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A student from a local university has been providing photoshop services as a means of reducing the financial burden on his parents amid Covid-19.

In the two years since he started offering his services on Carousell and through word of mouth, he's served around 20 customers who pay anywhere from S$1 to S$40 for projects like removing the background of photos, and editing wedding photos.

The enterprising student scored himself an unblemished record of five-star reviews from customers on Carousell, and shares that "a good portion of them became returning customers".

But the student recently had a rather different experience with a potential buyer who requested to communicate over WhatsApp.

The interaction then dragged out over three days, but concluded abruptly, with the buyer saying that the work was no longer needed.

The buyer's parting message to Tan said that the work had been done "too late", and that as it was after office hours, the printer had "already go off work" for the day.

However, Tan maintains that there was no discussion about the deadline, and that he had nonetheless replied the buyer promptly.

No transaction on Carousell, could not leave negative review

Tan told Mothership that he would typically have moved on from such an experience, after leaving a negative review for the buyer.

However, as the parties had not started a transaction on Carousell, Tan was not able to do so.

He thus reached out to Mothership, sharing a detailed account of what happened, in hopes that others could avoid a similar experience.

Buyer asked to pay S$1 for a S$1.50 service

The conversation between buyer and seller kicked off rather unremarkably, with the buyer seeking more details of what Tan would be able to provide.

After getting quoted S$1.50 for the requested service, the buyer tried to negotiate the price down to S$1, before eventually agreeing to the S$1.50 asking price.

After requesting Tan's email, the buyer sent over files that he would need to get the job done.

In the course of the conversation, Tan also shared some advice regarding the appropriate settings to be used, to ensure that the final product would be clear.

Asked to do two more tasks

As the conversation went on, Tan was asked to take on another two tasks for S$1.50 each, though he was instructed to "Just do task 1 first" and to "Put the other 2 on hold".

He then proceeded to adjust the image as requested.

Conversation abruptly stops

The buyer stopped replying on the evening of Apr. 1, and sent a message on the morning of Apr. 2 saying: "Nvm we will proceed with item 2."

When Tan replied that the buyer would nonetheless be charged for the work done on Task 1, the buyer said it was "no use because it was too late".

The buyer added, "I requested for it at 5pm but you gave after office hours".

Based on Tan's correspondence with the buyer, while the buyer said that the work was "requested" at 5pm, the buyer made a request at 6pm for Tan to "work on the pink one first".

Tan's mention that he had made the buyer's requested edits within 32 minutes does match the conversation records shown to Mothership.

The buyer requested for a darker shade of pink on Apr. 1 at 10:48pm, and Tan replied with an updated screenshot of his work at 11:20pm on the same day — 32 minutes later.

Buyer: "We did not engage his services in the end because he did not reply in time"

When contacted by Mothership, the buyer — a newly-launched local business — confirmed that they had indeed enquired with a Carouseller for photoshop services.

However, they said, "We did not engage his services in the end because he did not reply in time".

"We also did not receive or use any final file from the Carouseller. nor confirmed the engagement of his services. It was just an enquiry," they added.

Responding to these comments, Tan pointed out that prices had been agreed, and that he received detailed instructions for all three tasks.

He explains that he took these as confirmation of his engagement.

"They discussed the work with me till 11.29pm night, just to tell me the next day that its voided because it was delivered late," he said, stressing that the buyer did not mention a deadline at any point in their discussion.

"Trying to earn a dollar from them is tough," he remarked.

Tan not taking further action, will be more careful to transact within Carousell in future

Tan shared that he has not tried to contact the buyer since.

He will be changing how he transacts with online customers, however.

"Certainly I will start to enforce keeping all my conversations on Carousell and make an official offer on the app before working on anything," he said.

All images courtesy of Glenn Tan

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