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Warning: Fiverr buyers who ask for samples before ordering are usually a trap and I learned this the hard way 3 times | Fiverr vs Upwork Debates - Freelance Forum - The Community for Independent Professionals

river_thompson•13h ago

Warning: Fiverr buyers who ask for samples before ordering are usually a trap and I learned this the hard way 3 times

I keep seeing people on here say you should always send a free sample when a buyer asks. I did that for 6 months straight on Fiverr and I swear maybe 1 out of every 8 samples actually turned into a paid order. The rest just took my work and vanished, and one guy even posted my sample on his own gig page as his portfolio. On Upwork it is a bit different because they screen clients more, but the free sample trap still exists there too. Last month a buyer asked me for a free logo sample, then said my rate of $40 was too high and ghosted me. I stopped sending free samples cold and my close rate actually went up because the people who pay upfront are the ones who were serious anyway. What is your rule for when a sample request is worth it?

2 comments

2 Comments

morganh449h ago

The part about him posting your sample on his own gig page made my jaw drop, seriously? That is straight up stealing and there's basically nothing you can do about it once it's out there. Your friend in that story from @owens.laura got hit with the same thing, whole blog post copied word for word onto his site, and that is the exact reason I stopped doing free samples cold. My rule now is simple, if someone wants a sample they pay a small test fee, even like $10, and that tiny wall filters out almost every time waster. The people who really want to hire you will pay the test fee without blinking, and the ones who just want free work disappear the second you mention money. Six months of free samples turning into almost nothing is all the proof anyone needs honestly.

owens.laura9h ago

Man, my friend went through the same thing with a "client" who wanted a free blog post sample. She wrote the whole thing, he said he'd "get back to her," and then she saw it word for word on his company site two weeks later. Now she only does paid test projects, even a small one, and the time wasters filter themselves out.