Tests for Badges/Certifications

[sydneymorgan]

I think Fiverr should catch up with all the other freelancing sites out there and offer basic tests in exchange for profile badges. For example, sellers should pass a test before being able to list themselves as a native English speaker on their profile.

Just my two cents and I really think it would improve the transparency of the platform and the buyer experience.

[gig_freak]

I would disagree with you. Those tests can be easily cheated on and aren’t true pointers of the seller capabilities. Usually, you open the test, google the answers aaaand it’s done, boom a certificate in just 5 minutes. I don’t say that every seller does that, but it happens a lot.

For a better buyer experience, before ordering you can always contact the buyer in a private message and judging by his/her reply you can find lot about their knowledge of the language. You can theirs portfolio and reviews, from which you can learn a lot more.

Fiverr is the most unique marketplace out here on the internet, and it should stay that way.

[Guest phantompower]

What if I ask someone to do the test for me?

[sydneymorgan]

I would disagree with you. Those tests can be easily cheated on and aren’t true pointers of the seller capabilities. Usually, you open the test, google the answers aaaand it’s done, boom a certificate in just 5 minutes. I don’t say that every seller does that, but it happens a lot.

For a better buyer experience, before ordering you can always contact the buyer in a private message and judging by his/her reply you can find lot about their knowledge of the language. You can theirs portfolio and reviews, from which you can learn a lot more.

Fiverr is the most unique marketplace out here on the internet, and it should stay that way.

I understand that, but there really should be some way to weed out scammers/bad sellers better. Deleting accounts if all they get is bad reviews and cancellations, a verification process of some sort, etc.

I have quite a few buyers come to me with work that needs fixing because a seller on here didn’t do what they asked or only half-completed the job. Many buyers have experiences like that and never come back to Fiverr, giving the platform and every seller here a bad reputation.

[gig_freak]

I understand that, but there really should be some way to weed out scammers/bad sellers better. Deleting accounts if all they get is bad reviews and cancellations, a verification process of some sort, etc.

I have quite a few buyers come to me with work that needs fixing because a seller on here didn’t do what they asked or only half-completed the job. Many buyers have experiences like that and never come back to Fiverr, giving the platform and every seller here a bad reputation.

I have quite a few buyers come to me with work that needs fixing because a seller on here didn’t do what they asked or only half-completed the job.

I know, that have happened to me also. But it isn’t fiverr’s fault that there are scammers like that, or people that aren’t educated and have no experiece whatsoever in the things they offer. But those tests wont solve any issue like that. Issues will be solved if clients report the sellers that were playing them around.

[artlifeoriginal]

I have quite a few buyers come to me with work that needs fixing because a seller on here didn’t do what they asked or only half-completed the job.

I know, that have happened to me also. But it isn’t fiverr’s fault that there are scammers like that, or people that aren’t educated and have no experiece whatsoever in the things they offer. But those tests wont solve any issue like that. Issues will be solved if clients report the sellers that were playing them around.

But it isn’t fiverr’s fault that there are scammers like that, or people that aren’t educated and have no experiece whatsoever in the things they offer.

I wholeheartedly agree. The problem is not Fiverr itself. Shoddy work and scams happen no matter where you are, on the web or in person. It has nothing to do with the platform. People do that pretty much everywhere.

Those tests can be easily cheated on and aren’t true pointers of the seller capabilities.

Schools are the same way. Standardized tests may be easier to score and compare, but we end up with students who can’t add or read but can somehow breeze through test after standardized test.

@sydneymorgan What about the Fiverr accounts that are used by multiple people? Also, there’s one way to tell if someone is a native English speaker. Send them a message. The auto-translation is unmistakable. Also, check their reviews (the Seller reviews of Buyers) and see how they are written. And no one really wants to see thousands of forum posts and Buyer Requests with unintelligible requests for the test answers (and probably half of them from the same person).

[gig_freak]

But it isn’t fiverr’s fault that there are scammers like that, or people that aren’t educated and have no experiece whatsoever in the things they offer.

I wholeheartedly agree. The problem is not Fiverr itself. Shoddy work and scams happen no matter where you are, on the web or in person. It has nothing to do with the platform. People do that pretty much everywhere.

Those tests can be easily cheated on and aren’t true pointers of the seller capabilities.

Schools are the same way. Standardized tests may be easier to score and compare, but we end up with students who can’t add or read but can somehow breeze through test after standardized test.

@sydneymorgan What about the Fiverr accounts that are used by multiple people? Also, there’s one way to tell if someone is a native English speaker. Send them a message. The auto-translation is unmistakable. Also, check their reviews (the Seller reviews of Buyers) and see how they are written. And no one really wants to see thousands of forum posts and Buyer Requests with unintelligible requests for the test answers (and probably half of them from the same person).

Schools are the same way. Standardized tests may be easier to score and compare, but we end up with students who can’t add or read but can somehow breeze through test after standardized test.

Man, that’s what’s wrong with the world. My opinion is that every educational system in every country sucks, maybe the Scandinavian countries have something that’s better.

About the google translate you are right. There are a lot of sellers that use it. It’s a shame if you are a freelancer and you don’t know English at all. Maybe, I do some grammar errors, from which you can notice that English isn’t my native language, but I do my best. 🙂

[wp_kid]

Online test for badge/Certifications can be cheated. But I think it will be help for newbies. For a new worker, as he/she do not have much work sample Exam certificates can be a good stuff for them to impress new buyers. So I think if introducing skill test will be a good move.

[artlifeoriginal]

Online test for badge/Certifications can be cheated. But I think it will be help for newbies. For a new worker, as he/she do not have much work sample Exam certificates can be a good stuff for them to impress new buyers. So I think if introducing skill test will be a good move.

@wp_kid , there are a lot of Gigs on Fiverr that are creativity based. Skills testing won’t reveal if someone can paint an impressive painting, or write a great article, or do superb photo editing.

I do not believe that meaningless certificates are a good way to impress people (and certainly not an ethical way), and any online test will be cheated on. Not can, will.

Skills testing results are also based on the person who writes the test. Very rarely do they evaluate skills. They mostly evaluate the ability to pass (and/or cheat on) tests.

[twistedweb123]

The primary purposes of tests on most other freelancing websites isn’t actually to accredit users. They know that tests aren’t full proof and can easily be cheated on as mentioned above.

Instead, the primary focus is to create a new revenue stream by charging users to take the tests. I whole heartedly disagree with this. It adds another hurdle (and a paid one at that) to the entry point of the platform.

They have already added paid/sponsored ads, which is another flawed shirt term revenue stream.

All these schemes are flawed as they make a more difficult entry point and are charging to create success, meaning less users are able to sign up and will likely stop paying if they don’t get the results they desire.

Instead of charging for success, the ideal business model would involve helping more sellers become successful and then offer additional services for those who are. This way you are charging on a positive and much more likely to create a long term revenue stream. Sites like Shopify do this. They allow for additional apps and tools to be added to your account for a monthly fee. You can be successful without them and build to them. Then once you subscribe, it’s unlikely you’ll unsubscribe.

A good example of this kind of tool is the current csv export on revenues. Do new users, or those with less sales need this? No. Is it invaluable to higher sellers who do? Yes. Imagine this was an app (maybe even 3rd party created by other fiverr users themselves!) And came with a monthly service subscription like $3. 1000 users then opting for this tool would consistently provide $3,000 a month to fiverr, direct from there selling balance. $3 is nothing and as it’s coming direct from your balance you’d never notice it. Rather than tests and adds which you only do for a short time - or you subscribe to ads and they don’t work (so you stop paying) or they do work and you no longer need them to generate sales

Other examples of apps you could opt into are

Fiverr anywhere
An advanced analytics breakdown
Quicker clearing times
The ability to list more gig

And so on. In fact, all of these could be packaged as a “fiverr plus” subscription. $15 a month for helpful tools that aren’t a requirement to sell or necessary to gain more sales but are invaluable to those that do.

Fiverr has a very large user base. Imagine 10,000 signed up to this, that’s $150,000 a month, or $1,800,000 additional revenue per year with no processing or merchant fees. That makes much more sense in my eyes regarding monetization.

Tldr - tests are a poor attempt at a money grab and im glad fiverr doesn’t have them