Require 'Budget' Payment on Requests & Create An 'Accept Contact' Option

[thusie]

So if you’re a seller like me, you sometimes check out the buyer requests and notice that it’s often full of irrelevant gigs opportunities or people advertising their services.



Am I the only one who finds this annoying?



I want to suggest that when creating a request, the buyer should be required to put the dollar amount they have budgeted in escrow with the opportunity to cancel if they don’t find what they’re looking for.



I strongly believe this would help eliminate spam and reduce irrelevancy.



From a buyer and seller perspective, we want to be able to communicate without throwing a pitch right out the gate.



Perhaps creating an ‘Accept Contact’ option would work best for both parties.



A seller could view a buyer’s request, and click a button that requests the ability to contact them. The buyer could then approve/disapprove their contact request.



This will give the buyer the opportunity to glance quickly at the gigs the seller is offering to determine if their presence and quality might be something they are interested in.



SCANNABLE Recap



Problem 1 - Requests are saturated with sellers advertising their own services. (Not what I buyer request is meant for)

Problem 2 - There are users advertising competing platforms and networks. (Against Fiverr rules)

Problem 3 - Buyers are frequently offered irrelevant gigs from people with no expertise

Problem 4 - There is no prior communication between buyer and seller before a pitch (needed for value and understanding)



Solution 1 - Require the budge amount to be held in escrow (until cancellation or completion)



How this solves problem 1 - Sellers will have to invest temporary dollar amounts if they want to continue spamming their services.



How this solves problem 2 - Advertisers will have to approve a payment method and invest which will significantly reduce the amount of ads.



Solution 2 - Accept Contact button



How this solves problem 3 - Buyers will be able to review who is trying to contact them before interaction. They can see services offered and profile information.



How this solves problem 4 - If they accept, buyer and seller can now communicate to determine how they can help each other better (creating a more useful and unique experience

Thanks,



Steven

[orcatek]

There already is a budget shown on requests now. Not all of the, but more and more.

[thusie]

Reply to @orcatek: Thanks for your comment orcatek! I understand there is already a budget shown. I’m suggesting that the budget amount be held in escrow or put on hold until a purchase or cancellation is completed.

[orcatek]

Reply to @thusie: Not sure the need for the escrow. What problem are you seeing?

I respond to buyer requests. Either I hear nothing, or they respond to my request and I get the order once details are worked out.

[thusie]

Reply to @orcatek: There are a number of problems occurring and the opportunity to create a better experience for the buyer and seller.

They’ve all been identified in the article above but I’m happy to recap.

Problem 1 - Requests are saturated with sellers advertising their own services. (Not what I buyer request is meant for)
Problem 2 - There are users advertising competing platforms and networks. (Against Fiverr rules)
Problem 3 - Buyers are frequently offered irrelevant gigs from people with no expertise
Problem 4 - There is no prior communication between buyer and seller before a pitch (needed for value and understanding)

Solution 1 - Require the budge amount to be held in escrow (until cancellation or completion)

How this solves problem 1 - Sellers will have to invest temporary dollar amounts if they want to continue spamming their services.

How this solves problem 2 - Advertisers will have to approve a payment method and invest which will significantly reduce the amount of ads.

Solution 2 - Accept Contact button

How this solves problem 3 - Buyers will be able to review who is trying to contact them before interaction. They can see services offered and profile information.

How this solves problem 4 - If they accept, buyer and seller can now communicate to determine how they can help each other better (creating a more useful and unique experience)

[sincere18]

No way. Why would I pay to maybe find a seller this way. Not everyone who posts a buyer request actually ends up buying that way, then your money goes to Fiverr already. What is Fiverr going to do, refund all that money back to your credit card or just your Fiverr account.

And what you are proposing then turns this into an auction site like guru.com or elance…if you want to post how much you are willing to pay and then have people bid on your job, you can try that out and see how it goes.

[thusie]

Reply to @sincere18: I see your point. Fiverr does tend to refund money into the account. I’m confused by the auction thing though.

I’m not suggesting a bid or offer, I’m suggesting that Fiverr figure out a way to require a confirmed method of payment? A way of ‘verifying’ an account.

The “Accept Contact” isn’t mean to create a bidding war, it’s meant for the buyer to be able to decide who can message them.

Maybe there are some things that I don’t know about the buyer requests. In my experience though, it’s difficult to communicate with them. Especially on mobile app when all you can do is send them one of your gigs.

I’m not sure if I didn’t work things correctly, or you guys are just skimming my post. Either way, I appreciate the feedback and hope that we can come to some solutions 🙂

Thanks for the info!

[thusie]

Let me attempt to make this more clear.

I think Fiverr should create a payment verification to be able to request a service.

I think Fiverr should create a dual sided ‘Contact’ button that the buyer and seller can use when they agree they would like to communicate before a gig.

[fonthaunt]

http://forum.fiverr.com/discussion/68240/report-feature-for-misuse-of-buyer-requests-active-discussion/

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[oezeadi]

I get what you’re saying thusie. It is becoming a problem, but not a big enough problem to require a dramatic change. Let’s see if the spammers and advertisers eventually get weeded out