Fiverr Community Forum

Avoiding bad buyers?

Your Fiverr Experience The Ranting Pot
#1

Hey all, this is my first post and I’m sure there are many like it. I’d appreciate any perspectives!

I’m a music producer and sell instrumentals here, a vast majority of my experiences have been great! I just had my first bad experience with a buyer and I would like your perspectives or advice on what to look for as far as red flags for buyers.

A buyer reached out to me asking for an instrumental and said that they needed it within three hours but wasn’t sure if they should order because they don’t know what they’ll get. They provided me with a link to an example instrumental and asked if I could make something similar. I offered to make a short snippet(20 seconds of music) to ease the worries of the buyer and I would then use the snippet to build the rest of the instrumental. The buyer seemed to like it and wanted to move forward so I made the desired instrumental. Upon delivery the buyer told me the instrumental I sent was bad and nothing like what they were after even though it was an extended version of what I already sent them before they even ordered. I went through with the refund(via cancellation) because there seemed to be no way to please this buyer within the short time span and I did not want a bad review. The buyer essentially got a free instrumental from me but that’s life, I can’t do anything about that now.

Was a refund/cancellation the best way to go or could I have approached this differently? Is the slight dock in gig completion (dropped from 100% to 95%) more or less significant than getting a one-star review? Do you have any recommendations for red flags to look out for when someone is making an order?

I know its impossible to avoid “bad buyers” but any perspectives are useful. Thanks!

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#2

He wanted work for free, no doubt about that. I’m in the music business as well and have had the same experience multiple times, they either request infinite revisions or after the delivery they say they don’t like it. At first, I was cancelling the order but now I would take the money, despite of a bad review.

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#3

For me it depends on the price, but with 18 positive reviews I’d have taken the hit and get paid for the work…I don’t like the idea of them getting away with this kind of behavior.

Consider posting the music you have created into your social channels, as well as sending them a message that since they have canceled the order they don’t own the rights to it, and you’ll be using the music yourself, and if they choose to use it you’ll seek legal action.

There are some posts in the forum with properly worded messages, but you can use mine as a poor example of what you could do.

Good luck!

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#4

I work in the audio niche too and I learned that you don’t want to offer any free work or samples, usually when someone is asking for sample in reality is searching for free work!

1 Like
#5

I gauses it maintenance every seller

#6

@leeohbeats,

How to avoid bad buyers? Here’s my best tip!

Forewarning: This requires a minute or two of research to get right.

Sometimes, I’ll have a buyer message me who embodies one of the following warning signs:

  1. Abrupt or rude messages off the bat
  2. Leaving out important gig description details
  3. Mentions their skepticism about the quality of Fiverr gigs in general

Whenever I see one of the above warning signs, I click onto their profile and look at their buyer reviews…

These are almost always positive, and so I take the next step and go onto the buyer’s profile who reviewed them to see what the seller left for reviews.

If I see that the seller consistently gives negative reviews, I take it as forewarning that they have unreasonably high standards (and that I could be their next target).

At this point, I do not take the buyer.

I hope this helps :blush:

@creat1vepattern

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#7

@urdeke I appreciate the reply and tip! I’ll most likely use your idea about posting music on social channels, it is much appreciated.

#8

@creat1vepattern Thanks for the tips, I really appreciate it! I’ll definitely consider that from now on.

1 Like
#9

@solow13 Thanks for the reply, that makes sense. I’ll definitely consider that in the future.

#10

Happens to me all the time, I’m on mastering. I rather take a hit on order completion rate than my actual stars

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#11

Anytime @leoohbeats! Happy to help :blush:

#12

I’ve been a Fiverr seller for 7 years.

I’ve found that buyers who message saying they want a job done urgently are often troublesome. Of course not all them, but most.

Ask yourself why they want it urgently? Have they fallen out with another seller who’s told them where to stick it? If they need it so urgently, what will happen if they’re not happy with the delivery and want a revision (as there won’t be time!)? The very fact they want a job done urgently tends to mean they are stressed and not good to work with. You would think most would be grateful - no!

Because of a few early bad experiences, I stopped offering 24 hour gigs years ago, and I certainly don’t accept most requests for urgent work. If the buyer’s tone feels right, then I might if the job is simple - but most of the time I just tell people I’m too busy.

Since only offering a 48 turnaround as my quickest service, I’ve found people who buy my gig are mainly chilled, considerate people who know what they want and a prepared to wait a bit.

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#13

I don’t know if it’s the same thing @creat1vepattern described, but whenever a potential buyer messages me I do a bit of a detective’s work and check the reviews that buyer had left to the sellers they previously worked with. If I see that they constantly left bad reviews (especially to sellers whose most reviews from their other buyers are great), that would be a red flag.

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#14

The only thing that worked for me was raising prices. I had the most bizarre and humiliating experiences on the platform when I just started and was offering $5 services.

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#15

@mrs_write

Yes, completely agree. That’s exactly what I’m talking about in my comment :blush:

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#16

You welcome! :grinning:

#17

Never do that. No one reasonable who appreciates and values music would do that and no one competent commits to a deadline for something without having sourced the music for it and established that it can be done. (And no client who has that good sense would make, take or agree to a deadline that short.)

Never do that. You’re wasting your time and begging to get scammed. They can see your samples.

You’re selling a gig for $5. You’re begging unscrupulous people to reach out to you and buy from you. If you undervalue yourself, you’ll attract buyers who undervalue you, too.

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#18

Hehe, good to know I’m not the only one doing that :grinning: It’s better to be cautious.

1 Like