Stop Asking Us If We're Available

[catwriter]

It’s even more ‘fun’ when those buyers are also sellers on Fiverr. They have created their own gigs, they know where prices and delivery times are on the gig page, and yet, they ask for the price and/or delivery time.

[silkroute]

RE : Don’t ask me if I’m available. I’m tired of answering that question.

Although there are some who eventually end up asking too many questions, but let me be devil’s advocate and opine that the first query needs to be taken in good faith. Maybe the buyer only wants to see if the seller is available or inundated with other work.

After all, simply buying a service without asking the seller does seem a bit impersonal. It’s a different thing if they were downloading a software from some site, but if it’s a real person who is going to deliver, the buyer might want to check up on them. It’s analogous to the little bell at the top of a shop door.

“ting ting potential business has arrived, someone send a sales person to service me and take care of my needs before I give you my money.” - Buyer, probably

Frankly, seems reasonable to me.

RE : Messages should be limited to the following situations.

1. The seller demands to be contacted before an order first (I hate sellers who do this, but it is their right)

It’s not a reflection of what the seller is as a person, it’s just the nature of job that he is doing. There is literally no way to take an order without prior consultation for programming jobs. If the amount of work is defined within the gig with its scope and limitation made explicit, then there is obviously no need for consultation.

One can offer ‘I will install X script on your server for 5$’

But, one cannot offer ‘I will customize your website for 5$’ because then it leads to unmanaged expectations. I’ve tried all permutations and combinations of words to tell people that it is 5$ per tweak, but buyers will still find ways to somehow fit their entire project into the definition of one tweak. “Ohh, I need a full website made for 5$, I hope that counts as one tweak, thanks”. Umm, how about no.

This is what all programmers face on Fiverr. That is why every programming gig ends with “please drop me a line and discuss your project requirements before ordering”.

I’m still experimenting with the wording, but I still appreciate it if there is a consultation phase before ordering. It might not be applicable to the kind of gigs you offer but I am glad you recognized the right of other sellers to do so. I just wanted to chime in and shed some light on why some sellers prefer to be consulted before ordering.