What do you say to a haggler?

[selfors]

After 15 messages back and forth about their short but challenging project, a prospective client downplayed the difficulty of the work, asking for a discount.

I replied, with perhaps too-visible annoyance, “I try to avoid having lots of small projects, and I usually don’t work with clients who negotiate with me. -Bob”

The great thing about Fiverr is also one of its biggest challenges: This fantastic mix of different cultures from around the world doing commerse together creates a clash of different business standards and mores.

It seems insulting to me to haggle with me when I have been upfront about the price, and it raises a red flag that I might have a difficult customer.

So what do you say?

[ravenccs]

After 15 messages back and forth about their short but challenging project, a prospective client downplayed the difficulty of the work, asking for a discount.

“If a discount is important to you, this wouldn’t be a good fit. You may want to look for other sellers on Fiverr who fit within your price range.”

If you sent me that message, I would not be offended/upset. I would view you saying that you were done with the conversation. giving me a polite suggestion - without getting upset with me. I would either say “no, I want you to do it, so I will pay your price”, or I would say nothing and move on to a new search. 🙂

[capitalquality]

After 15 messages back and forth about their short but challenging project, a prospective client downplayed the difficulty of the work, asking for a discount.

I replied, with perhaps too-visible annoyance, “I try to avoid having lots of small projects, and I usually don’t work with clients who negotiate with me. -Bob”

The great thing about Fiverr is also one of its biggest challenges: This fantastic mix of different cultures from around the world doing commerse together creates a clash of different business standards and mores.

It seems insulting to me to haggle with me when I have been upfront about the price, and it raises a red flag that I might have a difficult customer.

So what do you say?

The great thing about Fiverr is also one of its biggest challenges: This fantastic mix of different cultures from around the world doing commerse together creates a clash of different business standards and mores.

This is true. And in some cultures it’s rude not to haggle.

Having said that I never haggle. My price is what I can do it for. I’m not often asked to be honest, but my standard response is that I quote based on what I estimate the time to do the order is and my hourly rate is non-negotiable.

I say it’s not up to the seller to work out if haggling is just a cultural thing or not. Do what you do.

[eoinfinnegan]

I think @ravenccs has hit the nail there.
Different cultures are all well and good but prices are prices and if they don’t give a good reason to discount then why should you?
I also don’t think your response was bad either, it sets out your stall clearly.

[misscrystal]

I would say that the price is already extremely discounted.
It is just as well to not take a job from someone who wants to negotiate I have found.

[selfors]

After 15 messages back and forth about their short but challenging project, a prospective client downplayed the difficulty of the work, asking for a discount.

“If a discount is important to you, this wouldn’t be a good fit. You may want to look for other sellers on Fiverr who fit within your price range.”

If you sent me that message, I would not be offended/upset. I would view you saying that you were done with the conversation. giving me a polite suggestion - without getting upset with me. I would either say “no, I want you to do it, so I will pay your price”, or I would say nothing and move on to a new search. 🙂

“If a discount is important to you, this wouldn’t be a good fit. You may want to look for other sellers on Fiverr who fit within your price range.”

Very good answer. Smoooooth.

[selfors]

The great thing about Fiverr is also one of its biggest challenges: This fantastic mix of different cultures from around the world doing commerse together creates a clash of different business standards and mores.

This is true. And in some cultures it’s rude not to haggle.

Having said that I never haggle. My price is what I can do it for. I’m not often asked to be honest, but my standard response is that I quote based on what I estimate the time to do the order is and my hourly rate is non-negotiable.

I say it’s not up to the seller to work out if haggling is just a cultural thing or not. Do what you do.

And in some cultures it’s rude not to haggle.

I accept that. I’ve been a tourist in some of these countries. It’s still quite annoying to deal with it here. But that’s my problem. 🙂

[alliemadison12]

I say “My prices are not negotiable. You get what you pay for.” If they continue to negotiate, I tell them they are being rude, withdrawal my offer and I wish them luck elsewhere. I’m sure there’s a more professional way to say it, but that’s what I’ve found works best.

80% of the time they end up ordering, or adjust their requirements to fit within their budget. They respect that I stand up for myself. The other 20% of the time, I never hear from them again. I’m busy enough as it is, so I don’t really care either way.

As other commenters have said, it’s ok to haggle in some cultures. Unfortunately, many of the hagglers I’ve experienced are from the US and Canada (or at least, that’s what their profiles say.)

Edit: I just wanted to add a rant about buyers who start contact by saying “your services are too expensive.” BYE!

[lisabaarns]

Actually I reverse haggle if they go back and forth more than is reasonable.

In other words, the price starts going up once they cross the line. I tell them: going back and forth multiple times over pricing means me investing more time. That means the price to you goes up too.

Here’s the quick response I have saved, and I edit it to match the situation. It’s my starting point for the hagglers (I often edit it to fit the context):

If price is your primary criteria, I’m the wrong Fiverr seller for you.

I’m really passionate about creating truly excellent audio. That requires a lot of behind-the-scenes work that most Fiverr VO artists don’t do, won’t do, or are not even aware of, so I’m not always the cheapest, but I will do a great job for you.

There are lots of inexperienced VO people on Fiverr that want experience, so they will provide great discounts and work cheap.

I’m focused on sellers who want high quality and their clients expect the best, plus understand that quality can require a little more investment, which returns maximum value.

All the best, I’m sure you’ll find some great VO providers on Fiverr.

The funny thing is at least a third of them buy from me anyway, and I have a VERY strong repeat business. I am very confident they are getting excellent VALUE way beyond what I’m charging, so if they want it cheaper, find someone else.

(I avoid being rude to them… I want them to return later when they have the right project that needs excellence.)

If they are being obnoxious, then I throw stats at them (I have strong sales numbers…)

[selfors]

Actually I reverse haggle if they go back and forth more than is reasonable.

In other words, the price starts going up once they cross the line. I tell them: going back and forth multiple times over pricing means me investing more time. That means the price to you goes up too.

Here’s the quick response I have saved, and I edit it to match the situation. It’s my starting point for the hagglers (I often edit it to fit the context):

If price is your primary criteria, I’m the wrong Fiverr seller for you.

I’m really passionate about creating truly excellent audio. That requires a lot of behind-the-scenes work that most Fiverr VO artists don’t do, won’t do, or are not even aware of, so I’m not always the cheapest, but I will do a great job for you.

There are lots of inexperienced VO people on Fiverr that want experience, so they will provide great discounts and work cheap.

I’m focused on sellers who want high quality and their clients expect the best, plus understand that quality can require a little more investment, which returns maximum value.

All the best, I’m sure you’ll find some great VO providers on Fiverr.

The funny thing is at least a third of them buy from me anyway, and I have a VERY strong repeat business. I am very confident they are getting excellent VALUE way beyond what I’m charging, so if they want it cheaper, find someone else.

(I avoid being rude to them… I want them to return later when they have the right project that needs excellence.)

If they are being obnoxious, then I throw stats at them (I have strong sales numbers…)

Excellent answer. It hasn’t happened to me enough yet to save a speed response, but each time it does, it seems to foreshadow a difficult selling experience. So I guess I’m transferring the frustration I felt with my last haggler to my new one.

[brejay]

If I feel that it can be OK if it is within reason, and I’ll sometimes agree. I’ll usually tell them that it’s a one-time thing for their first order. Or I’ll give up to a 10% discount for very large orders (although I don’t really like doing that anymore).

I had a customer from way back in my early Fiverr days return last week and point out that my prices are higher now and ask for the old price. I felt bad but I had to stand up for my business and say no, sorry, this is the price now. She understood and was nice about it.

I think it depends on the customer and what they want. A 15-message haggling session would not be something I would want to deal with. I think your message was good. If they can find the same quality elsewhere for the price they want, fine. But chances are they can’t and they’ll be back later, willing to pay what your work is worth.

[misscrystal]

I haggle upwards if they ask more than once. Each time they ask it goes up more.

[miiila]

I mind the ‘downplaying of the difficulty’ bit more than the haggling actually. Don´t you just love it when people tell you a job is easy, especially people who never have done or could do that job themselves.

Oh really, well, do it yourself then, if it´s so easy.

All the more fun when people who have no idea try to haggle because of things they perceive should make a job easier but which in fact don´t, or even quite on the contrary.

Haggling…if there seems to be a point, I might make an offer, or I might offer something like my normal price with short delivery time and a cheaper price with longer delivery time, so I could still take orders if cherished regulars come by in the meantime and wouldn´t have to send them away or let them wait too long because I´m busy with a haggler´s job.
Generally I´m not much of a haggler myself and prefer to not deal with it too much either.

Miss Crystal’s approach sounds good to me as well.

[xander52]

I will typically only work with people that want next day delivery (not offered on my gig page so I do it via custom offer), its typically $20, but after that, I go to $20 with a $5 discount on your next order over $10 (works sometimes), then if they don’t like that then I will do that, then throw in a bonus that takes no extra time on my end, and finally go down to $15 with no bonuses.

[selfors]

I will typically only work with people that want next day delivery (not offered on my gig page so I do it via custom offer), its typically $20, but after that, I go to $20 with a $5 discount on your next order over $10 (works sometimes), then if they don’t like that then I will do that, then throw in a bonus that takes no extra time on my end, and finally go down to $15 with no bonuses.

Do you not find that the same “cultural norm” that leads some buyers to haggle tirelessly with you is also attached to a “cultural norm” to be a pain in the neck to deal with later, especially when it’s time to approve delivery and rate the gig?

[eoinfinnegan]

Actually I reverse haggle if they go back and forth more than is reasonable.

In other words, the price starts going up once they cross the line. I tell them: going back and forth multiple times over pricing means me investing more time. That means the price to you goes up too.

Here’s the quick response I have saved, and I edit it to match the situation. It’s my starting point for the hagglers (I often edit it to fit the context):

If price is your primary criteria, I’m the wrong Fiverr seller for you.

I’m really passionate about creating truly excellent audio. That requires a lot of behind-the-scenes work that most Fiverr VO artists don’t do, won’t do, or are not even aware of, so I’m not always the cheapest, but I will do a great job for you.

There are lots of inexperienced VO people on Fiverr that want experience, so they will provide great discounts and work cheap.

I’m focused on sellers who want high quality and their clients expect the best, plus understand that quality can require a little more investment, which returns maximum value.

All the best, I’m sure you’ll find some great VO providers on Fiverr.

The funny thing is at least a third of them buy from me anyway, and I have a VERY strong repeat business. I am very confident they are getting excellent VALUE way beyond what I’m charging, so if they want it cheaper, find someone else.

(I avoid being rude to them… I want them to return later when they have the right project that needs excellence.)

If they are being obnoxious, then I throw stats at them (I have strong sales numbers…)

I always think your suggested responses are great and effective at sorting out the wheat from the chaff. The thing is though, to use these responses the seller really needs their quality of service to back up what they say. If a sub-standard seller says these things they are likely to end up with a VERY bad review as they will have misled the buyer about their quality. Your strong return buyer ratio shows you obviously do deliver what you say but I can only imagine what happens when some sellers try to say the same 😃

[xander52]

Do you not find that the same “cultural norm” that leads some buyers to haggle tirelessly with you is also attached to a “cultural norm” to be a pain in the neck to deal with later, especially when it’s time to approve delivery and rate the gig?

Actually I have never had a problem with a buyer that haggled.

[ravenccs]

For the record, I would never haggle.

I believe every word of what the seller says on the gig description. 🙂

If it doesn’t work for me, I move on and look at what other sellers have to offer.

There are so many choices on Fiverr (for most things), I don’t understand why anyone would feel the need to haggle.

[Guest untitledartwork]

one thing click the FLAG
🙂
i had this same problem today
i was delivering my project and the throws it back
the buyer asks for more revisions and starting to bother
i complained about it, you are right about your calculation, its difficlult
my personal experience says people from australia is behaving much better than a british buyer(its my prsonal experience) PS not to take serously
but we have to understand we are a community providing good quality works where other sites have already destroyed their market
its not easy to maintain all together
but if we do stick together as a community i think we can provide much better products to our buyers

but first we need a translator 😉

[Guest offlinehelpers]

What is brithis please?

[lisabaarns]

I always think your suggested responses are great and effective at sorting out the wheat from the chaff. The thing is though, to use these responses the seller really needs their quality of service to back up what they say. If a sub-standard seller says these things they are likely to end up with a VERY bad review as they will have misled the buyer about their quality. Your strong return buyer ratio shows you obviously do deliver what you say but I can only imagine what happens when some sellers try to say the same 😃

The thing is though, to use these responses the seller really needs their quality of service to back up what they say. If a sub-standard seller says these things they are likely to end up with a VERY bad review as they will have misled the buyer about their quality.

Right on! That’s an excellent clarification. (I wish I had said that.)

Since I have years of experience before Fiverr, I know the value of my offerings.

NOT to say I’ve “arrived”, I’m always tweaking, studying, growing… and that’s just a way of life for my category. You never “master” VO or acting, but in terms of cost vs. value, I know where I stand.

IF you’re confident of your value and have the experience, and you’re always working to improve, then you can be far more aggressive in your “no haggle” policy.

@eoinfinnegan is ABSOLUTELY right: If you use statements like mine, be sure you can back up your “I’m worth it” claims, and your gig/reviews reflect your value.

You can still have a no haggle type policy as long as your pricing is below your value.

[gina_riley2]

What is brithis please?

What is brithis please?

I think she is saying British.

[Guest untitledartwork]

What is brithis please?

I think she is saying British.

thanks @gina_riley2 😇

[edwriter]

Actually I reverse haggle if they go back and forth more than is reasonable.

In other words, the price starts going up once they cross the line. I tell them: going back and forth multiple times over pricing means me investing more time. That means the price to you goes up too.

Here’s the quick response I have saved, and I edit it to match the situation. It’s my starting point for the hagglers (I often edit it to fit the context):

If price is your primary criteria, I’m the wrong Fiverr seller for you.

I’m really passionate about creating truly excellent audio. That requires a lot of behind-the-scenes work that most Fiverr VO artists don’t do, won’t do, or are not even aware of, so I’m not always the cheapest, but I will do a great job for you.

There are lots of inexperienced VO people on Fiverr that want experience, so they will provide great discounts and work cheap.

I’m focused on sellers who want high quality and their clients expect the best, plus understand that quality can require a little more investment, which returns maximum value.

All the best, I’m sure you’ll find some great VO providers on Fiverr.

The funny thing is at least a third of them buy from me anyway, and I have a VERY strong repeat business. I am very confident they are getting excellent VALUE way beyond what I’m charging, so if they want it cheaper, find someone else.

(I avoid being rude to them… I want them to return later when they have the right project that needs excellence.)

If they are being obnoxious, then I throw stats at them (I have strong sales numbers…)

Hello, lisabaarns.

I realize that this an old topic, but your comeback is so aptly stated that I’m going to use it whenever I get hagglers.

Thank you for sharing.