Stealth vs. Wealth: Numbers in Queue

[webtelly]

I have heard it said that many Fiverr sellers want the Numbers in Queue feature brought back, namely because it encourages buyers to order the Extra Fast gig, and also because it makes you look busy, and therefore better, as a seller. This is the Belle of the Ball psychology, wherein every girl should always say that she has a boyfriend or has plans when she is asked, lest she end up on the heap of undesirables. This of course, is a matter of opinion.



I even went so far as to join the bandwagon and like and comment in a current post asking for support to bring the Numbers in Queue feature back, because at the time, it made sense to me for the reasons I have mentioned.



Then I thought about it for awhile. Then I slept on it. When I woke up, it came to me like a light. What about the stealth feature? If people know your number in queue, they know a lot about you. They have information that they can use, albeit improperly, to their advantage when trying to haggle with you on price and delivery schedule. This puts undue pressure on you as a seller, both on the front end, and the back end.



Think about it: Once you make it past arguing with a customer why they should order extra fast, you still have to worry about your to-do list. This is your built-in time manager, and natural conveyor belt to keep you sane as your jobs pile up. If someone knows what your work load is, then they may tend to prompt you to complete a job faster, with or without having ordered the Extra Fast.



So, there is only so much that Fiverr can do for us in the end. I can’t envision a way to display our workload to the buyers and still maintain control of the work flow. There is no magic solution there, unless of course they want to make the Numbers in Queue an on/off switch like the Vacation mode. In the meantime, I will choose the stealth method. Let me know your thoughts on this. Thank you.

[levinewman]

This was a well thought out post and makes a lot of sense. You’ve swayed me to this side of the fence.

[webtelly]

Thanks, Levi. I was hoping I could get some support on this. Fiverr on!

[amandygran]

You bring up some good points! My question is, have you tried working on your orders like a conveyor belt the way you suggest? I find that I always start my day with one large/timeconsuming order and then do smaller orders until I’m ready to take on another large one, regardless of where they are in my queue. For me, as long as I’m not delivering my normal orders faster than I would have been if they had been ordered with an Extra Fast add-on, the order in which I complete them doesn’t matter so much as the time necessary to complete the most time-consuming and profitable gigs first.



I’m curious to know how you prioritize working on gigs other than just time. 🙂 Thanks for your insight!

[atlbusiness]

Honestly. I actually believe that more people order a gig when there are more numbers in the que. This is because nobody wants to be the only person buying something. My gigs always converted more when I was sitting on a couple of orders.

[emasonwrites]

I think it goes two ways. First, if you too many orders in your queue, people will think you’re too busy (occasionally someone would message saying, "I saw you already have fifteen orders in your queue, will you even have time for me?) or have too few in your queue, people will think you’re not a worthwhile seller (how could you be, no one else is ordering!).



On the other hand, if you can keep that “magic number” of orders in your queue, which would vary depending on what you sell, you look credible without being too overwhelmed to take on another order and it does encourage others to order.

[webtelly]

Reply to @amandygran: You are right, I don’t always go straight through my orders. I do prioritize them by taking the easy ones first, and also grouping them by buyer. I have several loyal customers who drop several small orders on me at once, so I usually do those as a batch. Thank you.

[webtelly]

Reply to @emasonwrites: Yes, all good points. I guess I was trying to look for a way to split the difference. That’s why I suggested the on/off switch for number in queue to cater to sellers’ individual preferences. Instead of hanging the sellers out to dry who choose to cloak their workload, the off setting could display something like, “This seller has opted not to show current orders in queue.” Throw the mystery factor in there.