Teaming up with other sellers for a gig. How can I pull this off?

[psychedelicpup]

Hi everyone.



I’ve been working on an idea here that maybe people are already doing or not, I don’t know. I have some gig ideas that will only work with cooperation from other sellers here on fiverr. I’ve seen lot’s of post about linking your own gigs for up sells or cross sells but why not do that with other members also?



The idea started because I have a gig idea that I would hire another seller to do part of. It’s just a fun, whacky gig that I think will do well. So I could create the gig and offer this additional service (the one I would hire someone else for) as a $10 extra. No problem. I get the gig find another seller to do the extra part for $5 and deliver the gig. I could do that. I make the $5 bucks (minus fees) on the extra. It would work, but I’d only have my 1 gig listed.



If the person who I was ordering the additional service from had a complementary gig where they offered the same gig but with my part of the gig as their $10 extra then we’d have 2 gigs listed. The other seller gets an order for the extra they send it my way. I get the extra order I send it their way. We both have the potential for twice the orders. If I had the right group of people involved that were offering complimentary services it’s possible we could all do quite well.



Anyone have any thoughts on this? Holes to poke in my theory? I would appreciate honest criticism.



Aside from the fun gig idea I also have a sizable project that I’m involved with now that I’ll be looking for help with. It might be a great platform to test this idea out with.



Thanks for reading,

Brian

[Guest matt_garry]

if you ever need music I would be happy to collaborate with you

[psychedelicpup]

Thanks Matt!



I will keep you mind. I may need some background music for a couple videos and slide shows coming up here pretty soon. I’ll keep you posted!



Thanks,

Brian

[tarotkatya]

I think that is an AWESOME idea! I can’t imagine that you’d need to collaborate with a Tarot and Oracle reader…but if you ever do, please keep me in mind.



I do think it’s an experiment worth trying. There’s just one fly in the ointment that I can see.



I think to split the funds, you’d probably have to send the share directly to yr collaborator’s Paypal or other preferred account, and that’s where it might get a tad tricky. When you get the funds in your acct, those funds are after fiverr and Paypal take their cut. You would then send to your collaborator what? half of what you actually have? Or would you send the 4$ they would have gotten had they sold a gig on their own?

I ask that because, if you only send exactly half of what you got post-fees, then it’s like your collaborator pays Paypal twice: the fee to go into your acct, and then the fee they pay for $ put in their acct. or you could take the loss. Either way, it would be difficult to make it an equal split.

When you’re talking about $4, it doesn’t seem like much, but it can add up. and for those who actually make enough to pay taxes, justifying writing that off might be interesting.



Personally, I keep good records so if I had to backtrack anything for Uncle Sam, I’m not worried. The fee difference I think would end up being negligible, so I don’t think I’d care. You just might want to crunch the hypotheticals so that whoever you collaborate with understands how that banana would be split.



Tarotkatya 🙂

[psychedelicpup]

Hi Tarotkatya,



You raise a very good point and it’s an issue I’ve been trying to iron out. Everyone looses a little bit more income every time the project passes into the next persons hands. I don’t like that in general and if I were the third person the project was going to I’d like it even less.



I think the only way it would work is if the team was a set (or maximum) number of people and the fees for each person would be added into the cost of the extras. I think the extra cost is justified by having many services available in one place. You would also get to know your team really well over time and I would imagine gig’s would get better and easier to do because you would know just what your teammates are going to deliver.



Like you for example. (this is all hypothetical, but you’re actually helping me flush out the idea! Thanks!) It seems that someone who would purchase your gigs may also like to know about their numerology, and perhaps what crystals they should have around them to help them reach their long or short term goals. So you would offer a $20 extra for a package of tarot, numerology and crystal advice. Your “Whole Being Advice Package” or something. Out of this package you send your numerologist a gig and your crystal adviser a gig. So you make $8 because it was you who generated the original order. Each of your team members make the $4 they would just like any other gig. It works out for you because you made a little extra booking the gig. It works for your teammates because they got a gig from your advertising.



The second upside to this is your crystal adviser and numerologist also offer the “Whole Being Advice Package”. So now you have 3 times the exposure. When any of them book the gig they get their $8 out of it and you get your $4.



I think your post has just turned this idea into a functional model! Thanks again! The one pitfall I see right now is why would anyone pay $5 extra for services they could hire individually. I think the answer is in reputation and service. When you find a seller who can provide packaged services and has stellar feedback why waste your time looking to piecemeal it together. Also the buyer is only dealing with One seller. That makes it easy for them, and easy is worth a couple extra bucks!



Now I wish I knew more about crystals so we could team up! 🙂 I think this idea has a lot of potential and I will be creating my own team for this upcoming project very soon!



What would be ideal is if Fiverr created an “Add to Team” button where you could invite other sellers into your team. Then the team would have it’s revenue split up evenly between the members every time the package sold. If Fiverr is listening… wink wink, nudge nudge, know what I mean?

[trafficsender]

"The one pitfall I see right now is why would anyone pay $5 extra for services they could hire individually."



Ease of use, reputation and service are going to help you get orders, but are always going to be a limiting factor.



I could maybe see this working out if the gig extras are a bit more expensive so that you have higher profits per gig order.

[jobambassador]

Team function is an amazing idea. Make it happen FIVERR!

[great_teacher]

yes i get a lot of business from fiverr sellers who “sub contract” gigs to me.



anyone who needs anything related to writing is free to ask me! I just had a graphic designer who orders poetry from me, to print them on tshirts!

[jive_a_five]

This is an excellent idea. Some sellers already have structures in place to utilize multiple sellers to create an end product.



For us, we have a voiceover gig and a jingle gig. We often get requests for female vocalists on our jingles or voice scripts that have both a male and female part. Unfortunately, we do not have a female voice talent/vocalist in studio often enough to comply with these requests as they come through.



I have been thinking about reaching out to some female artists here to bring this idea up about collaborating. For example, when we receive a request for a male/female voice script, I can have a gig extra for the female voice for $10.



Some might say “why would I pay you $10 to add a female voice to your gig when I can pay only $5 and just buy it from the other seller myself?” The answer: convenience



Would you rather buy two separate gigs and receive two separate files that would need to be matched up and mixed together, or buy one single gig and receive a completed file with everything ready to go?



In the end, both sellers would get a sale and each would get positive feedback on their gigs. The female seller would see the joint gigs as “bonuses”, as we would be the ones selecting them as a resource and not the buyer. They would continue to get their regular gigs through their own page and these would be little extras to add to their pipeline!



The buyer would get great service and an easy transaction. Everyone would win.



The question I have is how to promote the joint effort. Would it be okay to promote another sellers service in our own gig with their permission? For instance, creating a joint video presentation for the gig description with their information as well? Not a link to their own gig, but using their name and image to enhance our own?



If it worked out, we could even end up with a jingle gig offering 3 to 4 different vocal talents to choose from! We would be a one-stop shop for all the jingle needs!



It could even get so big that it would become a monopoly in the jingle category and then fiverr would shut it down…



Ah…the possibilities…I need more coffee…



m/

[psychedelicpup]

Reply to @great_teacher:

great_teacher said: yes i get a lot of business from fiverr sellers who "sub contract" gigs to me.

Yes. That's not anything new. I hire or "sub" Fiverrs when I can but that's not the same as having a team of sellers who are always ready to fill multiple gigs. that is still just 1 gig exposure and then you sub out. In a team situation you have as much exposure as there are team members. more exposure, more sales.

Reply to @jive_a_five:

jive_a_five said: The answer: convenience

Exaclty!

jive_a_five saidIf it worked out, we could even end up with a jingle gig offering 3 to 4 different vocal talents to choose from! We would be a one-stop shop for all the jingle needs!

Yes!

jive_a_five saidThe question I have is how to promote the joint effort

It doesn't have to be a defined joint promotion per se. Each member of the team is promoting the same package. The gig becomes about the package. If each voice talent offers the same "all in one package" in their gigs then everyone in the team is already jointly promoting. You have 5 voice talents all listing the same "all in one" package, you get 5 times the advertising.

Why would Fiverr mind? I think it would actually differentiate Fiverr from other freelance type sites. They still get their 20% and they create a new marketing niche that isn't being filled by other freelance companies. I don't know of any place that is offering a "team up" function for their members.

I truly think it's profitable for sellers, easier for buyers and would put Fiverr a step ahead of the competition!

[manthanstudio]

what is the procedure to collaborate with other sellers

[sincere18]

I think the issue would have problems with buyer who then need modifications and revisions to their order, or if they cancel the order. In this scenario only one person is technically responsible. In the case of a refund it comes out of the main sellers account and the collaborators walk off with their money and you get stuck with having to have it all deducted from your account.



This is very different than subcontracting, where most of the time you do not know the sellers is subcontracting it out and/or that is just part of their service and you trust their relationship with their subcontractors. But the whole point is you do not know who the subcontractor is so that you do not go around someone to buy what you need directly from the source, as all sellers who subcontract stuff out mark up the price.



You have to think about this idea you are suggestion in all the different fields of Fiverr and how that would play out.

[sabariraj18]

If you need affordable content writing, am your guy.

[yukihyou]

Looks like this thread has been necro’d. Anyway, it’s an interesting idea. I’d love to team up with other members, make friends in similar fields, and promote each other.



Reply to @sincere18: I do not believe refunds would be a problem, if the money for the gig stays in the main seller’s account until the order has been accepted + rated. Only after the customer has accepted, should the main seller pay the second seller.



I also think sellers should be open about who will do what work, making sure the client understands (and agrees) a different Fiverr user will be working on it. There are already teams on Fiverr operating under a single user, and users who buy gigs only to resell them as part of a larger gig (or just straight-up resell them—an idea which rubs me the wrong way, but that’s business, I suppose).



I’m not sure if the Fiverr team would allow something like this, though it doesn’t seem unethical or detrimental to sales in any way.

[sincere18]

Reply to @yukihyou: Yes, people do work in teams already under a single user, but then that is ok with Fiverr becasue they have nothing to do with the contracts or employment that single user has with the team. That single user is the one responsible for paying their own team and any problems they take it up amongst themselves. Fivver does not have to get involved with multiple sellers to see what went wrong, or who did a bad part of the job that the buyer doesn’t like and now wants a refund for.



And if the buyer accepts the job, and then you pay the other seller, then what happens when the buyer comes back and cancels the gig from just you?



Also, you would not be able to pay the other seller until after 14 days of waiting for the money to clear your own account.



Another issue is how would you handle the fee. If let’s say there is a $15 gig (say 3 people chipping in one gig each). The 20% comes out of the payment you receive from Fiverr, so then what do you pay the other sellers? The full $5? Because then you loose money. Someone would loose money in this situation.

[yukihyou]

sincere18 said: And if the buyer accepts the job, and then you pay the other seller, then what happens when the buyer comes back and cancels the gig from just you?

I'm fuzzy on how this works. Once a buyer marks a gig as complete and rates it, can they come back a week or a month later and ask for a refund? Is there a time limit? I was under the impression buyers had only three days or so to dispute a gig.

 

You wouldn't necessarily have to wait 14 days for the money to clear on your account. One assumes many sellers here keep some money in their Fiverr account. They would use money from their own gigs to pay their collaborators. It sounds as though this would work with small gigs $5-25, not $100s. That would certainly be more dangerous.

 

As for the fees, this has already been discussed further up on the thread, where psychedelicpup gave an interesting example of how it could work.

 

[sincere18]

Reply to @yukihyou: yes, it does indeed happen where refunds get requested after the work has been completed. Some buyers also initiate chargebacks from their credit card companies.



Also, a buyer does not have to mark a gig complete or rate it, and when that happens after 3 days I think it is, the order is marked complete automatically. So if a buyer doesn’t seem something and looks at the final order several days later they can still make things a mess.



As for a seller using their own money to pay the other sellers, that’s a personal cash flow issue, nothing that can be regulated. That’s only as good as someone is good at business. Some seller could have a personal bill due and they need all their money or any number of personal reasons the many people here on Fiverr need their money asap.



With regards to the fees, I re-read that part above…though this part to me still seems a bit off…“It works out for you because you made a little extra booking the gig.”…so in essence you have one person working for another as opposed to a colloboration of sorts. Who would decide who tries to sell the package gig? I suppoe all three could try to sell the same 3-person gig and whoever books it makes the more money.

[yukihyou]

Reply to @sincere18: Yes, all the collaborators would have the same package gig, so whoever scores the sale gets the extra money.



Very good point about the cash flow issue. If the main seller empties their account, the others won’t get paid for 14 days. In that case, it comes down to patience and trust.



I’ve never had a buyer cancellation (I’ve initialized them myself when buyers get nutty =) ), so I simply assumed once the gig is delivered, the job is sealed. Scary to know the buyer can come back weeks later and demand a refund. On the other hand, buyers are also taking a risk by not knowing the quality of work they’ll get.



It could just come down to whoever is the main seller eating the cost of a refund (again, assuming this is only for small gigs). They make extra money by providing a package deal; they might occasionally lose a bit of money. Just like in anything, there’s always a risk. The same thing would happen if they bought someone else’s gig to resell. Obviously, if the collaboration begins causing more refund demands than usual, then the partnership is clearly not working.



This isn’t something I really see working until the Fiverr staff gives the okay, but it has certainly provided a very interesting conversation. Lots of points to think about.

[sincere18]

Reply to @yukihyou: Yes, it would be about patience and trust, but in business that is why you have written contracts with one another 🙂



ANd I agree, sometimes in business you have to write off a loss now and then, it happens, it’s always a risk.



Yes, lots of interesting things for discussion.

[nateb99]

Intriguing, certainly!

[j6nyc6]

Intriguing, certainly!

5 years later it’s called Fiverr Studio.

[nateb99]

5 years later it’s called Fiverr Studio.

Ha. Just noticed the year!