RATINGS : an aberration that needs to be integrally revisited

[hikarishinjo]

DISCLAIMER : I have completed more than 130 orders and have a 5 stars average on every single Gig of my catalogue. BUT STILL : I believe the current reviews system is inefficient and cannot provide any good insight of a Seller’s capabilities, for buyers to make the decision that will most likely satisfy their needs.

Ask yourself this question :

Is this fair a 2 stars review from a $5 completed project weighs as much as a 5 stars review from a $1,000 project ? Let’s even add some spice in the equation and say that the $5 project is coming from a new member’s very first order and that the $1,000 project from a VID or Fiverr Business Client.

If these two orders are the only ones you have ever completed : your rating will be absolutely demolished anyway, and show an ugly 3.5 average. Good job : you can just delete your account and start over. Because anything below 4.7 is currently a death sentence on Fiverr.

And the irony : Fiverr is warning us when our clients are VID or a Fiverr choice : “You should deliver great results !”. Why does that even matter if we are enslaved of the current reviewing system, that makes us fearful to deliver what is expected more than the genuine desire to exceed expectations by doing something we enjoy ?

Here is my proposal, that I am convinced would bring more transparency and meaning on every single review we are working towards :

- Implement a Global Seller Rate : in forms of letters ( S / A / B / C / D )

This is to me probably one the most efficient way to englobe multiple factors into one unique symbol. I would like to list all the factors that should be accounted to generate the Global Seller Rate, and ultimately replace the current number rating, that is ONLY relying on the average of your total reviews.

- Rating should be split into 3 categories :

o Average Rating by newcomers / rare buyers ( 5 gig or less bought while service executed )
o Average Rating by frequent buyers ( from 5 gigs or more bought while service executed )
o Average Rating by la crème de la crème → VID or Business Clients

Not only this will show a great deal of information of what kind of client a seller is attracting, it also protects him/her from the case scenario I have just explained earlier about the $5 and $1,000 orders. Personally, if I see a promising gig that has a 5 stars review from a VID but a 2 star from a newcomer, the probability for me to give this person a try is DRASTICALLY HIGHER than with the current reviews system. Which is : if I see 3.5 star, I will not even bother clicking on their gig.

This should also be calculated with a coefficient, obviously lower to higher from new to important buyers.

- Reviews depending on the price of the order:

I might create a debate around this one as this is a very “exotic” way of seeing things. But to me, there should be some kind of coefficient applied to every order rating that is either ABOVE or BELOW the average selling price of the seller. Being able to perform a service on a large scale should also be rewarded.

Let’s put it this way :

Order 1 : $5 → 3 stars review
Order 2 : $100 → 5 stars review

Technically, the seller produced 20 times the “same service” in Order 2, yet the power of its review is still 1 and 1. To me this is nonsensical.
The other way around works exactly the same. If a seller fails on a larger project, this should raise some flags to potential buyers on their ability to handle bigger assessments.

- Order completion / On Time Delivery should be included in the Global Seller Rate

This is only available to us sellers to see. I believe this is a good thing that it is kept hidden from buyers, as we all have times in our life where things can get hard and justify a hit in these rates. But it should at least be included in the calculation of a Seller’s rate at the end of the day because this matters to buyers, and Fiverr. Business is business, no matter if you are having a hard time or not.

These are my recommendations for a fairer, less stressful, and more comprehensive rating system for us sellers, but for buyers too !

Oh, and if I may add something: Can we just remove the Buyer’s review ? This really means nothing, and no one is crazy enough to risk evaluating a buyer with something else but a 5 star. Unless you plan to block the Buyer right away upon reviewing. Are we Sellers going to even have any right to refuse their directly placed order anyway, if their average (that is actually not even available) rating is 1 star ? The answer is no.