Your take on these kind of gigs?

[k4u_91]

I see a lot of gigs like, I will pray for you or I will xyz ritual for you or I will do xyz spell for you (you get the point)

What’s your take on these sort of gigs on Fiverr? Have you ever purchased them? (will you?)

Just looking for a discussion 🙂 I’ve always been very curious with these sort of gigs.

[eoinfinnegan]

Lots of people buy them and leave positive reviews.
Some are probably scams like every other niche out there, some are good at what they do (whatever that is), some just make people feel better or whatever.
If those buying them are happy with the outcome, does it really matter what the rest of us think?

[k4u_91]

Lots of people buy them and leave positive reviews.

Some are probably scams like every other niche out there, some are good at what they do (whatever that is), some just make people feel better or whatever.

If those buying them are happy with the outcome, does it really matter what the rest of us think?

Yeah, like, I think they have a placebo effect on people and if that makes them feel better then that’s great.

[uk1000]

Lots of people buy them and leave positive reviews.

Some are probably scams like every other niche out there, some are good at what they do (whatever that is), some just make people feel better or whatever.

If those buying them are happy with the outcome, does it really matter what the rest of us think?

Is being happy with the outcome good enough if any of the sellers mislead the buyer?

If someone called someone and said they’ll fix x for $100 but there was nothing wrong with x in the first place, but the buyer pays the $100 and the “seller” says they’ve fixed it (but they haven’t as there was nothing wrong) and the buyer is then happy because they’ve been told whatever was wrong is now fixed, is that okay what the “seller” did? What if it was $1000 or more that that was paid? What if the same thing happens again to the same person and they are told they need to pay again?

[eoinfinnegan]

Is being happy with the outcome good enough if any of the sellers mislead the buyer?

If someone called someone and said they’ll fix x for $100 but there was nothing wrong with x in the first place, but the buyer pays the $100 and the “seller” says they’ve fixed it (but they haven’t as there was nothing wrong) and the buyer is then happy because they’ve been told whatever was wrong is now fixed, is that okay what the “seller” did? What if it was $1000 or more that that was paid? What if the same thing happens again to the same person and they are told they need to pay again?

As I say, some are likely scams like the example you gave.

However, in general I don’t think they are comparable to that example. If the seller doesn’t believe in what they are doing then it’s a scam, right?

If the seller does believe it then it isn’t a scam? Debatable but I would say it isn’t.

The example you gave actually sounds a lot more like some of the situations SEO clients of mine have told me they have dealt with than anything I have heard of regarding the type of woo-woo gigs (to quote jamesbulls) we are talking about. In those cases I have definitely seen it to be a bad thing.

I am also a big believer in let the buyer beware and that people should inform themselves about what they are buying or where they are looking for solutions (in SEO, woo-woo and anywhere else)

[uk1000]

As I say, some are likely scams like the example you gave.

However, in general I don’t think they are comparable to that example. If the seller doesn’t believe in what they are doing then it’s a scam, right?

If the seller does believe it then it isn’t a scam? Debatable but I would say it isn’t.

The example you gave actually sounds a lot more like some of the situations SEO clients of mine have told me they have dealt with than anything I have heard of regarding the type of woo-woo gigs (to quote jamesbulls) we are talking about. In those cases I have definitely seen it to be a bad thing.

I am also a big believer in let the buyer beware and that people should inform themselves about what they are buying or where they are looking for solutions (in SEO, woo-woo and anywhere else)

If the seller does believe it then it isn’t a scam? Debatable but I would say it isn’t.

How do we know when a seller really does believe in it? And shouldn’t it matter if what is paid for works (does what it is claimed to do)?

eg. there was someone selling a device to people and charged a lot for it and he said it would detect bombs. Lots of people bought it. Who knows whether the seller actually believed it but the buyers believed it worked. It didn’t work and the seller got jailed. He put people’s lives at risk but surely defrauding people out of money (for making claims about a product they know doesn’t do what they say, and making people believe them so that they’ll buy it even though it doesn’t work) is also a bad thing and often illegal.

[k4u_91]

If the seller does believe it then it isn’t a scam? Debatable but I would say it isn’t.

How do we know when a seller really does believe in it? And shouldn’t it matter if what is paid for works (does what it is claimed to do)?

eg. there was someone selling a device to people and charged a lot for it and he said it would detect bombs. Lots of people bought it. Who knows whether the seller actually believed it but the buyers believed it worked. It didn’t work and the seller got jailed. He put people’s lives at risk but surely defrauding people out of money (for making claims about a product they know doesn’t do what they say, and making people believe them so that they’ll buy it even though it doesn’t work) is also a bad thing and often illegal.

He was a Brit, sold that devices to Middle eastern countries. Sold a ton of them. What a racket that was!

[eoinfinnegan]

If the seller does believe it then it isn’t a scam? Debatable but I would say it isn’t.

How do we know when a seller really does believe in it? And shouldn’t it matter if what is paid for works (does what it is claimed to do)?

eg. there was someone selling a device to people and charged a lot for it and he said it would detect bombs. Lots of people bought it. Who knows whether the seller actually believed it but the buyers believed it worked. It didn’t work and the seller got jailed. He put people’s lives at risk but surely defrauding people out of money (for making claims about a product they know doesn’t do what they say, and making people believe them so that they’ll buy it even though it doesn’t work) is also a bad thing and often illegal.

Who’s gonna judge all that? In terms of Fiverr sellers that means Fiverr would need staff to do so.

I don’t want my Fiverr fees going up to cover all the checking of everything that needs to be checked. This is where let the buyer beware comes in.

If we base everything on things like bomb detectors then of course the law should be involved in dealing with fakes and that’s where our taxes come in.

Whether someone gets the lotto numbers correct because someone on the internet said they would is not something I’m prepared to pay for through the increased fees necessary to check every delivery.

When I check supposed SEO work that a client has had done in the past I get paid for that and sometimes find that it wasn’t done or wasn’t effective. I tell the client to go to Fiverr support if it wasn’t what was promised. If it wasn’t effective but was what was promised I explain why to the client. All of my time is paid for though. This client will now beware of similar things in the future.

[misscrystal]

I think they are great if you like them.

[eoinfinnegan]

I think they are great if you like them.

I’m shocked you are a fan!

[uk1000]

I think they are great if you like them.

But what about those sellers who mislead buyers?

[misscrystal]

But what about those sellers who mislead buyers?

What about any sellers who do that in any category? Have you considered that it happens in any category? Yours too?

[uk1000]

What about any sellers who do that in any category? Have you considered that it happens in any category? Yours too?

What do you think about sellers in any category who might take buyers money (maybe a lot) but the buyer is mislead by the seller and what they pay for isn’t what they get, especially if they’ve paid a lot for the service?

edit: Also in other categories the buyer can see what they paid for (results) as soon as the delivery is made, which often isn’t the case with some of the gig types mentioned by the OP.

[eoinfinnegan]

What do you think about sellers in any category who might take buyers money (maybe a lot) but the buyer is mislead by the seller and what they pay for isn’t what they get, especially if they’ve paid a lot for the service?

edit: Also in other categories the buyer can see what they paid for (results) as soon as the delivery is made, which often isn’t the case with some of the gig types mentioned by the OP.

TOS covers that though?

[uk1000]

TOS covers that though?

But like maybe you suggested, Fiverr doesn’t check properly the work given in every category, or that the sellers have the right skills.

[eoinfinnegan]

But like maybe you suggested, Fiverr doesn’t check properly the work given in every category, or that the sellers have the right skills.

Let the buyer beware

I know I go on about that but if buyers of things like SEO did even a little research they would know enough not to buy the types of gigs that give Fiverr SEO a bad name.

It’s shocking how few actually do.

[misscrystal]

Why limit the question of fraud to just one category as if that’s the only one where it happens? We all have to follow the same rules and regulations. If someone is consistently underperforming they get demoted or banned at some point.
I realize people don’t all believe in the things offered in the woo woo section but there are a lot of very happy satisfied buyers in that section. How you rationalize that is up to you.

Sellers in our section probably have much fewer complaints than some other sections.

[uk1000]

Why limit the question of fraud to just one category as if that’s the only one where it happens? We all have to follow the same rules and regulations. If someone is consistently underperforming they get demoted or banned at some point.

I realize people don’t all believe in the things offered in the woo woo section but there are a lot of very happy satisfied buyers in that section. How you rationalize that is up to you.

Sellers in our section probably have much fewer complaints than some other sections.

Sellers in our section probably have much fewer complaints than some other sections.

If a logo designer did a bad job, and delivered it, they’d see that right away though and could rate it.

With some of the sellers in the categories mentioned by the OP, they are told they get the results in months or maybe more (not within 10 days that the review system allows). So they are happy (maybe told to be positive) but maybe mostly haven’t had the results they paid for and the review system doesn’t let them come back after a year to review the results.

[eoinfinnegan]

Why limit the question of fraud to just one category as if that’s the only one where it happens? We all have to follow the same rules and regulations. If someone is consistently underperforming they get demoted or banned at some point.

I realize people don’t all believe in the things offered in the woo woo section but there are a lot of very happy satisfied buyers in that section. How you rationalize that is up to you.

Sellers in our section probably have much fewer complaints than some other sections.

Sellers in our section probably have much fewer complaints than some other sections.

You said something like this in a similar debate a good while ago and I did a bit of looking, and you are right. There are relatively few negative reviews in your sector. Of course we can all speculate why that would be but all we can actually legitimately go on with any category is the reviews and the category does stand up compared to others.

[uk1000]

Sellers in our section probably have much fewer complaints than some other sections.

You said something like this in a similar debate a good while ago and I did a bit of looking, and you are right. There are relatively few negative reviews in your sector. Of course we can all speculate why that would be but all we can actually legitimately go on with any category is the reviews and the category does stand up compared to others.

Of course we can all speculate why that would be but all we can actually legitimately go on with any category is the reviews and the category does stand up compared to others.

Maybe most of the reviews are something like “Waiting to see the results” (the results that they paid for). You don’t usually see that on logo designer’s reviews as on those they are rating the quality of the actual results they’ve seen.

[misscrystal]

I am once again in a position of defending something that doesn’t really need defending. The fact is that it’s a section that most buyers find very rewarding and have no problems with. I’m about to arrive at 4000 five star reviews.

[eoinfinnegan]

I am once again in a position of defending something that doesn’t really need defending. The fact is that it’s a section that most buyers find very rewarding and have no problems with. I’m about to arrive at 4000 five star reviews.

I used to think about these gigs in a similar way to how you seem to but no matter what argument I would have put up, if I put the same argument towards my own categories, the same could be said of them.

Take an honest look at whatever categories you are involved in and ask about the potential for scams, how they can be spotted, what Fiverr does in response to them etc. You may be surprised.

I am once again in a position of defending something that doesn’t really need defending.

If it’s any consolation, your doing so in the past is what changed my mind at some point. I’m still not a buyer of those types of gigs but I’m not against them being on Fiverr any more.

[coerdelion]

Hmmm … a counsellor, therapist or life coach offers a service. Mostly it’s talking therapy, designed to lead the client to answer their own questions. They get paid for that service … and no one complains that it may take years …

Someone in the “woo woo” section offers a service, offers a bit of advice … and everyone complains it’s “not real”.

Well, maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Depends on the person offering it and what they’re offering.

I have no doubt at all that @misscrystal has something going for her … took me a while to get through the … for want of a better word, “miasm” around her and her gigs.

Some others, actually for a similar reason, I wouldn’t go anywhere near

These things can’t be measured. Yet. Doesn’t mean they don’t exist or work.

Time was no one believed in germs because they couldn’t be seen or measured. They still existed, though, and made people sick.

People were imprisoned and worse, because they said the world was round. Didn’t make it flat, though.

We’re beginning to see studies on all kinds of energy work - and it may surprise you to know that these studies are showing positive results.

If you don’t understand something, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. It just means you don’t understand it. And even if there’s no scientific proof that probably means that science hasn’t caught up with it yet.

[misscrystal]

Hmmm … a counsellor, therapist or life coach offers a service. Mostly it’s talking therapy, designed to lead the client to answer their own questions. They get paid for that service … and no one complains that it may take years …

Someone in the “woo woo” section offers a service, offers a bit of advice … and everyone complains it’s “not real”.

Well, maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Depends on the person offering it and what they’re offering.

I have no doubt at all that @misscrystal has something going for her … took me a while to get through the … for want of a better word, “miasm” around her and her gigs.

Some others, actually for a similar reason, I wouldn’t go anywhere near

These things can’t be measured. Yet. Doesn’t mean they don’t exist or work.

Time was no one believed in germs because they couldn’t be seen or measured. They still existed, though, and made people sick.

People were imprisoned and worse, because they said the world was round. Didn’t make it flat, though.

We’re beginning to see studies on all kinds of energy work - and it may surprise you to know that these studies are showing positive results.

If you don’t understand something, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. It just means you don’t understand it. And even if there’s no scientific proof that probably means that science hasn’t caught up with it yet.

And even if there’s no scientific proof that probably means that science hasn’t caught up with it yet.

Actually if you read current physics discoveries you may be shocked to find out that there is a relationship between what they have recently discovered about the nature of our so called reality, and what I do. (I don’t pay attention to what others do in my category.) So your statement is correct.

[coerdelion]

The way the quantum field is organised … looks more like thought than anything else … it’s kinda fun to keep up with that kind of science …