Creating a Successful Buyer Request

[fonthaunt]

I see a lot of talk in seller forums about buyer requests and how useful (or not useful) they can be. It occurred to me while reading them and utilizing the newer response format that buyers have just as much trouble. I am a buyer as well and have posted requests for my needs although most of the time I read the requests as a seller looking for work.

1.) There are several ways to initiate a buyer request so I’ll offer just one to keep this as simple as I can. If you’ve had difficulty finding just the right seller or you have a unique request, you can go direct to the request area by clicking on your Username at the top of the regular Fiverr page, selecting My Orders and then selecting Request a Gig. Then click the big green button to Request a Gig.

2.) You have a brief 120 characters to describe your need. You will also select a category and a subcategory.

3.) I’ve seen many Buyer Requests that were typed out in a hurry. Perhaps they wrote ‘I’m looking for someone who will make me a video with puppets and do a voice over of Charlie Brown and Lucy with the pupp’ That’s it. I assume this is due to folks who get frustrated and just stop there, click categories and submit. This isn’t going to work well since a seller reading it will have about a third of the information needed.

4.) Another common mistake buyers make is to write something like this ‘I want writer, native USA english to write weekly. MUST send samples or be ignored.’ This is going to yield very frustrating results if you get answers. Sellers have VERY limited options to reply to you and they cannot message you directly except in a brief field they are given. They may think “I don’t know how to send you samples” and they either respond with a mis-matched gig and get ignored, or they just don’t respond to you at all.

5.) If you can’t summarize what you want with a few words, few demands and in readable text - you will probably end up with little to go on. Elaborating can be done AFTER you get seller offers.

6.) Now for solutions! When submitting a buyer request, here is one way to do it well. Write a brief request that is to the point. Clarification comes later! Examples:
-Need a video with voiceover in Peanuts character voices.
-Need original posts for gardening/fresh cooking blog.
-Want exciting names for us to choose from for job fair event.

7.) So, I know - you want the video with subtitles and the blog posts in fluent English and no less than 20 names to choose from. That’s OK! It is fine to sort that out later. You may get a lot of responses but most will be easily discarded. You can eliminate fast by excluding:
-People who reply to your request but cannot write coherently can be avoided.
-People who respond but they have no gigs even CLOSE to your request and didn’t write any message.
-People who write you a message that says they don’t do anything for five bucks but to contact them
at yadayada.c0m are not even on Fiverr for the right reasons. Ignore them!

You can toss all those out in a few minutes and write back to the few that are left.

8.) What Not to Do: If you actually want to find someone on Fiverr there are some no-no’s to avoid. You might be able to get away with them, but I promise you it generally goes smoother if you don’t rub against the grain. DONT’S:
-Don’t demand the seller do heavy over-delivery, send free work or do an interview to win your business.
-Don’t say that you are offering long term work or you want a quote for ten 25,000 page e-books. Fiverr is a
bargain marketplace where you will do well by starting small. Try a seller out for $5-25 and go from there.
Spend what you can afford to risk. You can make those big deals when you know a seller well.

Take note: Most veteran sellers have been told many times that the buyer will want a LOT more work if they do well, spend 8 hours on a $5 order and then the buyer says it’s awesome but disappears.

9.) If you are not a native English speaker or aren’t sure about your wording - get a trusted and honest co-worker or honest friend to review your request. (Don’t ask a family member who will say what you want to hear.) If wording isn’t clear to the seller, they may not reply. Worse yet, they may reply and make a promise to you based on a misunderstanding.

10.) Do’s:
-Do utilize the character number you have when you write your request. While going too long or using too many
irrelevant words can hurt you - use what you need. Remember not to use references like “tonight.” The seller
doesn’t know your time zone. Use details like “need in 24 hours” not “need by 5PM.”
-Do remember sellers have limited options to response. If the gig they send you isn’t an exact match, look at
other gigs the seller offers to see if there is a closer one. If interested, message them.
-New sellers can be great too! If they don’t have reviews yet, choose one who communicates OK, has a realistic
profile picture or logo and has a good gig description. Start very small, especially with new sellers.
$5 spent to find out how it goes is much better than $50 spent and lost/refunded.

Bonus Tip for Sellers: If you are a Seller (not a Buyer) DO NOT USE A BUYER REQUEST TO ADVERTISE. BUYER REQUESTS/REQUEST A GIG IS FOR BUYERS LOOKING TO PURCHASE A SERVICE. Whether on purpose or by accident, sellers should not be using buyer requests for anything except to submit an appropriate gig offer TO a buyer.

I hope that helps and I don’t claim it’s perfect - if you have things to add or correct as a buyer or a seller, go for it!

[playbackrecords]

Thanks, you provided clarity on a lot of points I was struggling with in preparing a service request.

[eoinfinnegan]

Pin this post PLEEEEAAASEEE!
You have read my mind on most of these points and I have a couple to add.

1. Put in a realistic budget or no budget at all. If you enter $5 budget for a job that will cost more than that in the hope that you will get a really low offer, think again. When I see this type of thing I simply skip it as I think the buyer is looking for low quality trash. I understand that it might seem appealing to make sellers think your budget is low but consider what kind of sellers will do your work for such low money. If you have no idea what it should cost, leave it blank. I would sooner respond to a blank price than a low-ball price.

2. There is an option to attach a file. Use it! If your gig has specifics, is technical or you just don’t have enough space, do a short summary and give more details in the attachment. Sellers can only send 10 offers per day and if what you want is unclear then a seller who would be a perfect match may skip your request because they don’t want to “waste” an offer.

3. Note that these requests do not go live immediately. I see new requests once or twice per day, sometimes those with deadlines are past before I even see them. If your time frame is 24 hours or less then this section is not a good idea. Use the search option and use the filters at the side to select “online sellers” only.

4. Check as many of the offers you get as possible. Different sellers have different time zones and different schedules. To get the maximum exposure, allow 24 hours for responses if possible.

[isholawasiu]

thanks for that

[creativegm]

Its worth reading article.
Thanks

[hiddeneye]

Thank you so much it help’s me a lot

[rakib1969]

Really helpful article

[jamalwazir]

hi,
i login with two fiver ids on the same laptop. is it good or bad for me. will it degrade or improve my business.
need helps.
thanks

[jamalwazir]

how?

[logo_ninja]

Thank you so much

[fonthaunt]

You are welcome. 🙂 This may need updating when time permits, but I’m glad it’s valuable.

[fonthaunt]

2 accounts is a highway to no accounts. It’s against the rules. It won’t help you in the long term, but it may end your business.

[gracebjarnson]

Yes! Thank you! You saved me from having to write this post. For voice overs, also realize that just because this is “fiverr” , it does not mean you should be able to get someone to read thousands of words for $5. When you limit your price to $5, you’ve drastically limited the chance of getting offers from quality voice artists. You pay for quality.

[gracebjarnson]

Great points! People should really pay attention to these suggestions!

[techmachine]

Really helpful article…Buyer requests i beleive is one of the best ways to get some orders on your gig. There is a new one every minute 🙂

[corvega]

Also BUYERS…dont start off with"simple project…should only take two minutes to do"
If it did you wouldnt be asking sum1 else to do it. I usually ignore those requests as they are a real turnoff.

[carolynfr]

Another thing : Please, take some time to answer to the people who sent you an offer. Just make a two-lines message that you’ll send to everyone to say that you already found someone, but answering our offers is just basic respect. And, when we send you an offer, you select someone without telling the others and some weeks after the request is active again (because, we assume, the guy who was supposed to write 25 000 words worth of articles did a poor job) and we can’t bid anymore because we already did and you didn’t even make an effort to answer, this is HIGHLY frustrating, especially when the request is really interesting.

[joeyperezwest]

Fantastico! 🙂 Thanks

[Guest de_mocca]

Thank you, Your articles are always valuable.

[stephinext]

All this points are very Germain… Buyers need to know all these things to play fair and get the right freelancer.

[prowriter05]

thanks ma’am

[rubalsingh]

Great post (y)

[backlinks_index]

This is a great article and useful for me

[feasibleartisan]

Thanks a lot 🙂

[perfectionist23]

Very informative post and so bang on with each and every point. I do find many requests posted so vaguely. And you are right, many new sellers get ignored just because they cant provide the samples or choose the right gig to send with their proposal.