Another Risk we Sellers Take

[seofanatics]

Everything on Fiverr work against sellers. I am not here to rant, so don’t screw me up. I had a funny experience today and I still don’t know how Fiverr expect sellers to benefit from such decision. It is a bad experience, but i am happy it is just $5.

I completed my regular office work and I decided to quickly work on one of my orders. I logged in and went straight to my dashboard so that I can deliver the work. I clicked on “deliver your order” and uploaded the work. Like every other day, i described what I have done and clicked deliver.

The next thing I see is the “orange colored” notification bar that says “for privacy reasons you may not be able to contact this seller”. I clicked on “view discussion with buyer” and the same notification came up. It appears that the buyer’s account has been disabled.

I think it would be okay if Fiverr has alerted me to stop working on the order since they have disabled the account. When they disable an account, they didn’t stop the person from existing. Assuming the work is a website development project that cost about $2,500 and I completed it before knowing that the buyer has been banned, what other ways will Fiverr compensate me?

If anyone has experienced similar thing, please share it and tell us the possible solution.

[emmaki]

Honestly I’d just contact Customer Support here and ask for the funds. It’s bad timing and nobody’s fault, and it’s only $5 to keep your goodwill. I would also wager this is a pretty rare and not a risk compared to the more usual stuff.

Besides, it could be a temp disabled account in which case it might come back up much later (and after your delivery deadline has expired) and you’ll be “ridiculously late” and the seller might cancel because reasons, so contact them anyway. You want that backup evidence to get the bad review nixed.

See? No problem, no risk! Just bad timing and an automatic system doing what it should.

[bojansavikj]

I’ve experienced this two times so far as well. Bad feeling…

[misscrystal]

Sellers take on a couple of risks like this one and the one where a buyer has gotten a refund from Paypal. It is part of being self employed that you have these happen sometimes. Fiverr is not responsible.
A notification when this happens would be a good idea.

[mgjohn78]

Not really part of being self employed, just part of working on a third party online platform with a privacy policy that prevents you from utilizing your standard means of protection whatever they may be in your case (maybe insurance, tax deduction on losses, using a billing service, selling the debt to a debt collector etc).

[fonthaunt]

Fiverr does let you run your account as a business. I know of one TRS who works with a team who uses a service to handle splitting funds between team members via a payroll, etc. I know of several sellers who use accountants for taxes and such.

My Fiverr income is still in a hobby business category, but I deduct all equipment, office space in my home and losses including chargebacks. Fiverr is just my “landlord.” I used to rent space to sell physical items and my landlord didn’t pay me back when a shoplifter stole a $500 set of silver spurs, either.

[alinahu]

Hi, one of my Buyer was refunded after 3-4 months after order completion. Probably it also happened due to his account elimination. Hope there will be a way out though.

[seofanatics]

Fiverr is just my “landlord.” I used to rent space to sell physical items and my landlord didn’t pay me back when a shoplifter stole a $500 set of silver spurs, either.
You should also remember that the shoplifter is a tenant in the same house and the landlord knows about the business between both parties. In fact, the landlord plays the major role because he’s the one in charge of the money, and if things go wrong with
one of the parties, the other party should be notified immediately.

[seofanatics]

were you notified prior to their decision?

[mgjohn78]

Ok, according to my bookkeeper client information would be requested when filing for a tax deduction on a chargeback, and naturally a debt collector wouldn’t buy the debt without knowing who to collect from.

[seofanatics]

Whoever disabled the account is at fault. Imagine if the order is worth $5,000+ and i completed it before being notified. I contacted customer support after the incident and i was told that the buyer is no longer in Fiverr.

[misscrystal]

What prevents you from having insurance and tax deductions on losses?

[misscrystal]

You give up certain things by using fiverr to handle all transactions and it’s up to you to decide it’s worth it.

[fonthaunt]

I agree that collections would be difficult to pursue and that’s the price of anonymity for you and clients. I’ve never had any issues deducting losses on my taxes, though. I’m not trying to collect a debt by then, I’m saying that my time and work was stolen, essentially.

[mgjohn78]

Thats true, my strategy here is to understand the risks and do business accordingly. For me this means keeping fiverr as a small hobby on the side.

[king_of_kings]

The same experience 1 year ago with me ! and when i pinged suppport they responded that the buyer used Stolen card for payment !

[mgjohn78]

Might differ in different parts of the world, but i think im going to ask about this at the local tax office as i dont think bookkeeper has any actual experience with chargebacks on fiverr.
I have actually been lucky enought not to experience a chargeback on fiverr yet. Outside of fiverr it has happened multiple times over the years, + clients have left bills unpaid etc but i have always ended up getting most of it back.

[seofanatics]

Exactly my thought. However, if the situation is serious, they should at least notify the seller about their action.

[bojansavikj]

no, but I think they will soon put this feature and start notifying the sellers

[seofanatics]

I hope so too.

[writer99025]

"My Fiverr income is still in a hobby business category, but I deduct all equipment, office space in my home and losses including chargebacks. "

This is a very good idea…I will ask my accountant if I can deduct my office space as well.