[How To?] Tips for Handling Large Orders

[flyingmongoose6]

A few months ago, I received an order from someone to create a relatively short promo video. The order total was over $50 which I was pretty excited about even though that may not seem like much to many sellers here on Fiverr. I was talking to the buyer before the order started about the details of the project, and I was still unclear about a number of aspects of the video. I decided to allow him to place the order anyway, assuming I would be able to clarify any additional details after the order had already been placed. This is were I made my first mistake.

I attempted to contact the buyer after the fact and he partially answered one or two of my questions, but at a certain point he was either not responding at all, or provided inadequate answers. Combine that with the fact that he was taking 48 hours to respond to each question, and it becomes clear that communications had deteriorated. The clock was running low on the order, and I did not want to be late, so I delivered what I was able to complete. Due to the lack of response on the buyer’s end, the work I delivered was not a good as it could have been. He then told me that I needed to make the video more professional, and of course did not provide many details, and still refused to answer my questions. Unfortunately, I was forced to cancel the order. This was after I had already put around 12 hours of work into
the project!

The other mistake I made was accepting a project of this length for such a small amount of money. I believe the lesson here is that a buyer who is not willing to pay an adequate amount for a service is probably not very serious or dedicated to the project. This is the kind of person who is likely to cause you problems. It is important to know the value of your time.

Recently, I received an order for a lot more than the previous discussed. Again this was very exciting. However, it is important to note that this time, I did not jump right into the project. The buyer and I started with a very small order for a small portion of the project. I delivered, and he loved it and left me a 5 star review- I knew that this person was someone I wanted to work with. We promptly started the order for the rest of the project. He was very polite and responsive throughout the rest of the order, and was willing to fully answer any questions.

So the lesson to be learned is: don’t undervalue your time, and always split up large orders into smaller segments to avoid wasted time. Also, always get all your questions answered before actually starting an order.

[fonthaunt]

Great post. One suggestion I have is that if you can still edit it, you might divide the post into paragraphs to make it easier to read. If you need help with that, I can help you.

[flyingmongoose6]

Thank you very much! I just divided up the post, let me know what you think.

[carrieglenn]

Yikes! What a disaster. So sorry! I’m brand new and found a great solution! Have “required” questions that really delve into your buyers’ clients.

For my top selling gig, I have several questions ranging from “what are your clients/potential clients’ biggest struggles?” to “in a perfect world, what would be available to them to solve their problems?”

This serves me well as each answer gives me EXACTLY the info I need to give the buyer what he/she needs. It’s a win-win. And they are LOVING the work they receive.

Bonus: the order timer doesn’t start until they submit the answers. I’ve had a half a day go by before some orders officially started and that works in my favor.

Best of luck to you and feel free to message if you have any questions or would like to know the other 5 answers I make them give 🙂

[akmgfx]

Thanks for the important tips, now days Buyer are very Unresponsive :(,

Thats why i add Required Information mandatory to order my gig, for it I Got some Incomplete order as buyer not fill the required information, in average i get 2-3 Incomplete order in 1 week, i know it loss for me but i’mm happy that i not waste my time and energy on a project where buyer is not serious or dedicate to the service

Thanks again for the informative tips 🙂

[eoinfinnegan]

I have started telling buyers to get the Fiverr App as it is easy to use, does not send notifications unless necessary and it is much easier to respond quickly with it. Many of them do get it and communication is much easier.
They often do not know there is an app!
On longer gigs, I mention it in the initial order requirements.

[onlinedzshop]

Yeah i do that, whenever i get an order, i respond that the order will be delivered on time and then i recommand them to install the app to make communication easy and get notifications when i ask for someting or deliver

[onlinedzshop]

Great, all i need now is a large order to handle 😃

[n_shah]

Amazing post.Thanks mate.We should always see the project length and time consuming before agreeing to a heavy amount project.

[outcomesmeasure]

The first conversation with a buyer before any high value order is critical (I do business plans, so I cannot break) - During that conversation, as a seller you can gauge their seriousness, if they are potential free loaders, if they have clarity in what they want, if they have read gig description, if they are inconsistent about what they want, if they are unsure, then share some expertise - Rest is smooth. That initial chat is the crucial.

[aphollingworth]

Hi guys,

Great post here and a good lesson for all. I’m currently dealing with a difficult buyer who hasn’t accepted my custom offer and is trying to haggle more revisions and a cheaper price.

To put this in perspective for you, he originally explained very poorly what he wanted. I actually couldn’t understand what he was saying. After a few back and forths it turns out he wants an intro to his radio show (I do voice-overs). He didn’t really have a concept but, before being paid for anything, I wrote him a script and sent him a rough demo of what I could do for him.

The free file I gave him is low quality (deliberately, as if watermarked) and I have sent him a custom offer for the proper file. I offered $25 as he wants effects, music, the works! Anyway, he has remained annoying and tried to haggle. I decided to compromise and say “Okay, we’ll put the order through one of my new gigs, I’ll do it for $10 but I would like a 5 star review.” For that I offered it with 1 revision. Long and short is he is still not happy with that. I’ve told him (politely) that we can’t go any lower. He’s now demanding 2 revisions and saying that there is more work for me in the future…

I don’t want the hassle of working with this person. Is there a way to block them? There is a report button but I feel that that might be too harsh.

[mistu404]

Moderator Note: Gig spam removed.

[onlinedzshop]

Dude, not cool! don’t spam posts if you still wanna be on fiverr.

[fonthaunt]

Good job! Pinning this one for now.

[aishdesigner]

Great Post

[mariokluser]

Don’t spam!

[mariokluser]

Great example why communication is key!

I always make sure that all the questions are answered before I make a custom offer.
Sometimes it happens that the buyer sends me a larger file than the original file where I based the custom offer on. Then I immediately retract the custom offer and create a new one, base on the new file. Of course I inform the buyer beforehand in a polite way. This way everything runs smoothly.

[psychicbunny]

Nice post!

[brittanyzebraa]

Wow! Talk about nightmare client! Sorry that happened! I’m glad you learned some lessons though and applied them to the next time something similar came up… and then shared them with us (;

[oshquar]

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Oshquar

[chrylent]

Great post that it helps us to handle large orders. I work as a forum poster in fiverr and sometimes I used to get bulk orders which will help me to control the situation and its really helpful.

[nukjdhdkl]

good post

[nurul]

split it and you still have time to make revisions. good points.

[ritchiecaron]

I’m new to this and was pleased to have 2 clients editing music during my first week on fivrrr… Both times I made the mistake of not clearly understanding the gig and quoted a low price. just to get started. I’m not at all bitter about making this rookie mistake…
When I have no projects on the go I’ll often try something new and challenging anyway…
The last one involved many edits for an ethnic dance recital with good quality music that was never locked into a tempo probably because it was recorded on tape with exeptional musicianship. That meant stepping it up a few notches with actual performances and old school linear editing to get the timing just right…
There is no way the byer could have known that these requets would be so challenging. Most music is digital these days so adding drum loops and effects are not that hard once its locked in.
I dont know how common it is for a 2 hour job to turn into a 20 hour one. Or how many others have crashed and burned over the tiny variations in tempo that comes from actual humans playing actual instruments…
Proper communicating and planning is the first lesson I’ve learned here…
Not commiting to a price right away would be the second one…
🙂

[pr_junction]

Once I received an order where buyer had provided instructions in an unclear way that I couldn’t understand. Hence, I asked for clear instructions so that I can deliver a great product. But I didn’t receive any update from the buyer and as the deliver clock was ticking I delivered the order with whatsoever instructions I had received, with the fear in mind that order will get rejected as I myself was not satisfied. And so it happened. Buyer communicated very promptly this time with comments something like “Wow! you ignored me!”. He was telling me that I didn’t pay attention to what he had said. And infact, I had asked for clarification already for which no quick reply or reply at all was received !

I don’t know why but despite I asked for further instructions and showed my willingness to do the free revision he didn’t reply at all. Fortunately, unlike you had to go through, this order did not get cancelled but it wasn’t a satisfactory experience despite I earned for that order !

And at the other hand, I get so many awesome buyers who know what they want and give me clear cut instructions about the size of logo, font to be used URL, placing etc. and on the first go they get what they want and I get excellent feedback 🙂