In this series we’re interviewing our top marketplace buyers. We value what they have to say – the marketplaces are pointless without them. And we want to give authors the inside track on what buyers are looking for. So listen up! And feel free to ask more questions in the comments. This week we meet Ryan Afshar (ram1234).

Tell us a little about your work. Are you a freelancer or do you work for a company? What sort of work do you do?

I have worked for a web and graphic design firm since 2006. Many hats are worn by me so you’ll catch me doing literally “every” aspect of business from graphics, front end web, back end web, marketing, and customer relations.

How did you discover Envato?

I stumbled across “FLASHDEN” years ago when building websites with flash was still cool. It didn’t take me long to see the quality and uniqueness to the way that Envato puts you in touch with such brilliant authors. It’s not very often you can go buy serious works of art then have the ability to get support on such things.

What brings you to the Envato marketplaces to buy files? Tell us a little about how you use those files.

When I am in the process of a “File Hunt” I look for several things:

• Does the file have good ratings?
• Does the author respond to support requests directly on the comments section or do they have a personal forum set up?
• Does the theme function properly across multiple devices and or browsers?
• Does the file come with source files so its 100% editable?

Tell us a little about how you navigate the marketplaces. Where do you start? How do you find the files you purchase? How long does it normally take to find them?

I’m an Envato hoarder. I search by keyword. It’s very rare you’ll see me hunting file by file or by category. If the author hasn’t properly added a keyword to his file its probably not worth it.

On a typical file hunting day you’ll see 20 tabs open in my browser full of options and one lucky file that will be mine.

Do you have any recommendations to authors about how they make their files more suitable for you?

Stop over-branding the files. I can’t stand when authors cram their information into files making them hard to re-use.

Are you also an author? Which marketplaces do you sell on? Do you use the files you purchase in your own items?

I’m not an author. No time for that.

What do you do when you’re not working?

I longboard. Longboard. And oh did I mention I longboard?