There are a million buyers out there - Spend your time on the good ones

[mary1979]

I have seen complaints on here from other sellers about being threatened by buyers and it is rough out there, but I do a few things that might help a new seller with some common issues.

1. I don’t provide buyer specific “Samples” or “Free Work”
   
   
2. If someone is acting nervous about trusting someone, they are probably a problem buyer.
   
   
   
3. If someone writes me a novel for a description in my messages to say something that could have been accomplished in two sentences, I will generally run the other way. Overdone descriptions are a sign of someone that is going to be hard to please. If someone also comes back with crazy detail in changing tiny minor things, I will just refund them and move on rather than play the you can’t ever get it right game.
   
   
   
   We all know what they are doing. Asking for modification after modification until you just do it for free and they have ten versions. After the second modification, I am not going to be able to please them, why waste another second on them and risk a bad review. I know that are just trying to get something for free. (Like those annoying people in a restaurant that say there is something wrong with the food, when they just want a free meal) You are never going to win with them, so move on to the next thing. There is too much work out there to do!
   
   
   
4. Once someone sends me a message telling me what they want, I will shoot them back a custom offer. Some changes may sometimes be needed to the offer, but generally I have understood what they are wanting if the custom offer is sent. Either they accept it or they don’t. But I don’t haggle my price down. I stick with that offer. Someone trying to get a lower price is probably going to be the type of buyer I mentioned in number 3.
   
   
   
   5.Having fun on here is good. I am nice to my buyers and try to be extra friendly. I thank them for their business and try to help them get their projects done right. I read their descriptions at least twice before beginning their job and look over them again before sending over to make sure everything is as perfect as I can get it. Each job counts. This personal approach helps them to see me as a person too. (*)

[kay2809]

True dat.

[fastcopywriter]

"1. I don’t provide buyer specific “Samples” or "Free Work"



Free work? Never. But if you’re a restaurant and you want to see what I did for another restaurant, I’ll be happy to share that.

[km0000]

Buyers are NOT asking for free samples. They are asking to see your prior work. ;😉



The worst part of working on fiverr is buyers expect rock bottom lowest prices for work that involves many hours of labor. I did such work in the past, now I don’t do it anymore.



For me fiverr will remain my part time source of income as I look for better opportunities in real life elsewhere.

[throttled829]

Have to say, I generally agree with this after having dealt with my share of buyers here. This marketplace has it’s own sort of culture to it I think.



You have really great buyers that have the experience and understanding to know what they are getting for less and they don’t hesitate to tell you they appreciate it or provide plenty of detail and help with what they can.



Then, you have the buyers who seem to have never dealt with the details of such things as what they are wanting but end up able to and okay with following your lead.



Or, you have the buyers who obviously have it in their head you are a peon and owe them the world just for hinting at buying from you or want it all for less because they “promise” to use you for other things in the future. <—I see that one a lot.



That though, leaves us with at least one more, the apprehensive buyer. I’m not sure I feel it is ALWAYS a ploy to get something for free. Some people may have just dealt with too many sellers here that simply did not follow through or do all they could to get the job done to the buyer’s satisfaction.



Problem is, there is no way to know their life story to figure out what kind of person they are.



Haggling is unprofessional on fiverr in my opinion. I completely avoid it. I think it is always best to try and work in as many possible scenarios as you can into a pricing structure for the services you offer here and stick to it like glue. Letting anyone alter that course can open up a can of worms that no business would allow or benefit from in the long run. I think of it like dealing with a child. The more you give in to them, the more they are going to want and it is near impossible to turn back once you let it happen the first time.



In my experience, the hagglers just end up taking as much as they can and disappear. Besides, even if the buyer does intend to come back and buy more of whatever it is you can do for them, that doesn’t make it necessary to reduce your pricing. If they are satisfied and come back for more, the fact that you were able to successfully deliver is reason enough. Matter of fact, fiverr’s whole structure seems to lend itself to that idea with a lot of attention paid to keeping you in contact with who has bought from you before.



Due to this, I think the best advice is to pay very close attention to your buyers and always follow up. Anyone in marketing will tell you, the first sale is always the hardest. If you run your fiverr business in a way that requires new buyers all the time, you are doing it the hard way.



Least, that is my 2 cents.

[kreativa]

I had many of those #3 type of buyers, but one of them was special. Was requesting for modifications all month for graphics work, than one day requested me to reduce an element for 5% on a 200px height design - that is not even noticeable to the human eye.



He requested free PSD files (even though his project was already 20% from the actual high price) and the next day he blocked me and made a paypal dispute. Now banned from here.



If you get hang by these , trust me , it’s not worth any money for losing your nerves lol :))

[mary1979]

@kreativa so true! I have learned as I go along to just drop the people that are just being unreasonable and I am getting better at seeing it in them sooner. @km0000 Sorry I should have specified when they ask to see a sample, but then direct me to another website and try to get me to make them a “sample” not just previous work with the promise of more work, like I am going for that. There are some good buyers out there and I work with a lot of them. Thanks for the responses! It is always great to hear other sellers opinions on certain issues. Thanks! 🙂

[mary1979]

@throttled829 So true about the promise of future work. I can not stand it when people do that. They just say that trying to get extras most of the time. All you can do is take it lightly. ya know.