I think buyers shouldn’t be telling sellers that they are comparing, especially when they are already narrowing down the person to do the job.
The fiverr notification work me up at 04:35AM and I must be in a bad mood. Still… I didn’t need to know that.
This happened.
I’m going back to bed. 
Turn off Fiverr notifications if you want to sleep. 
I know I wouldn’t sleep at all if I had notifications active.
As for this topic… a lot of buyers try to use this trick to make you lower prices, telling you they have multiple other people that provide a better price.
Glad to know that you didn’t fall into this trap.
They do such things to lower the price
I’m on track to level two. I will rest more when I reach my target. Negotiating a price is okay and understandable.
What happened before this, was the negotiation itself. I got the price to my gig standard fees & 4 times his request.
I don’t know which is worse. Them actually telling you they are talking to someone else or wasting your time and ghosting you after they find the seller they want. I’ve had both buyers and they are seriously annoying.
Agreed.
I don’t need to know I’m in a competition for a job that may or may not be what the Buyer wants.
I’ve got other clients to service who come directly to me because of my work.
I think you handled this well.
I take a similar approach. It’s fine (and good business practice) for buyers to look around to find the right seller to work with. I assume that most sensible buyers do this. It’s important.
However, once a buyer has approached me, if I get a hint that they are trying to play me off against another seller - then I’m not interested in working with them.
That approach tells me so much about their values and morals (or lack of). A common approach is “X seller can do the job X dollars cheaper, but we want to work with you. Can you match their price?” My response is “Then work with them”.
Very occasionally I will go further and put them in their place by saying “You have demonstrated a lack of respect for my skills, experience and time - and therefore I’m not interested in working with you. Go with the cheaper seller”. It might not be an entirely professional response, but it makes me feel better!
At least they haven’t ordered yet! I had someone place a massive (nearly $1000) order. Wait like, twenty minutes without sending through the requirements and then go “oh I chose another freelancer could you cancel this order?” Some people are just…
Yeah.
(Honestly I don’t mind people saying they are looking into hiring others, it’s good for me to know that the job isn’t 100% fixed yet but if someone woke me up before 10AM I’d sort of dislike them by default (just joking. Notifications are on silent lol)
I could write a book regarding the number of times that people tell me similar things, ask to match other freelance price or even ask free stuff, including custom samples and free recordings.
I don’t mind to know that people are asking quotations to other freelancers. For me that’s normal, it’s part of the business. However, people can find several ways to tell things… “Let me finalize talking with another freelancer and I will get back to you” sounds fishy to me. I had people trying a similar kind of approach expecting me to say that I can offer a discount just to get the job. Of course that this is just an assumption based on my experience and I cannot have sure about your buyer intentions, but for me it’s a question of not what you say but HOW you say it.
Unnecessary cancellation, that would upset me.
I’ve had potential buyers ask me every question possible and explain it all in detail or they’d tell me to send them a custom order, only to be ghosted. I think they’d get all the information they need to explain their specific needs to cheaper sellers.
If they want to go to cheaper sellers I’m perfectly fine with this, it’s their budget, but I don’t like when they waste my time.
Or they are the cheaper sellers trying to work out how to do the job they took on will full understanding they could never do it.
Grrr
The one that has the most power in a negotiation is the one who cares less. This doesn’t mean to just go full i-don’t-care-mode but it is something to keep in mind from my humble experience.
That’s so true! I always say,”no rush or worries” in other words, I will not be pushed into anything unless it’s the right time and price. Just because you are shopping doesn’t mean I have to change anything. It doesn’t phase me at all for someone to tell me I am on a list with others. In fact many times I wish they would pick another voice over artist.
Your ‘I don’t like to be in the back seat’ comment comes across as snobby and arrogant to me. You could have said “ok thanks” and let him take his time to decide. Instead you chose to be passive-aggressive and decline in advance. If you’re fully booked, fine, but it sounded as if you were offended.
Some people say it’s a trick from the buyer to make you lower your prices, but you simply can’t know that for sure. A buyer has every right to talk to multiple sellers and compare prices and quality. My guess it was just a courtesy on his part to let you know where he stands.
That is something I also noticed. Even if you set your standards as a Seller you have to keep your ego in check. Just be polite and get on even if you decline.
I noticed that even if some buyers and me obviously won’t get along due to very different expectations there’s always this small voice in the back of my head that wants me to reply something snarky. Just don’t do it - it never ends well and often just works you up more.
Edit: Welp, this was meant to be a reply to @cc_animation s comment but I am somehow unable to use this forum properly 
Exactly. 
Now if the buyer actually started negotiating and saying ‘the other guy does it cheaper, can you do it for x’ THEN you can always simply decline and ignore the guy.
Even then I wouldn’t be offended, some people are just cheapskates. The joke is on them, never stoop to their level by being rude. I know what I’m worth, and I won’t be manipulated into giving discounts for nothing.
Yeah, it really sucks, your answer was the best, for real, it’s like going to Mercedes and ask for a car, then tell the salesman: “Oh yeah ok cool I’m gonna go to opel to see how it goes with the new car”.
I had already negotiated the price to my standard fee, which was 4x his offer.
It’s implied.
My price was stated on my gig page and he came to offer 25% of the price, after evaluating the work and pointed out an error in his source material. I stand by my actions and thought I didn’t need to know that he is speaking to someone else AFTER negotiating the price and discussing the work.
To quote:
It did make me feel better at 0430AM that morning. 
I’m just not going to virtue signal.
Will be fun to see scrutiny 
FWIW: I’ve replied to the same questions 6 times (yes, I counted). This is the 7th time, which is why I said what I said. The buyer was going to pay 400 fee a month to run 30 dollars of ads. I offer to step in 1st week of every month, to maximize her advertising budget to 330.
The ROAS and ROI are just not realistic for that particular platform, that the buyer insists on using and achieving. 
If I accepted that order, it’s more than likely what I predicted will happen and I’ll get a negative review.
