Suggestion, Buyers can't contact you with just "Hello"

[timdolbear]

Please Fiverr, make the messenger section have a minimum of workds for the first message, something…

I get messages everyday that just say “hello”

I response, “Hi, is there something I can help you with?”

Nothing… or spam.

[joyustcian]

I think it happens because of late reply. I also noticed it. when buyer send message hello and if I can reply within few min buyer continue the conversation. But When it takes more than 30 min or higher then buyer ignore my reply. I am not sure this is the correct answer just my experience.

[marinapomorac]

I think it happens because of late reply. I also noticed it. when buyer send message hello and if I can reply within few min buyer continue the conversation. But When it takes more than 30 min or higher then buyer ignore my reply. I am not sure this is the correct answer just my experience.

I think it happens because of late reply.

Yes, but if you are sleeping, if you are showering, if you are on a meeting, or doctors appointment, if you have life, you can’t respond immediately and buyer should write as much as detail in first message so we can review it and send proper feedback, not wait for another hour or day to get what heshe needs.

[timdolbear]

My response rate is under an hour, usually within a few minutes. I am a TR seller, not a newbie.

At a minimum they can write, “hello, I need to get XXX done, are you available?”

“Hello” by itself always leads to either nothing, spam or a request that has nothing to do with the gig, like can you teach me how to do what you do.

Just like you can not leave a 1 word review, it should be the same for contacting buyers.

[zreine]

I agree with you. There should be a minimum of words. I got a Buyer like that. It was super annoying. He dis answer to me after his “hello”, but he was super vague. It felt like I was trying to extract top secret national defense informations, just to know what he wanted. He eventually stopped answering after wasting my time for 2 hours (most of that time was spent waiting for a 2-3 words vague answer).

It went like this:
-Hello.
-Hi! What can I do for you?
Half an hour later…
-I want a drawing.
-Sure! But I’m going to need more details. ( Precise description of what you want, the resolution, file format, ect. ) The more detail you give me to more accurate I can be.
45 minutes later…
-It’s for an album cover.
:woman_facepalming:

[marinapomorac]

I agree with you. There should be a minimum of words. I got a Buyer like that. It was super annoying. He dis answer to me after his “hello”, but he was super vague. It felt like I was trying to extract top secret national defense informations, just to know what he wanted. He eventually stopped answering after wasting my time for 2 hours (most of that time was spent waiting for a 2-3 words vague answer).

It went like this:

-Hello.

-Hi! What can I do for you?

Half an hour later…

-I want a drawing.

-Sure! But I’m going to need more details. ( Precise description of what you want, the resolution, file format, ect. ) The more detail you give me to more accurate I can be.

45 minutes later…

-It’s for an album cover.

:woman_facepalming:

For “hello” like this is best to use quick reply set with all you need, and just keep sending it.

[humanissocial]

I totally agree.

It would save us a lot of (sketchy) back and forth.

[looseink]

Ummm.

You have a Smartphone, right?

Do you send text messages to friends and/or family?

If so, do they respond within seconds of you sending a message?

If not…this is the same thing.

Texting/messaging is very different to regular conversation.

Time passes.

People forget that they have unanswered texts.

I’d be happy to find the odd “Hello” in my Inbox.

It tells me that I got someone’s attention.

It might even be a job.

It could be fun to find out.

You know, one-word answers and all.

[mrwebwebsites]

Unfortunately a lot of people are shopping around when looking for a Gig. For example a buyer looking for a web designer you might message 10 sellers at once to see which one suits their needs. Chances are some of these buyers have already decided on a seller to use by the time you get back to them. I know its annoying but you cant win em all.

[anniejenkinson]

I agree. I find those whose messages begin in that way will go on to send spam once I respond. The content that follows when I reply is usually something personal and unwelcome. Once, I received, (after replying to a ‘hello’ message): ‘I want marry you n do work 4U’.

Or it will be someone who is a potential client but who wants to use the inbox for a text chat, wasting a half-day in uninformative, fragmented ping pong about the minutiae of how I will edit their book… before telling me they haven’t begun to write it yet.

I tend to avoid clients who want a live messaging chat anyway because they often give three-word comments and expect me to fill in the missing bits via telepathy. It’s like pulling teeth, a kind of ‘write your own brief’.

I only work for clients who send me plenty of detail in their first inquiry, as @marinapomorac described.

Anyone who cannot write in full words is also going to be a nightmare client, and these tend to be the one-worders.

[humanissocial]

Ummm.

You have a Smartphone, right?

Do you send text messages to friends and/or family?

If so, do they respond within seconds of you sending a message?

If not…this is the same thing.

Texting/messaging is very different to regular conversation.

Time passes.

People forget that they have unanswered texts.

I’d be happy to find the odd “Hello” in my Inbox.

It tells me that I got someone’s attention.

It might even be a job.

It could be fun to find out.

You know, one-word answers and all.

Those are not comparable situations, though.

When a friend texts you “Hello,” you know who they are and you know they are not scamming you or trying to get you to do something unethical.

You know what to expect when a friend texts you and a message from a friend doesn’t become a waste of your time unless you really don’t like your friend.

You don’t know any of this when you get a cagey message on Fiverr. And history tells us that cagey messages are often scammers.

Either that or the person is needlessly dragging out the conversation, wasting your time because you have to go back and forth to tease out what they want.

Wasting people’s time is not okay. And my friend Sue is not wasting my time by reaching out to me.

[f4him]

When someone sends you Hello It means he/she Wants to start a conversation with you. If you are online and can reply him/her within some times its ok. But if you cant. I think buyer should leave a detailed message for you. Someone does it someone doesn’t. Depends on person and their needs.

[timdolbear]

When someone sends you Hello It means he/she Wants to start a conversation with you. If you are online and can reply him/her within some times its ok. But if you cant. I think buyer should leave a detailed message for you. Someone does it someone doesn’t. Depends on person and their needs.

You did not read the original post. Most often these “Hello” are followed with scams or nothing. I answer immediately and only about 1 out of 5 times it ends up being an actually customer.

[krheate]

This would be an amazing feature!

Sometimes, it drives me nuts when buyers message me with just a “hello” and then I respond with some questions about what they need, but they never respond back with any details.

@marinapomorac, having a quick reply to respond to these kind of messages is a really great idea!

[forman_fahim]

That would be amazing!

[zreine]

Ummm.

You have a Smartphone, right?

Do you send text messages to friends and/or family?

If so, do they respond within seconds of you sending a message?

If not…this is the same thing.

Texting/messaging is very different to regular conversation.

Time passes.

People forget that they have unanswered texts.

I’d be happy to find the odd “Hello” in my Inbox.

It tells me that I got someone’s attention.

It might even be a job.

It could be fun to find out.

You know, one-word answers and all.

It’s not the same thing. If a friend is texting me, and I’m too busy to chitchat I can just text him back when I have the time. I don’t have to interrupt everything I’m doing to answer to him as fast as possible, unless it’s an emergency.

When a Buyers write to me it’s different. I stop what I’m doing to discuss business. My phone is just there to notify me I got a message or send a premade answer when I’m not near my laptop. I don’t discuss business on my phone, because if I do it’s “Typo fest” and takes me forever to type a complete answer on a phone, which wouldn’t be professional.

And to be fair, if a friend makes me wait 15 min to just answer with “Ok”, I usually stop talking to him, close my phone and go do something else. I have other things to do.

[looseink]

@humanissocial and @zreine you both bring up strong points.

You also are looking at this from the perspective of a female.

My wife, for example, has her “spidey” senses go off if she receives an unsolicited “hello, how are you?” PM on FB.

I totally get where you are on this…and I agree…my phone text example is not quite the same as the example in the OP.

In reality, there should be a minimum word allotment in the Inbox messaging system as there is in the Forum.

I’ve tried it.

The Forum does not allow one-word answers.

[humanissocial]

@humanissocial and @zreine you both bring up strong points.

You also are looking at this from the perspective of a female.

My wife, for example, has her “spidey” senses go off if she receives an unsolicited “hello, how are you?” PM on FB.

I totally get where you are on this…and I agree…my phone text example is not quite the same as the example in the OP.

In reality, there should be a minimum word allotment in the Inbox messaging system as there is in the Forum.

I’ve tried it.

The Forum does not allow one-word answers.

It’s not women’s intuition. I simply look at the trends and know how to illicit them to evaluate a problem very early

It’s objective, not an intuition and nothing to do with my sex.

[looseink]

It’s not women’s intuition. I simply look at the trends and know how to illicit them to evaluate a problem very early

It’s objective, not an intuition and nothing to do with my sex.

Understood.

However, your perspective is still keen!

[humanissocial]

Understood.

However, your perspective is still keen!

Thank you. I am a Wonder Woman of sorts.

[looseink]

Thank you. I am a Wonder Woman of sorts.

I have seen evidence of that in the Forums.

I truly respect what you post.

It may have something to do with us both being Canadian…or just because we seem to share many of the same thoughts.

Or it has nothing to do with anything.

Regardless, I do enjoy your commenting here and appreciate your input.

[humanissocial]

I have seen evidence of that in the Forums.

I truly respect what you post.

It may have something to do with us both being Canadian…or just because we seem to share many of the same thoughts.

Or it has nothing to do with anything.

Regardless, I do enjoy your commenting here and appreciate your input.

Aw thanks! Canadians for the win!

We also both freelance with chronic health issues. Canadian healthcare makes that a bit easier!

I think my health makes me less tolerant of nonsense messages because I understand the value of my energy. I don’t have much of it and refuse to use it on nonsense messages.

Hope your health is cooperating with you reasonably these days.

[looseink]

Aw thanks! Canadians for the win!

We also both freelance with chronic health issues. Canadian healthcare makes that a bit easier!

I think my health makes me less tolerant of nonsense messages because I understand the value of my energy. I don’t have much of it and refuse to use it on nonsense messages.

Hope your health is cooperating with you reasonably these days.

That’s right!

I forgot we also had that in common.

Yah. I have my days.

Yesterday was an “off” day for me. Someone said the wrong thing and it sent me on a short spiral. Today is better.

Still sitting on a Wait List for my next operation, but generally I feel really good.

Thanks for asking.

Hope you are coping well yourself!

[humanissocial]

That’s right!

I forgot we also had that in common.

Yah. I have my days.

Yesterday was an “off” day for me. Someone said the wrong thing and it sent me on a short spiral. Today is better.

Still sitting on a Wait List for my next operation, but generally I feel really good.

Thanks for asking.

Hope you are coping well yourself!

Thank you! Yeah stress isn’t good for anyone but it’s especially problematic when you have chronic health problems.

I’m ok thanks! I’ve figured out ways of adapting.

[looseink]

Thank you! Yeah stress isn’t good for anyone but it’s especially problematic when you have chronic health problems.

I’m ok thanks! I’ve figured out ways of adapting.

Same here.

For me, I find that just going for a walk clears my head and gets me back on track.

I try to do this almost daily and am at the point where I look forward to getting outside.

I also try not to think much about my heart condition.

One thing that has really helped me a lot is sharing my journey on FB and IG.

I am a local elected official in the small town I live in (in Southern BC) so I am well-known in these parts and by “dragging people along the way” I have somehow helped others. I am often called an inspiration, which makes me feel like I’m doing something right. I also don’t have to explain my situation to too many locals as they all seem to be following along.

Anyway, I didn’t mean to “hijack” this thread, but you got me on a topic I’m passionate about.

Be well and thanks!