Do you usually reject low offers?

[Antonia]

Celeste,

You're the best! I took part of the afternoon off from writing and set up my spreadsheet. I tried some Apple software called Numbers that I'd never tried before, and found it to be a lot more intuitive than Excel--even making the formula for the "date submitted minus date sold" was a cinch. Now I can track to my heart's content...oh, I am SUCH a dork. It does make me feel inspired though...I want to fill up that spreadsheet with sold articles!

Now if only I can manage to sell enough to generate a report with more than one article on it... :)

[cindylanecc]

Celeste,

Thanks for the info on tracking with a spreadsheet. Great idea!

Cindy

[EMJames]

Hello all,
I was very happy to find this thread here in the forum. As a new member of CC, I was excited to receive my first offer today. However, $8 for a 1,500 word article just seemed too low. It was nice to see other writers reject low offers in the hopes that specific buyers would place more value on hard work. I am glad that I am not so impatient or desperate (yet) to have accepted the offer. So, I thank those of you who shared your experiences here. It was helpful in my decision-making process.

Warmly,
EM

[Lysis]

Hi EMJames, I think there is an article farmer that goes through new content and offers $5-$8. He's done the same to me on several occasions.

[Antonia]

HOORAY!!!! I just sold my second article!

So, I had originally asked $80 for full rights, and the customer offered $50. Feeling encouraged by the comments and support on this thread, I rejected the offer...and have been having massive rejection regret the past few days, especially after reading the How to Sell More Articles thread. $50 would have been better than nothing, right? Who am I to reject an offer...bleeping Faulker? I was all set to email the buyer begging them to just TAKE IT, TAKE IT, I NEED THE MONEY, I'LL DO ANYTHING.....

Logged in today, for some reason clicked on My Sales (okay, I admit it, I always do that first, just in case)....and found that the same buyer had come back and purchased it for unique rights! So I still made more money than if I'd accepted the lower offer, AND I feel like a million dollars.

I wanted to share this in the hopes that it will encourage other new writers to:

1) Ask for guidance if you're not sure how to price something or whether to accept an offer--seriously, without the experienced writers on this board, I'd be easy prey for sharks!
2) Price your work according to its value, not according to how much you need quick cash--the right buyer will value it just as much.

THANK YOU--to Ed for all your hard work editing & making us live up to quality standards--and to all the writers who take the time to post on the boards and make this a living community. Y'all ROCK. Hugs and kisses from rainy Kathmandu.

[Celeste Stewart]

Congrats on the sale!

[EMJames]

Since joining CC last month, I made my first sale yesterday, and I am satisfied with the price. I just wanted to share my appreciation to those who have shared their insights about pricing in this thread (and in other spots in the forum). It has been helpful to me as I continue to build a portfolio of articles.

Warmly,
EM

[Zabrina]

Ah yes, there's lots of fun stuff you can do with Excel and I'll give you a brief overview. It's late and I'm beat right now but give me a nudge in a day or two and I'll be happy to share more details.

My main columns are:
Category
Article title
Type of request (public, brainstorm, private) - this helps me further breakdown sales ratios
Hours
Price
Word count
Date submitted
Asking price
My percentage (it calculates what I get based off of 65% of the asking price)
Per word price (calculated after the cut)
Per hour price (same)

I also have columns for:
Date sold
Rights sold
Buyer
...

What great info! I'm creating a spreadsheet for CC articles, and this is very helpful. What do you do about the three pricing tiers, though? Do you assume usage rights or full rights? Or type in "16/32/64" (if those are your three asking prices)? I know Excel would hate me if I tried that outside of text mode, haha.

Also, what's the difference between "Price" and "Asking Price"? You mention Date Sold; what if an article is sold several times (say a Usage article, for example)?

[misstamla]

I was offered $15 full rights for something I'd priced at that amount for usage. I turned it down because the offer didn't reflect the time and thought that went into the article. I've just sold it for the second time for the usage price, confirming that I was right to refuse the offer! I've refused every offer I've received so far. It was hard the first time, but a quick read through the forums gave me the courage to do it. So, thanks to all of you who post on here for us newbies!

Kathy

[HayleyWriter]

Kathy,

It's great to see you making sales and earning more than you would have if you had accepted the first low offer. It is definitely possible to make money on CC and make decent money on the majority of articles you write here. I still agonise over whether to accept some offers or not, especially if the offer is almost within the ballpark of what I want to earn for the article. I will not accept a very low offer for full rights or unique because that's my only bite at the cherry and as you said, you can often sell the same article twice for the same price for usage!

Congratulations to the others here who are also celebrating higher sales than the low offers first suggested.

Kind regards,

Hayley

[misstamla]

Hi Hayley

Thanks for your comments, and for the encouragement.

I would always consider a reasonable offer, of course, but those I've received so far have not reflected the work that went into the articles. The last sale I mentioned has definitely given me the confidence to refuse future unreasonable offers, but, when sales seem slow, it's almost tempting to accept anything!

Kathy