How I deal with buyers who want to pay me directly. [ARCHIVED]

[anarchofighter]

There’s no doubt that my Fiverr business almost “betrays” the name.



Consider these purchases in the last 2 weeks:



30 September, $175 on Fiverr.

2 October $40

4 October $145

6 October $95

9 October $60

Right now I just closed a $350 order that will be paid $195 now, the rest upon delivery.



A lot of this happens while I’m doing s***e based consultations or when I record audio critiques and put in sales messages. Sometimes on s***e someone will say, "So basically I can just PayPal you the money and then you’ll (blah blah blah)."



I always say, "Yes, you got it, and here’s how the payment works. Because Fiverr is very good to me and brings quality people like you to me …sometimes because you started with a $5 service, I like to keep thank them by having the order go though Fiverr. It’s really simple, I have a gig set up so you’ll only have to complete one order on fiverr for us to get started."



I’ve only ever run into a problem.



I had a person who put down the deposit for work. We agreed upon delivery/review. He went to “finish” the payment and …wait for it… YES, his account had been closed for violations of TOS.



I wasn’t sure what to do, let him pay me directly or eat the loss.



I decided to eat a smaller loss. I had him pay a friend of mine who then bought from me on fiverr. I pay a little extra in PayPal fees but at least I didn’t lose a $100 🙂



The key language is to make it about honor and integrity. People will do as you ask. They’re not trying to trick you They’re not trying to rob Fiverr. When the price has been agreed upon, why would they care how much fiverr gets paid. WE as sellers have to be the ones to care because we’re the ones who want Fiverr to continue to go the distance for us!



NOTE: Please note, this was a LOT harder as a level 2 seller. I had to have someone go and make 2 or 3 or 4 $40 orders LOL. It got better and it keep getting better. One day I hope we have a “custom invoice” option on Fiverr. For now though, it’s great and understand people will ask, because they just don’t KNOW. They’re not trying to tempt you, cut out Fiverr or anything. That’s why we’re the first line of defense.



[sheriff’s Note: At present, one simple way to address buyers on this issue is to just let them know that it is against the Fiverr Terms of Service to process payments outside of Fiverr.

[oliver22]

Guys Order oldbittygrandma’s gigs!!! She is pure genius and I’m not sure why she isn’t an established comedian!!!

[donaldjr]

phenomenal advice. 🙂

[Guest tn5rr2012]

I have had people ask me to do more in depth research outside of my FIVERR gig for my family tree service and I am always polite and kindly refuse, while advising them that in the private sector I would charge $250hr for researching their family tree (that involves travel, gas expense, visiting archives and libraries plus putting together media presentations and photo books for their family trees), once I tell them my hourly that usually quiets them down and they order my EXTRAS… cha ching! 😮

[avniy11]

Lol

I always say “I prefer to keep it via Fiverr to keep the things organized and secure you and me” 🙂

[Guest tn5rr2012]

I agree with you avniy11, I will pull that statement out of my hat also at times

[anarchofighter]

Funny how that word prefer works so well, isn’t it? It’s definitely a Fiverr power word.

[Guest tn5rr2012]

Reply to anarchofighter:: We should start a power word thread for Fiverr sellers