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What would you prefer? Service fees or


eoinfinnegan

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124 members have voted

  1. 1. poll

    • Increase in commission to 25%
    • Paid placement - pay per click ads (Not per sale)
    • Paid placement - pay per sale ads (eg when these sell, you pay 40% to Fiverr)
    • Bidding fees (Everyone gets 5 bids in Buyer Requests. You can buy more at $5 for 5)
    • Monthly membership fee for sellers
    • I prefer the service fees (rather than the other options)
    • Other (please specify in comments)


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So I got to thinking about the recent change regarding the service fees and was looking at what other platforms do in addition to the commission fee. I was curious what other people thought and whether they would prefer different things. As we know, Fiverr has tried a number of different things and not always rolled them out.

Let’s just take it that Fiverr needs to raise money in addition to the 20% and let’s not argue about that. Instead, let’s discuss what revenue making methods we would prefer to see Fiverr implement.
Note: Vote is public

  • Increase in commission to 25%
  • Paid placement - pay per click ads (Not per sale)
  • Paid placement - pay per sale ads (eg when these sell, you pay 40% to Fiverr)
  • Bidding fees (Everyone gets 5 bids in Buyer Requests. You can buy more at $5 for 5)
  • Monthly membership fee for sellers
  • I prefer the service fees (rather than the other options)
  • Other (please specify in comments)

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I am absolutely against a $2 service fee at this stage, so I wasn’t going to vote for that. I am for something else and I’m okay with Fiverr making more money, but I didn’t feel sure that any of the other options were exactly what I’d pick. For one thing, every option put the entire service fee back on the seller and I’d like to see something that didn’t put quite that much extra on sellers, especially new ones.

I like the idea of bidding fees for both buyers and sellers, and just saw another suggestion from Eoin about that in another thread. I think it would be brilliant to charge sellers a small fee to buy credits for more bids. It wouldn’t even have to be limited, it could just be $X for X bids extra bids. (The first 5 or 10 bids should be free for level 0 whether new or demoted.)

If buyers also had to pay something to post a BR, maybe $1 or $2, that would be a Fiverr cash cow, Fiverr would make more money if both buyers and sellers were paying something for that extra feature. Perhaps buyers could purchase credits too, like 1 free BR and $1 for each extra bid or $2 for a pack of 3 bids. I bet that Fiverr would make more overall from a system like that, and it leaves a choice for buyers/sellers who don’t need BR.

Since buyers are used to a $1 processing fee, with a system like that they could drop the ordinary service fee to .50 which would thrill buyers who don’t use BR and would feel like they got a gift.

Fiverr - diversify! Multiple income streams are good! I wouldn’t be against options for paid ads of some kind either, but I am firmly against a membership fee or mildly against an increase in commission.

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I am absolutely against a $2 service fee at this stage, so I wasn’t going to vote for that. I am for something else and I’m okay with Fiverr making more money, but I didn’t feel sure that any of the other options were exactly what I’d pick. For one thing, every option put the entire service fee back on the seller and I’d like to see something that didn’t put quite that much extra on sellers, especially new ones.

I like the idea of bidding fees for both buyers and sellers, and just saw another suggestion from Eoin about that in another thread. I think it would be brilliant to charge sellers a small fee to buy credits for more bids. It wouldn’t even have to be limited, it could just be $X for X bids extra bids. (The first 5 or 10 bids should be free for level 0 whether new or demoted.)

If buyers also had to pay something to post a BR, maybe $1 or $2, that would be a Fiverr cash cow, Fiverr would make more money if both buyers and sellers were paying something for that extra feature. Perhaps buyers could purchase credits too, like 1 free BR and $1 for each extra bid or $2 for a pack of 3 bids. I bet that Fiverr would make more overall from a system like that, and it leaves a choice for buyers/sellers who don’t need BR.

Since buyers are used to a $1 processing fee, with a system like that they could drop the ordinary service fee to .50 which would thrill buyers who don’t use BR and would feel like they got a gift.

Fiverr - diversify! Multiple income streams are good! I wouldn’t be against options for paid ads of some kind either, but I am firmly against a membership fee or mildly against an increase in commission.

every option put the entire service fee back on the seller and I’d like to see something that didn’t put quite that much extra on sellers

Hmmm - that is a good point. However, there is limited scope to add fees for buyers.

I think it would be brilliant to charge sellers a small fee to buy credits for more bids.

This is done on other sites and I am unsure how it affects who bids. It may put off some people that the buyer does not want but it may also put off some they do want! It would at least make offers more valuable which would hopefully cut down on those who bid on everything. However, it could also encourage people to make multiple accounts!

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Holy Saint Level, what are you doing, Eoin, why should they up the fees again, didn’t they just the other month? I really think 25% of every order above $40 (20% from seller, 5% from buyer) is enough, but okay, so, “Other”:

  • don’t up the fees, down the costs (does a company that is all about online services really need to reside in posh Soho?; if they ID sellers already, could they ID buyers too and so greatly reduce the chargeback “keep in mind, if you don’t earn, so don’t we” scams, those only cost us all not just work time for sellers but also ticket time for both sellers and support without making either of us money, right?; do more about scammers, copiers, sellers of stolen goods, fake profiles, thus revert Fiverr’s partly bad reputation and gain more buyers who are ready to pay good money for good work; reduce support time for stuff that can be solved by putting forum banners and sending mails to inform everyone of the latest and greatest bugs, new features; …)
  • fee for support requests which could easily be avoided by looking at the Buyer/Seller help center oneself
  • opt-in monthly chargeback-protection fee, or even, optimally, opt-in cb-protection fee per order for orders above ($100 or $250 or whatever makes sense to fight PP for) so sellers won’t have to fear losing a whole week’s or month’s revenue
  • maybe an opt-in fee for specific promotion (like we can choose which of our gigs gets promoted where/to whom)
  • if the fee absolutely needs to get upped again, then it should be on the buyer now for a bit, because 20% / 5%

… but honestly, 25% (and, what was it now, 40% for $5 gigs?) , that is 1/4, of every gig sold, is enough.

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I can’t vote on this. If Fiverr needs more than the 20% they are getting from sellers and $2 they are getting from buyers, they should cut a few costs:

  • Stop acquiring cool new things like And Co and Veed Me for no clear reason other than to pay few Pros to announce the fact
  • Ask Pro sellers Fiverr seems to rely on for regular services if Fiverr can have a discount
  • Find a cheaper place to rent in Soho
  • Outsource customer service to somewhere cheaper and where people are still motivated enough to call everyone ‘Dear’

Cut the very wasteful PR posturing and Fiverr will likely save more than they will ever make scaring either sellers or buyers away with higher fees.

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Holy Saint Level, what are you doing, Eoin, why should they up the fees again, didn’t they just the other month? I really think 25% of every order above $40 (20% from seller, 5% from buyer) is enough, but okay, so, “Other”:

  • don’t up the fees, down the costs (does a company that is all about online services really need to reside in posh Soho?; if they ID sellers already, could they ID buyers too and so greatly reduce the chargeback “keep in mind, if you don’t earn, so don’t we” scams, those only cost us all not just work time for sellers but also ticket time for both sellers and support without making either of us money, right?; do more about scammers, copiers, sellers of stolen goods, fake profiles, thus revert Fiverr’s partly bad reputation and gain more buyers who are ready to pay good money for good work; reduce support time for stuff that can be solved by putting forum banners and sending mails to inform everyone of the latest and greatest bugs, new features; …)
  • fee for support requests which could easily be avoided by looking at the Buyer/Seller help center oneself
  • opt-in monthly chargeback-protection fee, or even, optimally, opt-in cb-protection fee per order for orders above ($100 or $250 or whatever makes sense to fight PP for) so sellers won’t have to fear losing a whole week’s or month’s revenue
  • maybe an opt-in fee for specific promotion (like we can choose which of our gigs gets promoted where/to whom)
  • if the fee absolutely needs to get upped again, then it should be on the buyer now for a bit, because 20% / 5%

… but honestly, 25% (and, what was it now, 40% for $5 gigs?) , that is 1/4, of every gig sold, is enough.

This was a tough one. The idea of forking over even MORE of my own earnings leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. 20% is bad enough, really…when I get $80 of every $100, well, frankly that’s painful. But we all do it because it’s still the best thing going.

The ad idea is intriguing. I like the idea of promoting myself on the site, and to me, those ideas are the best. Promote yourself and get hired, pay X% of earnings as advertising fee for business you wouldn’t have gotten to begin with. Don’t want to advertise? Don’t. The end.

I’m worried that the more “greedy” fiverr is getting, the more clients they are pushing away.

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Guest offlinehelpers

I’ve voted for increasing the commission to 25%, as at least the increase would be on the sellers’ side - unpopular I know.

Still don’t see why buyers are being charged anything to actually buy though, never mind some random sliding scale of charges that they don’t get back if it all goes horribly wrong. Still don’t understand how it can be legal to be honest.

Example - I buy a tin of baked beans at the supermarket. I get home and realise I bought the wrong brand, I take it back to the shop and get a full refund. No ‘service charge’ deducted, just the exact amount I paid. And the checkout operator doesn’t get demoted because I was foolish enough to buy the wrong thing from their till either. 😉

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I’ve voted for increasing the commission to 25%, as at least the increase would be on the sellers’ side - unpopular I know.

Still don’t see why buyers are being charged anything to actually buy though, never mind some random sliding scale of charges that they don’t get back if it all goes horribly wrong. Still don’t understand how it can be legal to be honest.

Example - I buy a tin of baked beans at the supermarket. I get home and realise I bought the wrong brand, I take it back to the shop and get a full refund. No ‘service charge’ deducted, just the exact amount I paid. And the checkout operator doesn’t get demoted because I was foolish enough to buy the wrong thing from their till either. 😉

I’ve voted for increasing the commission to 25%, as at least the increase would be on the sellers’ side - unpopular I know.

This assumes that sellers will not increase their prices by 5% to counter increased commission. I doubt Fiverr would pull back from charging $2 per transaction. In this case, buyers and sellers both get a raw deal.

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I am absolutely against a $2 service fee at this stage, so I wasn’t going to vote for that. I am for something else and I’m okay with Fiverr making more money, but I didn’t feel sure that any of the other options were exactly what I’d pick. For one thing, every option put the entire service fee back on the seller and I’d like to see something that didn’t put quite that much extra on sellers, especially new ones.

I like the idea of bidding fees for both buyers and sellers, and just saw another suggestion from Eoin about that in another thread. I think it would be brilliant to charge sellers a small fee to buy credits for more bids. It wouldn’t even have to be limited, it could just be $X for X bids extra bids. (The first 5 or 10 bids should be free for level 0 whether new or demoted.)

If buyers also had to pay something to post a BR, maybe $1 or $2, that would be a Fiverr cash cow, Fiverr would make more money if both buyers and sellers were paying something for that extra feature. Perhaps buyers could purchase credits too, like 1 free BR and $1 for each extra bid or $2 for a pack of 3 bids. I bet that Fiverr would make more overall from a system like that, and it leaves a choice for buyers/sellers who don’t need BR.

Since buyers are used to a $1 processing fee, with a system like that they could drop the ordinary service fee to .50 which would thrill buyers who don’t use BR and would feel like they got a gift.

Fiverr - diversify! Multiple income streams are good! I wouldn’t be against options for paid ads of some kind either, but I am firmly against a membership fee or mildly against an increase in commission.

put the entire service fee back on the seller and I’d like to see something that didn’t put quite that much extra on sellers

I agree with you! Perhaps it would be interesting to find a balance between sellers/buyers fees.

For example, I use other platforms that are for video production only, and they don’t charge me an extra fee as a freelancer.

On contrary, anyone who wants to post a request has to pay the platform and that’s it.

What I can see on both platforms is that, the type of projects posted in there might represent the 3% here at Fiverr in terms of several variables.

My point is that it feels that by filtering the types of projects that are requested and posted, they usually feel much more competitive.

So this makes me think that fiverr Pro is a great idea, but it might need something like ´´Buyer Pro´´ .

Right now, even when the site has many pros, I’m not sure if it has many ´´ pro buyers´´ or enough projects and demand interested to join this new system on this platform.

So again, this is related to focusing everything on the seller side instead of balancing both sides.

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To make things really simple and beneficial for everyone. Fiverr should charge 40% commission on buyer requests. Then create a second version of BR called Available Now where sellers can pay $2 to promote themselves like they try to in BR anyway.

It would be the ultimate Fiverr clean up and profit boost all roiled into one.

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Holy Saint Level, what are you doing, Eoin, why should they up the fees again, didn’t they just the other month? I really think 25% of every order above $40 (20% from seller, 5% from buyer) is enough, but okay, so, “Other”:

  • don’t up the fees, down the costs (does a company that is all about online services really need to reside in posh Soho?; if they ID sellers already, could they ID buyers too and so greatly reduce the chargeback “keep in mind, if you don’t earn, so don’t we” scams, those only cost us all not just work time for sellers but also ticket time for both sellers and support without making either of us money, right?; do more about scammers, copiers, sellers of stolen goods, fake profiles, thus revert Fiverr’s partly bad reputation and gain more buyers who are ready to pay good money for good work; reduce support time for stuff that can be solved by putting forum banners and sending mails to inform everyone of the latest and greatest bugs, new features; …)
  • fee for support requests which could easily be avoided by looking at the Buyer/Seller help center oneself
  • opt-in monthly chargeback-protection fee, or even, optimally, opt-in cb-protection fee per order for orders above ($100 or $250 or whatever makes sense to fight PP for) so sellers won’t have to fear losing a whole week’s or month’s revenue
  • maybe an opt-in fee for specific promotion (like we can choose which of our gigs gets promoted where/to whom)
  • if the fee absolutely needs to get upped again, then it should be on the buyer now for a bit, because 20% / 5%

… but honestly, 25% (and, what was it now, 40% for $5 gigs?) , that is 1/4, of every gig sold, is enough.

Holy Saint Level, what are you doing, Eoin, why should they up the fees again , didn’t they just the other month?

I can’t vote on this. If Fiverr needs more than the 20% they are getting from sellers and $2 they are getting from buyers, they should cut a few costs:

The way I read the title to this, Eoin’s idea was to get rid of the $2 buyer fee and instead choose one of the poll options OR keep the $2 buyer fee and skip the poll options OR make up your own idea. I didn’t think it was about adding something else to the current 20% on seller and $2 on buyer. If it was and I misunderstood, I’m not for any additional anything. I’m totally against the $2 buyer fee as it is. (I’m barely ok with it being $1 and I’m totally against sellers who are buyers having to pay it at all.)

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Guest manucornel

I can’t vote on this. If Fiverr needs more than the 20% they are getting from sellers and $2 they are getting from buyers, they should cut a few costs:

  • Stop acquiring cool new things like And Co and Veed Me for no clear reason other than to pay few Pros to announce the fact
  • Ask Pro sellers Fiverr seems to rely on for regular services if Fiverr can have a discount
  • Find a cheaper place to rent in Soho
  • Outsource customer service to somewhere cheaper and where people are still motivated enough to call everyone ‘Dear’

Cut the very wasteful PR posturing and Fiverr will likely save more than they will ever make scaring either sellers or buyers away with higher fees.

Cut the very wasteful PR posturing and Fiverr will likely save more than they will ever make scaring either sellers or buyers away with higher fees.

This 👍

While I don’t have anything against the current situation, if they wish to make more money they need to simplify their own things.

Make it more enjoyable for buyers to purchase services, more pleasant for sellers to provide their services, and voila more money. Magic! :mage: Adding more fees / things / ads will only scare away people from Fiverr.

New inbox, fancy designs, new apps and stuff like that are nothing compared with user experience. Plain and simple. I know that these changes want to address the user experience, but they are not the most important things when people decide if they are happy with using Fiverr or not.

Even better: do some research. Send an email with “Let us know what you think about Fiverr” and start listening on feedback. My apologies if that has already been done.

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I don’t think increasing fee to 25% is good idea. I think they are taking enough with 20%. But, if some new fee needs to be, then I would prefer for buyer request. For buyers and for sellers as well. There are many sellers who bids on multiple projects even they have no idea about work then need to do. That would prevent with limited BR with fees on it. And for buyers, they are many who want world for $5. I don’t think they will post anything on BR like that if there is fee on it.

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Holy Saint Level, what are you doing, Eoin, why should they up the fees again , didn’t they just the other month?

I can’t vote on this. If Fiverr needs more than the 20% they are getting from sellers and $2 they are getting from buyers, they should cut a few costs:

The way I read the title to this, Eoin’s idea was to get rid of the $2 buyer fee and instead choose one of the poll options OR keep the $2 buyer fee and skip the poll options OR make up your own idea. I didn’t think it was about adding something else to the current 20% on seller and $2 on buyer. If it was and I misunderstood, I’m not for any additional anything. I’m totally against the $2 buyer fee as it is. (I’m barely ok with it being $1 and I’m totally against sellers who are buyers having to pay it at all.)

It’s just that I can’t count how often I’ve read posts to the effect of “they won’t row back on the $2”, so this seems more to go against the idea of “let sleeping dogs lie”.

They might be content with their recent fee raise for a while but now that they have such a great collection, who knows, unlike many, I’m not convinced that they don’t read the forum, just because they don’t act on complaints about bugs and unfair rating and such. 😉

I don’t think I’m the only one who thought not another raise instead of oh good, they’ll row back on the +$1 and imply one of our ideas instead, “Fiverr needs more money, let’s not argue” sounded more like additional money to me for sure as well. And I’d not count on CS understanding it as not to collect an additional fee but to first take away an existing fee and then install a new one.

Also I wondered if Saint Level is a Saint to pray to for protection too, after all, SLD is supposed to do us all good, so I thought it might not hurt.

It’s all just fun, anyway, isn’t it, game of life. 🙂

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Wait, I don’t see there are any ‘choices’ to vote? Am I the only one? 😑
Anyway,

Dear fiverr CEO, I wish you back to your startup motto, be more humble, stay hungry stay foolish, do not forget why you create fiverr a decade ago. Or you should invite Gary Vee again to use his F magic to wake you up, go back to your business.

You used to ‘listen’ to us, you used to want feedback from us, now what?

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