Fiverr Community Forum

How far will you go for a 5* review?

Your Fiverr Experience
#1

I wrote a 4,600-word article for 5 dollars, at least it was a fun topic! I had an unpleasant exchange with a potential “buyer”… and I am sensing “trouble” even before the order becomes official.

I had spent 9 hours doing a “personal consult” on his problems, and he didn’t understand so much (and I don’t blame him). He keeps undercutting my skill-set and when I told him that he needs a new website because it takes 27 seconds to load his website, in his country… and told him the problems with his bootstrap website “coding”.

I told him to go with someone more experienced with WordPress and SEO, and all that. And he always comes back to say he will be contacting “a few” of those $ 10 WordPress web developers. I am not saying that those developers suck but I feel that he is not serious about creating something good. I know, I wrote some article with lots of words for 5 dollars… so some sellers might be desperate enough to create something decent for positive reviews as I did.

It rounds back to him telling me that I charge too much for what I do. I am already committing to 2 hours a day for 35 days for just $200… I might just tell him that I won’t be doing his work. (And it will be 49 days before I can get it, and that’s only if he don’t dispute at the CS. He was telling me how he disputed someone because they didn’t deliver.)

300USD advertising budget to achieve what he wants needs a little bit of miracle.

I want to hit my $400 within 60 days, and only 1/4 of it… and 30 days into the level 1 criteria. Don’t mind me… just unhappy.

10 Likes
#2

If you manage to complete the orders successfully you should probably block the buyer. Keep things professional, don’t argue with the buyer and maintain a friendly tone. Just keep things professional, hopefully you will close the deal without any trouble.

3 Likes
#3

If I am not considering the $400 quota, I wouldn’t have helped him with so much. I am “keen to impress”, I guess.

Perhaps in time, I will get jaded… and less concern about getting orders?

When I’m level 2? fingers crossed

3 Likes
#4

I’m also a new seller. My first gig. I created 25 HTML web pages for only $20. When we were discussing before the buyer placed the order, he told me I will only be working on 3 pages. After placing the order he kept on telling me to do things that were not on the requirement.

I took the loss and work for the review. After all, I completed the work and it was beyond his expectations. He left me a 5 star rating with a long positive review.

The buyer was so hard to work with. And quite of a scam. But I did the job anyway to protect myself from a negative review or a cancellation because the buyer was threatening for a cancellation.

4 Likes
#5

What a experience. Very sad

#6

I wrote the 4,600-word article, knowing that I will only get $5. I know when I am compromising, and am willing to go how far… if I have the time. (I thought 2 hours a day is not that bad)

I make a long list of what I will and will not do (not kidding! see the picture attached). If I say I will do 3 pages, I will only do 3 pages and dispute with the CS and won’t back down.

talkitout
talkitout587×705 121 KB

I copied and paste these text because the buyer “cannot” see the order. :roll_eyes: I withdrawn the offer, and pasted everything… and tell him that “We have went through almost everything, and I am just rearranging it to avoid misunderstanding and repetitive to-and-fros. The price is not negotiable, and may subject to increase after Monday or when the order is no longer necessary for me to “collect reviews”.”

I am also being honest here.

1 Like
#7

Anyone who pays that little for that much is not going to be a good buyer.

You’re asking for trouble when you work for so little. And on top of that you want to do even more work to get a five-star review?!

There’s no point in being in business if you are going to take a loss to do it. Stop thinking that his will make you successful in the long run. It won’t.

It makes me sad to see sellers exploit themselves like this.

He is undercutting your skillset because you undercut your skillset:

You wrote 4500 words AND did a 9 hour consult for a total of $5.

No legitimate buyer would pay for that.

You won’t attract respect and repel fraudsters until you start respecting yourself.

3 Likes
#8

You’re not allowed to mention reviews to buyers, and you could get an account warning if the buyer reports you.

EDIT: and what’s that about $300 payable directly to… You do know that all payments must go through Fiverr, right?

2 Likes
#9

That 4,600-word article. He is not that bad and was a person struggling, I researched him in the process. It’s okay, I had fun with it.

I did that 9-hour consult for free (for another buyer). It was a constant question and answering… I do need to figure out how much “clearing of the buyer’s doubt”, I need to do. The thing is new sellers like myself are unsure if we will be reported and how it might affect the algorithm.

And I do respect myself. Thanks for implying the opposite, I guess established sellers have the luxury to have opinions on someone trying to hit level one. Perhaps… I might point out the obvious to someone struggling one day too.

#10

I didn’t mention it as a criteria but as a fact why the fee is subject to change. I do see the mistake, I will be more careful in the future!

And… thank you for reminding me.

1 Like
#11

Also, I want to point you to my 2nd post. “If I am not considering the $400 quota…” and look forward to being less concerned about getting orders.

My concern was growth on the platform and has nothing to do with exploiting myself or doing it in the long run. I respect your opinion but do understand that this forum “Your Fiverr Experience” is for people to tell their stories… and if they want, to vent.

Also, let’s be honest. Fiverr thrives on exploitation on some level, people are being paid less than minimum wage… to complete micro-task that has evolved into something else different.

And most buyers are here, precisely for that reason. It’s implied that we are extremely “affordable”. Just how affordable is it for a person to write how many words for $5… or how affordable it is for some influencer to tweet to 16,000 high-quality audiences for $10.

To imply anyone of us lacks self-respect is too excessive and out of place.

1 Like
#12

When I started out, I offered 300 words for $5.

I remember a seller mentioning that she answers 3 questions max, and after that, sends a custom offer.

Reported for what? You can always say that you’re sorry, but you don’t offer consultations; as long as you’re being polite, the buyer has nothing to report you for. Or you can charge them for consultations.

2 Likes
#13

I am a little unsure about 3 question max… my main gig is strategy, I didn’t give away any original ideas. I will certainly think about limiting the number of questions from now on.

Thank you for the thoughtful answers!

1 Like
#14

You can do whatever you want. I’m not telling you what to do.

I’m telling you that this is what caused the problem you’re coming here to complain about.

Why complain to us about a problem if you don’t want to identify what caused it or try to fix it and are just going to get annoyed with me for giving you a straight answer?

I know it is. I’m telling you you can’t grow here by volunteering to exploit yourself.

Doing a 4600 and a 9-hour consult is not respecting yourself and that IS exploitation. Voluntarily doing that doesn’t change that.

Approaching your business this way depletes energy that you could be using on growth, attracts sketchy buyers and repels professional buyers.

#15

I don’t do that and I have well over 400 sales.

Stop thinking you need to work for peanuts in order to make sales here. It’s just plain wrong.

And if you work with the kind of buyer who would expect that much for so little, you’re actually reducing your shot at a 5-star review, not increasing it. You’re also increasing your risk of a bad review.

2 Likes