Statistical bias against smaller Sellers. Is the system fair and equitable?

[lukesdesigns]

In late 2021 as the sun shone down and social media posts of beautiful beaches and delicious food filled my peripherals, I toyed with the idea of taking a break from work to take a well deserved holiday and visit my family. I knew that as a result of this my sales would drop and my income would cease to exist, but that’s the life of a pseudo-self employed Fiverr Seller.

4-6 weeks later I returned to my laptop to resume work. There were a few stragglers over the break so my sales weren’t at 0, but they were the lowest they had been in a few years. Nevertheless, I was ready to get back into things and begin my journey to regain my position within the Fiverr algorithm. But this time something had changed. The system seemed more punishing than ever.

I want to discuss the idea of statistical bias relating to Fiverr's system of analytics. I am sure this is something which has been discussed at length in the past, but I feel that it is more important now that the Fiverr algorithm seems to be prioritising performance metrics that are not visible to Sellers (private feedback, etc.), raising a question around transparency and the impact that an opaque, unregulated system has on people's lives.

The image below illustrates the potential bias that I think may be occurring. Notes:

• Based around the use of Fiverr’s 60-day period of judgement
• Assuming that every 1/120 buyers, there will be a customer who leaves negative private feedback with no communication to Seller/out of Seller's control (the idea that you can't please every customer)

As you can see from the above image, my concern is around the vulnerability of smaller Sellers to the inevitable negative private feedback that they are unaware of and the statistical padding that exists around high volume sellers. In both of these situations, there is the exact same percent of unhappy customers, one is more than 5x the impact due to the 60-day statistics system and is likely the reason smaller Sellers experience these periods of extreme punishment by the system:

 

I'd love to hear others thoughts on this and what they feel is being done by Fiverr to make sure that such a bias doesn't exist.

 

[frank_d]

1 hour ago, lukesdesigns said:

In late 2021 as the sun shone down and social media posts of beautiful beaches and delicious food filled my peripherals, I toyed with the idea of taking a break from work to take a well deserved holiday and visit my family. I knew that as a result of this my sales would drop and my income would cease to exist, but that’s the life of a pseudo-self employed Fiverr Seller.

4-6 weeks later I returned to my laptop to resume work. There were a few stragglers over the break so my sales weren’t at 0, but they were the lowest they had been in a few years. Nevertheless, I was ready to get back into things and begin my journey to regain my position within the Fiverr algorithm. But this time something had changed. The system seemed more punishing than ever.

I want to discuss the idea of statistical bias relating to Fiverr's system of analytics. I am sure this is something which has been discussed at length in the past, but I feel that it is more important now that the Fiverr algorithm seems to be prioritising performance metrics that are not visible to Sellers (private feedback, etc.), raising a question around transparency and the impact that an opaque, unregulated system has on people's lives.

The image below illustrates the potential bias that I think may be occurring. Notes:

• Based around the use of Fiverr’s 60-day period of judgement
• Assuming that every 1/120 buyers, there will be a customer who leaves negative private feedback with no communication to Seller/out of Seller's control (the idea that you can't please every customer)

As you can see from the above image, my concern is around the vulnerability of smaller Sellers to the inevitable negative private feedback that they are unaware of and the statistical padding that exists around high volume sellers. In both of these situations, there is the exact same percent of unhappy customers, one is more than 5x the impact due to the 60-day statistics system and is likely the reason smaller Sellers experience these periods of extreme punishment by the system:

 

I'd love to hear others thoughts on this and what they feel is being done by Fiverr to make sure that such a bias doesn't exist.

 

Hi there, sorry to hear about your situation.

It’s not entirely clear what the issue you are discussing is though.

Fiverr is a marketplace. Markets aren’t designed to be fair. I’m not saying that to oppose you, but I am suggesting that shifting your POV will help understand that you weren’t “punished” for taking time off.

I am a freelancer myself and I can’t even begin to describe what I would need to do beforehand or what stars would need to align before I was able to take 6 weeks off.

May I ask how you prepared your business for this period of time? Did you turn on OOO mode? Did you extend delivery times? Did you reject inbox requests? 
 

I am rather curious of the logistics of it all to be honest. 
 

I really don’t think that if I left my business unattended for 2 months and then I came back and things weren’t the same, I would start by blaming the algorithm. So there may be some part of the story I am not getting? Did something happen with a particular order on top of everything else?

As for your comparison with “well-padded top accounts” that’s not a fair comparison. You should only compare your business to other businesses that resemble your revenue and performance.

EDIT: I feel like I may have been unclear. I am not opposing you or assigning blame. I am however, saying that things are not supposed to be fair. If that’s your initial assumption then it may be leading you to skewed results.

The 60-day period is there to help you recover, not to be unfair. 
 

The buyer satisfaction rate is also there to help Fiverr understand performance.

[miiila]

My main thought is that, while Fiverr tries to be fair, and is fair even to an extent that you'll hardly find elsewhere, for example with regard to how accessible the platform/work-opportunity is to pretty much everyone with an internet connection and whatever device they need to do and deliver what they want to sell, or how they boost new sellers and Gigs for a while, the system's main purpose is not to be fair and unbiased but to make money. And it's up to every seller to figure out how to navigate it as best as they can to also make money.

Regarding potential small/big seller bias/(dis)advantages, I think they exist in relation to certain factors, however, as a small seller you most probably aren't competing with big sellers so much anyway, but with your fellow small sellers.

As a small seller who doesn't outsource, doesn't have a team, etc., you simply can't compete with big sellers in some things. You can't, or probably also don't want to (although according to some forum posts, some people at least strive for it, by having their phones next to them to wake them up whenever messages come in, operate a dedicated PC for Fiverr that they never shut down, etc.) work and be present 24/7/365, never take a day off, never be sick.

The more and the longer your breaks or vacations are, the more and the longer you'll need to recover from something like "4-6 weeks later I returned to my laptop to resume work". That's a long time in an age where many people expect everyone to be available all the time, and quickly reply, and the system only wants to show active Gigs/sellers to potential customers. Even after you're back, the system might think that those who were present for the last 4-6 weeks and have recent deliveries and feedback showing on their profiles, are a safer bet, and only haltingly threads you in again.

The best insurance against long slumps, I think, are regular customers, but you also have to figure in that even those might not be able to or want to wait for 4-6 weeks, and might drift towards other sellers, and may or may not come back, once their former seller is back in shop. Other options to try for a boost to get back on track faster, are bringing in customers from outside, or editing a Gig or create a new Gig, ideally for something new that's in demand. 

Well, that's just some of my thoughts, at least. 

[lukesdesigns]

14 minutes ago, frank_d said:

Hi there, sorry to hear about your situation.

It’s not entirely clear what the issue you are discussing is though.

Fiverr is a marketplace. Markets aren’t designed to be fair. I’m not saying that to oppose you, but I am suggesting that shifting your POV will help understand that you weren’t “punished” for taking time off.

I am a freelancer myself and I can’t even begin to describe what I would need to do beforehand or what stars would need to align before I was able to take 6 weeks off.

May I ask how you prepared your business for this period of time? Did you turn on OOO mode? Did you extend delivery times? Did you reject inbox requests? 
 

I am rather curious of the logistics of it all to be honest. 
 

I really don’t think that if I left my business unattended for 2 months and then I came back and things weren’t the same, I would start by blaming the algorithm. So there may be some part of the story I am not getting? Did something happen with a particular order on top of everything else?

As for your comparison with “well-padded top accounts” that’s not a fair comparison. You should only compare your business to other businesses that resemble your revenue and performance.

EDIT: I feel like I may have been unclear. I am not opposing you or assigning blame. I am however, saying that things are not supposed to be fair. If that’s your initial assumption then it may be leading you to skewered results.

The 60-day period is there to help you recover, not to be unfair. 
 

The buyer satisfaction rate is also there to help Fiverr understand performance.

Thanks for your feedback frank, I was hoping I'd see you on this conversation!

I wouldn't agree that markets aren't meant to be fair. They are regulated by thousands of government bodies globally in order to ensure the markets are fair and that laws are abided to. That wasn't so much my concern here. My concern is relating specifically to the use of the 60-day judgement system and a lack of transparency. Do you think that the statistical breakdown I showed above is untrue? If so, why do you think it is untrue? What part of the argument do you think is incorrect? 

In regards to the time taken off, I used the OOO mode. I've noticed that it is easy to often point the finger at a particular order, but I guess I fail to see why a single order or unhappy customer should have such an unfairly large impact on smaller Sellers compared to larger Sellers using the statistical logic I've laid out above. 

[lukesdesigns]

23 minutes ago, miiila said:

My main thought is that, while Fiverr tries to be fair, and is fair even to an extent that you'll hardly find elsewhere, for example with regard to how accessible the platform/work-opportunity is to pretty much everyone with an internet connection and whatever device they need to do and deliver what they want to sell, or how they boost new sellers and Gigs for a while, the system's main purpose is not to be fair and unbiased but to make money. And it's up to every seller to figure out how to navigate it as best as they can to also make money.

Regarding potential small/big seller bias/(dis)advantages, I think they exist in relation to certain factors, however, as a small seller you most probably aren't competing with big sellers so much anyway, but with your fellow small sellers.

As a small seller who doesn't outsource, doesn't have a team, etc., you simply can't compete with big sellers in some things. You can't, or probably also don't want to (although according to some forum posts, some people at least strive for it, by having their phones next to them to wake them up whenever messages come in, operate a dedicated PC for Fiverr that they never shut down, etc.) work and be present 24/7/365, never take a day off, never be sick.

The more and the longer your breaks or vacations are, the more and the longer you'll need to recover from something like "4-6 weeks later I returned to my laptop to resume work". That's a long time in an age where many people expect everyone to be available all the time, and quickly reply, and the system only wants to show active Gigs/sellers to potential customers. Even after you're back, the system might think that those who were present for the last 4-6 weeks and have recent deliveries and feedback showing on their profiles, are a safer bet, and only haltingly threads you in again.

The best insurance against long slumps, I think, are regular customers, but you also have to figure in that even those might not be able to or want to wait for 4-6 weeks, and might drift towards other sellers, and may or may not come back, once their former seller is back in shop. Other options to try for a boost to get back on track faster, are bringing in customers from outside, or editing a Gig or create a new Gig, ideally for something new that's in demand. 

Well, that's just some of my thoughts, at least. 

Thanks for these thoughts, I definitely think these issues exist around competition and economies of scale on Fiverr. I do feel that the platform has turned less from a freelancer platform than a design company search engine (for logo design anyway). I don't see how you can classify 50+ person teams as a freelancer. The biases exist and I think the situation exists where everyone who is on the right side of the system (like I was for a long time) doesn't say anything and everyone else has issues and slowly disappears from the website. I haven't liked the direction Fiverr has been going for the past 12 months with this emphasis on things that are only possible from larger companies like what you've mentioned. 

 

[miiila]

9 minutes ago, lukesdesigns said:

I don't see how you can classify 50+ person teams as a freelancer.

I definitely wouldn't, and you'd probably have trouble finding many if any people who would. Fiverr is trying to cover more ground than in the days of yonder. On seller side, you have everything from freelancers over agencies or other 50+ person teams, people with zero qualifications to PRO-verified, and on buyer side, you have private buyers who want a portrait of someone's cat as a gift to them, over solopreneurs and small companies to big names, and they try to match them to each other.

As a freelancer who doesn't outsource, and also doesn't want to have a team to manage, or anything like that, maybe I shouldn't like the direction either, but on the other hand, it brings new chances to freelancers as well, a rising tide lifts all boats, and all that, and maybe Fiverr even had to develop into that direction to remain relevant and healthy. At the least, it wanted to develop in that direction, and I'm not the one to tell anyone not to do what they want to; I want to do what I want to too much myself. 🙂 

I see your points, and as you can see, I liked your topic, as discussions like these tend to be interesting (intriguing even, compared to far too many forum threads) and sometimes spike ideas and can be helpful, the more diverse the thoughts, the more.

[visualstudios]

The private feedback system is skewed by definition. It shouldn't exist, at all. I've went through it, and it's a pita, a load of questions. I'm 100% confident my satisfied buyers will NOT take the time to answer it (why would they? Nothing in it for them), whereas an unsatisfied buyer will do it on purpose just to impact the seller negatively. That's what I do as a buyer in the gig economy (on uber, uber eats, etc.) - if everything goes well, I say nothing, and mostly don't leave any review. If something is wrong, then I may complain/leave a bad review. Therefore it's not a fair assessment of buyer satisfaction. At all. You get all the bad, none of the good.

[sarahkhan97]

2 minutes ago, visualstudios said:

The private feedback system is skewed by definition. It shouldn't exist, at all. I've went through it, and it's a pita, a load of questions. I'm 100% confident my satisfied buyers will NOT take the time to answer it (why would they? Nothing in it for them), whereas an unsatisfied buyer will do it on purpose just to impact the seller negatively. Therefore it's not a fair assessment of buyer satisfaction. At all. You get all the bad, none of the good.

If they play fairly, I hope it will be effective as it should be, but personally I have done it and um sure other (may) like most use it against of fairness..

[visualstudios]

Yes, I buy a service and will waste half an hour of my time answering a bunch of questions just because I'm very happy with it... not. Whereas if I'm unhappy, I'll use it to vent. It's human nature. This type of private feedback system does NOT work and is NOT fair.

[miiila]

Well, I partly agree, chance of miffed people leaving a (private) review is very high, chance of satisfied people leaving one is lower and depend on their attitude, on whether they think things through, or not, on what they themselves do,... Customers who themselves get reviews (and companies that don't get any, somewhere, are few and far between by now, and if it's a mom and pop shop with one handful of reviews on Google, are well aware how important it is. 

People who are happy with your work and all, might very well leave a positive private review, too, because they want sellers they like working with to stay on the platform, and positive reviews, even the private one, will logically enhance the chance of that. It doesn't take half an hour, maybe 3 minutes tops, even if you wanted to, you can't write an essay due to character limits, and I'm sure that at least some of your satisfied customers who take 2.4 minutes to leave the visible feedback, will take another 1.8 minutes to leave the private feedback too. Many people love helping others out, even if the world sometimes doesn't seem a place where such magic happens.

Again, even if indeed only miffed people ever left private feedback, that would be the same for every seller then, and not unfair in that sense. Whether it makes sense to let people leave private feedback that sellers can't use to improve whatever they might want to improve after learning of that feedback, is another question, but clearly, Fiverr thinks it helps them, whether it's as an additional "ranking" metric, or maybe even rather to improve Fiverr as a product. 

The first time I ever learned of the existence of the private feedback, by the way, before the topic appeared on the forum, was when a buyer told me they gave me a great private feedback.

That's just anecdotal evidence, of course, but I'm convinced that not only miffed customers leave private feedback. I'm also convinced that sometimes the private feedback looks a bit different from the public one, but I still don't think that most people who are happy with you publicly, will skin and salt you in the private feedback. The smart ones may even take advantage of the private feedback to air their grievances with Fiverr and not the seller personally, for example, they could give you 5*, same as in the public feedback, but add in the free text box that wish that Fiverr would give them 8 days to review a delivery instead of 3 days over Christmas 😉

I might be delusional, though. 🙃

Buyers, oh you rare forum species, your chance to enlighten us all! 💡

(As a seller who sometimes but rarely buys, yes, I left also great private feedback when I was happy, but seller-buyer is a different species to just-buyer, of course.)

[anniejenkinson]

I think the issue is in 'the math'! The small seller might turn around 20 jobs and have one negative rating. That is 5%.

The larger volume seller turns around 200 jobs and may well have ten negative ratings. It's still 5%. Just because they are larger, the incidence of negative ratings won't improve! Perhaps this means they take more jobs and get more negatives! The more jobs you have, the more chance of a negative rating--pro rata. I don't think the system is weighted either way.

However, I'd argue that if you turn over high volume, the quality of your product offering is more likely to fall, as will communications standards. Hence, the small seller has every advantage by offering a more personal service! This has nothing to do with 'the system'. It is all about the quality of your offering and how well you maintain your standards on all metrics.

I don't think it is impossible to please all clients. Difficult, yes. I have completed 230 jobs and not had a negative rating yet. There are very many like me.

[lukesdesigns]

1 hour ago, miiila said:

Well, I partly agree, chance of miffed people leaving a (private) review is very high, chance of satisfied people leaving one is lower and depend on their attitude, on whether they think things through, or not, on what they themselves do,... Customers who themselves get reviews (and companies that don't get any, somewhere, are few and far between by now, and if it's a mom and pop shop with one handful of reviews on Google, are well aware how important it is. 

People who are happy with your work and all, might very well leave a positive private review, too, because they want sellers they like working with to stay on the platform, and positive reviews, even the private one, will logically enhance the chance of that. It doesn't take half an hour, maybe 3 minutes tops, even if you wanted to, you can't write an essay due to character limits, and I'm sure that at least some of your satisfied customers who take 2.4 minutes to leave the visible feedback, will take another 1.8 minutes to leave the private feedback too. Many people love helping others out, even if the world sometimes doesn't seem a place where such magic happens.

Again, even if indeed only miffed people ever left private feedback, that would be the same for every seller then, and not unfair in that sense. Whether it makes sense to let people leave private feedback that sellers can't use to improve whatever they might want to improve after learning of that feedback, is another question, but clearly, Fiverr thinks it helps them, whether it's as an additional "ranking" metric, or maybe even rather to improve Fiverr as a product. 

The first time I ever learned of the existence of the private feedback, by the way, before the topic appeared on the forum, was when a buyer told me they gave me a great private feedback.

That's just anecdotal evidence, of course, but I'm convinced that not only miffed customers leave private feedback. I'm also convinced that sometimes the private feedback looks a bit different from the public one, but I still don't think that most people who are happy with you publicly, will skin and salt you in the private feedback. The smart ones may even take advantage of the private feedback to air their grievances with Fiverr and not the seller personally, for example, they could give you 5*, same as in the public feedback, but add in the free text box that wish that Fiverr would give them 8 days to review a delivery instead of 3 days over Christmas 😉

I might be delusional, though. 🙃

Buyers, oh you rare forum species, your chance to enlighten us all! 💡

(As a seller who sometimes but rarely buys, yes, I left also great private feedback when I was happy, but seller-buyer is a different species to just-buyer, of course.)

I feel like this is a potentially huge problem that Sellers would do just that and accept the work and give 5 stars in order to be respectful to the Seller publicly and then leave a terrible private review. This could come as a result of overdoing service and provided free work to the point that the client feels guilty and accepts and leaves a good public review, not knowing that the negative private review will do more damage than asking for a refund/cancellation evcouldoud. I feel that this is what happened in my situation as I had all metrics at 99-100% and 5 stars but then seem to have missed an unhappy customer. I'll need to be changing my approach to offering more cancellations and refunds and asking questions similar to what is on the private feedback more directly to try and stop that from happening. It is just once again playing in the darkness of Fiverr's system. 

[lukesdesigns]

7 minutes ago, anniejenkinson said:

I think the issue is in 'the math'! The small seller might turn around 20 jobs and have one negative rating. That is 5%.

The larger volume seller turns around 200 jobs and may well have ten negative ratings. It's still 5%. Just because they are larger, the incidence of negative ratings won't improve! Perhaps this means they take more jobs and get more negatives! The more jobs you have, the more chance of a negative rating--pro rata. I don't think the system is weighted either way.

However, I'd argue that if you turn over high volume, the quality of your product offering is more likely to fall, as will communications standards. Hence, the small seller has every advantage by offering a more personal service! This has nothing to do with 'the system'. It is all about the quality of your offering and how well you maintain your standards on all metrics.

I don't think it is impossible to please all clients. Difficult, yes. I have completed 230 jobs and not had a negative rating yet. There are very many like me.

Thanks for your message but I think you'd need to go back and re-read the math. The assumption is that for every Seller there will be an eventual bad review. Also, you know you have no negative public reviews, but you don't know about your private reviews. The likelihood of encountering a negative private review combined with lower sales volume judged in a 60-day window is the problem I'm referring to. 

[anniejenkinson]

1 minute ago, lukesdesigns said:

Thanks for your message but I think you'd need to go back and re-read the math. The assumption is that for every Seller there will be an eventual bad review. Also, you know you have no negative public reviews, but you don't know about your private reviews. The likelihood of encountering a negative private review combined with lower sales volume judged in a 60-day window is the problem I'm referring to. 

I get large tips and the customers come back as soon as they have another book ready to edit, so that's a good indicator! I don't honestly think there will be an eventual bad review for everyone. I still see the same ratio. In a 60-day window, the small seller may make 20 sales and the large seller 200. Same likelihood of getting a dissatisfied client--same ratio. Except I feel the smaller seller, who keeps things very much 1-1 and does not subcontract anything, say, has a more intimate client relationship and is more likely to have happy clients.

It's all down to great client management and product quality. 

[lukesdesigns]

29 minutes ago, anniejenkinson said:

I get large tips and the customers come back as soon as they have another book ready to edit, so that's a good indicator! I don't honestly think there will be an eventual bad review for everyone. I still see the same ratio. In a 60-day window, the small seller may make 20 sales and the large seller 200. Same likelihood of getting a dissatisfied client--same ratio. Except I feel the smaller seller, who keeps things very much 1-1 and does not subcontract anything, say, has a more intimate client relationship and is more likely to have happy clients.

It's all down to great client management and product quality. 

If your chances of a dissatisfied client are 1/200, then a large seller will have 1/200 (0.5%) dissatisfied clients in a 60-day period. A small seller will have no dissatisfied clients for an extended period of time until they have a dissatisfied client (1/200), but as they will have less sales when that occurs, they will have 1/20 (5%) for the 60-day period. That is the entire problem I am referring to. 

[visualstudios]

2 hours ago, anniejenkinson said:

Except I feel the smaller seller, who keeps things very much 1-1 and does not subcontract anything, say, has a more intimate client relationship and is more likely to have happy clients.

It's all down to great client management and product quality. 

It's not that simple. For one, the smaller seller (volume wise) will have to charge much more per client to make the same as the larger seller. So the stakes are very different. We're talking volume here, not earnings, when we say "small" and "big". 

[lukesdesigns]

21 hours ago, frank_d said:

Hi there, sorry to hear about your situation.

It’s not entirely clear what the issue you are discussing is though.

Fiverr is a marketplace. Markets aren’t designed to be fair. I’m not saying that to oppose you, but I am suggesting that shifting your POV will help understand that you weren’t “punished” for taking time off.

I am a freelancer myself and I can’t even begin to describe what I would need to do beforehand or what stars would need to align before I was able to take 6 weeks off.

May I ask how you prepared your business for this period of time? Did you turn on OOO mode? Did you extend delivery times? Did you reject inbox requests? 
 

I am rather curious of the logistics of it all to be honest. 
 

I really don’t think that if I left my business unattended for 2 months and then I came back and things weren’t the same, I would start by blaming the algorithm. So there may be some part of the story I am not getting? Did something happen with a particular order on top of everything else?

As for your comparison with “well-padded top accounts” that’s not a fair comparison. You should only compare your business to other businesses that resemble your revenue and performance.

EDIT: I feel like I may have been unclear. I am not opposing you or assigning blame. I am however, saying that things are not supposed to be fair. If that’s your initial assumption then it may be leading you to skewed results.

The 60-day period is there to help you recover, not to be unfair. 
 

The buyer satisfaction rate is also there to help Fiverr understand performance.

Hey @frank_d, I'd love to hear your thoughts specifically about the problem existing around statistical bias that I laid out in my original post and what you think Fiverr does to ensure this doesn't happen and why this doesn't actually lead to a bias towards larger buyers. I noticed you think the comparison is unfair. Do you think that they use a different system depending on what volume each Seller has? If so, how do you think that could work? I feel they talk quite often about the use of a 60-day system and the way that impression rise and fall with negative experiences seems to show that to be true. 

[frank_d]

17 minutes ago, lukesdesigns said:

Hey @frank_d, I'd love to hear your thoughts specifically about the problem existing around statistical bias that I laid out in my original post and what you think Fiverr does to ensure this doesn't happen and why this doesn't actually lead to a bias towards larger buyers. I noticed you think the comparison is unfair. Do you think that they use a different system depending on what volume each Seller has? If so, how do you think that could work? I feel they talk quite often about the use of a 60-day system and the way that impression rise and fall with negative experiences seems to show that to be true. 

I think I can shed some light as to how this mechanism works.

Give me some time to respond in detail.

I understand what you are saying but I don’t think the system is biased.

I will try to give you a thorough answer that covers my POV and a few facts about how the system actually operates.

[thiagodematos]

This is tough, and I can see where you are coming from.

I have seen a couple of very high-level sellers have the ability to take a significant amount of time off. There, are things you can do to avoid this.

Some people extend their delivery time, others hire someone who can take their position for that time, t least so the sales do not slow down.

Curious to see what you did when you were preparing to leave. 

[damooch916]

Notice: One week ago I posted a thread on this very topic. An hour later - I got a message in my inbox from a seller who has disappeared. It’s probably not smart - but I’m gonna leave the message here. 
 

Begin Message
 

“Pacamara black coffee should never be consumed three hours before shuteye. God forbid that you make the unholy decision to actually bring it with you to bed, lest you walk the plank of an entirely gruesome type of night terror.

 

Pacamara is a brutal El Salvadorian, mutant construction. It’s inventor, Dr. Atanasio, dedicated his existence to splicing foul alcohols into the growth process. At 47, mad from neural toxin liver damage and exhausted by 26 hours of “la orgia,” Dr. Atanasio went brain-first into a moving tractor, killing him instantly and chewing his yellowing body to confetti. 

 

This drink, with its stout perfume and acidic distinction, is the perfect companion to write you this message. 

 

I’ve read your thread. Inside you make elegant points of assumption and raise legitimate concerns. You beautifully articulate a shadowy new governing system that aims to exploit the vengeance of the consumer. And you’re not wrong. There are those who view Fiverr’s private survey (and accompanying metric system) as a new form of psychograph machine. A bloodthirsty instrument made of twisted brass, used to overload and monitor the sensory processes.

 

But the truth is even darker.

 

It’s for this reason that we’re sharing a correspondence in private. 

 

Note: Should you rebroadcast this program - in any medium - I will publicly deny it and call your libelous claims the methodical workings of a deranged screwball. 

Unless, of course, you share this work and it’s heralded for the vast insights and oracular texts. At which point, I’ll assume full credit. 

 

You should understand what you’re dealing with here, hoss. I may or may not be the recipient of two photographs depicting fiverr office shrines, including fully realized, life sized mud sculptures that feature the Igbo God Ala. In fact, the name fiverr is a reference to all Igbo variations of her name: Ala, Ani, Ana, Ale, and Ali. 

 

By engaging in conspiracy-talk, you run the very real risk of committing a taboo. Any taboo, as defined by the Igbo, is a desecration to Ala and may result in your being swallowed by the earth. This is no homogenized deity we’re dealing with, as evidenced by the ever decreasing regulars appearing on this forum. She will not suffer speculations and she doesn’t deal in mockery, jack. 

 

You know that fiverr is operating this behind the screen, murky new operation. What you may have not considered is that they do so with the expressed purpose of slowing down sellers for the sake of sales distribution. Fiverr is aware that the effects of receiving a bad “private review” are unequally damaging. It’s a calculated measure to balance the overwhelming growth.

 

They also seek to restore the value of the “review.” Let’s face it, every geek with a laptop knows the score, Charlie. You give me the good stars and I give ‘em right back. The floodgates are open, broken and floating in the water. Every first year designer with an iPhone is cranking out five stars. There’s no edge there left to live on. Five stars on fiverr is no more a legitimate rating than carving a hole in your head is a legitimate new “nostril.”

 

What sort of sick, sadist freak is going to give you 4.3 stars in today’s world and run the risk of being scarlet lettered on the earth’s most popular gig market? That’s public self mutilation. 

 

Even the brave and beasts of the fiverr forum dare not speak of the last “4 star” fiverr giver. We’ll call her Mary. Mary’s pictures made the rounds on the outskirts of the “general conversation” threads - her face covered with a Bobby Kennedy mask and her hands in homemade wire cuffs. Written in red ink across the image were the words “Five stars or nothing. You’ve been warned.”

 

The treachery was too much for some to even look at. The fortune tellers left the forum in an outrage, posting only one comment on the subject, “we told ya so.” But the clamps were already on tight and mentions of this fiasco have all but vanished. I met an SEO expert from Reno claiming to still have a copy of the image, but he never produced any evidence and his account has since been deleted. 

 

There are many who believe that Mary staged the photo after having been harshly reviewed, attempting to “scare straight” her potential clients. The horror was told everywhere, like some cow folk story over a campfire and then rolled back into the trees, where it’s muted song is mistaken for the wind. 

 

Even still, Fiverr cannot afford to keep such a jerky grasp on its own rating system. So, to remedy this (and to appease a usually pleasant but altogether terrifying God) Fiverr is now in the business of silhouettes and murk. And so shall you be. 

 

Ho! Ho! Step in line! Wear the hat! Wang Chung and everybody have fun tonight! And do it now, or else! 

 

Sincerely,

D

 

p.s. Please send me a signal letting me know that you’ve received this message.”

End message

[lukesdesigns]

1 hour ago, damooch916 said:

Notice: One week ago I posted a thread on this very topic. An hour later - I got a message in my inbox from a seller who has disappeared. It’s probably not smart - but I’m gonna leave the message here. 
 

Begin Message
 

“Pacamara black coffee should never be consumed three hours before shuteye. God forbid that you make the unholy decision to actually bring it with you to bed, lest you walk the plank of an entirely gruesome type of night terror.

 

Pacamara is a brutal El Salvadorian, mutant construction. It’s inventor, Dr. Atanasio, dedicated his existence to splicing foul alcohols into the growth process. At 47, mad from neural toxin liver damage and exhausted by 26 hours of “la orgia,” Dr. Atanasio went brain-first into a moving tractor, killing him instantly and chewing his yellowing body to confetti. 

 

This drink, with its stout perfume and acidic distinction, is the perfect companion to write you this message. 

 

I’ve read your thread. Inside you make elegant points of assumption and raise legitimate concerns. You beautifully articulate a shadowy new governing system that aims to exploit the vengeance of the consumer. And you’re not wrong. There are those who view Fiverr’s private survey (and accompanying metric system) as a new form of psychograph machine. A bloodthirsty instrument made of twisted brass, used to overload and monitor the sensory processes.

 

But the truth is even darker.

 

It’s for this reason that we’re sharing a correspondence in private. 

 

Note: Should you rebroadcast this program - in any medium - I will publicly deny it and call your libelous claims the methodical workings of a deranged screwball. 

Unless, of course, you share this work and it’s heralded for the vast insights and oracular texts. At which point, I’ll assume full credit. 

 

You should understand what you’re dealing with here, hoss. I may or may not be the recipient of two photographs depicting fiverr office shrines, including fully realized, life sized mud sculptures that feature the Igbo God Ala. In fact, the name fiverr is a reference to all Igbo variations of her name: Ala, Ani, Ana, Ale, and Ali. 

 

By engaging in conspiracy-talk, you run the very real risk of committing a taboo. Any taboo, as defined by the Igbo, is a desecration to Ala and may result in your being swallowed by the earth. This is no homogenized deity we’re dealing with, as evidenced by the ever decreasing regulars appearing on this forum. She will not suffer speculations and she doesn’t deal in mockery, jack. 

 

You know that fiverr is operating this behind the screen, murky new operation. What you may have not considered is that they do so with the expressed purpose of slowing down sellers for the sake of sales distribution. Fiverr is aware that the effects of receiving a bad “private review” are unequally damaging. It’s a calculated measure to balance the overwhelming growth.

 

They also seek to restore the value of the “review.” Let’s face it, every geek with a laptop knows the score, Charlie. You give me the good stars and I give ‘em right back. The floodgates are open, broken and floating in the water. Every first year designer with an iPhone is cranking out five stars. There’s no edge there left to live on. Five stars on fiverr is no more a legitimate rating than carving a hole in your head is a legitimate new “nostril.”

 

What sort of sick, sadist freak is going to give you 4.3 stars in today’s world and run the risk of being scarlet lettered on the earth’s most popular gig market? That’s public self mutilation. 

 

Even the brave and beasts of the fiverr forum dare not speak of the last “4 star” fiverr giver. We’ll call her Mary. Mary’s pictures made the rounds on the outskirts of the “general conversation” threads - her face covered with a Bobby Kennedy mask and her hands in homemade wire cuffs. Written in red ink across the image were the words “Five stars or nothing. You’ve been warned.”

 

The treachery was too much for some to even look at. The fortune tellers left the forum in an outrage, posting only one comment on the subject, “we told ya so.” But the clamps were already on tight and mentions of this fiasco have all but vanished. I met an SEO expert from Reno claiming to still have a copy of the image, but he never produced any evidence and his account has since been deleted. 

 

There are many who believe that Mary staged the photo after having been harshly reviewed, attempting to “scare straight” her potential clients. The horror was told everywhere, like some cow folk story over a campfire and then rolled back into the trees, where it’s muted song is mistaken for the wind. 

 

Even still, Fiverr cannot afford to keep such a jerky grasp on its own rating system. So, to remedy this (and to appease a usually pleasant but altogether terrifying God) Fiverr is now in the business of silhouettes and murk. And so shall you be. 

 

Ho! Ho! Step in line! Wear the hat! Wang Chung and everybody have fun tonight! And do it now, or else! 

 

Sincerely,

D

 

p.s. Please send me a signal letting me know that you’ve received this message.”

End message

What on earth... thanks for sharing this... interesting message.

[lukesdesigns]

On 3/6/2022 at 12:40 PM, frank_d said:

I think I can shed some light as to how this mechanism works.

Give me some time to respond in detail.

I understand what you are saying but I don’t think the system is biased.

I will try to give you a thorough answer that covers my POV and a few facts about how the system actually operates.

Hi Frank, just wanted to follow up on this one. Really interested to see how Fiverr makes sure this kind of statistical bias doesn't happen.