sabinespoems

You're completely right! Because I kept being stuck and my main gig was doing well the thought of expanding services moved to the back of my head. I'm grateful you've pointed it out and put it back on my radar 😊 That's very true, it's indeed quite a lot of work. I think I'll just increase it and see what happens. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts!

I made some changes a while back and missed that, I'm really glad you noticed! I definitely understand your point and I actually agree to a certain extent! It's just my personal preference to remain anonymous and not have my face out there on the web. It might hurt my sales indeed, but I have to stay true to my soul and what feels right 😅 Your second point is really on point. I've actually contemplated so much about creating more gigs, but I always ended up with the thought that my main gig captures it all. I also remember reading (ages ago so I cannot share a source) that every gig needs to be different. And I always thought 'well it's all poetry!' so I kept being stuck there. I didn't think of creating a gig specifically for poetry for children though, so that's a really great suggestion! Regarding your last point, thank you so much for your kindness 😇 I find it so difficult to determine what a fair price is. I love writing poetry so it doesn't cost too much effort or time (depending on the project). Yet it still costs effort of course and takes time away from doing other things. I suppose I just find it hard to price myself haha. With this sales slump, I was actually wondering if they were too high and thought about lowering them with $5! 🙈 In your opinion, what would be a good price for my packages?

This month is my two year anniversary of my Fiverr freelance journey. Hooray I say! However, my celebration period is marked by a sales drought (queue dramatic music). For the first time, I'm experiencing no sales for the last 2 weeks, not counting my beginner period. Of course, this is far from ideal but now is the chance to critically look at my profile and make some changes. But here comes the reason for posting this........I think I'm a bit too close in order to clearly see what could potentially be wrong/could use an overhaul. So I'm asking you, the lovely insightful folks of this forum, to give me some feedback 🧐 Don't vilify me just yet for asking this! I'm a regular on the forum so I've read (and forwarded) all the tips, tricks, and must-do's when it comes to this issue. I have my own ideas and thoughts on what I can/should change. And it goes without saying I'll do more research too. So asking all of you isn't to be lazy or have you 'do the work for me', I'm just genuinely curious to know about other perspectives 🕵️‍♀️ I know 'a lot' is going on now with various discussions, so this might not be in demand right now. But I figured why not and it might be useful for others in the future too! So yes don't hold back, I'm ready and won't be offended that's a promise.

I voted for the 10% discount, but I always take into consideration what @uk1000 mentioned. But overall, people don't often try to bargain with me for some reason! Maybe because my prices aren't that high? But there are always bargain hunters out there, of course, so what's more likely is that I just don't encounter these types of buyers often. If I do, however, I usually stick to my guns (or stand my ground is a better phrasing?) and say sorry it's not worth my time. In a more professional manner of course. I noticed (what's already mentioned above), that this conveys confidence in your own skills and trustworthiness regarding the quality you'll deliver. Whenever someone wants to order something beyond my packages, I always ask about their budget to get a sense of their seriousness and if our expectations align. If it's something close to what I had in mind, I mention what I'd normally charge but since -insert reason e.g. fun project- I'll provide a discount. It makes a buyer feel special and I'm not losing a lot on the deal. Win-win! So true, I have so many buyers saying they'll gladly even pay more! But I always charge what I find is fair and according to my normal rate, because it otherwise feels somewhat like being a scammer. Perhaps that sounds dumb but I have to live with myself at the end of the day 😅

I think you did act correctly with this, but only if it was clear beforehand how many emails you would do according to the custom offer/package they ordered. Because then you'd have a leg to stand on when you contact CS by having proof you delivered according to the scope of the order. However, once the client started to demand more, you should first try to work it out of course (as you sort of tried), and otherwise try to cancel through CS. This way your effort did go unpaid, but at least your stats won't get a hit. Since you already submitted a ticket I'd await their response though! No need for that, that's what the packages are for 😊 and now you know in the future you can refer clients who try to get more work to the details of your packages. Just kindly remind them something along the lines of 'I'd be more than happy to add X amount of emails to the order. Currently however, the order contains X emails. For an extra fee of $X I'll be able to fulfill your request!'. Below is a link with some more information about cancellations, just so you can educate yourself on knowing which steps you can (but hopefully won't have to) take in the future ; Cancellations Remember that freelancing (on Fiverr and in general) is a learning curve so although it's unfortunate you wasted time without getting paid for this order, you now know better on how to handle things! I wish you the best on your journey and if you run into any more problems know that someone before you probably already experienced it, this forum is a gold mine of information 🤓

I think this is a hard (but necessary) lesson you learned about setting boundaries for yourself and not letting buyers walk over them. I'll list a few mistakes so you can prevent them in the future! Mistake #1 Not writing in your offer how many emails it contains. Even with buyers I clearly came to an agreement with, I still write it in the description so I always have that to fall back on. When, in your case, they ask for more emails you can simply refer them to the offer and say "no that's out of scope, see?" and refer them to the description. Mistake #2 Your gig is a bit vague. You write in the title it's for 100 emails, but in the packages, you differentiate between 100, 300, and 1000. This is quite confusing. I suggest you take this number out of the gig title to avoid future confusion. Mistake #3 This is basically what @mariashtelle1mentioned. Never think to yourself 'okay I'll deliver out of scope to keep the client happy' when it's clearly waaaaaay beyond what you agreed upon. Mistake #4 Assuming clients check your gig in detail. I agree, that when they don't do that it's annoying. Unfortunately, that's just reality. I write poetry and I often get asked 'can you write a poem for me'. This is why it's important to set your boundaries and clearly state both in the chat (if a buyer contacts you before ordering) and in the description of a custom offer what exactly the work is that you'll do for them. If I were in your shoes I'd stand my ground and say well you ordered this package which contains X amount of emails. If they don't agree, your only option is to cancel the order. Is it a waste of all the work you've done yourself? Yes. But it's not a waste to stand up for yourself and not let people take advantage of you!

It gives me a little stress too! And that's even whilst knowing it doesn't hurt my stats 😵

Like @uk1000said, you're fine as long as you delivered the order on time! However, something I still find weird is that when a buyer asks for a revision, the original clock keeps ticking. So if a buyer asks for a revision and doesn't provide feedback right away, your order will go over the original deadline which results in the 'late' statement combined with a red clock (I hate the sight of this 😭). So although the order says it's late, it's not and you're fine if you delivered it on time originally! There's no need to ask for a time extension when an order is in revision. However Fiverr does change things from time to time indeed, but I doubt this policy is changed too since it wouldn't be fair at all towards Sellers. Yet I'm afraid it wouldn't stop Fiverr though 😅

This is not true! And it's nice because it means nobody has to (and should) worry about ranking on the 1st page. Which seller appears on the 1st page differs per user, since it depends on factors like search history. I don't know much about these details, but it's what I've read multiple times on the forum and it just makes sense to me too. With regard to this, it all depends on what works for you. So I'd say experiment a bit! Look at your investments (try $20/$30 etc) and see how much revenue you gain from them. It also simply depends on what you're willing to pay for these promotions.

Merry jolly happy lovely Christmas everybody and a happy new year too! The gif below is a visual representation of me trying to get up after eating for 2 days straight 😅 And @filipdevaereI hope you feel better soon and that the situation over there will stabilize again 😕

I just want to let you know the fact someone 'forgets to pay' shouldn't be possible on Fiverr. Someone places an order (paying upfront) and once they complete the order the money will be given to you. Did you make a deal with this client off the site? If so, I just want to warn you that this is against Fiverr's rules and might cause your account to be suspended. I'm glad for you that things worked out but, again, it sounds a bit strange that a buyer paid you after you did the job. You should never trust people who say that since usually they're scammers. And as I said above, it's against Fiverr's rules.

Oh no.....I think soon my services will be deemed obsolete if ChatGPT can create such majestic pieces 🙈 Jokes aside though, surprisingly, it's honestly not even that bad!

What was the service that you provided?

There are 2 things you mentioned that are your own mistakes that got you into this situation. Granted, you might simply not be aware but consider this a lesson learned. First of all, Fiverr warns about taking communication away from the platform for exactly this reason (and other reasons of course). They won't be able to protect you from any scammers. Secondly, you never ever ever should pay in order to get paid. That doesn't make any sense. This approach basically comes down to you paying someone else to have them pay you. 😵 I'm sorry to be the one to say it but none of us here nor on Fiverr can help you in this situation to get your money back..

Hi there! I have no idea how you could retrieve the name but here's maybe an idea; Are there perhaps any leads to the seller you can find in the email account you used? For example, order updates etc, so you can derive the name from there?

In order to get a statement of earnings for 2018 or earlier, you have to contact Customer Support.

I'm not an expert at this but my initial thought is that it's impossible to withdraw funds to an account (whether it be PayPal or Payoneer) without an account being linked 🤔 I mean, Fiverr is essentially a system linked to another system providing a withdrawal infrastructure. If you withdraw and the money has no destination, I highly doubt it will leave your account! I believe we cannot make statements about 'your friend has it without telling you', you know him better than all of us 😊 However, maybe he accidentally did link it? For me, it often takes a day or two to receive a confirmation from Payoneer that it received the funds. Check your Fiverr account to see what is linked. You can also contact Payoneer about the blocked account and hopefully they can help you access it again, so you can check there if Fiverr is linked.

Definitely! I had briefs shut off for a while and recently figured I'd give it another shot. Needless to say, it's turned off again. I really don't like the feature because for me it's just garbage (although I know for others it does work). As you mentioned, I get many people self-promoting or saying they're looking for a job. The jobs that do get posted seem often as ridiculous as the ones posted in the BR section, despite setting a minimum (unrealistic, still not fair pricing etc). It never fits my service. But that's perhaps because I'm in the creative writing section, so that's quite broad. I get really annoyed by the email notifications that I cannot turn off. I don't want to be alarmed 2 times an hour about a brief. I'll look at it on Fiverr itself thank you! Although we hoped self-promoting behavior would stop, I think we all saw this coming unfortunately!

Despite using an auto-refresher being against Fiverr's ToS, I want to add to the discussion that it's also completely and utterly useless. In the beginning of my Fiverr journey I, like many others, checked my profile by searching it and using the online filter. Oh no, my gig didn't show! I messaged Customer Support about it (don't judge okay I was a noobie and I learned 😅) and this was (part of) their response; As you can clearly read, you need to be actively online. Simply refreshing the site, whether you or an app does it, isn't going to help at all. Besides being useless for online status and being against the rules, it also really doesn't help to get you orders. Instead of focusing on whether you're online or not, focus on creating the best gig out there or working on your skills!

Don't worry and ignore the little clock/late delivery! Whenever you've delivered an order on time and a buyer requests a revision, the clock keeps ticking. Don't ask me why and I find it very very annoying. Especially since the red clock and late statement can be somewhat intimidating and simply confusing. But the conclusion here is you're fine 🙂 I'm not sure what you mean by this, could you explain? Because technically when your order is in a revision, there's no time limit (other than the buyer's patience).

Wonderful idea, I always enjoy reading the answers on such threads! Not that the struggle of others is my entertainment, but you catch my drift 🥴 I also always strive to deliver my orders asap but unlike you, I never went out of my way to let them know. Not saying I'm better, it just never occurred to me haha. However, I noticed that people often leave comments about how I'm fast and deliver far before the deadline. What I learned is that by increasing the delivery days with 2 more than you actually need, and you deliver early, people are impressed by your quickness (it's psychological trickery folks!). Most people know the delivery deadline, so they're aware of when you deliver early. You already learned the lesson, I just wanted to provide my experience with this as well. Here's my contribution though! Starting to work on orders that haven't been placed yet This is linked to my attempt to deliver as soon as possible, as well as juggling my 'real' job with my freelancing. Many times it didn't give any issues. However, there are a few instances I worked for nothing because a potential buyer ended up ghosting or never following up on placing the order. I've completed quite a few orders, so I believe I've gotten pretty good at weeding out not-so-serious buyers from those who are. But some slip past my defense vetting wall! The hard lesson here is obvious (but still), never work and spend time on an order that's not showing up on your 'active orders' tab. Thinking raising prices will turn away buyers I waited for a long time to raise my prices because I figured people want to pay the least amount possible, especially in these expensive times. But even before that I hesitated tbh. Perhaps it's because I'm Dutch and 'being cheap' is in my nature so I expected it of others too 😅 Anyways, that's not the case. I've raised my prices steadily ever since I began with $5, and I never noticed a decline in orders. The hard lesson I learned here is missing out on revenue due to assumptions. Believing everybody will be thankful for my service I don't mean this necessarily regarding writing a review and expressing their gratitude. Nor do I expect a flood of compliments, it was a 'business' transaction overall. However, I write a lot of very personal pieces for people where I pour my heart and soul into. Sometimes it drains me mentally too. Again, it's what they pay me for so I'm not complaining! However, when this happens, and I deliver my order and it's radio silent and gets automatically completed I can't lie and say I'm not a tad disappointed. Am I upset about it when it happens? No. It's more of a 'huh, that's unfortunate' response. The 'hard' lesson I learned here is don't expect to be congratulated for something you're expected to do. This makes sense in a work setting of course, but I'm only human and it's nice to know you helped someone with your service! These are the lessons I could come up with for now 🤔

The secret is, and I do hope you're ready to receive this mind-blowing, life-changing, and exhilarating ingredient que the drumrolls please...... .....there is no secret.

It's because your buyer didn't approve of their delivery being shown in your gallery. Most people do it due to privacy for example. But at least they left a review so that's wonderful!

It's not bad for your account. You're doing Fiverr 'a favor' by helping them identify people who break Fiverr's Terms of Service. However, this doesn't mean it's good for your account as in getting benefits from it. It's simply informing them and that's that!