StompingAcorns
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I thought I would post a few tips for Buying on Fiverr. I’ve recently been working with a few people for logo and label design. I’ve discovered a few things – posting here in case it helps someone else who’s new to Fiverr. I know a lot of you may be working as Sellers on Fiverr, Upwork, or other sites – maybe this would be a helpful for you as well to see one Buyer's perspective.
- You can view the online portfolios, select who you want to work with, and engage them specifically rather than posting a job for bids. (That’s what I did.)
- Consider both the star rating (1-5 stars) as well as the number of ratings.
- If you're hiring a designer, take into account that design is somewhat interpretive, so the Seller may have gotten less than stellar ratings – not because the designs weren’t good, but because the clients couldn’t communicate what they wanted. I.e., I wouldn’t limit myself to only 5 star ratings. I looked at that in combination with the quality of the portfolio.
- Look closely at the portfolio – you can often determine when you’re seeing a fake design (not done for a real customer) or an actual deliverable. I was only concerned about fake designs if that made up the majority of the portfolio.
- Engage a number of people first with just basic design, to see who returns valuable designs that you like.
- Designers often charge more for faster turnarounds, source files, additional types of deliverables (like social media, 3D renderings), etc.
- Figure out whether they can produce designs that you like before paying for all of that.
- Keep in mind that a designer may not put in an all out effort for a low cost gig, e.g., $5 or $10. You have to weigh that against your budget, time, and what you’re trying to accomplish. My opinion is that a good Seller will put their best into every gig.
- I used the low cost designs to help me narrow down the Seller I wanted to work with. I got low cost designs from about 5 different people and then chose the Seller who made provided the best design.
- Pick the designer you like, and then engage them for the full package you need.
- After I chose my designer, I engaged them for more work, different kinds of work, and more expensive packages.
- If you have more than one job to get done, and you’re in a hurry, be sure you break it into separate jobs. This one got me – here’s why:
- The seller sets the delivery timeframe and number of revisions as part of defining the gig.
- Fiverr sets a countdown timer with each communication during the gig.
- So, I engaged someone to do 2 jobs for me, but purchased it as one job.
- He started on only one job. He made his first deliverable within the timer. This starts a timer during which I have to respond.
- I requested revisions. This restarts the timer for him!
- He delivered the revision within the timer – this restarts the timer for me!
- I requested revisions. This restarts the timer for him!
- Are you getting the drift? So we go round and round on one design only, and he hasn’t even started the second design. I would rather have both designs in progress at once. Live and learn…
- If you want to work with a specific Seller, but they don’t offer the package you’re looking for, message them.
- You can negotiate a deal using messages.
- Once you agree, the Seller can send you a Customized Offer in the message, and you have the option to Accept it if you choose.
- I did this for a particular gig I wanted from the Seller I had chosen.
- One final note – I’m not an expert in this, but I did some research, and it seems that if the Seller gives you the source file, that this implies full copyright transfer.
- I tried asking some of the Sellers about this and could never get a clear answer from them.
- Google turned up a number of articles that basically said: copyright transfer is implied where design-for-hire is concerned, especially if you get the source file. So when I ordered the final deliverables, I purchased gigs that included the source file.
- Disclaimer – consult a lawyer. (And if you’re a lawyer, let us know if this is correct!)
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