Are You That Desperate?

That is a really good question. I'm not sure to be honest. I think people probably have multiple reasons one might be value others might be they think they will sell more. I'm sure there are tons of them.

I think it might be the value thing to cuz if you go to a big agency for a logo it's like $2000 but you can get one online for $20

personally i'd want the 2000 tho, ha

Great question! It's the low price points that scoop up a part of the market that can't afford your prices. You have nothing to worry about because those people aren't your customers anyway and you wouldn't want them if they don't value your work enough to pay your price points. Right?

As a buyer I pay what I can afford - no more, but also no less. We all know you get what you pay for....

There will always be people willing to work for $5, as there will always be people who don't see what is wrong with paying someone that rate.

It's sad but I don't think it harms the industry, it's just the low end of it and most people as that.

I think a lot of people are willing to do whatever it takes to make money with their services. Only instead of better positioning or offering a better service, they decide to cut prices. It's the wrong move but to a lot of people it makes a lot of sense.

People charge what they charge. Why worry about it?

I'm a writer, so it used to annoy the heck out of me that otherwise competent writers valued their services so low that they charged $10 an hour.

BUT... A writer who charges low rates has a reason for that. Sooner or later they come to their senses and start acting like professionals.

Or maybe they don't, and they do something else.

Either way, you can't stop a race to the bottom in any industry.

My view is that people do what they want. They have their reasons, and it's none of my business what those reasons are.

That said, when someone comes to me (and they do), and tells me that they want to "convert" their Fiverr buyers to real clients who pay real rates, I tell them that that's not possible. Yes, some Fiverr clients will pay well once they get to know you. Most won't. They're on Fiverr because $5 is all they can afford, or will pay.

Bill, I agree with you. I have set rates too, and have no need to change that. I can cherry pick clients. But I'm in a better position than someone who's new, and has no contacts, and no experience. So I'm the last person to judge others and tell them what they should do.

Sooner or later the low chargers realize that the clients they attract are more trouble than they're worth. They finally understand that GOOD clients know the value of what they want, and are prepared to pay for it.

In short Bill, some ARE that desperate. Others are con artists... Nothing we can do about it. It's just business and life.

Cheers

Angela

You can thank all the folks who are more than willing to pay those fees to save a buck. Most of the people charging those prices are from other countries and can live pretty well on the rates if they have a decent client base. The American small business owner/internet marketer eats it up. I feel bad for service providers honestly.

I agree 100%. I see it all the time in the content creation business and too many writers don't have the confidence to charge more than a few pennies for an article. I have tried a number of cheap services over the last few years and they are HORRIBLE. Those that are not willing to pay what someone is worth get low quality, but most of those clients probably don't know how to use the content to make money from it either.

Benjamin

People still go for quality over quantity nowadays, as long as you are good there is no reason lowering yourself to the standard of others. Just hang on and march on, that's what I think.

that is the difference between visiting a family doctor or a specialist...lol..

Most price low is to draw customer so that they can upsell them in the future...

This is exactly what I've been feeling all week.

What people don't realize that a Wal-Mart pricing strategy doesn't work well for service providers.

Sure, it might work for people brokering those services and taking a cut, but then they have a high turnover rate to deal with.

Another instance is the ugly neo-liberal trend of crowdsourcing, when a thousand people spend time, effort, and carry all the risk, but only one gets paid, if even. Sad times.

Many times we do not value our work as much as we should, and many times other
people value it more than we do.

Everybody should know their worth and not be afraid to state it with confidence.

I saw this often when I owned a painting company. The weekend warriors, the illegals, the desperate - all of them helped keep down the value of production painting. Lasting value was of no concern to the contractor, as long as the product lasted beyond the warranty period.

I didn't lower my prices either, I actually raised them. I just went after a more lucrative market and let the bottom-feeders feed on the bottom. We did stuff that other people didn't, wouldn't, or couldn't do.

Believe it or not, customers can tell the difference between a professional and a wannabe. Your job is to find the customers that NEED the professional and leave the others to the bottom-feeders.

I have some bad news for you ....

People in the west, somehow, think that they deserve 30$/hour for a job that a guy in India/Romania/whatever will do better, for 5$/hour

This happy times are closing to an end (see western world debt problems - high life standard without doing anything better than the rest of the world - , job losses because in other place,country the job will done cheaper, with less costs, etc ).

Globalization means that everything that can be done anywhere with same effect will cost 5$ not 50$.

Ofcourse, things that can be done locally only will still cost how much local people charge.

So instead of being angry at 5$ fiverr gigs think how you can compete and what services you can offer that no outsourcer can.

yeah some people just don't realize that by having low rates you'll be judged as "not as good" without them taking a further look.

people with low fees are the less confident ones I'm sure...

Yeah, and why don't we just all buy our milk from the local farm and the textiles that are made locally aren't those people working hard? I buy the products that offer the highest quality for the cheapest price if you cannot compete... why not doing something else. Add more value to your products than a fiverr job would and people will purchase your product. Or is this the official price fixing thread? What was the business name again

Amen Amen Amen! Totally agree. I've been pricing my services high since the beginning and my clients love the value. It's about psychology and about your ability to deliver value. You can't sustain a business that doesn't have enough revenue to remain flexible. The more that you charge, the more attractive you are and the more you can give to your client without feeling like you are working for free.

As long as you give great quality, your ideal customer will buy and keep coming back for more.

@nolokimes

I am pretty sure the OP isn't talking about competing with fivver gig either, from the post I think he is saying people in the service industry should value themselves and their services more because the deserve to...

I will echo the comments about global economics. USD $5 in the US or Canada means one thing to people in those countries, but the equivalent of that same USD $5 in the currency of a country like Pakistan or India means an entirely different thing to people there due to the differences between these east/west economies. This should be pretty obvious.

This is the downside to globalization and international internet markets... if you're in a country like the US or Canada, that is. If you're in Pakistan or India (and many others), you're experiencing an upside and opportunities like you've never seen before. However... there is a correcting factor at play there too, which is that those opportunities attract such a massive horde of work-seekers that a large number of amateurs and people peddling shoddy work enter the fray and pollute/dilute the quality of that cheap labor and cause western bargain-seekers to be very cautious.

I once thought I'd randomly test a logo designer from a subtropical Asian country on Fiverr just to see what kind of quality a random sample would get me, and I was appalled by what was delivered. It was an absolute joke. Now I don't mean to smear the skill level of any particular race or nationality, because talented people are found in every nation on earth, but this one test was enough to stun me into a severe reluctance to ever go that route again without careful vetting of the provider.

Unfortunately with the economy still in disarray it keeps businesses scared, and they may need to lower their prices just to survive. It also has the negative effect that when buyers do spend money they want to be treated like royalty and they want the 5 star treatment for their $5(lol). I'll be happy when things balance out again

As someone who once had gigs on Fiverr (writing gigs), I have to disagree with you here. I don't charge $5 for my articles - not anymore. But I started out that way.

It's easy to sit with the safety net of social welfare and criticize others that are that desperate. I'm glad you don't budge on your prices...it's great really. But you know what? That is a luxury for some people.

I live in Malaysia and I'm from Africa. When I first started writing online, I offered my services at $5/500 words. Why on earth would I do such a thing? I'm a lawyer and I practiced law at one point in time. But when you are in a foreign country (where your law degree is totally useless) and all that stands between your family and being destitute is a few hundred dollars, you will put your pride (and ego) in your suitcase and do what you have to do.

So I offered my writing services at that price and worked my butt off. At the beginning, I was earning about $700 a month. It doesn't seem like much but do you have any idea what $700 can do in a country like Malaysia? It paid our rent, kept us in baby supplies for a month and fed my family.

So I'm damn proud that I was able to work for $5 an article because it kept us sane!

The Warrior Forum is an international forum. So maybe your title should have been more location specific? I don't know.

I have great respect for people who are willing to work hard to get what they want. And contrary to popular belief here, you can raise your prices. I did. And I still have more work than I can handle.

The reason could be so many new companies globally are arising and they would like to get foot in the business for which they slash the price.

For the most part I agree, it's kinda like some weird business prostitution, but desperation is the key word of course. I've seen it personally, being the son of a talented (but broke) sound engineer, and myself having been around music my whole life have even dabbled in some mixing at a low cost just to get some money asap. Almost everything is so competitive now, so a lot of people feel they have to charge less than what they deserve just to get paid. It's unfortunate but when there's mouths to feed...

I think you are right about setting reasonable fees. You should at least make above minimum wage. If you are working for a site such as Fiverr you should probably only agree to do what can take you 20 to 30 minutes to finish if you are from the U.S.

The old adage goes, "You get what you pay for". This essentially means that sometimes when the price is too low, then the quality could be compromised.

The reality in the 21st century is that due to globalisation, the price of a good/service could be a lot lower if produced/ provided elsewhere in the world. That is one of the main reasons why Apple produce their products in China and not The US where they are head-quartered. In this situation, the quality is not compromised but the cost is still cheaper.