Discussions About Level Updates - St. Levels Day - February

[ashkent7]

I had a number of issues when the level system first changed. To me there should have been a couple of resets done; response rate and delivery time should have been reset as new back in November to give everyone a fair and even chance of keeping their existing level at the end of the first evaluation in January. I have been working on Fiverr since mid 2013. I have 1500 sales, 100% positive rating (I have had 1 bad review from a couple of years ago which was actually automatically added due to someone cancelling even though they had told me they were happy for the gig to be delivered a day later than planned, but it is a drop in the ocean) and just under $20000 in revenues. However, as I never used to officially ask for extensions and would just advise the buyer of any delays, and with a number of orders coming in from countries with a time difference, there were a number of gigs that would be delivered maybe an hour late. So in January, despite my efforts, my delivery on time rate was 79% mostly from a spell over Christmas where I had a lot of 24 hour gigs which were delivered in the heinously offensive time of 25 or 26 hours. For this reason, I was demoted after being a Level Two seller for all buy my first two months on Fiverr.

So I had a rant about it. December had been a strangely quite month – the quietest that I have had since my first few months on the site five years ago, so the ratings for December hadn’t really helped. I had to pause most of my gigs due to the difference in number of gigs allowed. But January had picked up a bit, I had some regular buyers and I just thought how hard can it be to pull back the 11% to being the delivery time back up to the 90% target. Very as it turns out for one simple reason…with it being a 60 day moving period you can’t instantly tell how many gigs you need to deliver to reach the target. Plus, if you happen to go from a historical few days of having a number of gigs delivered on time to a one where they weren’t your percentage goes down without you actually doing anything.

Yesterday, I was on 89% and if not for a handful of gigs coming in over the last three days being closed as completed by the buyers I would have found myself with a new seller label. I think I scraped it by 2 maybe even 1 gig. As I can’t see, I can’t really tell but it must have been late last night when my rating moved to 90%.

Would I have been happy if I had been demoted again? No. Would I have thought Fiverr was the worst site in the world for doing it to me? Yes. But over time, that would go away and here is why.

Delivery Times – I have resolved to make sure my gigs are timed correctly. If a gig would take me 2 days, it is now down as a 3 day delivery. Additionally, I have limits on the gigs so I know what level the work will get to before it stops any more gigs being added. I am more towards explaining to buyers that I am putting on a long delivery time for more complex orders, but give them a time I expect to deliver by verbally. If I go slightly over the time, I can update them without having to worry about the actually delivery time ticking over on Fiverr. In the end, you know how long it takes you to do a job. You know how many hours as a minimum your life allows to work on Fiverr gigs so don’t take on more than you can manage. I know for certain that I have 5-6 hours a day to work on my gigs. Sometimes it is more, but I never plan for it to be more then if anything unexpected crops up it is less likely to have an impact. In the end, I know my work inside and out, so if I can’t accurately gauge a delivery time allowing for unexpected events, then that is my problem to deal with and not only there because Fiverr have changed their rating system.

Gig Status – In the grand scheme of things, I found being demoted had no effect whatsoever on my gig. If people have liked your gig, they will still be able to see it. In the gig search results, I found that I was placed no different as a Level One seller than I had been as a Level Two. The main thing I found, was that it did not affect my revenues. In December and January as a level two seller, I made around $150-200 each month. As a Level One seller, I have made over $450 so far in February and only one of my orders was from a long standing seller. I had work for a large project come in from a TV producer, I have had more than double the overall number of orders I had the month before. So if you provide quality work and your star rating/reviews show it, then I don’t think too many people really care about what level you are. Would I have seen a drop if I had gone to a new seller level? I can’t say, but from what I have seen, I doubt it and with a bit of resolve I would have been moving back up in the coming months.

Response Rating – This one is my only real bone of contention. I don’t really understand what benefit it serves as it stands. It cannot tell if an email needs to even have a response. I have had emails that just say. “Thanks for completing the gig for me”, or spam ones asking for business. These don’t need to be responded to, and if I do respond, does that then mean they have respond back or face their rating being dropped if they are also a seller? How do you end a back and forth chain of mails like that if someone is going to be penalised for not responding? My only way around it was to make sure I responded to all the ones that needed it, and as two days ago my rating dropped below 90%, I also just sent a couple of messages saying things like, “Ok”, “no Problem” and “That’s fine” to some of the random ones that didn’t actually need a reply. Thankfully this pulled me back up to 90%, but I can see why people would have an issue if this was the reason for demotion and something I would say Fiverr need to look at going forward. The best advice I can give is just reply even if it is just a smiley emoji or something if you notice your rating dropping.

After the last month being a Level One seller and actually getting some orders that have more potential than most I have had on Fiverr, I don’t believe there is much to worry about as long as you continue to promote yourself and deliver the same quality that you did at a higher level. You will soon head back up where you should be, and then it should be easier to stay there as from here on out everyone should know what impacts the ratings and what you need to do to stay on top of them. If you find yourself still slipping, then you need to find a way to make whatever changes necessary to rise above it. Large businesses face hurdles every day and find ways around it, and whether you have been doing this as a living or just as a hobby, you are providing something to someone which makes us all no different to the biggest companies in the world, just with different hurdles to overcome to keep going.

Happy jumping.

[darrentunstall]

The response rate to me is one of the easiest of the stats to maintain. Unless you’re being flooded with messages from potential buyers, just respond within 24 hours.

Being flooded with messages is what happened to me. For a long time, Fiverr Was promoting me through their email campaigns and I was literally getting 55 to 75 messages per day. It got really difficult to respond to everyone. The only solution was to create a quick response so that I wasn’t affected. But unfortunately by the time I learned that trick, it was too late.

Now, I watch my online status like a hawk and get back to everyone within a 12 hour. It’s really difficult when you have a day/night time difference. I tend to get lots of messages while I sleep because it’s their day time. I have time blocked myself to answer questions three times a day. Morning, afternoon, evening.

[shashanewallace]

Being flooded with messages is what happened to me. For a long time, Fiverr Was promoting me through their email campaigns and I was literally getting 55 to 75 messages per day. It got really difficult to respond to everyone. The only solution was to create a quick response so that I wasn’t affected. But unfortunately by the time I learned that trick, it was too late.

Now, I watch my online status like a hawk and get back to everyone within a 12 hour. It’s really difficult when you have a day/night time difference. I tend to get lots of messages while I sleep because it’s their day time. I have time blocked myself to answer questions three times a day. Morning, afternoon, evening.

A small price to pay I guess as that feature would have brought you a lot of interested buyers. 55 to 75 messages per day. Wow, you are rolling in clients. That’s great.

[shashanewallace]

Trust me, if you contact CS, they can tell you how many messages you missed.

[misscrystal]

I have no unread messages, I never answer after 24 hours. Maximum 6-8 hr for sleeping. Despite this I continue to lose% in response rate.

So if there is a bug in your response rate tell customer support. I message them about twice a month about this.

[ashkent7]

If you are getting “too much” business, raise your prices. This is common across all businesses. So if you have 75 inquiries a day try raising prices $5 each lowest level $10 2nd tier, $15 3rd tier (or similar) and raise Extras pricing too… If you then get 50 a day, you are making more money per order for less orders, that means less time spent with order intake, customer service, and revisions — and those 50 people are “more serious” about their orders i.e. they have a better handle on their budget and aren’t there just for “fast and cheap”. The QUALITY of customers goes up. 80/20 rule.

If 50 is still a lot to handle, raise prices again after a couple months. Get it down to 25 a day premium customers with budgets that can handle your new prices, know what they want, are better communicators, repeat customers, complain less, are not looking for everything for nothing. You’re making more per sale over less sales, but have already weeded out the less serious people, the ones that are hustlers, etc.

This is the perfect model to run with if you are serious about Fiverr providing you with a business and not just a hit or miss hobby. As a worst case scenario, if orders drop below where you want them then it is just as easy put on a “special” reduced price for a month or two to build back up.

[mixshowfm]

I just got demoted too from a Level 2 to Zero. Your samples and reviews speak for themselves. Don’t allow this Level system to get to you. I’m fortunate enough to have a client base outside of Fiverr and built before Fiverr was even a thing.I can do with out discounted orders. I just feel bad for the buyers. They are gonna lose out when the real pros decide to ditch the marketplace . Great way to motivate your sellers Fiverr.

[shashanewallace]

Is it just me or is it confusing when someone says they got demoted from Level 2 to Level 0. It’s a bit misleading like a level was jumped. You’re actually demoted from level 1 to level 0.

When I first saw the title, I thought Fiverr was demoting people straight to Level 0 from Level 2.

[newsmike]

I just got demoted too from a Level 2 to Zero. Your samples and reviews speak for themselves. Don’t allow this Level system to get to you. I’m fortunate enough to have a client base outside of Fiverr and built before Fiverr was even a thing.I can do with out discounted orders. I just feel bad for the buyers. They are gonna lose out when the real pros decide to ditch the marketplace . Great way to motivate your sellers Fiverr.

They are gonna lose out when the real pros decide to ditch the marketplace . Great way to motivate your sellers Fiverr.

Why would the real pros ditch the marketplace? They (if they are pros) will have figured out how to thrive here, that’s what pros do.

[alessio90]

Is it just me or is it confusing when someone says they got demoted from Level 2 to Level 0. It’s a bit misleading like a level was jumped. You’re actually demoted from level 1 to level 0.

When I first saw the title, I thought Fiverr was demoting people straight to Level 0 from Level 2.

Many sellers have lost their level immediately after the update. This is not strange for you?

[shashanewallace]

Many sellers have lost their level immediately after the update. This is not strange for you?

It reads as though there was no change to level 1 before level 2. At first, that’s what I thought happened when I was reading the post. I actually asked someone if that’s what happened.

It’s not strange to me to lose level because I did lose mine too last month. I ensured I got it back up this month.

[hieart]

omg, me too !

about 3 year of hard work, and now, lv one. oh no

[videobuff]

Am totally agree with you. Am a level two seller because of this new rules am demoted to new seller just bec of <1%.

[writersagency]

I was a level 2 seller for past 2 years. I had 100% response rate and 100% delivered on time except in February when 2 buyers opened a dispute. One of them was asking for more work without paying and the other was not clear on what he needed.
My question is, whether on March 15 I will be demoted as a new seller (coz 60 days will not be completed until that day).
What should I do and how to deal with it. Any one there ??

[newsmike]

I was a level 2 seller for past 2 years. I had 100% response rate and 100% delivered on time except in February when 2 buyers opened a dispute. One of them was asking for more work without paying and the other was not clear on what he needed.

My question is, whether on March 15 I will be demoted as a new seller (coz 60 days will not be completed until that day).

What should I do and how to deal with it. Any one there ??

I had over 100% response rate

How can you respond to more than 100%?

[mjensen415]

OK. A lot going on in this thread. Let me see if I can address some of the comments.

1. It’s unfortunate that level corrections need to be made. If you’re habitually late on orders, that not only reflects poorly on you as a seller but the marketplace. If buyers have the impression that their orders will not be delivered on time, everyone suffers.

2. There is a lot of great advice here about how to raise your “On-time Delivery” rate. If you’re promising 4 days, but consistently delivering in 5-6 days, your delivery time is NOT 4 days. You need to change your Gig to reflect the actual time it will take you. If you take on more orders, adjust your promised delivery time. Setting expectations with buyers is the #1 best thing you can do in order to ensure a smooth and positive experience.

3. I 100% agree that change is hard and mostly not welcome. Everyone is used to working his or her own way. We did not come to this new level system on a whim. These are well-calculated metrics that are used to maximize both the marketplace quality as well as maximize seller reputations which lead to more sales for you.

4. There is a reason we decided to evaluate every month and not every quarter or longer. This is a fluid system which allows sellers to adjust and “get their level back” in a short amount of time. We also offer resources and tips on how to do that. Not to mention, the community here is awesome at sharing success stories and tips to help. The metrics are open, well defined and we offer a dashboard to let you check your status.

[newsmike]

OK. A lot going on in this thread. Let me see if I can address some of the comments.

1. It’s unfortunate that level corrections need to be made. If you’re habitually late on orders, that not only reflects poorly on you as a seller but the marketplace. If buyers have the impression that their orders will not be delivered on time, everyone suffers.

2. There is a lot of great advice here about how to raise your “On-time Delivery” rate. If you’re promising 4 days, but consistently delivering in 5-6 days, your delivery time is NOT 4 days. You need to change your Gig to reflect the actual time it will take you. If you take on more orders, adjust your promised delivery time. Setting expectations with buyers is the #1 best thing you can do in order to ensure a smooth and positive experience.

3. I 100% agree that change is hard and mostly not welcome. Everyone is used to working his or her own way. We did not come to this new level system on a whim. These are well-calculated metrics that are used to maximize both the marketplace quality as well as maximize seller reputations which lead to more sales for you.

4. There is a reason we decided to evaluate every month and not every quarter or longer. This is a fluid system which allows sellers to adjust and “get their level back” in a short amount of time. We also offer resources and tips on how to do that. Not to mention, the community here is awesome at sharing success stories and tips to help. The metrics are open, well defined and we offer a dashboard to let you check your status.

The metrics are open, well defined and we offer a dashboard to let you check your status.

[writersagency]

OK. A lot going on in this thread. Let me see if I can address some of the comments.

1. It’s unfortunate that level corrections need to be made. If you’re habitually late on orders, that not only reflects poorly on you as a seller but the marketplace. If buyers have the impression that their orders will not be delivered on time, everyone suffers.

2. There is a lot of great advice here about how to raise your “On-time Delivery” rate. If you’re promising 4 days, but consistently delivering in 5-6 days, your delivery time is NOT 4 days. You need to change your Gig to reflect the actual time it will take you. If you take on more orders, adjust your promised delivery time. Setting expectations with buyers is the #1 best thing you can do in order to ensure a smooth and positive experience.

3. I 100% agree that change is hard and mostly not welcome. Everyone is used to working his or her own way. We did not come to this new level system on a whim. These are well-calculated metrics that are used to maximize both the marketplace quality as well as maximize seller reputations which lead to more sales for you.

4. There is a reason we decided to evaluate every month and not every quarter or longer. This is a fluid system which allows sellers to adjust and “get their level back” in a short amount of time. We also offer resources and tips on how to do that. Not to mention, the community here is awesome at sharing success stories and tips to help. The metrics are open, well defined and we offer a dashboard to let you check your status.

My question is still not answered. Will i be demoted to new seller in march coz my cancellation was done in February. How come i will meet your expectations (without completion of 60 days).

[mixshowfm]

They are gonna lose out when the real pros decide to ditch the marketplace . Great way to motivate your sellers Fiverr.

Why would the real pros ditch the marketplace? They (if they are pros) will have figured out how to thrive here, that’s what pros do.

many of us thought we had it figured out until the recent changes.

[mixshowfm]

They are gonna lose out when the real pros decide to ditch the marketplace . Great way to motivate your sellers Fiverr.

Why would the real pros ditch the marketplace? They (if they are pros) will have figured out how to thrive here, that’s what pros do.

many of us thought we had it figured out til the recent changes

[misscrystal]

many of us thought we had it figured out til the recent changes

If a seller has a lot of cancellations of $5 orders then I recommend raising your prices above that amount.

It is much more likely that $5 buyers will somehow not be able to conform to your requirements or gig descriptions in some way since as newsmike said many buy on a whim and are not taking it seriously. Many $5 buyers don’t bother to read the gig descriptions.

[marleen_seo]

@okomota
Stay Strong Young Man, its just a matter of time that you will get back to level 1 & 2.
Just Focus on your work and try to deliver on time to get Back in Levels Game.
Good Luck 👍

[trooviez9]

Still struggling to meet the $20,000 mark in writing category. Tragic!

[socialhonor]

Well that cannot be true because I DO answer within 24 hours, and yet my response rating still is what it is.

Just write up standard “quick” response and reply asap. We’re all in various times zones across the globe, and we’re not all in the same position as you.

It’s easily resolved, and easily avoided.

[darrentunstall]

OK. A lot going on in this thread. Let me see if I can address some of the comments.

1. It’s unfortunate that level corrections need to be made. If you’re habitually late on orders, that not only reflects poorly on you as a seller but the marketplace. If buyers have the impression that their orders will not be delivered on time, everyone suffers.

2. There is a lot of great advice here about how to raise your “On-time Delivery” rate. If you’re promising 4 days, but consistently delivering in 5-6 days, your delivery time is NOT 4 days. You need to change your Gig to reflect the actual time it will take you. If you take on more orders, adjust your promised delivery time. Setting expectations with buyers is the #1 best thing you can do in order to ensure a smooth and positive experience.

3. I 100% agree that change is hard and mostly not welcome. Everyone is used to working his or her own way. We did not come to this new level system on a whim. These are well-calculated metrics that are used to maximize both the marketplace quality as well as maximize seller reputations which lead to more sales for you.

4. There is a reason we decided to evaluate every month and not every quarter or longer. This is a fluid system which allows sellers to adjust and “get their level back” in a short amount of time. We also offer resources and tips on how to do that. Not to mention, the community here is awesome at sharing success stories and tips to help. The metrics are open, well defined and we offer a dashboard to let you check your status.

May I ask you a question as an example:

When a seller is demoted for one stat below par (for example, responding to messages within a 24 hour period are down to 20%.) and they work hard at during the next 60 days to increase that stat (let’s say, it goes up to 85%). And, consider that everything else is 93% and above.

Will that seller be praised and stay at the level that they were demoted to 1 month ago (or be promoted?) or would they be demoted again to the next lower level?