A Newbie's Perspective

[mrtechservices]

Continuing the discussion from Are you Offering Very Lowest Price Than the Fair Price? and realised that my reply went off-topic…:

I agree with this thread completely and stumbled on it after I wrote my gig.

I’m a newbie and I’ve had two orders so far (since I signed up in the middle of July), but that ok. I haven’t quit my day-job to live the Fiverr dream, just like a budding singer who gigs at the weekend when starting out.

In my FAQ, I have this question:
I can see you charge a little more than some other sellers doing a similar thing. Why is that?

My Answer: In the offline world, I have over two decades of experience with Microsoft Excel. I’m very good at what I do. I take huge pride in the quality of my work and my prices reflect that quality.

If someone doesn’t like my pricing, I’m ok with that too (I’m not much more expensive than other sellers in my category). I love the fact that whether or not I get the gig, I’m still building good relationships with potential buyers still. They may not have accepted this quote, but hey they may come back having remember your conversation previously.

I did my research. I looked at what others were charging in my gigging area. I checked what they did and didn’t include in their gig description. I then made it my own gig, unique and handcrafted by me.

I’ve browsed these forums, and learnt a fair amount about making the most out of my gig (hearted the ones that struck a chord with me) but I also learnt from personalities and behaviours in not just here but the web in general.

We all came to Fiverr for different reasons. Some come to get their freelance career off the ground, some come to expand their existing reach and some come trying to earn a quick cash (some come for other reasons too 😛).

It’s the desperation of these “quick cash” sellers (and their enablers) that actually do most of the damage and here’s why:

1. I refer to the original conversation that this has spawn from and that’s undercutting your fellow sellers just to try and get the gig.

Why devalue not only your own work, but the work of the profession as a whole. I’m not suggesting price fixing (because that’s wrong) but even industries where it does happen, they won’t do and get to a point where they are making a loss.

2. Desperation stinks!

Buyers (and fellow sellers) can smell it a mile off. It’s one of the biggest things that stuck out for me when researching how to create my first gig. I saw lots of informative posts like the one mentioned above, but I also saw a lot (and I mean a lot) of “I’ve been on Fiverr a week and have no orders…”, “I’ve only made X amount in my first two weeks…why?” or “Why aren’t I getting gigs fast after I did this?”.

Don’t get me wrong, I fully embrace and actively encourage peer to peer support and mentoring. I wouldn’t be on here if it wasn’t for a friend of mine who suggested that I give it a try to get started in Freelancing.

The successful sellers on here have built up that success by hard graft, commitment and that level of quality/ expected from professionals in our respective fields.

I enter the Fiverr forums and some mornings, there is such a stench of desperation that I turn around a leave and venture back later when the coast is clear. Like I said, I’m up for self improvement and self learning, but much like the successful sellers, Rome wasn’t built in a day and as a newbie I ventured in to this with that ‘take my time approach’. My advice…don’t look so desperate. It’s embarrassing! Not only for you, but for as a seller community as a whole.

3. Finally, the enablers!

Ok, they aren’t quite enablers in the traditional sense. I suppose I’m referring to what can only be best described as bragging. “Wow! I made X in my first X days on Fiverr!”, “I’ve only been on Fiverr this amount of time and look what I’ve made!” and the classic “Fiverr is easy, I went from X a week, to Y a week”.

So, to tidy this up and to bring it back to the original conversation of Low Price v Fair Price, we as sellers must also take some of the blame (whether you’re a newbie, pro or a level two seller).

How can it be expected that the “quick cashers” wouldn’t feel enticed to lower their prices and/or create loads of gigs when they see topics effectively bragging about earning quick money. It’s the equivalent of a brand new toy craze and all shops start to sell something similar in the hope of cashing in on the latest buzz.

The sad reality is that there are probably only the small minority of sellers on here that make lots of cash quickly, while the rest of slowly (like Rome) build our empire. I said it in the beginning, I’m ok with that.

I’m not here to make quick cash, I won’t devalue mine or my profession’s pricing just to undercut other sellers because it’s not only not fair to your category but to you and the value you have in your own quality and work.

Anyway…Hi! I’m new here and nice to meet you all. 😄

Edit: I’ve just seen the length of this…:running_man:t2: might have to head over to the buyers section find myself an editor lol.