ~~$100. If you come to use and try to bargain us into doing the same work for $5, we will reject the offer and may not even reply. $5 + AMAZING REVIEW can’t justify more than 10 hours of hard work…
On the other hand, it would be unfair to all those clients who bought the same services for more than $150. If I offer you the same service for $10, I will be cheating all those guys who paid for my work without negotiating.
You know better than us that hiring a developer on any other freelance website would cost you 10 times of what you are paying here.

What if a seller starts compromising on the quality? It will offend every single buyer on this planet.

You don’t go to a grocery and ask them to give the vegetables for free in return for an amazing review on YELP. You want something, pay for it. Sellers also have bills to pay. Sellers don’t get to live rent free.

TIP #9:
Make sure that your first message contains the following:
Purpose of contact:
Your budget:
The amount of work you need to get done:
The time limit:
Number of revisions you want:

This will help a seller to understand what your needs are and if you could afford their services. Maybe, if a seller is in a good mood, he/she may give you a discount and take your offer. OR, if your budget is really low, a seller can bluntly decline the offer and save you some time.

TIP #10:
Always hire a seller who has at least 20-30 positive reviews under his/her belt for a high-risk job.
For example:
I read this rant on this forum where buyers called out a seller and claimed that he cheated him and because of the seller’s unprofessional behavior, he had to suffer a loss of $1K++ on his website.

If you hire a newbie to fix your website that cost you around $1K+ to build, you should be prepared for a surprise. Maybe the seller will do an outstanding job, some newbies are more talented than the oldies. But, are you willing to take the chances? I can assure you that a top rated seller on Fiverr will definitely deliver the best you can get and level 2 sellers desperately want to become top rated sellers. Level 2 seller will also take the job very seriously. So make sure that you hire a Virtuoso.
I am not saying that you should avoid hiring new sellers. They are hard working people. Give them a chance when you think that the job is very basic and could be completed on-time by a new seller.

Last but not the least,
If I offended someone, I am really sorry. This is just my opinion. I understand that yours may defer from mine.
Thanks a lot for taking the time to read this. I hope you have a great time hiring freelancers on Fiverr 🙂
Cheers

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Interesting post, it sounds like you have had a lot of difficulties with buyers!
You have some great reviews and your work looks good, I have hearted your gig for future reference but I want to give you something to think about.

I buy on Fiverr quite often, I am used to the process and I know how to make sure the work I get done is as good as it can be. Some of the best lessons I have learned as a seller have come from being a buyer. One of these is to make sure your “gig requirements” (the things you ask for from a buyer before the order can begin) are as simple as possible. I don’t mean short, I mean simple, as if you are speaking to a 5 year old child.
If you need company information to create a site, don’t just say “please send your company information”, instead list every thing your need separately - “please send me your company name, address, phone number…”. Buyers may not have been here before and many do not understand what it takes to create a website or anything else, that’s why they are here!

Another thing I began doing recently and has made a HUUUUUUGE difference is asking buyers to 1. Download the app so we can communicate more easily and 2. To definitely check their messages within 24 hours so they can answer any questions I may have.
If I have had questions and they respond, I respond and say the same thing, every time. It has meant that people have been much more responsive and it also means that it is their responsibility if an order is late because they didn’t respond.

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  • 1 month later...

Your gig is very different from mine. My buyers usually are contractors who try to rip me off as much as possible by either complaining about not replying instantly or something else.

On top of that, you are also a seller who knows how to behave with other sellers because you have been to the same path. But unfortunately, not everybody is like a seller who buys stuff.

There was this buyer who wanted me to created something like Facebook or Omegle but his budget was just $20. When I declined politely, he started abusing me and claimed that asking for more than $20 for an online is a crime and he would sue me for all my worth.

eoinfinnegan, my friend I have quick messages setup for all the above things you’ve suggested. I have even included a few youtube tutorial for retrieving username and password of a WordPress site if the client has little to no technical skills.

This is not just me. There are more sellers like me who face these problems on a daily basis. I don’t like to work with people who threaten or become really abusive. Hence, the 70+ Cancelled orders. Each worth more than $150 on an average.

Once the buyer actually got his website done and after 2 months of delivery, somehow cancelled the order and got a refund. My balance showed -$120. He didn’t pay for the webhosting due to which the company took down his website. I didn’t even care to argue because no matter how much you argue with these kind of people, they will find a new way to abuse you.

I don’t know if my account is cursed or if I am not doing something right.

I love working here but after reading way too many articles about buyers claiming that a seller cheated them and didn’t do the work, I had post this. My fingers couldn’t stop 😃

By the way, I didn’t think about the fiverr app before. Thanks a lot. A new quick response is all set to be deployed when the next person contact.

Thanks for reading this outlandishly long thing. 😃 Thanks again for the tips :slight_smile:

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  • 1 year later...

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