Mean potential buyer

[miiila]

This sounds so familiar, did you hack my inbox?

I’ll rant along anyway, imagine pretty much the same conversation, only that once I even had that one hopeful client, who then proceeded to send me a screenshot of another seller’s quote, as if I’d said I don’t believe him and want to see proof or anything - no, I just had lost the will to live and wasn’t interested in working with him anymore already before that … (and he got insulting, too).

Not sure what the problem is either; if someone does the same work for less money, and even without any extra amount for not just 24-hour but even 12-hour delivery, dropping anything on their hands right now, well, go for it, and don’t waste our time by throwing a tantrum. I suppose the issue is that they may well suspect that it might not be “the same work”, after all …

[mooninya]

there is so many bad experiences for sellers nowadays, ouch
one of the things is i didn’t get my gig as CHINESE voice over, even though it is the only one out of two languages i can offer. everytime i have to check the buyer requests and see the ones that actually fits, i have to get up and record for minutes even though i know that they won’t even bother to listen to my samples. Before anyone try to judge how i feel like “giving up”, i just want to say i am feeling sick of getting rejected over and over again.
I know I won’t give up after the efforts I made, but I am pretty sure there won’t be stable income from Fiverr, especially with all the buyer issues. I am pretty sure those buyers are making Fiverr bad names now…

[ignareint]

Hello there, I’m really sorry to hear about that. I think recording a unique and specific sample for every buyer request may not be a feasible practice; like you implied, it made you feel rejected or burnt out because you worked hard for those samples and they may not even be heard.

Why don’t you record some short stories or books on that site you mentioned last time? It could be both a good practice and a good portfolio item too (since the materials are in public domain and you can use them on your gig). I hope you give the platform a chance - I personally will take it easy on my own gig (and future gigs).

[captainwarlord]

May I make a suggestion? Looking at your gig samples, there’s a lot of sound pressure in your audio. I recommend editing your samples with an Equalizer (for example in Audacity, which is a free software). This way you can make your voiceover sound more clear. You can probably look up tutorials for it online.

[english_voice]

Thank you - yes, I did block them.

My point is that I’m not prepared, or even bothered, to explain the value I bring for $50 vs someone who charges $20. It’s just not worth my time or the hassle, as they’ve already demonstrated they’re a very bad person to work with.

As it happens, their job would probably have taken me 1.5 to 2 hours to complete to my standard. I don’t know of any native English writer / proofreader who will spend up to 2 hours working for $20.

The funny thing is that the job was proofreading some sales literature and website copy for an overseas based English language school. Based on the sample they sent me, they need a miracle - not a proofreader.

And although I’m trying to be witty with my last paragraph, there is also some truth in it. You get what you pay for. I suspect the language school will end up hiring someone for $20 and they’ll get $20 worth of work in return. They’ll then publish the result on their website - and then wonder why people reading it are thinking it’s complete nonsense.

[english_voice]

Agreed, while the ‘haggling’ approach maybe cultural for some, I know for sure that in my instance it wasn’t. They were just being mean. And for those who think haggling is a game - it certainly isn’t. Like everyone else I have bills to pay and kids to feed.

[captainwarlord]

Hey, dude. Just wanted to let you know I checked out your gigs and just wanted to say you have a smooth, clear voice and clean audio. Saved just in case for future reference.

Oh, and by the way: Does anyone know any scottish people that do voiceovers? The few I found were not up my alley. Nvm. Found some with a different query.

[catsimulator]

I’ve learned to just block them now. Note though, you need to respond before you block otherwise it takes a whole 10% off your response rate. I don’t even haggle anymore, I just say “Go do it with someone else.” and block. Peace of mind.

[captainwarlord]

What’s wrong with haggling? Unless it’s lowballing, what appears to be the problem? Selling several gigs a tad cheaper is better than not selling anything at all. Though I personally haven’t even considered haggling at this point. Didn’t know that even was an option.

[mattboa]

You can totally discuss prices when it comes to big projects…
But our friend @english_voice here can even have multiple clients a day. He’s a level two seller with regular orders all the time. He’s much more here for himself than for others - he can already depend on many who will give him the amount stated on his gig without asking for discounts, nor wasting his time.

[english_voice]

Thank you for your kind comments. You’re quite accurate in your assessment of me!

My business model is based on offering a very fixed service for a fixed fee (proofread up to 1,000 words within three days for $10). Each gig takes me about 15 or 20 minutes to complete. Most buyers want me to proofread between two and four thousand words - so they automatically buy the required number of gigs to cover the service.

If you do the maths, the average order takes me 45 minutes to an hour to complete and earns me $30 (before fees). For the UK that is a fair hourly rate for a freelancer. It’s not amazing, but it’s not terrible either. I’m lucky in that I also have interests outside of Fiverr.

I’m happy to share the above information for a reason. My business model is based on offering a very deliberate fixed product. Therefore I can complete most jobs easily. But the moment potential buyers try and discount me, I’m not interested - that’s why I found the buyer who inspired this thread to be mean. Buyers should recognise and respect the value they are getting.

[heyfellow1]

I hate hagglers. When I was starting out, I wasn’t as expensive as my competitors. I still had people come to me say, I only have 5 dollars. When I said no they would proceed to say, “fine I’ll take my job elsewhere”, only to come returning a day later…

[lenasemenkova]

@english_voice

Buyers should recognise and respect the value they are getting .

I think that’s the biggest issue here. Most do (in my experience), for some a good deal is $6.95 no matter what they’re trying to buy.

[captainwarlord]

@heyfellow1

I hate hagglers. When I was starting out, I wasn’t as expensive as my competitors. I still had people come to me say, I only have 5 dollars. When I said no they would proceed to say, “fine I’ll take my job elsewhere”, only to come returning a day later…

Well, yeah. They are testing the waters with the good ol’ guilt-tripping method. Trying to encourage a discount because they think you are desperate for sales (which a lot of sellers are, sadly).

[mooninya]

thanks man
i am still learning audio stuff, which I am not very good at
now I only have to hope that I can get the sales that are really good without needing to stress myself out.
now I am in the burnt out state, haha

[nixon_smith]

there are so many buyers out there some extremely nice ones and some pretty bad ones which try to take advantage of your or the five star ratings,we just need to be patient this is a life of a free lancer

[mooninya]

yes, i do feel unnecessary to record according to what the buyers want in the buyer request, especially for character impersonation.
now on the site, I decided to go for drama works and record for characters who may be male, or very different personality from mine. So this way I can actually test out how my acting skills are in voice stuff, and definitely try out the equalizer like @captainwarlord told me, haha

[mooninya]

yes, just be patient. The good ones will be patient enough to tell you more details needed for the work and the bad ones will be “TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT, THIS IS MA MONEY” kind of attitude.
Yay, I did the stupid impersonation of such bad buyers, but you get the idea.

[iamsaadkhalid]

I can understand your frustration. However, I have learned from my experience that such clients are certain of your capabilities and they require the quality work but are to stubborn to increase the price or consult to somebody else. I believe, the best option to deal with such clients is to politely say ‘No’. Even then if they don’t understand you, just tell them that you don’t have time and you are busy with other projects.