Turns out getting Top Rated seller isn't as easy as i thought

[visualstudios]

So even if you meet the metrics of a 100 orders, 20k in sales and such you still may not get that TRS status? Seems rather discouraging to continue on the platform then. Why not just raise the metric standards so sellers keep grinding rather than meet a requested value and not be rewarded for that hard work.

Because it’s lifetime stats. Basically, with enough time, everyone can get there - and that doesn’t mean they are particularly good, just that they have been at it for a long time.

And why is it discouraging? If you made 20k on the platform without being TRS, you already have 20 thousand reasons to remain on the platform lol.

[lloydsolutions]

I just failed my second evaluation day despite meeting all requirements for getting Top Rated Seller. I also have 5-stars average in all categories with 390 reviews, 100% Response Rate (with <1 hour average response time), 100% Order Completion Rate and 100% On-time Delivery. These stats literally can’t get any better.

I know it is a manual progress, but if they are going to deny me this level up they should at least give me some feedback on how to improve for next evaluation. I was really looking forward to that sweet 7 day clearance.

Any idea what might be holding me back? Has anyone else experienced not getting Top Rated Seller without knowing why.

Has anyone else experienced not getting Top Rated Seller without knowing why.

In addition to what has been said:

If you type “Didn’t get TRS” in the search bar above there are several posts on this much discussed subject, which you may find interesting.

[visualstudios]

en.wikipedia.org

Sexagesimal

Sexagesimal (also known as base 60 or sexagenary) is a numeral system with sixty as its base. It originated with the ancient Sumerians in the 3rd millennium BC, was passed down to the ancient Babylonians, and is still used—in a modified form—for measuring time, angles, and geographic coordinates. The number 60, a superior highly composite number, has twelve factors, namely 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30, and 60, of which 2, 3, and 5 are prime numbers. With so many factors, many fractions i...

You don’t need a citation, though. We still use parts if the same system. Hence why the day has 24-hours divided into 60 minutes each, and why bakers and farmers have traditionally counted produce in sixes and dozens.

And here is a link for the invention of zero:

https://www.livescience.com/27853-who-invented-zero.html

You are confusing digit with number. 6 was never the highest number, that doesn’t make sense. That’s like saying 9 is the highest number now just because we use a decimal system.

[lenasemenkova]

Regarding the specific criteria.

• Fiverr wants you to make something that they want to see “more of” on the platform. So some of it is an editorial policy and we can’t know any specifics of it. There are people who are responsible for it and it’s up to them.

• Fiverr doesn’t like it when you cancel orders. At all. That’s the impression I got from the conversation I had with my success manager. My cancelation rate has never been below 5% (which I think is completely reasonable), yet I was told something along the lines of “but you can do better than that”.

[uk1000]

On 5/17/2020 at 7:55 AM, cyaxrex said:

I am estimating that 1 million of these users were sellers. It is not unreasonable to expect 900,000 of these to have made $20K since then. They would have only have had to make $3,333 per year for the last 6-years, not counting any earnings they had prior to 2014.

900,000 sellers being eligible for TRS is an estimate. However, I don’t think it is unreasonable to expect that this number is in the right ballpark.

I think there are more sellers who are unleveled/level 0 than level 2 though. And a lot of the level 2 sellers won’t have earned $20,000. So I think the 900,000 sellers being eligible for TRS each month is too high.

edit: You can probably get a good idea of the percentage of sellers from each level by using the search. eg. searching for “logo” shows:

119,855 gigs from new sellers

16,124 from level 1

19,319 gigs from level 2 sellers

492 from TRS

Total 155,786

So level 2 sellers there have 12.4% of the gigs for “logo”.

Does that mean level 2 sellers are about 12.4% of the total number of sellers?

If so that means, if there were 1 million sellers, there would be about 124,000 level 2 sellers.

And a lot of those 124,000 level 2 sellers wouldn’t have earned $20,000 yet, only >=$2000

edit: That’s based on the current level 2 requirements. Maybe some are level 2 because they met the previous level 2 requirements which might have been different.

[melanielm]

After nearly 6 months of meeting all TRS requirements perfectly at Level 2, they finally pushed me up to TRS status after I had to cancel some orders and failed to respond to messages when I had emergency surgery. Then they promoted me. Makes no sense! I am not recommending you do that - ha! I have no idea how they make their choices.

The only thing I can think of is that I became more active on the forums around that time.

[lenasemenkova]

I’ve become active on the forums much later than I became a TRS.

I’ve been sort of forced to go to the forums to vent about a crazy (and I do mean crazy) potential buyer I’ve encountered to get some community support. Before that I’ve never even visited.

[uk1000]

That would be interesting, since lifetime earnings of 20k are needed. For 900.000 sellers to even be eligible, that would mean $18.000.000.000 in sales from those alone.

In 2014, Fiverr had 14 million users.

I am estimating that 1 million of these users were sellers. It is not unreasonable to expect 900,000 of these to have made $20K since then. They would have only have had to make $3,333 per year for the last 6-years, not counting any earnings they had prior to 2014.

900,000 sellers being eligible for TRS is an estimate. However, I don’t think it is unreasonable to expect that this number is in the right ballpark.

I am estimating that 1 million of these users were sellers.

Around May 2019 Fiverr said "Since inception, we have facilitated over 50 million transactions between over 5.5 million buyers and more than 830,000 sellers on our platform. ". It will have increased above 830,000 now but maybe it’s still no more than 900,000 sellers total.

[catwriter]

So even if you meet the metrics of a 100 orders, 20k in sales and such you still may not get that TRS status? Seems rather discouraging to continue on the platform then. Why not just raise the metric standards so sellers keep grinding rather than meet a requested value and not be rewarded for that hard work.

Seems rather discouraging to continue on the platform then.

Only if earning money is discouraging. This isn’t a game where you have to keep going from one level to another in order to succeed; the idea here is to earn money, and some level 2 sellers earn more than top rated sellers.

[atebha]

On 5/17/2020 at 8:45 PM, catwriter said:

Only if earning money is discouraging. This isn’t a game where you have to keep going from one level to another in order to succeed; the idea here is to earn money, and some level 2 sellers earn more than top rated sellers.

Yes money is encouraging, what i am pointing to however from a buyer prospective the buyer would not know what is the difference from a lvl 2 seller to a TRS so the optics would make it appear that the TRS must be better because they are top rated. I am sure there are sellers that don’t have a TRS and do better than TRS but as with anything that might be a career you don’t just want money, you want the recognition as well.

On 5/17/2020 at 8:53 PM, visualstudios said:

Because it’s lifetime stats. Basically, with enough time, everyone can get there - and that doesn’t mean they are particularly good, just that they have been at it for a long time.

And why is it discouraging? If you made 20k on the platform without being TRS, you already have 20 thousand reasons to remain on the platform lol.

It’s discouraging in the sense that if you are doing this full time as a career, just as a career there are things just as important as money such as recognition. Grinding that hard to earn that money, deal with clients that have the communication skills of Helen Keller and the uncertainty of not being recognized for your efforts, that is why it is discouraging. Also to your point one made 20k, how long did it take to make that money? 3 years an making 20 k is 6k a year which would be less than a part time job in a country with a minimum wage standard. Time is also something to be valued, especially as a freelancer where time is what determines the comp.

[visualstudios]

It’s discouraging in the sense that if you are doing this full time as a career, just as a career there are things just as important as money such as recognition. Grinding that hard to earn that money, deal with clients that have the communication skills of Helen Keller and the uncertainty of not being recognized for your efforts, that is why it is discouraging. Also to your point one made 20k, how long did it take to make that money? 3 years an making 20 k is 6k a year which would be less than a part time job in a country with a minimum wage standard. Time is also something to be valued, especially as a freelancer where time is what determines the comp.

You are confusing things. Is recognition nice? Sure. But what matters at the end of the day is the money.

And why do you think it will take 3 years to make 20k? For some people it will take 3 years. For some, it will take 10 years. For some, it will take 2 months. I’m a top rated seller, and have been for a bit. My account is under 3 years old.

This is not a traditional job. Freelancing is not for everyone. If you think it’s bad for you, do something else. If you’re making 6k a year and think that is not what you want, do something else. If you value your time more than you’re getting paid, increase your prices… or do something else. It’s pretty simple.

[atebha]

You are confusing things. Is recognition nice? Sure. But what matters at the end of the day is the money.

And why do you think it will take 3 years to make 20k? For some people it will take 3 years. For some, it will take 10 years. For some, it will take 2 months. I’m a top rated seller, and have been for a bit. My account is under 3 years old.

This is not a traditional job. Freelancing is not for everyone. If you think it’s bad for you, do something else. If you’re making 6k a year and think that is not what you want, do something else. If you value your time more than you’re getting paid, increase your prices… or do something else. It’s pretty simple.

I was giving arbitrary numbers and time. I also was not speaking in respect to my circumstances. My point was such a system can be discouraging for freelancers. Since this pandemic some new sellers have reach lvl 1 within a month of posting their gig, others are struggling to still hit that benchmark. I am not disregarding your point that money is not nice. I am happy to hear you have been so successful on this platform though.

[visualstudios]

I was giving arbitrary numbers and time. I also was not speaking in respect to my circumstances. My point was such a system can be discouraging for freelancers. Since this pandemic some new sellers have reach lvl 1 within a month of posting their gig, others are struggling to still hit that benchmark. I am not disregarding your point that money is not nice. I am happy to hear you have been so successful on this platform though.

Since this pandemic some new sellers have reach lvl 1 within a month of posting their gig, others are struggling to still hit that benchmark.

Of course, that is the point. It’s not for everyone. Some people will do well, some people won’t. That’s how it should be. If you’re not doing well, change what you’re doing. If you are, keep doing it. Some people will never do well, because they don’t have the skills to do well. 90% of sellers here will never make a career out of it because they don’t have what it takes. They either don’t have the hard skills, or they don’t have the communication skills, or the marketing skills, or a service that is in demand. That’s life. Fiverr never promised results to anyone.

I’m very sympathetic towards people getting screwed by the system. I agree that Fiverr has many faults (buyers being able to keep orders open, abusing the revision system, leaving unwarranted bad reviews, being able to order without prior contact, lack of CS transparency and coherence, unfair cancelations, chargebacks, lack of good communication tools, restrictive upload limits, etc. ,etc., etc.). But getting picked to be a TRS is not one of them. I’d rather be a no level seller making bank than a TRS making less.

[catwriter]

@catwriter

Yes money is encouraging, what i am pointing to however from a buyer prospective the buyer would not know what is the difference from a lvl 2 seller to a TRS so the optics would make it appear that the TRS must be better because they are top rated. I am sure there are sellers that don’t have a TRS and do better than TRS but as with anything that might be a career you don’t just want money, you want the recognition as well.

from a buyer prospective the buyer would not know what is the difference from a lvl 2 seller to a TRS so the optics would make it appear that the TRS must be better because they are top rated.

There are buyers who are looking for a TRS. There are also buyers who are looking for level 2 sellers. Or for new sellers.

you don’t just want money, you want the recognition as well.

I get recognition: reviews from very happy buyers. They speak of the quality of what I’m offering much better than any badge ever could.

If you see the TRS badge as recognition, isn’t it worth more if only manually chosen sellers can get it, and not everyone who reaches certain milestones? Isn’t it more special then, more challenging, and a more significant reward for one’s efforts?

[cherboub]

Why you need getting top rated seller badge if you have orders regularly. I think the number of reviews you have is more important than the badge.

Some buyers think that level one is better than level two due to the number “one”

[kno010]

Why you need getting top rated seller badge if you have orders regularly. I think the number of reviews you have is more important than the badge.

Some buyers think that level one is better than level two due to the number “one”

I obviously want TRS because of all the benefits that comes with the level. Mainly the 7 day clearance period and the VIP customer support. The badge itself is also sometimes very valuable since some buyers look specifically for Top Rated Sellers or might pick you over one of your competitors because of the badge. It definitely doesn’t hurt to have “Top Rated Seller” written on your profile and gigs to catch the buyer’s attention.

[kerisun]

Only speculation, hope you get it soon!

[visualstudios]

Why you need getting top rated seller badge if you have orders regularly. I think the number of reviews you have is more important than the badge.

Some buyers think that level one is better than level two due to the number “one”

The 7 days clearance is the main benefit, and it is indeed very nice. Since I was Pro before being TRS, it doesn’t really make any difference for me, but for people who are stuck with a 14 day clearance it’s a very nice bonus.

[mariashtelle1]

On 5/18/2020 at 8:06 AM, atebha said:

you don’t just want money, you want the recognition as well.

You have wrong perception. Fiverr is not your employer to give you recognition or motivate you.

You are a freelancer who is using the platform and being a freelancer is a choice and it’s not for everyone. YOU have to motivate yourself and not wait for a company to motivate you to use their platform.

[kholland65]

On 10/23/2020 at 10:15 PM, atebha said:

Yes money is encouraging, what i am pointing to however from a buyer prospective the buyer would not know what is the difference from a lvl 2 seller to a TRS so the optics would make it appear that the TRS must be better because they are top rated. I am sure there are sellers that don’t have a TRS and do better than TRS but as with anything that might be a career you don’t just want money, you want the recognition as well.

I can attest to this. I take clients from TRS sellers all the time. Many of the TRS sellers in my field aren’t all that great. They’ve just been on the platform for for 5yrs and got it a long time ago.

On 10/23/2020 at 10:17 PM, mariashtelle1 said:

You have wrong perception. Fiverr is not your employer to give you recognition or motivate you.

You are a freelancer who is using the platform and being a freelancer is a choice and it’s not for everyone. YOU have to motivate yourself and not wait for a company to motivate you to use their platform.

People are acting like TRS has no value. It does. That’s why people want it. everyone knows it will lead to more sales and earnings. I know that if I had TRS I would not only have an increase in sales, but I could probably charge a bit more.

[mariashtelle1]

People are acting like TRS has no value. It does. That’s why people want it. everyone knows it will lead to more sales and earnings. I know that if I had TRS I would not only have an increase in sales, but I could probably charge a bit more.

everyone knows it will lead to more sales and earnings

No not everyone. We have a couple of people on the forum who used to be TRS and lost it and they still make the same amount or even more money.

I know that if I had TRS I would not only have an increase in sales,

How can you know that for a fact if you have never been TRS?

I could probably charge a bit more.

What stops you from putting your prices up right now? What you charge depend only on you not on your level.

[kholland65]

everyone knows it will lead to more sales and earnings

No not everyone. We have a couple of people on the forum who used to be TRS and lost it and they still make the same amount or even more money.

I know that if I had TRS I would not only have an increase in sales,

How can you know that for a fact if you have never been TRS?

I could probably charge a bit more.

What stops you from putting your prices up right now? What you charge depend only on you not on your level.

My guess is those are rare instances and not the norm. TRS adds perceived value, meaning higher potential for more sales. Some people may simple filter out any seller that isn’t top rated.

The reason I believe this is because I can see the queues that top rated sellers with a similar quality of work, background, and price structure have. They usually have a considerably larger amount in their queue than the level twos. That might not always consistently be the case or be that way for everybody, but by and large this seems to be the trend.

One of the things that stops me is based up what the fiverr market is dictating. The assumption is that the TRS and or Pro Level sellers largely set the price cap for any given service. While rating isn’t the only thing that plays into a buyers decision making process, it’s going to be that much more difficult to justify to a buyer that they should pay more for a lower rated seller. Some buyers will indeed feel that way and pass your profile without giving it much thought.

I don’t necessarily expect there to be drastic differences in sales/revenue from a level 2 to a TRS, but I suspect that on average, that badge probably nets people about a 20% increase in earnings or more, again that’s based upon my observed differences in pricing and queue sizes. I admit it’s not super scientific, but it’s my educated guess.

At the end of the day, having TRS isn’t going to hurt you. It can only help. I think as a matter of pure logic and common sense we can safely assume that on average, having the TRS badge is going to net you more sales and earnings.