How much are we worth?

[Nessiee]

As far as I know the "waiting" status appears when someone puts an article into their shopping cart. So, it could be that they've bought your article and CC is just waiting for the payment to go through, or it could be that they've created a shopping cart, but didn't finish with the final payment stage.

If you article stays "waiting" too long, you might want to contact support, because from what I've read, they will look into the situation and release the article back to potential buyers if the order didn't go through in the end.

[dmgray]

Ah I see. I assumed it was due to a received offer. Thanks for clearing that up.

[JoHunley]

$4 for full rights on a $40 article that is 2 days old!

That's the same guy who offered me $4 for full rights on an $80 article. Sigh. So much for it being a typo.

[dmgray]

I wish!

You should be commended for giving people the benefit of the doubt. Sadly, in this case it was misplaced and the person is actually tighter than a crabs bumcheeks.

[Gailwriter]

Hi, by now we all know that the $4 sweetheart is georged. We can all avoid him, but not everyone who writes for CC reads the forum. I did not do so for a long time as I was finding my way as a new writer. However I can only beg Constant Content to take notice of how we are all feeling and prevent this .... (there is no name for georged I can print) from offering under $7 for an article. Come on Constant Content - we are your writers, suport us.

[jowal]

Aha! So this customer has tried it on with other writers. I thought I was the only one to have expereinced righteous indignation at a $5 offer for an $80 full rights. I was tempted to reply 'Do you think I was born yesterday?' Good job we only get the chance to say yes, or no! My article was an early submission, 2 years old in fact and maybe not as well written as they are now, but honestly!!
Love the analogy, dmgray, not heard that one before.


Jo

[Ed]

There will always be low-ball offers. Everyone knows someone who doesn't think there's any harm in "just trying." Maybe its that guy at the bar who tries to pick up the same girls week after week. He's "just trying," he'll tell you, but he probably doesn't get many dates and no one is asking him to be kicked out of the bar. It's a game to him. The only harm he's causing is perceived by those ladies who are offended by his persistence and lack of class. So, if you're one of those ladies, you can choose to do one of two things: Never patronize that bar, or ignore him and strengthen your resolve not to date losers.

In this case, the bar is the best offer option. You can set your articles at prices that won't degrade your work and avoid the best offer option altogether. Or you can use it knowing that there will be cringe-worthy offers once in awhile, but that you don't have to accept them and that they only reflect upon the person making the offers, not you or your work. Because they don't. This guy is just trying, and he knows that your articles are out of his league.

The time spent getting upset or irritated about this person is hardly worth it. Reject the offer and forget about it. Don't let go anywhere near your pride - the offer itself doesn't devalue your work. You're the only one who can devalue your work by accepting the offer.

Thanks,
Ed

[Debbi]

Also, as far as I can tell, the customers do not see the Recently Sold list. So they have no idea whether we are accepting offers for $200 or $2 (except for the actual buyer). So accepting a low offer isn't encouraging customers to make low offers or expect low prices like setting a low price does.

I get those low offers sometimes and I just smack that reject button and think "Hah! Nice try, buddy." and go on my merry way. I've done this a few times and the articles wound up selling for the full price to someone else. I waffle on whether or not to even use the Best Offer option, but I'm leaning toward not using it. Half the time if you don't accept the offer immediately, the buyer finds another article and the sale never goes through anyway (at least for me).

[isande]

My dad ran several stores before he finally retired in his 70s. By the time he opened his last -- and most successful -- store in the early 1990s, he was getting really fed up with lowball offers. He put up a sign that read something like "What you see is what you pay -- sales tax included, all prices are firm. No haggling!"

I doubt I'll use the "Best Offer" option, myself. My experience has been -- in retail and individual sales (yard sales, used cars, houses) -- OBO (or best offer) seems to lead to a lot of people expecting to pay half or less of the marked price. I'd rather price articles at the minimum I'm willing to accept and not entertain lower offers. I don't really like the idea of rewarding people for trying to get a lower price.

I figure if my sales are slow or nonexistent, either I've priced my work too high and should reduce the price for everyone -- not just those that try to negotiate -- or, more likely, I should try writing in other niches.

That's just me, though. I know some people enjoy haggling; I don't. I even pay full price in Mexico unless I'm offered a discount

Peggy

[vjlenin]

The time when I will be selling an article for $4 will be when that article is a paragraph with thirty words in it. If it has 400 words, then normal going rate will be about 50 dollars. It's worth it, because of the extensive research and editing required to get an article accepted here.

[WordCraft]

Can those who request articles view/join this forum?

[jak]

[quote="WordCraft"]Can those who request articles view/join this forum?[/quote]

I believe they can, but don't know if they would bother. In a way, that's a pity because it would be good for them to know how authors feel abut this. I've noticed a lot of new public requests asking for articels at rock bottom prices. I'd love to write for some of the topics, but the returns would be far too low. Of course we can always price them higher and wait to see if they are picked up by the requester or someone else later.

[AmyT]

Someone just sold a LOT of articles for $4-6 today... sad! Hopefully this won't become a trend.

I make a motion to have a $7 minimum bid for articles ... perhaps articles posted from 6/10 onward (know there are a lot of articles priced below that were posted a while back) People were discussing on another thread that if we aren't allowed to sell articles for below $7, it doesn't make much sense allowing sellers to bid bellow that mark. Second, anyone?

Amy

[Amy W]

Seconded!

[Celeste Stewart]

I'm happy with the minimum price but I don't think it's necessary to restrict offers. Low prices and usage licenses aren't necessarily to my liking but I do understand that for some of us these articles have already earned themselves out and that sometimes something is better than nothing. An extra four bucks several times over can quickly become forty bucks or more.

If the articles in question were for usage rights, I wouldn't worry about it because the writer can sell the same articles many more times and has likely already done so. These extra few dollars are just that - extra. If the articles sold for unique or full rights, then the writers who agreed to those prices were either: hungry, tired of waiting for the right customer, or easily taken advantage of.

* For hungry writers, I can't blame them.
* For those tired of waiting for the right customer, same thing. However, I recommend a little more patience because customers DO value our work here and when the right one comes along, bingo! But yeah, if an article has been ignored by the masses for extended periods of time, why not at least get something for your effort? Again, I'd wait, but that's just me at this point in time.
* For those who are easily taken advantage of, well, where do we begin? Get to know the CC system better, value your time and your work, and use your best judgment (which requires understanding the CC system better and understanding the value of your work among other things).

Anyhow, a few lowball sales isn't going to turn CC into a flea market just as a few higher prices articles isn't going to turn it into Nordstroms. I believe that CC has its marketplace clearly defined and that each of us writers has a choice as to which end of this particular market we want to target.