Hello! I had some buyer talk about wanting me to work with me. The profile said they were from USA yet their English grammar was weird. Take a look
I think is very weird they mentioned about the late order. Also I didn’t like how they let me know that they need it fast. I think I just dodged a bullet. They didn’t even knew what they wanted, yet they wanted it fast…
What do you think?
Even if names are removed, it’s not a best “customer/client” practice to share your conversation and if there are any arguments or such,it’s best to be brought up to SC instead. But that’s my personal IMHO. Normally, one should refer to ToS first and foremost.
Secondly, it feels a bit rid out of context. A person wanted to order footage over his book from you, there was a communication struggle, followed by a sudden deadline demand and you have turned it down. It seems pretty normal to me 
Their English isn’t that bad. People can either formulate their thoughts in an odd way or also be dyslexic, which generates a lot of typos.
All in all, nothing all too far concerning but you deffo did save yourself some nerves. 
That’s what I thought.
I’m not sharing the conversation because I want to report something. It’s just an interesting topic, because I was weirded out.
The buyer sounds perfectly good to me. No problems at all with the English, and the fact they apologize for the late messaging makes them appear real and a nice client in my eyes.
And of course, just because someone lives in X country doesn’t mean they are originally from there–our society these days is multicultural! Often, the people who message me (the British ones–as I’m a Brit) who were born and brought up in UK have worse English than those who took the trouble to learn the language and move here. Sign of the decadent times!
Their conversation doesn’t feel too bad to me. However, what matters is how it feels to you.
Nowadays I always listen to that little voice inside me that says “there’s something not right about this message”. I’ve probably lost a few orders that would probably have turned out fine by telling new buyers that “Sorry, I’m too busy to work with you” - BUT(!) the peace of mind it brought me is priceless.
And that’s what matters - the peace of mind. It’s worth more than a $10 order.
Yes, I was puzzled too by her remark, English seems to be on the spot, standard US English.
I am not sure why do you think you dodged a bullet here, also why you did not provided him with samples?
I am not talking about you doing the samples, I mean searching online for samples and send him something along the line of moodboard so he can better visualize his vision.
If this was my client it would go like this:
Client: I think I want Victorian blonde lady.
Me: Sure. How about checking these to see what fits best and I will get commercial rights for it if anything is perfect, if not send me the ones that are the best and what modifications you would like to see.
https://www.google.com/search?q=victorian+blonde+lady&sxsrf=ALeKk00GFTvgVBTEP4WQKAnlb_dvegp3MA:1617135809028&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjH88yr7NjvAhVwgf0HHbOwAB0Q_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1920&bih=880
Client: My book is about urban poetry.
Me: OK. Check these and let me know what style looks close to what you have in mind.
https://www.google.com/search?q=urban+poetry+book+cover&sxsrf=ALeKk03kMFu9rlkd10EGxwBTtBul_b48tg:1617135842910&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiQ4eC77NjvAhUphf0HHcIdC1AQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1920&bih=880
I do not understand why would he send you the images directly. For me, I think designer needs to guide the buyer and assist him.
All of this that is needed to complete the order can be done in first 15-30 minutes of conversation.
For example, client comes and wants logo done with letters BBD.
Is any of the styles or concepts presented here up to your liking? https://www.google.com/search?q=logo+BBD&sxsrf=ALeKk02qtxl1IXPs6HtphnA3ktgcbovbWg:1617136156536&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi8-6bR7djvAhVyhf0HHYw3DeQQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1920&bih=880
If he likes some, great, I have starting point to develop upon. If he hates them all, great I know what not to do.
Fiverr is not 3000$ per order kind of environment. And even if it is I would still use internet to brainstorm ideas and to make sure my idea is unique.
I think you missed an opportunity here.
Since when “messengering” became a word or standard US English?
Here are the red flags:
To be honest, I don’t think they understand they are buying video editing service. It’s better to stay away from such buyers; especially when you do not have enough stats.
Xx
I’ll mostly agree on the English. It’s got a LOT of typos, but the structure feels accurate. (It looks like something my brother would type.)
I fully agree on saying ‘no’ to the rush and deadline.
It’s somewhat up to a seller to guide a buyer, but ONLY if they put it as something like “I’m new, I don’t know what I’m doing, what do you need from me” as that frames it as a willingness to be humble and honest upfront. I’m not a mind reader, I’m not going to ‘pull teeth’ just to get information.
This Buyer just seemed to want you to provide everything.
What a great idea, Marina. For me, interior book formatter, the hardest part is to get the general mood of the book into a visual form. Implementation later is much easier. On Fiverr we don’t have the luxury of easy face to face communication which makes it even harder. Clients often don’t know what they want, and some don’t even care. So this idea of giving them quick examples thrown together is super helpful.
First of all, I agree with many of the people here, that it’s not good practise to share entire conversations you’ve had with your clients.
Also I’ve worked with people from different countries with basic English and I’ve had many zoom calls with customers from all over the world. The way they write or speak in English never bothers me. English is not my mother tongue, also I live in a country different from the one I was born in. I can ensure you that it may be offensive to rate the level of language knowledge of somebody. Perhaps you didn’t say anything to him, but it would still bother me to know that someone may discuss about my language pronunciation or grammar after I’ve finished a call.
Talking about the main topic of this discussion, it seems a red flag to me as well, based on the fact the buyer has mentioned order cancellations and rush.
It’s not but I have seen it used regularly by people referring to sending messages via FB Messenger. Similar to someone snapchatting you or whatsapping you.
We gotta rate and review buyers in the end and in public. I don’t think @moonstaredits shared any personal info about the client or the project.
Sounds like something that will get your account banned.
How long since we saw the lady who mistakenly clicked a zoom link? The guy demanded nudes, and when declined, he reported her to CS for contact outside 5r. She lost her account.
Edit: Also, just because I picked the typo in their very first message doesn’t mean they didn’t misspell ‘before’ as bel.
Xx
I don’t think they were suggesting to use Messenger, just used the word either mistakenly because they are used to it or with autocorrect
Okay…
I wish CS was that thoughtful.
I think OP dodged a bullet there.
Xx
That’s what I normally do. I was really busy at the moment and the next day I won’t be home for half of the day, that’s why I told them I would send samples in Tuesday.
I can work from scratch only with the information I ask for in the gig requirements. The problem here is that I was busy at the moment. Plus they aren’t even sure about what they want… Makes me wonder what the experience was going to be, maybe they would ask for a lot of revisions… Glad I turned it out.
I provide a lot of things, however buyer needs to at least have a vision in mind about what they want or like. It seemed like they didn’t
That’s exactly my mindset too. 4$ sometimes is not worth our time
Your points are exactly my thoughts and the red flags I also detected. I’m not in a position to risk an unsatisfied customer (I’m currently 4.5 stars in that gig thanks to similar buyers who were picky and indecisive).
I should have clarified that the problem for me is not the grammar itself. I’ve had buyers who weren’t perfect at English. How come I’m going to be criticizing that, when I’m a self-taught english speaker? The problem for me is that It’s suspicious they set their location on USA and yet commit grammar mistakes in such basic words, it is a red flag because they may be lying about their location, just to appear something they’re not… In few words, a scammer trying to pose as someone from a developed country. It may be petty of me, nonetheless.
That’s what made my alarms ring. It’s really fishy.
I didn’t. I even omitted the pictures they sent me.
I may have done a little bit of nit-picking here, maybe overreacting, but when something seems off, is better to trust your intuition.
