Fiverr is no longer "$5"

[ebturner]

When I first signed up for Fiverr I actually was making purchases for $5, hence “Fiverr”. After several great gigs, I decided to become a seller myself. Move forward several years to today…when I decided i was going to look for a quick advertising gig for $5.

Every $5 gig that I clicked on was not actually $5! Fiverr is charging an additional $2.25 on top of the $5 for the gig!!! Not to mention I have money in my account, so its not even to cover transferring from a credit card.

As a seller, I’m always hit with a 20% fee. So the gig seller is only getting $4 out of the sale. Fiver is getting $1 for the gig seller and an additional $2.25 from the buyer?

I don’t see how this is a good incentive for people to use Fiverr. As if taking 20% of a sale was not bad enough, they are taking from the shopper as well. It’s not a “Fiverr” if your minimum sale is $7.25!

This really sucks because I LOVE FIVERR, but this is not good for sellers or buyers. I’m wondering why Fiverr is doing this because 20% of every sale is actually much higher than other places like freelancer, ebay, etc. I’m really disappointed to see this.

[mariashtelle1]

Fiverr has its own reasons for doing so but just things to consider:

1. Fiverr had 36million in losses in 2019, salaries and new products in development that they have to pay for, so previous charges were not covering their losses.
2. It also might incentivise and attract only better quality clients and more business if 5$ gigs are not so attractive anymore.

[ebturner]

Fiverr has its own reasons for doing so but just things to consider:

1. Fiverr had 36million in losses in 2019, salaries and new products in development that they have to pay for, so previous charges were not covering their losses.
2. It also might incentivise and attract only better quality clients and more business if 5$ gigs are not so attractive anymore.

Didn’t know that.

 

Comparably

Fiverr.com Executive Salaries

The average Fiverr.com executive makes $214,108 a year.

“the most compensated executive at Fiverr makes $490,000, annually, and the lowest compensated makes $61,000”

I wonder how ebay and freelancer survive with only 10% commissions?

That is scary they are in such a financial mess. Heck, with those kind of losses they might end up going bankrupt and all our $$ will be gone! With a 15-day waiting period for gig sales to clear, I often have a grand sitting out there in limbo.

[english_voice]

Another point to think about is that Fiverr has been going for about a decade.

In those 10 years inflation has knocked nearly an entire dollar from the value of $5.

A few weeks back I wrote a more detailed post about this. My post was aimed at suggesting sellers should not be offering $5 gigs in 2020 - except, perhaps, for the very simplest jobs that might take five or 10 minutes.

But when you think about it from Fiverr’s point of view, it also means that their $1 commission from a $5 gig in 2010 is worth 20 cents less in 2020 - and I bet their personnel and tech costs have only increased over the past decade! So, Fiverr had to do something to redress the balance a little.

[ebturner]

Another point to think about is that Fiverr has been going for about a decade.

In those 10 years inflation has knocked nearly an entire dollar from the value of $5.

A few weeks back I wrote a more detailed post about this. My post was aimed at suggesting sellers should not be offering $5 gigs in 2020 - except, perhaps, for the very simplest jobs that might take five or 10 minutes.

But when you think about it from Fiverr’s point of view, it also means that their $1 commission from a $5 gig in 2010 is worth 20 cents less in 2020 - and I bet their personnel and tech costs have only increased over the past decade! So, Fiverr had to do something to redress the balance a little.

Quite true the dollar has declined, but every tech company (and person) has experienced that including freelancer, ebay and the others.

Personally I’ve always felt that Fiverr needs to adjust their fees to a tiered one versus a flat percentage. For the small $5 sales it should be 20%, no question. But I often do projects for $300-$1000 and paying a 20% fee on a $1000 project is terrible. All the other companies have either a cap, or a lower percentage fee when you get into higher dollar sales. Fiver on the other hand has been reaping that 20% across the board, thus making more money than their competitors.

I think the main point of my post is just that Fiverr was built on the fact that a shopper could come along and purchase something for $5. Now its almost double that and Fiverr is collecting almost as much as the seller when it comes to fees. It’s like walking into a “Dollar Tree” store and finding out that everything is actually $3! lol! Yes, many people will still buy from gigs because Fiverr is still rather cheap in comparison to have work done. But even I have noticed a decline in the sales over the past couple years on this venue. I don’t know when they started this new fee imposed on the buyer, but I suspect that is a big part of the decline.

[looseink]

You, know, the fees used to bug me as well.

However, I have also owned businesses and there is no way a platform like Fiverr would be successful if it didn’t charge a fee for everything that happens on the site. The only other option would be to charge Sellers and Buyers a “subscription” rate or Membership fee.

Trust me, that would likely be in the hundreds of dollars per year and Sellers who are just starting out would complain about that.

Just charge rates that will ensure that you get enough out of each sale to make it worthwhile for you to stay on Fiverr. I am grateful for the business I have received here and don’t care what the fees are as whatever it costs me to be here is minor compared to what I make.

[fastcopywriter]

Fiverr has its own reasons for doing so but just things to consider:

1. Fiverr had 36million in losses in 2019, salaries and new products in development that they have to pay for, so previous charges were not covering their losses.
2. It also might incentivise and attract only better quality clients and more business if 5$ gigs are not so attractive anymore.

Their profit margin is -8.69% as of this moment.

On the other hand, these are their financials:

Revenue: 163.16M

Quarterly Revenue Growth (yoy)|87.80%

Gross Profit (ttm)|84.85M|

Total Cash (mrq) 214.4M

Total Debt (mrq) 4.67M

Their stock price is trading at $220.38

52 Week High 228.21

52 Week Low 20.42

So I don’t know how they’re losing money. Even their salaries aren’t that high. $60,000 in New York City is nothing, and $450,000 isn’t a huge salary compared to what they pay in other corporations.

These fees they’re charing buyers are problematic. At the very least, the price the buyer sees should reflect the price the buyer pays. If I see $5, I want to pay $5. If you want me to pay $7.25, then I want to see $7.25.

[english_voice]

Quite true the dollar has declined, but every tech company (and person) has experienced that including freelancer, ebay and the others.

Personally I’ve always felt that Fiverr needs to adjust their fees to a tiered one versus a flat percentage. For the small $5 sales it should be 20%, no question. But I often do projects for $300-$1000 and paying a 20% fee on a $1000 project is terrible. All the other companies have either a cap, or a lower percentage fee when you get into higher dollar sales. Fiver on the other hand has been reaping that 20% across the board, thus making more money than their competitors.

I think the main point of my post is just that Fiverr was built on the fact that a shopper could come along and purchase something for $5. Now its almost double that and Fiverr is collecting almost as much as the seller when it comes to fees. It’s like walking into a “Dollar Tree” store and finding out that everything is actually $3! lol! Yes, many people will still buy from gigs because Fiverr is still rather cheap in comparison to have work done. But even I have noticed a decline in the sales over the past couple years on this venue. I don’t know when they started this new fee imposed on the buyer, but I suspect that is a big part of the decline.

I don’t have an issue with Fiverr collecting 20% no matter what size the sale. At least it is a level playing field. I suppose the argument goes something like this… a $1,000 order will take 10 times as long to complete when compared to a $100 order. Okay, even I’m not totally convinced by my own argument - but there is some truth in it!

However, I would be a fan of Fiverr exploring a subscription model - but mostly for another reason. I’ve been selling on Fiverr for a long time now and it is sad to see a massive increase in the number of completely rubbish gigs from sellers who have no idea about how to market themselves, manage clients, or build a business. This is to the detriment of all us decent sellers - as I firmly believe that Fiverr has developed a reputation for being somewhere people turn to for cheap work.

I would happily pay a subscription of say $75 a year. While I appreciate this is a very low figure, it will probably be enough to put it out of reach of the jokers who devalue the platform for the serious and experienced sellers.

My view might not be universally popular, but you only need to view the vast majority of the forum posts to realise that many, many people simply have no idea - and never will.

[catwriter]

When I first signed up for Fiverr I actually was making purchases for $5, hence “Fiverr”. After several great gigs, I decided to become a seller myself. Move forward several years to today…when I decided i was going to look for a quick advertising gig for $5.

Every $5 gig that I clicked on was not actually $5! Fiverr is charging an additional $2.25 on top of the $5 for the gig!!! Not to mention I have money in my account, so its not even to cover transferring from a credit card.

As a seller, I’m always hit with a 20% fee. So the gig seller is only getting $4 out of the sale. Fiver is getting $1 for the gig seller and an additional $2.25 from the buyer?

I don’t see how this is a good incentive for people to use Fiverr. As if taking 20% of a sale was not bad enough, they are taking from the shopper as well. It’s not a “Fiverr” if your minimum sale is $7.25!

This really sucks because I LOVE FIVERR, but this is not good for sellers or buyers. I’m wondering why Fiverr is doing this because 20% of every sale is actually much higher than other places like freelancer, ebay, etc. I’m really disappointed to see this.

Fiverr is charging an additional $2.25

Yes, they’ve introduced it some time ago. A fixed percentage for the processing fee, plus additional $2 if the order is for less than $50.

In their own words: “Service fees are added at the time of purchase where you can review and accept the total amount requested to pay. These fees cover administrative fees. As of November 2020, the service fees are 5% of the purchase amount. For purchases under $50 an additional $2 small order fee will be applied.”

Fiverr.com

Payments Terms and Conditions

Payments Terms and Conditions