What Should You Do With an Abusive Buyer or Seller on Fiverr?

While most buyers and sellers on Fiverr will conduct themselves with patience and professionalism, there are always one or two bad eggs in the bunch. Some of these buyers and sellers become abusive. They can use disgusting words and phrases, and even become threatening.

I’ve had to deal with buyers like this, and I see it on the Fiverr forum as more and more deal with these abusive people.  The question many people have is what can they do about it?

It really depends on whether you have a gig open with them or not. Here are a few options to handle an abusive buyer or seller on Fiverr.

When You Have an Open Fiverr Gig

The first thing I would do is cancel the gig. There’s just no point in dealing with someone like this. Yes, you may lose out on money, but isn’t that better than the stress and aggravation that comes from dealing with these people?

It will also help avoid the issue of getting negative feedback that isn’t justified removed, if you’re a Fiverr seller.

Remain polite and explain that you have done everything you can and would like to cancel. Make it clear that the work (if you have done any) is not theirs to keep, though. Otherwise you could lose your work and your money.

If the buyer/seller refuses then contact Customer Support to have the gig cancelled and explain your reasons carefully.

Without a Fiverr Gig Open

Sometimes, the communication happens in the messages. It may be someone who has previously left feedback and is now looking for something for free. Or you may be dealing with someone who hasn’t even placed an order yet.

The best thing you can do is report the abusive person to Customer Support. There are chances that the account will be blocked.

You can quickly report messages by hovering over the message and clicking the “report” button that appears. This will mean the buyer/seller can no longer contact you via messages too.

Don’t Feed the Troll

Always avoid feeding someone who is like this. He or she is playing on hurting your feelings and scaring you. Remain polite and ask them to stop contacting you, and that you will no longer reply to messages.

Eventually, the person will be so annoyed that you’ve stopped communicating back that he or she will stop. It does mean the person moves onto someone else though, so there is one more thing you can do.

Report the Fiverr Buyer or Seller to Customer Support

Always report the person to Fiverr Customer Support. There have been instances of the staff not doing anything, so you need to play dirty.

Include the part of the TOS that makes it clear this type of behavior is not tolerated on the site.

Here is the specific part that you want to copy into your messages:

“Posting or sending adult, illegal, rude, abusive, improper, copyright protected, promotional, spam, violent, nonsense or any uncool stuff is strictly prohibited. Doing so will get your account blocked permanently.”

I would bold the “abusive” and “violent” parts to make sure the staff member sees it.

You can go one step further by requesting that the matter is dealt with, and failure to deal with the matter means that Fiverr is breaking its own terms of service. I’ve used that line in the past for something else, and it lead to a change in the terms of service and apology from Fiverr.

Nobody should have to deal with an abusive buyer or seller on Fiverr, but unfortunately it does happen. Remain calm, and don’t rise to the person’s attempts. Stop communication and press the report button immediately.

Using Your Fiverr Blog for Samples

If you offer a writing gig on Fiverr.com, you will often be asked for samples. It’s understandable that you don’t want to do free work. There are a few unscrupulous buyers out there.

Your Fiverr blog is a great place for creating samples to share. However, keep in mind that the buyers may look through the whole of your blog, and not just the links you send. Here are some tips if you’re planning on using your Fiverr blog for samples.

Remain Professional at All Times

Keep your whole blog professional. Think about offering tips and advice to sellers and buyers, and avoid calling out any sellers or buyers that you find on the site.

One little bit of unprofessionalism on your blog, and the prospective buyer will think again about buying your gigs.

Find the Line Between Helpful and Honest

You still need to be honest, though. There is a fine line between this. One option is to have two separate blogs where you’re brutally honest on one and professional on the other. But that’s a lot of work!

The best thing to do is avoid calling out specific sellers or buyers. You really want to create a detailed post about a situation you have found yourself in. Tell the story in a way that others can relate, and offer tips that will help them get out of those situations—you know, the situations you want to rant about!

You’re getting it all off your chest, without ranting and appearing a disgrace.

Share Feedback on Your Blog

The feedback on the site is visible to everyone. But you want people who find your Fiverr blog to know what people say about you. You can copy some of the feedback onto your blog, and share some of the details about the work you did.

You can’t share the full project details, but you can go into how friendly the buyer was and how detailed the instructions were. This tells your prospective buyers the type of things you would like to see in your next order.

When it comes to the negatives, you don’t get much space on the site to explain your side of the story. Your blog can be your chance to explain things. You need to be very careful about this, because you can come across as attacking the buyer. Avoid name calling, and simply state the facts. You can even include screenshots of the conversations to back up your claims.

Add Links to Other Samples

Fiverr blogs are not just great for writing samples. You can add links to your artwork, coding capabilities and much more. You’ll be amazed at the amount of samples you can actually share, and no websites are off limits.

Consider all your options when using your Fiverr blog for gig samples. This is the chance to wow your prospective customers, and show that you are a professional person to deal with.

Would You Like to Guest Post?

Have you ever wanted to get your guest post up onto relevant websites? Well, this is where I come in.

I have a range of blogs and I want to help you. For just $5, you can get your content on one of my blogs. The content does need to be grammatically correct and relevant to the nature of my site, but I can help fix a few things up.

I have a range of topics that I write about regularly, including parenting, weddings, freelance writing and making money online. You get your own author bio, with up to two links. The links are subject to my approval. I accept most, except for those to adult material or anything I consider spammy or questionable.

Are you ready to get your guest posts up? Check out this Fiverr gig.

Is It Time to Set Up Your Own Fiverr Business

Could it be the perfect time to set up your own Fiverr business? Plenty of people are using the site to make money online. Some make a full-time living, while most others just make a nice side income to afford their luxuries.

Before you start, you need to make sure you have the right mindset for this type of work. It certainly isn’t as easy as many people will have you believe.

Here are four signs it’s time to set up  your own Fiverr business.

You Want and Can Be Your Own Boss

Do you want to be your own boss? This sounds great at first, but that means motivating yourself, giving yourself orders and running the operations of the business.

Not everyone has the skills to do this. Some people prefer to have someone else give them instructions for the day. Some prefer to have that stable income that comes from employment.

There’s a Market for Your Skill

Look through the list of gigs already available on Fiverr. Look through the different categories and search for keywords that like to your particular skill. Is there a market for that?

Fiverr is so old now that there are millions of gigs. Unfortunately that can mean no room for you. That doesn’t mean it isn’t time to set up your own business. Just maybe not on Fiverr.

You could make money doing a lot of fun and interesting things through Fiverr. Think about the quirky things you can do for $5.

There Is Time in Your Day

Do you even have the time for a Fiverr business? While you can set your own delivery times up to a maximum of 29 days, you still need time to work on each gig as they come through and answer the messages. Not everyone has the time for this.

Think about all your other commitments. Think about your current job, if you have one, and your family/social life. If you wonder where you’d fit in your projects, setting up your Fiverr business may not be the right thing right now.

You’re Ready to Handle Your Finances

You have to deal with all your own finances. You’ll need to know about the expenses you can deduct from your pay, and filling out all the paperwork for taxes.

Are you ready to do something like that? Not everyone wants to bother with all that, when their employer deals with the majority of it on a daily basis.

You don’t get any help from Fiverr when it comes to your finances. The company just puts the money you make into your account, and then you withdraw it.

Is it time to set up your own Fiverr business? For some, it certainly is. For others, you may want to wait until you have more time on your hands. It’s a personal choice.

When did you decide it was time to set up your own Fiverr business? Are you still looking for signs that it might be time? Share your stories in the comments below.

What to Do When Your Fiverr Gigs Aren’t Selling

Fiverr sales have been in a slump for many people lately, if you check the forums. It seems like everyone has seen a slow April compared to January, February and March this year.

Slow times of the year are normal in freelancing. It’s why I don’t put all my eggs into one basket. When my Fiverr gigs aren’t selling, something elsewhere usually is.

But what if you don’t have anything but your Fiverr gigs? And what if you want the sales to pick up in case somewhere else slumps? Is there anything you can do when your Fiverr gigs aren’t selling?

Well, yes there is. Here are a few tips when you have a slow week or month on Fiverr.com.

Rework Your Fiverr Gigs

Your gig sales may have slowed because of the competition on the site. There are now almost four million gigs, so there is a lot of competition in every single category. You need to put yourself back up at the top, which means doing a little rework on your gig.

Check your tags, look over your gig description and even record a new video to add into your gig. If you don’t yet have a video, record one. That has been proven to improve sales by 200%, according to the site stats.

Not sure about changes you can make? I offer a gig to help you. I’ll look over your Fiverr gig and create a fully comprehensive report detailing where you can improve and some suggestions to help get you started. I also offer marketing tips if you need them.

Create a New Gig

Get your creative juices flowing. While you have some quiet time, think about new Fiverr gigs that you can place on the site.

But what can you do? You’re already doing everything you love!

Think about some of the quirky, fun and innovative gigs. You could write a message on a funny sign or offer your skills as a speaker over a video. Need inspiration? Take a look at the different types of gigs around and see if you can do something similar. Don’t copy others, but come up with your own twist on their ideas.

Creating a new gig not only takes up some time, but you will give yourself another method of revenue through the website.

Get Marketing Your Fiverr Gig

When your Fiverr gigs aren’t selling, it could be a sign that you need to do more marketing. Fiverr isn’t going to do all the work for you. It’s important to get yourself out there, and share your gig with the world.

There are lots of ways that you can market. Social media is the most common, but what about starting your own blog? You could even have a website dedicated to attracting people to your gig and linking straight back to your Fiverr profile.

Look Out for Other Opportunities

Fiverr isn’t the only place online that you can sell your services or products. There are many others that don’t take the huge 20% cut.

Even if you’re not bothered about the 20% commission, just finding somewhere else will really help with the income when your Fiverr gigs aren’t selling. It’s that mindset of not putting all your eggs into one basket, like I mentioned earlier.

There are some Fiverr copycat websites, like Fourerr and Fivesquid, or you could take to Etsy, Elance and Guru to sell your products and services. Another option is to sell through your own website if you’re up for creating that and taking more control over full-scale marketing and managing payments.

Don’t feel like you have to sit and twiddle your thumbs when your Fiverr gigs aren’t selling. There are plenty of other things to do to help improve your income.

What do you do when your Fiverr gigs aren’t selling? Share your own tips or discuss your ideas and get your income back to the level you want and need it to be.