My experience as a Buyer on Fiverr

[nzrajput]

I joined Fiverr as a Seller to provide WordPress website services. As my business grew, I needed different services for my business. I am writing this post to share my experience as well as to point out the issues that I faced as a Buyer. It can also be used as an advice to different Sellers.

Let’s start first with the positive experience. I wanted a logo for my business and I searched for different Sellers who provide this service. Finally, I found someone and he provided me the logos. I was very happy with the work. However, there was one thing that I found annoying. The Seller kept addressing me as “My friend”. I kept thinking to myself that he barely know me, yet he keeps calling me “Friend”. To be honest, I did not like it. If he could have addressed me by name, that would be much better.

The second experience was not successful. By unsuccessful, I mean that I did not hire any freelance. I wanted to a web application. I contacted 3 Sellers for this. Two of them were Level 2, I think. One was level 1 Seller. I contacted them and here is what happened.

The first seller, just sent me the offer with a 7 days deadline without even knowing what I wanted. This gave me an impression that it won’t be a good choice to hire him. A Seller who just sends the offer without knowing the requirement is, in my opinion, not a good Seller to hire.

The second seller was… quite proudy. He didn’t even read the requirements I shared with him and just quoted me a big amount with 4 digits. I believe he just measured the length of my requirements and quoted me a huge price. I did not have any problem with the price of his services. Atleast, he could have read the requirements first. You must be thinking how did I know that whether he read the requirements or not, right? Well, there was a question added between the requirements to filter out Sellers like him.

The third and last seller was nice. He read the requirements thoroughly and answered the question first before saying anything else. I would have hired me but the project had to be postponed for personal reasons.

To sum up the above post, I believe these points can do and will work as an advice for other Sellers:

1. Please do not try to be extra friendly with the buyers. Not everyone of them like it.
2. Please read the requirements thoroughly before sending any offer or quoting any amount. It will impact your customer service.
3. Please do not overcharge your Buyers.

I hope all the Buyers and Sellers will find these helpful.

Do you agree with my points? Share your thoughts in the comments/replies and help me and others.

Thanks.

[philmoonamjid]

I 100% Agree with your points. Its better to be straight forward and talk point to point rather then being frank or friendly. But sometimes its good to talk to the buyers in friendly manner to keep the conversation good. If its just like saying, “Hey!!! How are you? 🙂 good to see your online” or passing emoticons, then that is really annoying thing.

[nzrajput]

I 100% Agree with your points. Its better to be straight forward and talk point to point rather then being frank or friendly. But sometimes its good to talk to the buyers in friendly manner to keep the conversation good. If its just like saying, “Hey!!! How are you? 🙂 good to see your online” or passing emoticons, then that is really annoying thing.

It’s good to know that you share the same thinking.

Yes, it’s true. Spamming is not allowed anyway

[lynnehuysamen]

Well I think as with anything there will be good sellers, mediocre sellers and some awful sellers.

I totally agree with you that there are a lot of sellers that don’t bother to even read what you want. I have had that before where I ask a question and get a reply that goes something like this “Yes I do, order now”… when my questions were asking for specific information.

Often I don’t ask a question because I want an actual answer. I am testing the seller to see how he or she responds. If a seller doesn’t respond in a way that shows me that the seller cares about my requirements and takes the time and care to respond appropriately then I won’t place an order because I doubt my order will be given the care and attention I require either.

Great topic by the way… I have been called “lovie” or “my love” before my sellers. I just run!

[catwriter]

Well I think as with anything there will be good sellers, mediocre sellers and some awful sellers.

I totally agree with you that there are a lot of sellers that don’t bother to even read what you want. I have had that before where I ask a question and get a reply that goes something like this “Yes I do, order now”… when my questions were asking for specific information.

Often I don’t ask a question because I want an actual answer. I am testing the seller to see how he or she responds. If a seller doesn’t respond in a way that shows me that the seller cares about my requirements and takes the time and care to respond appropriately then I won’t place an order because I doubt my order will be given the care and attention I require either.

Great topic by the way… I have been called “lovie” or “my love” before my sellers. I just run!

“lovie”? Yikes.

Both buyers and sellers should learn to communicate properly, and stop calling random strangers on the Internet “dear”, “buddy”, “bro”, “friend”… Or “lovie”.

[mariokluser]

Totally agree on that. No matter if it’s a seller or buyer, it’s a business conversation and if someone I never met approaches me as if we played together in the sandbox when we were kids, it is very unlikely that I want to work with that person. Most of the time they are the types that get very phony in further communications. It’s a big no-go sign for me.

[gina_riley2]

I had one seller that called me “dude” and “guy.” On the review, he referred to me as “him/her” in the write up. It went something like this:

Seller: "Dude, I don’t do pencil."
Me: "Okay, never mind then."
Seller: "Guy, I can give you this …"
On and on.

Granted there are plenty of men on Fiverr with a female logo/picture, so I just laughed it off. Even if I were a man, it still seems rather unprofessional to be referring to someone you’ve never met or worked with as Guy or Dude in any business transaction.

Needless to say, never ordered from him again. Not because he assumed that I was a man pretending to be a woman but his work was mediocre and his responses were unprofessional.

[onyourservice1]

Hahaha well ‘‘My Friend’’ thing is little creepy 😛

[nzrajput]

Well I think as with anything there will be good sellers, mediocre sellers and some awful sellers.

I totally agree with you that there are a lot of sellers that don’t bother to even read what you want. I have had that before where I ask a question and get a reply that goes something like this “Yes I do, order now”… when my questions were asking for specific information.

Often I don’t ask a question because I want an actual answer. I am testing the seller to see how he or she responds. If a seller doesn’t respond in a way that shows me that the seller cares about my requirements and takes the time and care to respond appropriately then I won’t place an order because I doubt my order will be given the care and attention I require either.

Great topic by the way… I have been called “lovie” or “my love” before my sellers. I just run!

Thank you for liking the topic and sharing your experience. Calling you “lovie” was really unprofessional. I hope the Sellers are reading this post and plan to improve their conversation. Conversation is a key in any business.

[nzrajput]

Totally agree on that. No matter if it’s a seller or buyer, it’s a business conversation and if someone I never met approaches me as if we played together in the sandbox when we were kids, it is very unlikely that I want to work with that person. Most of the time they are the types that get very phony in further communications. It’s a big no-go sign for me.

Thank you for sharing your points.

[nzrajput]

I had one seller that called me “dude” and “guy.” On the review, he referred to me as “him/her” in the write up. It went something like this:

Seller: "Dude, I don’t do pencil."

Me: "Okay, never mind then."

Seller: "Guy, I can give you this …"

On and on.

Granted there are plenty of men on Fiverr with a female logo/picture, so I just laughed it off. Even if I were a man, it still seems rather unprofessional to be referring to someone you’ve never met or worked with as Guy or Dude in any business transaction.

Needless to say, never ordered from him again. Not because he assumed that I was a man pretending to be a woman but his work was mediocre and his responses were unprofessional.

Well, I have seen that happen many times when the Seller doesn’t even whether the buyer is a lady or a gentleman. If that’s the case with me, I simply ask if needed.

[taverr]

I uses something a bit simpler to detect who went through my BR or not. I use to enter something like “Please include X in the starting of your offer”. Seems simple and works good as well. Just remove the offers that don’t start with X. 😈

[nzrajput]

I uses something a bit simpler to detect who went through my BR or not. I use to enter something like “Please include X in the starting of your offer”. Seems simple and works good as well. Just remove the offers that don’t start with X. 😈

I used it in the requirement document that I shared with the Sellers. That’s why I knew that he didn’t read the requirements.

[lynnehuysamen]

“lovie”? Yikes.

Both buyers and sellers should learn to communicate properly, and stop calling random strangers on the Internet “dear”, “buddy”, “bro”, “friend”… Or “lovie”.

Yeah I know, not so good right?

[lynnehuysamen]

I had one seller that called me “dude” and “guy.” On the review, he referred to me as “him/her” in the write up. It went something like this:

Seller: "Dude, I don’t do pencil."

Me: "Okay, never mind then."

Seller: "Guy, I can give you this …"

On and on.

Granted there are plenty of men on Fiverr with a female logo/picture, so I just laughed it off. Even if I were a man, it still seems rather unprofessional to be referring to someone you’ve never met or worked with as Guy or Dude in any business transaction.

Needless to say, never ordered from him again. Not because he assumed that I was a man pretending to be a woman but his work was mediocre and his responses were unprofessional.

Haha oh yes, I get called Sir all the time.

[minto1234]

Haha oh yes, I get called Sir all the time.

hi I,m minto from bangladesh

[chicagowriter]

“lovie”? Yikes.

Both buyers and sellers should learn to communicate properly, and stop calling random strangers on the Internet “dear”, “buddy”, “bro”, “friend”… Or “lovie”.

same goes for buyers, all the buyers who called me “dear” or “bro” went on to screw with me. As such I do not work with friendly clients anymore. Yes we can be friendly when we develop a long working relationship but even then I try to keep it pro.

[gina_riley2]

Haha oh yes, I get called Sir all the time.

lynnehuysamenHaha oh yes, I get called Sir all the time.

I really don’t get that. Your picture clearly indicates you are female. 😒

I forgot about the one who called me: “Dear Sir or Madman” - I’m guessing he meant madam." From what I can tell, none of the female sellers have referred to me as guy, sir, dude, etc.

[lynnehuysamen]

lynnehuysamenHaha oh yes, I get called Sir all the time.

I really don’t get that. Your picture clearly indicates you are female. 😒

I forgot about the one who called me: “Dear Sir or Madman” - I’m guessing he meant madam." From what I can tell, none of the female sellers have referred to me as guy, sir, dude, etc.

LOL yeah I thought I look quite feminine @gina_riley2

[nzrajput]

Haha oh yes, I get called Sir all the time.

Any one who has called you “Sir” should refer to your profile picture before replying to you.

[jonbaas]

Any one who has called you “Sir” should refer to your profile picture before replying to you.

Sadly, most new buyers/sellers on Fiverr do not reflect themselves in their photos. Far too many new users ***************************** think it’s okay to pretend to be an attractive woman just to fool people into buying from them. This is fraud, and illegal in most of the business world.

For this reason, profile pictures are not always a good way to assess a user’s gender.

[nzrajput]

Sadly, most new buyers/sellers on Fiverr do not reflect themselves in their photos. Far too many new users ***************************** think it’s okay to pretend to be an attractive woman just to fool people into buying from them. This is fraud, and illegal in most of the business world.

For this reason, profile pictures are not always a good way to assess a user’s gender.

I would suggest that you do not target any nation/region.

[exilegraphics]

I am not "targeting" anything or anyone. I am merely stating a 100% true fact. A majority of male sellers from areas like India, Pakistan, China, and other Asian regions keep coming to Fiverr, and building profiles that present themselves as attractive women -- usually with images stolen from the internet. They even choose female names, and write their gig text as if they are far more experienced than they really are. It's not hard to trace images stolen from the internet. And, as a result, it's not hard to trace users that present themselves and someone they are not in the hopes that the pretty women in their profile personas will result in more sales.

I have seen this as a Fiverr user, as well as the behind the scenes angle of this whole fraud "strategy" as a previous moderator on this forum. I assure you, I am not targeting anyone, but rather stating an unfortunate fact that even Fiverr does not appreciate.

Yeah, it’s an unspoken fact, indeed. But your classification seems rude when taking note of other talented sellers from across those regions. You’re stereotyping.

I’m a romanian. People all across the globe, when they hear “romanian” they think I’m a gypsy. It’s the perfect metaphor for what you’re doing right now.

[jonbaas]

Yeah, it’s an unspoken fact, indeed. But your classification seems rude when taking note of other talented sellers from across those regions. You’re stereotyping.

I’m a romanian. People all across the globe, when they hear “romanian” they think I’m a gypsy. It’s the perfect metaphor for what you’re doing right now.

I’m not going to argue with you. You are entitled to your opinions. But that does not remove the fact that what I have stated is 100% accurate. If those male users did not choose to try to build their success upon fraud, then we would have no reason for this conversation. But, alas, is IS happening, and male users from those regions of the world are the majority of Fiverr users presenting themselves as women – with images stolen from the internet.

NOTE: I did not say that ALL male users from those regions of the world are committing fraud by pretending to be women. I merely stated that that is where the majority of those Fiverr users come from.

[exilegraphics]

I’m not going to argue with you. You are entitled to your opinions. But that does not remove the fact that what I have stated is 100% accurate. If those male users did not choose to try to build their success upon fraud, then we would have no reason for this conversation. But, alas, is IS happening, and male users from those regions of the world are the majority of Fiverr users presenting themselves as women – with images stolen from the internet.

NOTE: I did not say that ALL male users from those regions of the world are committing fraud by pretending to be women. I merely stated that that is where the majority of those Fiverr users come from.

I’m not arguing, Job. I didn’t come here to argue. Although what you are saying is true, I’m just stating the frustration beyond this stereotype for honest, hard-working people.