Just Been Demoted? Let's Stop it Happening Again

[eoinfinnegan]

Mod Note
This thread is for discussion and advice about avoiding demotions/gaining promotion and not for other discussions.
There are currently two other main topics available for that:
Fiverr Forum

Discussions About Level Updates - St. Levels Day

For ANYTHING about being PROMOTED, DEMOTED or SIMILAR, please do not create a new topic about it or it may be deleted. Instead, post it here and everyone can discuss it together. Click here to go to the topic.

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Fiverr Forum

New Fiverr Rating Sytem HARSH

After joining Fiverr almost at the beginning I have worked incredible hard and put up with a lot of poor time wasters over my time and also some great customers too. Fiverr has now taken my TOP SELLER RATING down to LEVEL 2 after all these years for...

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[darrentunstall]

I’ve been on the Fiverr system for several years. I’ve also been a top seller for several years. I went from receiving 600 orders per month to 400 ordered per month to about 150 now. I get the algorithm changes and that has affected my business, however my sales price point has increased. So, even though I’m losing the amount of orders, My sales bottom dollar has been increasing.

I have always struggled with keeping up with the quantity of messages. I wish there was a filter that helped sellers to stop all of the inquiries. Literally, I can receive hundreds per month. It’s almost impossible to keep up with all of them if you’re not online 24 hours a day.

Regarding the message above

• My recommendation is to not increase the order time. The reason being is because if you do this, in general people tend to get lazy. My theory is to shorten the amount of time it and get to work so that you can get it out-of-the-way as soon as possible.

• The resolution to is great, however It typically results in a cancellation. Just being honest…which now, counts against you, whereas in the past and never did. For example, if someone purchase something from you and it’s not what you offer (happens a lot), you can go to the Resolution center and explain why you cannot complete the job because it does not match your gig description. If you cancel, it’s now a cancellation against you, not the buyers. Asking for more money is not with the buyer wants. Typically, on a system like Fiverr, people want more for free. Although, I have asked for extensions occasionally… That seemed to be an OK feature. Nine times out of 10 I’m usually waiting on a buyer to send me the information that I need that was requested as a requirement. That can also delay the process to… Lazy buyers.

• I’ve tried to email alerts using zapier and IFTTT. It seems to work and has alerted me a little quicker. The mobile device is probably the best tool for sellers because it allows you to communicate on fast.

• Quick responses are amazing if you take the time to respond (timeblock your schedule to do this).

• This is dumb (sorry, but it is), “you have to respond to every request, even spam ones. If a spam user has already been blocked, just submit an “Unblock User” request in the messaging system, and send them a “No Thanks” response.” Fiverr programmed their system to automatically block people using auto-spam set in place by them. Therefore, they obviously have recognize that people are sending SPAM and they chose to weed out those individuals. That said, we should not be required to respond to spam messages. It’s very annoying. Why should I be penalized. It’s kind of like credit card fraud, but you still have to pay the bill, regardless.

In addition, turn off your online status. This is only a filter in search. Fiverr says it helps find you, but I don’t believe it. In fact, I believe it works against me. When you’re online 24 hours a day that opens you up for many messages sleep. With the new rules in place, you need to respond to all of those otherwise you will be penalized possibly demoted.

What’s up with this canned answer?, “Please do not use this thread to complain about being demoted. This thread is intended purely as a help resource for sellers who want to avoid demotion in future. If you’re frustrated, angry, or want to vent, there are plenty of other places on the forums you can do that. Let’s keep this thread on-topic, please.” _Lot’s of people will be demoted…including me, with over 10,000 jobs completed. Where’s the loyalty?

On the other end of the spectrum, I’ve been arguing for years about buyers who should be vetted and run through a rigorous process just like sellers. I get so many buyers that expect something for free or order my gig just to take my stuff. Video occasions I have had to request fiber to remove duplicate copies of my own gig.Can’t prove it, but I am almost positive that I’ve shopped many times by these fake buyers just to see what I have. Whatever.

Anyways, I hope this does not come across as a venting, but more of a reality warning from the seller who has done thousands of projects. Do you need systems in place before taking on tons of business. Also, try to implement a CRM program to manage your orders and messages. Currently, Fiverr Does not have such a system in place, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t do this outside of the Fiverr system to help you build your business.
This is part of my 2018 goal. To implement a CRM program and to manage orders and messages more effectively. I saw this coming a year ago. Hope this helps… Please reach out if you need any advice.

Thank you,

Darren Tunstall
Mod Note: Contact details/self promotion should not be included in comments.

[design2thrive]

IMO the “on time delivery” is too harsh as it doesn’t just count your initial delivery time, it also count those after buyers request revisions.

[eoinfinnegan]

I’ve been on the Fiverr system for several years. I’ve also been a top seller for several years. I went from receiving 600 orders per month to 400 ordered per month to about 150 now. I get the algorithm changes and that has affected my business, however my sales price point has increased. So, even though I’m losing the amount of orders, My sales bottom dollar has been increasing.

I have always struggled with keeping up with the quantity of messages. I wish there was a filter that helped sellers to stop all of the inquiries. Literally, I can receive hundreds per month. It’s almost impossible to keep up with all of them if you’re not online 24 hours a day.

Regarding the message above

• My recommendation is to not increase the order time. The reason being is because if you do this, in general people tend to get lazy. My theory is to shorten the amount of time it and get to work so that you can get it out-of-the-way as soon as possible.

• The resolution to is great, however It typically results in a cancellation. Just being honest…which now, counts against you, whereas in the past and never did. For example, if someone purchase something from you and it’s not what you offer (happens a lot), you can go to the Resolution center and explain why you cannot complete the job because it does not match your gig description. If you cancel, it’s now a cancellation against you, not the buyers. Asking for more money is not with the buyer wants. Typically, on a system like Fiverr, people want more for free. Although, I have asked for extensions occasionally… That seemed to be an OK feature. Nine times out of 10 I’m usually waiting on a buyer to send me the information that I need that was requested as a requirement. That can also delay the process to… Lazy buyers.

• I’ve tried to email alerts using zapier and IFTTT. It seems to work and has alerted me a little quicker. The mobile device is probably the best tool for sellers because it allows you to communicate on fast.

• Quick responses are amazing if you take the time to respond (timeblock your schedule to do this).

• This is dumb (sorry, but it is), “you have to respond to every request, even spam ones. If a spam user has already been blocked, just submit an “Unblock User” request in the messaging system, and send them a “No Thanks” response.” Fiverr programmed their system to automatically block people using auto-spam set in place by them. Therefore, they obviously have recognize that people are sending SPAM and they chose to weed out those individuals. That said, we should not be required to respond to spam messages. It’s very annoying. Why should I be penalized. It’s kind of like credit card fraud, but you still have to pay the bill, regardless.

In addition, turn off your online status. This is only a filter in search. Fiverr says it helps find you, but I don’t believe it. In fact, I believe it works against me. When you’re online 24 hours a day that opens you up for many messages sleep. With the new rules in place, you need to respond to all of those otherwise you will be penalized possibly demoted.

What’s up with this canned answer?, “Please do not use this thread to complain about being demoted. This thread is intended purely as a help resource for sellers who want to avoid demotion in future. If you’re frustrated, angry, or want to vent, there are plenty of other places on the forums you can do that. Let’s keep this thread on-topic, please.” _Lot’s of people will be demoted…including me, with over 10,000 jobs completed. Where’s the loyalty?

On the other end of the spectrum, I’ve been arguing for years about buyers who should be vetted and run through a rigorous process just like sellers. I get so many buyers that expect something for free or order my gig just to take my stuff. Video occasions I have had to request fiber to remove duplicate copies of my own gig.Can’t prove it, but I am almost positive that I’ve shopped many times by these fake buyers just to see what I have. Whatever.

Anyways, I hope this does not come across as a venting, but more of a reality warning from the seller who has done thousands of projects. Do you need systems in place before taking on tons of business. Also, try to implement a CRM program to manage your orders and messages. Currently, Fiverr Does not have such a system in place, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t do this outside of the Fiverr system to help you build your business.

This is part of my 2018 goal. To implement a CRM program and to manage orders and messages more effectively. I saw this coming a year ago. Hope this helps… Please reach out if you need any advice.

Thank you,

Darren Tunstall

Mod Note: Contact details/self promotion should not be included in comments.

That said, we should not be required to respond to spam messages. It’s very annoying. Why should I be penalized. It’s kind of like credit card fraud, but you still have to pay the bill, regardless.

I agree, it would be nice to not have to respond to spam but that is what is required at the moment. I think it is more like seeing that there has been fraud on your credit card and deciding to report it - if you don’t report it then you have to pay for it; annoying but such is life.

What’s up with this canned answer?

Threads should stick to topics, some users were not doing so and had their comments moved to relevant threads.

[paulmaplesden]

I’ve been on the Fiverr system for several years. I’ve also been a top seller for several years. I went from receiving 600 orders per month to 400 ordered per month to about 150 now. I get the algorithm changes and that has affected my business, however my sales price point has increased. So, even though I’m losing the amount of orders, My sales bottom dollar has been increasing.

I have always struggled with keeping up with the quantity of messages. I wish there was a filter that helped sellers to stop all of the inquiries. Literally, I can receive hundreds per month. It’s almost impossible to keep up with all of them if you’re not online 24 hours a day.

Regarding the message above

• My recommendation is to not increase the order time. The reason being is because if you do this, in general people tend to get lazy. My theory is to shorten the amount of time it and get to work so that you can get it out-of-the-way as soon as possible.

• The resolution to is great, however It typically results in a cancellation. Just being honest…which now, counts against you, whereas in the past and never did. For example, if someone purchase something from you and it’s not what you offer (happens a lot), you can go to the Resolution center and explain why you cannot complete the job because it does not match your gig description. If you cancel, it’s now a cancellation against you, not the buyers. Asking for more money is not with the buyer wants. Typically, on a system like Fiverr, people want more for free. Although, I have asked for extensions occasionally… That seemed to be an OK feature. Nine times out of 10 I’m usually waiting on a buyer to send me the information that I need that was requested as a requirement. That can also delay the process to… Lazy buyers.

• I’ve tried to email alerts using zapier and IFTTT. It seems to work and has alerted me a little quicker. The mobile device is probably the best tool for sellers because it allows you to communicate on fast.

• Quick responses are amazing if you take the time to respond (timeblock your schedule to do this).

• This is dumb (sorry, but it is), “you have to respond to every request, even spam ones. If a spam user has already been blocked, just submit an “Unblock User” request in the messaging system, and send them a “No Thanks” response.” Fiverr programmed their system to automatically block people using auto-spam set in place by them. Therefore, they obviously have recognize that people are sending SPAM and they chose to weed out those individuals. That said, we should not be required to respond to spam messages. It’s very annoying. Why should I be penalized. It’s kind of like credit card fraud, but you still have to pay the bill, regardless.

In addition, turn off your online status. This is only a filter in search. Fiverr says it helps find you, but I don’t believe it. In fact, I believe it works against me. When you’re online 24 hours a day that opens you up for many messages sleep. With the new rules in place, you need to respond to all of those otherwise you will be penalized possibly demoted.

What’s up with this canned answer?, “Please do not use this thread to complain about being demoted. This thread is intended purely as a help resource for sellers who want to avoid demotion in future. If you’re frustrated, angry, or want to vent, there are plenty of other places on the forums you can do that. Let’s keep this thread on-topic, please.” _Lot’s of people will be demoted…including me, with over 10,000 jobs completed. Where’s the loyalty?

On the other end of the spectrum, I’ve been arguing for years about buyers who should be vetted and run through a rigorous process just like sellers. I get so many buyers that expect something for free or order my gig just to take my stuff. Video occasions I have had to request fiber to remove duplicate copies of my own gig.Can’t prove it, but I am almost positive that I’ve shopped many times by these fake buyers just to see what I have. Whatever.

Anyways, I hope this does not come across as a venting, but more of a reality warning from the seller who has done thousands of projects. Do you need systems in place before taking on tons of business. Also, try to implement a CRM program to manage your orders and messages. Currently, Fiverr Does not have such a system in place, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t do this outside of the Fiverr system to help you build your business.

This is part of my 2018 goal. To implement a CRM program and to manage orders and messages more effectively. I saw this coming a year ago. Hope this helps… Please reach out if you need any advice.

Thank you,

Darren Tunstall

Mod Note: Contact details/self promotion should not be included in comments.

Thanks Darren, but as I said, this thread is not for those discussions - please psot this somehwre more appropriate. Thanks.

[writerlisaz]

So what’s your recommendation when a Buyer orders by mistake, is unresponsive or doesn’t read your Gig details and requests a service that you don’t advertise (and/or advertise against) or simply wants to cancel for reasons simply out of a Sellers control?

Because (no matter the reason) if a Buyer wants to cancel an Order a Seller cannot force them not to but regardless a Buyer’s cancellation it can and will effects a Sellers “Level Status”…

I don’t see you address this, which is the biggest reason why many Sellers got demoted.

It’s exactly why I got demoted after over 3 years as a Level 2 with a 100% rating and stats in every other category. I had two such “buyer error” orders this month, so I’m below 90% and bam! I’m now Level 1. I was mad last week when I saw it coming, am over it now as I get the news. There was absolutely nothing I could do about this, even contacted Support for ideas but they can do nothing apparently. It is a terrible feeling after giving Fiverr my all for 3 and 1/2 years though.

[okashy]

I think the Fiverr’s staff should make the stat system work better and more precise… before any modernization of level system or other big inventions like that. This is not fair!
I’ve met some glitch several times. I mean the difference between stats on ‘Dashboard’ page and ‘Analytics’ page…It’s misleading people and makes you don’t actually know how hard you should work few days before evaluation 🤨

I don’t know if I would be able to reach TRS nomination without Fiverr Help Center.
Anyway I recommend to reporting every incident like that to them. Please, stay alerted…

The 3 screenshots (below) taken a one/two weeks ago (you can see the old black panel, lol). In every case I’ve waited two days before reporting anything…

1

2

3

[cyaxrex]

I can see that a fair number of people have been demoted on St. Level’s Day. Although its unfortunate if it happens to you, there are things you can do to stop this happening in future. Here are some suggestions, which I hope are useful not just if you’ve been demoted, but for sellers in general to help you maintain high standards and ratings.

Review the Turnaround Times on Your Gigs

I can see plenty of people getting demoted because of delays in completing work, extra time taken to do revisions, etc. One way around this is to lengthen the time you allow yourself to deliver a gig. Normally deliver in 24 hours? Change it to 48. Can’t make three days? Change it to five. Yes, I know that some buyers are looking for very fast turnarounds, but if trying to meet those deadlines is damaging your order completion rate, maybe its time to review that.

Use the Resolution Center

The Resolution Center is an awesome resource for sellers. It lets you extend deadlines, request extra money, modify orders, and more. If the scope of an order changes, use this to painlessly request an extension on your delivery times. If an order needs to be revised and you need an extra day or two, request that through the Resolution Center. OK, it may not work in every case, but for many it absolutely will.

Get Email Alerts When a Buyer Contacts You

You can setup Fiverr so you get an email every time you receive a message or an order from a buyer. Go into your email program and ensure it flags these as urgent. Use a service like Zapier or IFTTT to send you an SMS when you receive a message from Fiverr. Anything that gets you to your phone or computer so you can respond to the buyer and not damage your response rate.

Setup Quick Responses and Use Them

The Fiverr messaging system has templated, quick responses built in, and you can add your own. Don’t have time to reply to an inquiry in detail right now? Just set up a QR that says “Thanks for your message, I am currently traveling and will respond to you as soon as possible.” Then, when you get alerted you have a message you just need to go into your smartphone, pull up the QR, send it, and then respond properly when you have time.

I have QRs setup to thank people when I receive an order, let them know when I am starting it, for delivery, and as a single followup after delivery to check everything is good. It works very well.

Submit Unspam Requests

the way the Fiverr system works, you have to respond to every request, even spam ones. If a spam user has already been blocked, just submit an “Unblock User” request in the messaging system, and send them a “No Thanks” response.

Communicate Better and Manage Expectations

This all comes back to communication - whatever you do in your freelancing life, fast, effective, high-quality communication is at the heart of being a professional freelance worker. It sets expectations, enhances relationships, keeps buyers informed, and ultimately grows your business.

Implement these changes today, and there’s every chance you will enhance your response and order completion rates for future evaluations.

Good luck!

Please do not use this thread to complain about being demoted. This thread is intended purely as a help resource for sellers who want to avoid demotion in future. If you’re frustrated, angry, or want to vent, there are plenty of other places on the forums you can do that. Let’s keep this thread on-topic, please.

Mod Note: Just an addition to this great list - Even if you don’t have time to check the forum every day, check every 3-4 days and look at the pinned posts. In this way you will be aware of big issues such as bugs, changes etc. Also, if you see something strange on your account, check here too or ask if anyone has seen the same. Average response time on the forum is 2 minutes so it is well worth it.

Submit Unspam Requests

the way the Fiverr system works, you have to respond to every request, even spam ones. If a spam user has already been blocked, just submit an “Unblock User” request in the messaging system, and send them a “No Thanks” response.

Communicate Better and Manage Expectations

This all comes back to communication - whatever you do in your freelancing life, fast, effective, high-quality communication is at the heart of being a professional freelance worker. It sets expectations, enhances relationships, keeps buyers informed, and ultimately grows your business.

Implement these changes today, and there’s every chance you will enhance your response and order completion rates for future evaluations.

I kind of agree but don’t…

I have been unspaming spam messages for as long as I can remember. From experience, however, my response rate still drops despite this.

Also, as I said on another thread, I have survived this review but I tracked 3 percentage points which I lost simply due to Fiverr bugs and reasons beyond my control. Then we have the secret feedback and ability for potential buyers to rate our message responses.

It’s all simply too much now. I SHOULD have just lost my level. I didn’t because with 8 requests to cancel orders which never started over the past 60-days, I rejected every request and found it best simply to stop offering over half my gigs.

The bottom line is that things like orders which never start due to buyers never supplying details shouldn’t even be an issue.

From my own analysis, the only way to sail through future review periods is to hike starting prices to over $40 and start operating in a grey area of TOS like I do, where I just reject cancellation requests. - This and limit gig offerings in order to avoid certain categories which due to the nature of work offered, are much more prone to problematic buyers.

Sadly, all the above does is shift the inconvenience of inherent seller side problems on Fiverr, to the buyer side of things by limiting choice and affordability of services.

[paulmaplesden]

Alrighty, in the spirit of “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness” I have created a “Site Improvement Suggestions” thread where we can brainstorm ideas that we can pass onto Fiverr development about improving how we handle levels, metrics, thresholds, demotions etc.

I have a contact in the Customer Success team that I can pass these suggestions onto, so if you have a great idea, let’s discuss it in the thread linked below.

Fiverr Forum

Been Demoted? Think Fiverr Systems Could be Tweaked? Let's Brainstorm...

Following St. Level’s Day, I thought it would be useful to have a thread that collects together suggestions for improvement to the metrics we’re currently being measured on. I have a contact in Fiverr (a manager in the customer success team) who I...

[paulmaplesden]

Submit Unspam Requests

the way the Fiverr system works, you have to respond to every request, even spam ones. If a spam user has already been blocked, just submit an “Unblock User” request in the messaging system, and send them a “No Thanks” response.

Communicate Better and Manage Expectations

This all comes back to communication - whatever you do in your freelancing life, fast, effective, high-quality communication is at the heart of being a professional freelance worker. It sets expectations, enhances relationships, keeps buyers informed, and ultimately grows your business.

Implement these changes today, and there’s every chance you will enhance your response and order completion rates for future evaluations.

I kind of agree but don’t…

I have been unspaming spam messages for as long as I can remember. From experience, however, my response rate still drops despite this.

Also, as I said on another thread, I have survived this review but I tracked 3 percentage points which I lost simply due to Fiverr bugs and reasons beyond my control. Then we have the secret feedback and ability for potential buyers to rate our message responses.

It’s all simply too much now. I SHOULD have just lost my level. I didn’t because with 8 requests to cancel orders which never started over the past 60-days, I rejected every request and found it best simply to stop offering over half my gigs.

The bottom line is that things like orders which never start due to buyers never supplying details shouldn’t even be an issue.

From my own analysis, the only way to sail through future review periods is to hike starting prices to over $40 and start operating in a grey area of TOS like I do, where I just reject cancellation requests. - This and limit gig offerings in order to avoid certain categories which due to the nature of work offered, are much more prone to problematic buyers.

Sadly, all the above does is shift the inconvenience of inherent seller side problems on Fiverr, to the buyer side of things by limiting choice and affordability of services.

I completely take your points, would you pop along to the suggestion thread linked above and make suggestions to resolve these areas? Love you!

[istvanszaboifj]

I completely take your points, would you pop along to the suggestion thread linked above and make suggestions to resolve these areas? Love you!

Actually this point isn’t true;

Submit Unspam Requests

the way the Fiverr system works, you have to respond to every request, even spam ones. If a spam user has already been blocked, just submit an “Unblock User” request in the messaging system, and send them a “No Thanks” response.

When you do that, the response rate will drop automatically. I already met with this a few times. I’ve unblocked the user, responded and right after that the response rate dropped to 99% or 98%. I always needed to fix this with the resolution center as the response rate counter has this bug. If the user is blocked, simply delete his message and don’t respond to it. That’s what the customer support guys also told me.

[paulmaplesden]

Actually this point isn’t true;

Submit Unspam Requests

the way the Fiverr system works, you have to respond to every request, even spam ones. If a spam user has already been blocked, just submit an “Unblock User” request in the messaging system, and send them a “No Thanks” response.

When you do that, the response rate will drop automatically. I already met with this a few times. I’ve unblocked the user, responded and right after that the response rate dropped to 99% or 98%. I always needed to fix this with the resolution center as the response rate counter has this bug. If the user is blocked, simply delete his message and don’t respond to it. That’s what the customer support guys also told me.

Submit Unspam Requests

the way the Fiverr system works, you have to respond to every request, even spam ones. If a spam user has already been blocked, just submit an “Unblock User” request in the messaging system, and send them a “No Thanks” response.

When you do that, the response rate will drop automatically. I already met with this a few times. I’ve unblocked the user, responded and right after that the response rate dropped to 99% or 98%. I always needed to fix this with the resolution center as the response rate counter has this bug. If the user is blocked, simply delete his message and doesn’t respond to it. That’s what the customer support guys also told me.

Thanks for confirming, that’s great information to know. I have suggested that this requirement be automatically removed from response rates.

[wpspecialist24]

I like your advice 🙂 Surely I will follow them

[legalteam]

This is not intended as a universal panacea - it won’t deal with all issues, but it will deal with a significant number of them, at least based on reading forum threads here.

I don’t see you address this, which is the biggest reason why many Sellers got demoted.

Do you have evidence of this, or is it anecdotal? To me, it seems to be a huge variety of reasons that sellers got demoted, which this post was intended to help with.

Yes, there are issues caused by what you mention, which is why I would be a big supporter of a “mutual cancellations” policy that does not affect stats, or perhaps periodic “free passes” on cancellations based on how many orders successfully delivered or something like that.

But, cancellations due to circumstances genuinely beyond your control (as per you losing power and internet due to hurricanes) should be something we can do something about - that, however, is something outside our control at present. Everything I metnioned above is very much inside our control, which is where sellers should be focussing first of all.

This is a very poor response @paulmaplesden; and you certainly are incognizant of these challenges faced by many other sellers. @thepromogirl replied very simply, and quite frankly, the answer is so unambiguous to most of us for Fiverr to address and not to demote!

[paulmaplesden]

This is a very poor response @paulmaplesden; and you certainly are incognizant of these challenges faced by many other sellers. @thepromogirl replied very simply, and quite frankly, the answer is so unambiguous to most of us for Fiverr to address and not to demote!

This is a very poor response @paulmaplesden;

Why? I said this thread is not for discussions about complaints or demotions several times. I created it in good faith to help sellers in future, and up in that first post, you will find some good advice. It is respondents to the thread that derailed it.

Additionally, I am a seller just like you, and do not have insight or influence over Fiverr and their systems. Instead of calling me out, why not head over to a thread I created on suggestions, and make some constructive feedback there?

[bdclothing]

Actually some good point. Wish I’d known about them before I got demoted from TRS, after 3 years of smooth sailing. Says it was due to low response rate.

It was my assumption that its evaluated based on speed of response and if you respond to everyone. I always respond within minutes and to everyone. The only exceptions are when I receive messages while I sleep – most of my clients are in China, so there have been 6 to 8 hour delays until I wake up.

Also I did not respond to spammers or to clients when the conversation is over or we’ve moved on to the order page. Maybe I should have sent at least an “ok, thanks” or something like you suggested.

But I’m still sore at Fiverr now because its expected that I respond to the spammers, have the last word in conversations and that I have to jump out of bed at 3 in the morning to respond to a message just so i can keep my response rate…

What is considered a suitable response rate? Even a 24-hour response rate doesn’t seem sufficient to maintain the standard. With that darn app I feel pressured to respond to people all day long instantly. It’s maddening. Sooo sorry to hear you got demoted from TRS, super frustrating.

Also, I do not think it is fair to have to respond to spammy messages. They should be blocked for sure. I feel like I have to go back and forth with people to ensure I am responding to all messages and have the last word even if some messages do not even require a response, it’s maddening, mad I tell you. It’s like oh gee, it’s 3AM random message, I must have the last word or else.

[wpspecialist24]

great advice ! thank you so much

[shaunacardwell]

Great advice although its very frustrating to lose your level to just one percent. I was wondering about response rate when you message someone back and forth you cant always reply to people if the conversation has ended, for example I say thank you, they say thank you back, I send a smiley face then they send a smiley face but you cant exactly reply to that, so is that effecting response rate and also spam messages, one buyer i blocked but somehow a few days ago he could contact me again and sent me about 6 spam messages i reported the messages, although the response rate has been very buggy and mine has been stuck at 89% for a while now. All i need to do is improve response rate then everything will be fine but I’m having a hard time doing that and customer support have not helped me.

[asifhassanantue]

very helpful post. thank you.

[vickiespencer]

Actually some good point. Wish I’d known about them before I got demoted from TRS, after 3 years of smooth sailing. Says it was due to low response rate.

It was my assumption that its evaluated based on speed of response and if you respond to everyone. I always respond within minutes and to everyone. The only exceptions are when I receive messages while I sleep – most of my clients are in China, so there have been 6 to 8 hour delays until I wake up.

Also I did not respond to spammers or to clients when the conversation is over or we’ve moved on to the order page. Maybe I should have sent at least an “ok, thanks” or something like you suggested.

But I’m still sore at Fiverr now because its expected that I respond to the spammers, have the last word in conversations and that I have to jump out of bed at 3 in the morning to respond to a message just so i can keep my response rate…

The only exceptions are when I receive messages while I sleep – most of my clients are in China, so there have been 6 to 8 hour delays until I wake up.

I too have many buyers from China who message me in the middle of the night when I am sleeping. It is my experience that if I respond within 24 hours, it does not count against my response rate. I cannot speak to spammers, but I am glad Paul spoke about

Submit Unspam Requests

Now I will do that.

[misscrystal]

I’ve just been made aware in another thread there are sellers who expect to be made TRS who never look at their analytics page!

[aleccorday]

The only exceptions are when I receive messages while I sleep – most of my clients are in China, so there have been 6 to 8 hour delays until I wake up.

I too have many buyers from China who message me in the middle of the night when I am sleeping. It is my experience that if I respond within 24 hours, it does not count against my response rate. I cannot speak to spammers, but I am glad Paul spoke about

Submit Unspam Requests

Now I will do that.

Thanks for the 24h point. Now I know something is fishy because I never respond past 24h. But I’m still at 80% response rate, so…

[vickiespencer]

Thanks for the 24h point. Now I know something is fishy because I never respond past 24h. But I’m still at 80% response rate, so…

I thought I had not missed any either, so I contacted CS. They gave me the exact time I was late and who the buyer was. It was Christmas and I had not logged in for two days so it was valid in taking my response rate from 100% to 98%. If you contact them they may be able to help you too.

[steverotter]

We HAVE to respond to spam messages? Are you kidding me?

Can you really not develop a program that ignores spam messages?

Also, communication can’t go on forever. When sellers communicate with each other (I regularly buy and sell on Fiverr), and I send a ‘final’ thanks message… the other seller has to keep responding simply to maintain their response level.

This is not something that is OUR fault as sellers… and thus should NOT affect our ratings.

Find these errors in your programming and statistics and FIX them, don’t punish us for things we have no control over.

#Ridiculous

AGREED! I have a couple buyers who will not go away. The orders were received and they nit picked the entire way. I was glad they were FINALLY done. Now they come back and want more changes, weeks later. I told them I don’t keep the files. They won’t accept this and keep messaging me. This is not my day job. I provide a service and it’s unfair these buyers think they run the show and can treat the sellers like garbage. Now we’re roped into constantly being a pen pal to them? I let the person know the files are gone. It would be a new order. They keep messaging asking about other alternatives. There are none!

[Guest didaralam274]

So what’s your recommendation when a Buyer orders by mistake, is unresponsive or doesn’t read your Gig details and requests a service that you don’t advertise (and/or advertise against) or simply wants to cancel for reasons simply out of a Sellers control?

Because (no matter the reason) if a Buyer wants to cancel an Order a Seller cannot force them not to but regardless a Buyer’s cancellation it can and will effects a Sellers “Level Status”…

I don’t see you address this, which is the biggest reason why many Sellers got demoted.

I can share my experience regarding this.

I needed to cancel some orders because of the buyer (order mistakenly). So, I look at my gig title, description and FAQ part again and again. Then I modify those which can confuse a buyer or added more clarification. For example, I provide YouTube channel consultation service, but some buyer order that service for views. So, I mention it clearly in the description and FAQ that this gig not for views service. Also, I increased my price and stop providing $5, $10 service. After that, I never had any wrong order placement. When a gig price is high, I think buyer always look at the gig before ordering. Off-course, still, some buyer who order without reading. I don’t know how they can do it 🌵