Fiverr Community Forum

Mean potential buyer

Your Fiverr Experience The Ranting Pot
#1

Picture this. A potential client wants me to proofread 5,000 words.

My gig clearly states I charge $10 per 1,000 words. It’s a fair price.

The client asks “how much will the job cost?”. I reply “$50”.

Client responds “but I don’t want to pay $50”, and adds “others have quoted me $20”.

I say “then work with one of the others”. Client replies “but I want to work with you”.

So I say, “then I will charge you $50”. Client says “no, I don’t want to pay that”.

By this point I lose the will to live and just reply “no”.

Why are some people so mean? They knew from my gig description what the cost would be.

Buyers, please understand that not all sellers are desperate for work at any price.

Just had to rant.

31 Likes
#2

Probably this happens, because as you said, some sellers are “desperate for work at any price” and buyers think, that they are kings and sellers are slaves, who will do anything to get an order.
Honestly,I would block him, because it looks like not a very good beginning

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#3

The have a sense of entitlement, and think the world revolves around their needs and wants. :neutral_face:

Agreed. And sellers (not directed at you, @english_voice :wink: ), please understand, you’re NOT going to be successful if you act desperately, and undersell yourself. Gaining no profit is the mark of a failing business.

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#4

Lol!!! :laughing::rofl::grin::smile:

:thinking: So, are saying the world doesn’t revolve around, my need :interrobang:
Jon Baas, you take that back!!! :rage:
I am the center of the universe!! Say it. Say it. Say iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit! :crazy_face::stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye::stuck_out_tongue::stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

Okay, all joking aside Sorry, couldn’t resist. Just had an image of you screaming while banging your head against the wall. You have to admit, its entertaining, well at least for the rest of us lurking & giggling. :face_with_hand_over_mouth::face_with_hand_over_mouth:

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#5

In case you haven’t yet, do yourself a favor and block this buyer. There’s no way, even if they eventually agreed to your price, that they wouldn’t be a nightmare to work with.

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#6

They tried to haggle but miserably failed. I’d delete the convo or block.

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#7

Urgh I really don’t understand why so many buyers are asking for the price of x amount of words when it’s so obvious. You should send them an overview of how much it would cost them to proofread 5,000 words by a proofreader working outside of Fiverr, maybe then they’d realize how shameless this is.

The moment I give a quote and they want me to do it for $200 less I instantly don’t want to work on the project anymore because I just know that they don’t appreciate what I am doing. So I kind of resorted to not giving feedback to those buyers, I just check spelling and grammar. They can get my feedback if they order a gig extra. For only $200.

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#8

Some buyers just don’t understand they get what they pay for and that these prices aren’t negotiable. It can be frustrating but know that there are plenty of buyers out there willing to pay the price for your service (which is no unreasonable at all)!

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#9

You are the center of my worl… I mean, the world.

:stuck_out_tongue:

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#10

Exactly.

And those buyers are the ones who understand that they get what they paid for.

Cheap clients have no concept of value or common sense.

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#11

I cannot stress this point enough. I had a quiet week which is unusual, so last night I raised my gig prices to stand out from the other sellers. This morning I woke up to two new orders.

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#12

Been there done that, I think we all have.
They usually say “You’re too expensive but you have good review ( better reviews than cheap sellers) so I want you to work on my translation, but since there are many cheaper sellers, that must mean you’re simply charging too much and therefore you should lower your price.” OK, well, they don’t actually say it like that, but that’s what they are trying to say.

True, my rates are quite high, and there ARE very skilled sellers who charge much lower. However I charge that amount for a reason ( 20% being taken away being a big one), and buyers are paying for my skills and the guarantee that I am no Google translator.

Sometimes when I feel like it, I will mention what I typed above to the buyers, and in some cases they get it. In other cases, they go back to the “But you so expensive, please give me your best/lowest price, but be sure to give me the best quality translation.”

That’s when I say bye and hit the block button!

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#13

@english_voice: I am sorry it happened to you. Some buyers are really strange indeed. I wonder how one can be so shameless as to haggle so rudely. Usually you would expect one to be very apologetic if they need to haggle a price (at least the ones I’ve dealt with on another platform are), but this buyer’s entitlement sounds off the chart.

3 Likes
#14

Agreed. I would never intentionally work with a buyer like this. I give potential buyers one chance to amend their thinking (in this case realise that $50 is a fair price). If they still want to haggle after this one opportunity - I then end the conversation.

1 Like
#15

It’s annoying when someone doesn’t understand the value you’re bringing and why you charge what you charge no matter how much you explain. Hope you blocked this buyer, would be awful to work with someone like that.

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#16

I get what you’re saying but I just can’t be bothered to justify my charge to buyers anymore - although once upon a time I might have done so. They either want to work with me or they don’t.

As I mentioned in my original post, I’m not desperate to work at any price. I know I will have lost some potential buyers who probably would have been okay to work with - the sort who were just being cheeky as opposed to being mean by trying to secure a lower price. But I can’t be doing with games like that now.

5 Likes
#17

Yes, it was their sense of entitlement that annoyed me and led me to ranting here

Some potential buyers might be ‘cheeky’ and say something like “if I have 4,300 words, will you do it for $40?” - and depending on my mood and if they are otherwise polite, then I might do it for $40 instead of rounding the price up to $50.

But this potential buyer was just rude.

2 Likes
#18

I don’t work with people who try to haggle. I understand that for some people it’s cultural and/or a game of sorts but I find it insulting. Also, is this “but I want YOU!” approach is supposed to be flattering? You just end up sounding like a child (or a drunk stranger in a bar).

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#19

I am the same. I see haggling as a huge red flag that they will be a pain to work with. I do not work with buyers like that. Either you pay the price or you don’t.

I have made an exception to take 10% of the price once because a buyer said that he would give me more days to complete the project in exchange for his price reduction. Negotiating should not just be about one side gaining the advantage, but about securing a beneficial agreement for both parties. Buyers on Fiverr generally do not understand this, though, so that is why I usually refuse to negotiate with them.

Also, I don’t get why they would haggle over your prices. They are already very reasonable.

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#20

The “give me your best price” is also a classic.

It’s really weird that these people don’t view Fiverr prices like Ebay or Amazon or Etsy.

I really don’t get it.

6 Likes