Fiverr Suspends Business in Russia

[nazrul780]

so What should we do?

[jeet103]

Can anybody remember what USA did in Iraq? Russia did the same to Ukraine. I totally oppose the war because end of the day common people are victimize who has nothing to do with any kind of WAR.

Everything is propaganda. And people are feeling happy to participate on it.

Downfall of USA started when they leave Afghanistan in the middle of the war. This is after effect and in future there will be many more after shock like this.

Remember that Right Now Russian GOV. has nothing to lose so they can do anything to win this war. And people of Ukraine and Russia will suffer. You are not punishing the Gov, who is the real culprit. You are punishing people who are not culprit. Very SAD but TRUE.

[mikavirtanen]

So, when the cancelling of Russian people ends, how would sellers recover their stats? The 60 day period stats will just drain down to zero.

[adsensewizard]

How does the average Fiverr seller from Russia have anything to do with Putin's warmongering? A genuine question. It's not like it was their decision or could even affect it in anyway, other than to go protesting on the streets and get imprisoned.

[tme2012]

23 hours ago, donnovan86 said:

Well I hope it won't take more than a month and the war is over. Because if it ends up taking a year, this will damage a lot more than just Fiverr. It will have catastrophic repercussions all over the world.

So to play devil's advocate, what would you do if tomorrow Fiverr said it was shutting down your account because of something your country's government did, and they'd get back to you on when you could use it again?

[mikavirtanen]

10 minutes ago, tme2012 said:

So to play devil's advocate, what would you do if tomorrow Fiverr said it was shutting down your account because of something your country's government did, and they'd get back to you on when you could use it again?

not only Fiverr, but every other company of civilized countries, including all payment systems

[donnovan86]

1 hour ago, tme2012 said:

So to play devil's advocate, what would you do if tomorrow Fiverr said it was shutting down your account because of something your country's government did, and they'd get back to you on when you could use it again?

Well I would use one of my other freelancing accounts. Or do business locally. The key here is to not have just a single source of income. If you do and rely solely on Fiverr I agree, that's a problem. But you have to prepare beforehand for situations like this. There's a reason why they say "don't place all your eggs in a single basket".

Edited March 14, 2022 by donnovan86

[wrenaker]

On 3/13/2022 at 10:50 PM, mikavirtanen said:

We can only guess how long this "temporary" could be. Even if it's 1 year, this is disastrous

In my case, the account was just blocked instead of suspended. I'm writing here by miracle, if I clear my cookies, I probably won't be able to log in again. Here, just in case, I wrote more details: 

 

[rumitt]

Thank you fiverr, this is an unprecedented act of racism, a company that decided to support the cancellation of an entire country of 146 million people, this is continental level racism, I hope I can find another platform and will never work with fiverr again, although here I was able to realize myself as an artist, worked quietly peacefully, was polite, got fiverr choice. GG
 

[donnichols]

14 minutes ago, donnovan86 said:

Well I would use one of my other freelancing accounts.

A good point actually, especially given that we have a local freelancing platform similar to Fiverr (Kwork).

[donnovan86]

On 3/14/2022 at 5:03 PM, donnichols said:

A good point actually, especially given that we have a local freelancing platform similar to Fiverr (Kwork).

Great! I just want to encourage people to diversify their income. I got banned accidentally from Fiverr just for a little bit a few years ago, and I learned my lesson. As a freelancer, you need to diversify your income as your profile you worked so hard to build can go in an instant. That's why we need to prepare ourselves for that by establishing multiple income sources.  I wish you great success on that platform Donnichols.

On 3/13/2022 at 3:50 PM, mikavirtanen said:

Even if it's 1 year, this is disastrous

I hope it's way way less than that. I guess it all depends on when the war stops, which is hopefully soon. And then we need to see how western companies behave, if they get back to Russia or not. I do expect some to not come back at all, but I think most of them, including sites like Fiverr will get back soon after the war is over, although it might depend on how it ends. We'll see, it's hard to know at this point.

[magmatrack]

First we getting arrested for rally's against war, now we getting our income cut off. What do you want us to do? Lay down and die?

I live in a nowhere in Ural, taking care of two grandparents one is blind one is nonwalking. And now my income got cut because of a war I'm against started by president i didn't choose

Do you think people that support Putin even know about existence of Fiverr? I guess its time to get a job that will cut my ability to go to rallies or even voice my support of Ukraine because i will get fired or arrested

 "Fiverr is a global community made up of skilled and talented freelancers. We have created a safe and equal community for anyone, that’s available from everywhere, where people are free to find work and be recognized for their quality of work." 

[milos_siena]

On 3/14/2022 at 7:34 PM, magmatrack said:

First we getting arrested for rally's against war, now we getting our income cut off. What do you want us to do? Lay down and die?

I live in a nowhere in Ural, taking care of two grandparents one is blind one is nonwalking. And now my income got cut because of a war I'm against started by president i didn't choose

Do you think people that support Putin even know about existence of Fiverr? I guess its time to get a job that will cut my ability to go to rallies or even voice my support of Ukraine because i will get fired or arrested

 "Fiverr is a global community made up of skilled and talented freelancers. We have created a safe and equal community for anyone, that’s available from everywhere, where people are free to find work and be recognized for their quality of work." 

We know that this is an incredibly tense situation, driving lots of emotions for many of our community members, and we hear your concerns.

 Please know that Fiverr must abide by any international sanctions that apply to Russia. We hope that the situation in Ukraine comes to an end soon and that a time comes when we can work together again.

[mariashtelle1]

On 3/15/2022 at 2:01 AM, milos_siena said:

Please know that Fiverr must abide by any international sanctions that apply to Russia

Which sanctions are those? There was no sanctions that forbid companies to conduct business in Russia. And that’s misinformation. It would’ve been even better to just say that it’s because of SWIFT and inability to process payments. 

[dmitry_jump]

Fiverr makes it clear by his actions that Putin is doing right things? after all, we are just being told on TV what Europeans and Americans are bad and stupid. I just thought so after reading the letter from Fiverr. Apparently, this conflict is also important to your governments. Only now innocent civilians of Ukraine and Russia are suffering from all this obscurantism!!!

[wrenaker]

8 hours ago, milos_siena said:

Please know that Fiverr must abide by any international sanctions that apply to Russia.

Please provide a link to the legal documents that prescribe to prohibit Fiverr to work with freelancers and buyers from Russia. As well as a link to the documents confirming the need to comply with the above prescriptions and bans, and a list of penalties for non-compliance. You make serious statements, but are they justified?

[Guest alineplatova]

This is pure discrimination in general of all who once registered on the territory of Russia. I have not lived there for a year and a half. Do not withdraw money to accounts related to "global sanctions, and restrictions on Russia's financial system". But my location, which, according to Fiverr faq, changes automatically, has not changed even once in this period! And all the support team did when asked to fix it was throw up their hands in regret. 
They don't care that you have nothing to live on. Absolutely everyone in business is always concerned only with reputation because of it they can lose their money. How disgusting these "personal" decisions are. Go ahead.

[alyonagrapie]

8 hours ago, alineplatova said:

And all the support team did when asked to fix it was throw up their hands in regret. 

Keep trying, ask what kind of proof of your location would be required (for example Payoneer accepts anything with your name and actual address in it, i.e. bills, a lease or rent agreement, etc.)
You also might need a proof of having a bank account of your country of residence, because much of the issue comes from questionable legal status of banks and other payment methods in Russia at the moment.
It has become a tradition that you have to go through a round of quick to reply, but unhelpful support agents with copy paste replies, before you get escalated to someone who bothers to investigate and understand the issue you're having.

Edited March 16, 2022 by alyonagrapie

[bradmitzelfelt]

On 3/10/2022 at 1:26 AM, lenasemenkova said:

If you directly participate in the economy that pays for the war crimes, you get sanctioned, I'd imagine. If you don't or it can't be proven (by living and paying taxes elsewhere), you absolutely shouldn't be.

PS every Russian acquaintance I have has suddenly become "25% ethnically Ukrainian". I don't know what to make of it.

With this logic, everyone should be banned from Fiverr since all countries commit war crimes. This logic is stupid. Most Russians don't agree with what's going on, but they still have to live and make a living somehow. Fiverr's virtue signaling is hurting people, not helping the situation.

Some people, like myself, were working with artists who had completed part of projects and now can't finish our projects because we were submitting them in parts. I have two out of 8 art pages for my book and I am not going to start over with another artist just because my artist, who is very good and hates the war, is in Russia.

[blindsightmix]

19 minutes ago, bradmitzelfelt said:

With this logic, everyone should be banned from Fiverr since all countries commit war crimes. This logic is stupid. Most Russians don't agree with what's going on, but they still have to live and make a living somehow. Fiverr's virtue signaling is hurting people, not helping the situation.

Some people, like myself, were working with artists who had completed part of projects and now can't finish our projects because we were submitting them in parts. I have two out of 8 art pages for my book and I am not going to start over with another artist just because my artist, who is very good and hates the war, is in Russia.

Yeah, it is sad. I had a client who sent 3 songs he wanted to work on with me (my repeat customer) and I was going to send him an offer but now my account is limited, we can't communicate anymore and I feel bad leaving him hanging like that. He had plans.. Now he just lost me out of nowhere.

[bradmitzelfelt]

On 3/15/2022 at 12:01 AM, milos_siena said:

Please know that Fiverr must abide by any international sanctions that apply to Russia. We hope that the situation in Ukraine comes to an end soon and that a time comes when we can work together again.

What sanctions say that you have to cut all business with Russia? Seriously, you aren't doing this because of sanctions, you're doing it for virtue signaling woke points.

[toner2d]

I was banned. Do you know who was not banned?

GAZPROM PIPELINE

Can Fiverr ban Biden's supporters? Of course not. Double standarts, huh?

[kholland65]

I really hope Fiverr gets major sued for this and loses millions. 

On 3/10/2022 at 12:11 AM, mjensen415 said:

From the Fiverr Blog. A message from CEO Micha Kaufman:

Our hearts break for the people of Ukraine and we join the world in grieving for the lives lost and destroyed due to the senseless and unjustifiable violence. We also mourn with our global community of freelancers and business owners, who work daily across borders, languages, and cultures to create opportunity. They know that any conflict that divides like-minded and good people into “us vs. them” represents a loss for all of humanity and is contrary to everything the Fiverr community stands for. 

That said, the devastation in Ukraine requires action and has triggered global economic sanctions aimed at ending the conflict. In light of the ongoing situation, Fiverr is suspending its business in Russia starting today. We will not allow the opening of new accounts or the use of existing accounts to buy or sell on our platform. We are, however, allowing our Russian freelancers to withdraw their current earnings to ensure we have fulfilled our obligations to them.

Going forward, Fiverr will continue to prioritize efforts to support our Ukrainian community.  Today we launched a dedicated store featuring talented Ukrainian freelancers who are ready and able to work. Fiverr will donate our fees from this store to the Ukrainian Red Cross who are providing first aid, clothes, food, medications, and clean water in the region.

We’ve also made the decision to return all fees collected in the past few weeks to our Ukrainian freelancers as a way to offer additional financial support. We will continue to look for ways to support our Ukrainian community, as well as all victims of the war.

Of course, nobody can say when the war will end, but please know that Fiverr continues to work with urgency and compassion to find ways to help our community. As we do, we welcome your ideas and participation.

Micha

Yeah those are empty words coming from a person who's company just banned an entire country/ethinics group from earning a living and doing business on their website. How your CEO sleeps at night is beyond me. Must be a really morally corrupt person or a really stupid one. 

[sarahkhan97]

On 3/14/2022 at 8:35 AM, jeet103 said:

And people of Ukraine and Russia will suffer.

yes, it is always like that, history repeats, they play chess and one's nation suffer the most, who lost then they have only two choices to left. 

[milolikespurple]

All around not a good decision.

People working in Fiverr in a way don't pay much of the taxes, but when fiverr suspends their business, some of the sellers will go to normal jobs (where your employer pays your taxes, taking money from salary), thus paying more taxes, that will go to funding the Russian army.
Sanctions won't affect Russian Military industrial complex, its in the priority. 
Judging by the government's actions, they're ready to pay the price for reaching some geo-political goals (which are unknown for us), cuz substatial damage to the economy and society is already done, and the "operation" isn't stopping.
Sanctions didnt do much to Iran's millitary, only led to it costing more in the perspective after 10-15 years.

Not to mention that people, that lost their careers and sources of income, will be blaming fiverr and collective west and not Putin, and since these people have nothing to lose, they will advocate for continuing the war and going till the end.

 

So Fiverr's decision arguably makes things even worse.
Better solution for fiverr would've been allowing cryptocurrencies, to help russians bypass the government, so to not ruin the civil economy and to mess up Russia's sources of funding the military
But i guess helping anyone was not what Fiverr wanted to begin with.

Edited March 17, 2022 by milolikespurple