How do you handle buyers who don't respect your requests?

[carlaism]

I kindly ask each and every buyer to only order 2 or 3 gigs at a time (5 minute makeup tutorials), because I can only work during weekends, as I’m a University student and of course, I usually have more than one client. It’s really difficult for me to handle filming, editing, writing the script and doing the voiceover all in 2 or 3 days for 3 or 4 buyers who order more than I suggest.



I used to have a 10 day deadline for my gig, so imagine my frustration when I had to make 12 videos in 2 days. I eventually ended up cancelling my makeup gig, which was even featured, simply because buyers only care about getting as many videos as possible in a week or so, completely ignoring my request of only ordering 2 or 3 gigs at once.



Has anyone been through this before and managed to handle things? I’d really like to reactivate that gig… it was much more profitable than my testimonial gig. 😦

[wolfhowler]

If it all gets too much, you can pause your gig for a bit, so if it was very popular you could have it open for orders for 2 or 3 days, when you have enough you want to be working on, suspend it until your ready for more orders?

[mini100biz]

I have also had problems with buyers who will not follow my requests. It is a real pain, and one I have not found a complete solution for. Since you do not want to lower your rating, you don’t want to cancel orders of those who don’t follow your requests either… it does put sellers on the spot a bit - something I don’t appreciate. There should be an option for sellers to refuse an order if the buyer doesn’t follow requests. Good Luck on finding a solution! I think the suggestion of pausing your gig every few days might be the answer for now 🙂

[carlaism]

Yes, I think that’s what I’m going to do. Just pause it every once in a while. But yes, having the option to refuse orders or put a limit to the number of orders/buyer would be wonderful. I also want to keep good ratings so I end up skipping classes to make videos. Not cool.



Thank you for your answers! 😃

[gtonnis]

I agree on having the option to refuse requests. Some of them just flat out ignore my “extras” and place an order asking for the extras without ordering them. Also, I have had some place orders that I’m not super comfortable with (escort service, etc.), but I feel like I have to complete them or get a lower rating. One thing I started doing is messaging them and telling them they need to order the extras or cancel the order. I’ve had success with this, and a couple have cancelled, but most just go ahead and order the extras!

[andreiterbea]

I completely understand your frustration. I sometimes get a lot of orders for drawings and being the perfectionist that I am, it takes hours. So it is an absolute ordeal to have to rush through them just to make it before the deadline. I had a client once that asked me to do 6 or 7 illustrations for a children’s book and I specifically asked her to place one order at a time, which of course she completely ignored and I had to finish all of them, plus other orders I already had in queue, in 2 days. Since then, I extended my days for delivery, but the idea with suspending the gig periodically is great! I’ll do that as well next time I’m overwhelmed.



Anyway, congrats on having so many orders. It may be frustrating, but never forget to be thankful for getting them! 🙂

[gplusone]

open a support ticket



keep contacting buyer at 2 day interval.

ask support to remove after 2-3 weeks.

[ethanox]

I also agree with the refusal idea…I also think that if multiple orders come in to one gig, they should be put on a time schedule. If I set my gig to 1 day turn around, and get 5 different orders, shouldn’t the buyer expect to be taken care of in the order we receive the orders? Often times, it doesn’t matter how detailed your instructions are - people generally don’t read, so even if the work load is somewhat manageable, that gets thrown out the window when you need to cater to the needs of your clients and almost baby them to get them to give you what you need to fulfill their requests.



Because of this, I think the order amount should respect the time we choose. We put our time specifications to not only reflect our own schedules but how long we will need to work with the client to get the best rating.



For example, the other day a client ordered 3 of my gigs at one time, and I still had to finish them in the 2 days I said rather than 6 days, which would make more sense.

[carlaism]

I can understand if a buyer simply doesn’t read my gig description and messages me for the details. I happily baby my clients, I really don’t mind. Understanding each other to get good results is in both our interests.



What is really disturbing to me is when we talk, I give the info, they seem nice and understanding and then purposely/rudely ignore my request after saying something like “sure, 2 or 3 max, got it”.

[carlaism]

Reply to @oldbittygrandma: Yes, that’s why I got upset about having to suspend it. I suspended gigs before and I know it takes some time until someone notices you again.



But I just panicked about getting 4 to 8 orders/ person, so after I increased the lead time to 14 days, I still found more relief in suspending it.

[carlaism]

Reply to @andreiterbea: I know… and thanks! Congrats on having many orders yourself! 🙂

[andreagalinato]

I feel your pain. I work from 9-6, 5 days a week and I got buyers requesting 2 gigs at a time. 2 gigs with 4 500 word articles each. It’s not like I could do all that in 3 days, with a 9-5 job and a less than a year-old baby.



And when you get online content requests for topics and keywords you absolutely can’t find any information on, it just stresses you out.



I don’t know about you, but I’d cancel some requests. Sure, it hurts your ratings, but you do have to say no sometimes.



I’d often suspend gigs if I get requests from the same, fussy buyers, just to get them out of my hair.

[melanielm]

I completely agree with expanding the lead time. I’ve done that now that business has picked up. Since I’m able to work on my gigs any day, I’m also able to offer a gig extra for a rush job. That might be an option if you can squeeze filming etc. in between your classes and such.