Fiverr Community Forum

Buyers who place orders without contacting

Your Fiverr Experience The Ranting Pot
#1

I had some trouble lately with buyers who place orders without contacting me, when I have placed several notices not to do this. as this may cause problems later. And often those who do not mind the notices and place orders anyway have difficulties in communication. Some people do not make contact with me again till the day the order is due, and some not even then.

I can’t deliver an incomplete project. Extending the delivery time is useless as the buyer won’t respond. I don’t want to cancel as it hurts the ratings. Really, some of the interactions lately have put me off the whole freelancing thing. How am I supposed to deliver a project when all I have is unclear instructions, and there’s no way to clarify anything coz the buyer is never replying.
There should be more options for sellers to avoid careless and ignorant buyers, but fiverr obviously does not care enough to help the sellers with that. If the cancellations and ratings are meant to display a seller’s reputation and work ethics, shouldn’t those reflect the seller’s own doings, instead of what they cannot help.

1 Like
#2

Offering $5 gigs with unlimited revisions invites buyers who don’t read.

19 Likes
#3

That’s a good point. I had to put such prices when I was looking for a rating to build upon, but never got to change it afterwards. I’m gonna change it, but still, the orders I was talking about were not the $5 ones. People can put a lot of money into a careless order actually. Anyway, thanks for the tip.

1 Like
#4

If you put everything you need for the project in the gig requirements, you won’t have any issues with the buyer’s communication level.

2 Likes
#5

@graphtersawyer That’s a good point but some buyers do not have time to fill out all the requirements

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#6

I do, and for all the orders I had trouble, the requirements were provided, yet there were confusions and I had no way to clarify.

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#7

Luckily most of my clients have been pretty responsive, but I do have a few that go radio-silent for a week or two and then respond later. These clients, however, are very good regulars of mine.

Here’s why: I have a writing gig, and while normally I prefer the clients to provide topics, sometimes I will make an exception and come up with topics because the client is too busy.

Clients hire us to do the things they don’t want to do, so there should be a level of expectation that they are too busy to check Fiverr every day. So, I’ve learned to just take the reigns, submit my work, and communicate as much as possible, even if it is to dead air for a while. This has worked for me every time, since it shows I can work without hand-holding, and I also speak with as much expectation of them as they have for me.

If we’re a day away from the deadline and they haven’t approved my work, I simply say, “Hey! I’m going to mark this as delivered so it doesn’t affect my numbers, but please contact me if you need extra revisions, and I’ll do it at no cost/at a deal/[compromise].” 99% of the time they understand (I would say 100%, but I’m sure I’ll get a client one day who won’t be so understanding).

From what it sounds like, however, you have clients who purchase your gig without making any specifications, and then just disappear, leaving you unsure of what to do. I would message them asking for more information, and then if nothing changes, get customer support to cancel the order, as it doesn’t go against your scores. I had to do this once, and the client apologized and re-ordered because she had a family emergency and couldn’t get back to the order in time.

Hopefully this helps :slight_smile:

2 Likes
#8

Also - I have at the top of my gig in all capital letters and asterisks that I only accept purchases from people who have contacted me first. I’ve had this up for almost a month, and it’s worked 100%.

If they do order from you anyway, like I said before - message them saying you don’t accept orders from clients who don’t contact you first, give them a day or two to reply, and then cancel through customer support.

After one client called my work stupid, my confidence in saying no to clients has increased significantly, and it’s very freeing. The more picky you are, the better clients you’ll get. Trust me.

2 Likes
#9

Thank you. This is very helpful. I didn’t know canceling through CS would not affect the ratings. And you’re right about being picky. Thanks again for your advice. Best regards.

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#10

Then you need to revise your requirements so that there’s no room for it.

1 Like
#11

If they don’t do the requirements, the order timer won’t start, and the seller can’t be penalized. Sellers jeopardize themselves and their business when they don’t set the proper measures in place. If a buyer doesn’t have the time to articulate what they want, then they shouldn’t be placing the order.

3 Likes
#12

If you put everything you need for the project in the gig requirements, you won’t have any issues with the buyer’s communication level.

This is simply not true. Sure, it is helpful but I for one have plenty of requests/requirements for info and then I still get incorrect info or 2 pieces but not the 3rd, broken links to dropbox, etc. All of those conditions allow the clock to begin.

It’s frequent and you are absolutely at the mercy of the buyer. It’s a real problem.

2 Likes
#13

This is in reference to buyers who place orders without contacting. Faulty gig requirements wasn’t what I was referring to. If the buyer doesn’t give you a complete picture ("2 pieces but not the 3rd) you’re not required to make the order according to what wasn’t given…

2 Likes
#14

I have two of these and no idea what to do about it.

1 Like
#15

Same problem, there are some buyer who send order on low price pacakge but thier work is to much.

#16

If you’re a new seller take the order and work for the 5* rating. When you will make those reviews, you will be able to raise the price. Work hard :slight_smile: Some things can’t be improved on Fiverr. The customer is your God

#17

It’s difficult to avoid this entirely, but I have found writing very thorough requirements helps. Use multiple sentences and explain in detail what you need from them.

#19

I think sometimes, we need to focus on getting a good review by giving the best value (i.e.providing best service; an overall returned value) because I think that customer statisfaction is the key to success and we should focus on serving the customer well. Here, the customer means our gig buyer.