Fiverr 3.0: Revisited (a.k.a. Fiverr 3.1)

[frank_d]

Hey gang!

A disclaimer: The following post/article is not an official Fiverr statement. It’s a summary of my personal observations over how Fiverr works and I am sharing because I noticed that more and more sellers come here, stating that they “lost their ranking”, or claiming that their gigs are "all 5 stars" but they can't get any messages/sales.

This is an effort to provide them with some answers and some food for thought.

Hold up. Fiverr 3.1?

I know you were probably expecting something a bit more dramatic, but this is not a brand new thesis. 

This is me revisiting my previous one, and updating it after seeing a few new things popping up and some previous assumptions being confirmed as either off-base or not as important as I previously thought.

"Ha! I knew it, you were wrong!"

Well actually no. Let me preface this by saying that I am revisiting my original thesis, not because it was proven wrong.

In fact the core premise of my past article, still stands true.

Fiverr favors performance, and is still trying to get a perfect match between buyers and sellers.

So it's still about relevancy, performance and quality.

The reason why I am revisiting the thesis is because I have stumbled upon new evidence that tell me there have been a few updates during the past two years. Not an overhaul mind you, but several "Quality of Life" updates and additions.

Let's talk about indicators

OK so we are all familiar with our profile's metrics.

These are the actual metrics that Fiverr chose to reveal to us sellers in an attempt to provide us with some crucial performance indicators.

This is actually the original system Fiverr put into place back in the "2.0" era, when it needed to be able to qualify sellers and update SERP dynamically. Fiverr 1.0 only had the thumbs up/down rating system and other than the actual level sellers and the occasional reporting/flagging by buyers for inappropriate behavior, Fiverr had very little to go on when it came to understanding who was a good freelancer and who wasn't.

So it would make sense for a seller at any given time, to just look at them and go: "I must say, I am doing a jolly good job! Let me pat myself on the back before I deliver this order and get my 5.0 star review!"

Right?

Wrong.

Two systems colliding

As you can probably guess, Fiverr grew even more. And what usually happens when a company grows this much and at a certain rate, its initial systems are no longer able to keep up with growth pains that come up.

So a new system was put into place. It didn't replace the old system, but it is working alongside it, in an effort to help Fiverr understand performance.

This new system is essentially there to give more data points to Fiverr and help qualify certain actions.

That new system started off with the "buyer satisfaction rate".

That's not an unfamiliar term nowadays, as Fiverr employees started actually talking about this openly for the past year or so.

I talked about this on my previous article, but now it's not just a rumor or the ramblings of a mad man, Fiverr is actually talking about this, thus confirming part of my thesis.

There is a formula in place that makes sure the system get valuable information on whether a seller is performing well or not.

So what's new?

Well, that buyer satisfaction formula is apparently more extensive now, and a lot more complicated.

Furthermore, there are now two different systems in place, working towards the same goal.

One system is there to determine whether or not your profile is in good standing and then there's a different system in place that actually grades your gigs individually.

(the average Fiverr seller's reaction when they hear of a new performance rating system)

Now before you start grabbing your pitchforks, let me explain why that is potentially a good thing.

First of all, I have been rather vocal about how this new system -no matter how imperfect it may be- is at least allowing for the possibility of recovery. So when a seller's performance slips, it just takes some time after which you are back in the game.

It's a more forgiving system altogether, or it seems as it was designed to allow for more margins of error.

But let's get back on track.

The two systems are not fully aligned.

Seems like the profile performance metrics are refreshed on a 60-day window, whereas the gig's performance metrics are calculated on a 90-day window.

I don't know why that is, but a good guess would be that they are just stacking different systems on top of the old build so they can't just nuke previous choices that used to make sense 4 years ago.

I am taking a deep dive into the macro-economy of the system, in an attempt to help de-mystify the issues I see popping up on the forum on a daily basis.

People come here and complain that things are A-OK with their clients and reviews, but they either lost promoted gigs eligibility or their gigs are not "ranking" the same anymore. 

(notice the overdramatic air quotes when I mention ranking)

 

Fiverr's systems are opaque. That's by design. So I understand that it's frustrating.

But on the other hand, I have been here since 2013, where things were less complicated and you could simply piece things together by landing the right CS agent on your support ticket.

And let me tell you: people used to game the living crap out of the old system.

(Me after realizing public reviews are now worthless)

Which is basically why Fiverr constantly makes changes.

Reviews were exploited -people still to this day pressure their buyers for positive reviews-, the number of sellers exploded since 2019, and Fiverr constantly expanding across more verticals.

Fiverr is trying to come up with a legitimate way to understand two main things:

• Buyer behavior

• Seller performance

 

But how can one improve if the metrics are not opaque?
 

This is where this whole "indicators" business comes in.

We need to look at what the system is telling us.

Stop focusing on what the system is not telling you.

That was a big part of my original thesis that people focused on and tried to debunk/discredit it.

I talked about speed and gave some specific examples of indicators that Fiverr has subtly left there for us to see, and people were very keen on rejecting them outright.

On this update I chose not to focus on the indicators as much, as a lot of people were focusing on whether or not they existed and/or utilized by the system. Instead I want to focus on the bigger picture, and some good practices for sellers on Fiverr in 2022.

This may be a good place however to brag about how I was right when I said that Fiverr likes speed and favors sellers who respond quickly. As since I made that claim in my previous article, Fiverr actually came forward with the "order response rate" which actually shows you if you responded fast enough when a new order was submitted.

(me after Fiverr updated the seller's dashboard proving half of my assumptions to be RIGHT)

What does this all mean for us sellers?

That's a legitimate question.

1) Well first of all you need to understand that looking at your dashboard metrics and getting 5.0 star reviews from your buyers, is not giving you the whole picture anymore. (It's still important that you keep those metrics as close to perfect as possible, and not getting negative reviews should be the absolute baseline.)

2) It is also important to understand that the "Buyer satisfaction rate" dates back 90 days, so it's a delayed view on your performance.

3) It is also my understanding if multiple orders don't go that great during the same 90-day window, they stack up, meaning things will not improve for your gig's standing until at least one of them is removed from that rolling window.

4) Fiverr no longer looks for just amazing web developers, cool logo designers and Pulitzer-worthy writers when evaluating performance. In fact, Fiverr is not equipped to understand if you are delivering a high quality design or a photo-copy of mashed potatoes.

Fiverr is looking for great facilitators. As a seller you should be focusing on your buyer's experience overall as much as you do on your actual craft.

5) The promoted gigs feature is not as simple as I initially suspected it to be. It's actually part of this new complex system that Fiverr has set up, as it is being fed with your gig's performance numbers constantly, in order to only promote the best gigs out there. It is also intertwined with the actual system that understands if you are relevant to what people are searching for.

So when you lose eligibility and can no longer promote a gig you used to be able to promote, this is an indicator of a "buyer satisfaction rate" slip-up, most likely on a gig performance level. By then of course it's too late to act upon it, but it is an indicator nonetheless.

6) Relevancy is calculated using a more complicated formula now. ASP (average selling price) on your gigs, is also now being calculated when determining where your gig is placed on search results, past performance matters more and is actually used to project future outcomes when Fiverr matches you with buyers, and this new Fiverr briefs feature is also trying to guide buyer's behavior and eliminate the need to search altogether. 

7) I noticed that the "returning buyer" metric is not just a nifty little animated badge you get on your profile to serve as a trust signal toward your prospects. It is actually a brand new metric that Fiverr uses to calculate performance. I was initially super-annoyed by it, as I am a Pro seller who has a higher barrier of entry due to pricing alone, so when I realized that Fiverr was valuing return buyers, I'm not going to lie, it felt like it was game-over for me.

But I did try to assess the situation and when it became apparent to me that it's a brand new metric that Fiverr will use to evaluate me, I pivoted and adjusted my gig strategy to compensate and stay relevant.

(me going back to the drawing board every time there's an algorithm update)

I have a birthday cake to go to, turning 41 today, so I will try to sum things up and give you some things to think about.

Fiverr is not a perfect system, nor does it try to be a fair system. (more on that on a future post)

It is doing its best to evaluate millions of gigs and hundreds of thousands of active sellers, to make sure it creates a perfect match to buyers that have their credit card at hand, ready to spend money.

It is constantly adding metrics, tools and data points, in an effort to perfect it formula and adapt to ever-changing buyer/seller behavior.

Whether we like it or not, by being a part of this platform, we have to realize that there is a system in place and that the only way to grow as a business and be favored by this system, is to understand its rules and what the system is trying to achieve.

Fiverr is making huge strides in understanding and mapping out buyer behavior, which is a good thing for us sellers.

But the most complicated part of Fiverr right now, is the system trying to evaluate seller performance on so many levels.  

OK so I kept talking about a really complex system, without being able to dive into as much details as I would like.

I also mentioned that indicators are important, but I also didn't want to have to reply to dozen of messages telling me that "there's no way the system would measure X Frank, that's totally not cool!"

But I think I can share this one theory that I have, that is also a really strong indicator to anyone who is willing to research their gigs and past performance.

Unfortunately, this is only for Seller Plus members, as I will mention a tool that is only available to them.

So here goes. 

Seller plus members are able to create special discount coupons, and then offer them to their past clients, in order to create more returning buyers and a stronger relationship between vendor/client.

Now here comes the important part:

You can't offer coupons willy-nilly. There are apparently some metrics that won't allow you to even see a past buyer in your list when trying to send coupons.

And here's my theory:

Since the list of past buyers available to you is based on the past 90 days, and since there is a visual indicator right there on the UI telling you that the system picked which buyers you get to see/send the coupons to, what if this is a good way to look into past buyers and figuring out what the system won't tell you:

A) either which type of buyer was a good match for your selling profile

or

B) which past orders affected your buyer satisfaction rate.

I am not in any way suggesting that you should rush on your coupons dashboard and try to look at that list to find out which buyers may have left a less than positive exit survey.  That's not the case.

I am simply saying that if Fiverr is trying to create great matches, and then it sort of/kind of tells you who wasn't a great match, maybe you can put the missing pieces together and see how you can improve moving forward.

This has not been proven, nor have I discussed this with anyone on Fiverr. (I don't think I want to do that)

I am bringing this up just to give you an example of what an existing indicator may be. 

Fiverr won't give you the formula, or a straight answer of how performance is calculated, but there are strong indicators peppers in throughout the UI telling you what Fiverr is looking for.

Long post over.

Welcome to Fiverr 3.1.

As always, I am here to answer any questions and feel free to share your experiences!

 

Thank you! 🎂

 

 

[lloydsolutions]

6 minutes ago, frank_d said:

Thank you! 🎂

Thank you Frank for another great topic.

Happy Birthday! Hope you are having a lovely day. 🙂

[frank_d]

Just now, lloydsolutions said:

Thank you Frank for another great topic.

Happy Birthday! Hope you are having a lovely day. 🙂

Thank you so much @lloydsolutions! I am having a great birthday, it's even better now that I got this traditional post out of the way.

Now on to enjoy some cake! 🙂 

[catwriter]

14 minutes ago, frank_d said:

this new Fiverr briefs feature is also trying to guide buyer's behavior and eliminate the need to search altogether. 

This part got me confused. Not the briefs, but Fiverr trying to eliminate the need to search. Isn't the very idea of Fiverr that buyers search for the service they need, and pick the one they like best? Instead of sellers bidding, sending custom offers to briefs, and so on?

Oh, and happy birthday!

[frank_d]

Just now, catwriter said:

This part got me confused. Not the briefs, but Fiverr trying to eliminate the need to search. Isn't the very idea of Fiverr that buyers search for the service they need, and pick the one they like best? Instead of sellers bidding, sending custom offers to briefs, and so on?

Oh, and happy birthday!

Hey @catwriter thank you!

Well yes, Fiverr is all for buyers searching for what they need and finding the best gigs offered on the platform.

But they are also trying to offer more efficient alternatives.

So for instance Fiverr Business Buyer’s have a sort of concierge that handles searching for them or making shortlists that reduce effort on the buyer’s part.

Fiverr briefs is also working in that regard: what if you don’t want to search but instead you want the system to suggest potentially relevant sellers, with custom offers right in your inbox.

They are not looking to shake things up and mess with the core business model, they are however looking on complimentary features and a way to improve/replace the BR feature.

[sabinespoems]

This post is actually a little Fiverr-related birthday gift for me, since it's my birthday today as well! Thank you for these insights and taking the time to break down the intricacies and somewhat elusiveness of the system into clear and concise language. I'll probably have to re-read it a couple of times to see how I can implement the between the lines tips & tricks, but I did have a question about the following;

25 minutes ago, frank_d said:

ASP (average selling price) on your gigs, is also now being calculated when determining where your gig is placed on search results

Of course Fiverr being a business values money. The more you make, the more interesting you are for them. But how does that translate to smaller sellers (like myself) who have an ASP of approximately $15 to $20? Does that in a way mean you're already 1-0 behind?  

And also, enjoy your cake and I hope you'll have a lovely day birthday-buddy! 🎈

[frank_d]

11 minutes ago, sabinespoems said:

This post is actually a little Fiverr-related birthday gift for me, since it's my birthday today as well! Thank you for these insights and taking the time to break down the intricacies and somewhat elusiveness of the system into clear and concise language. I'll probably have to re-read it a couple of times to see how I can implement the between the lines tips & tricks, but I did have a question about the following;

Of course Fiverr being a business values money. The more you make, the more interesting you are for them. But how does that translate to smaller sellers (like myself) who have an ASP of approximately $15 to $20? Does that in a way mean you're already 1-0 behind?  

And also, enjoy your cake and I hope you'll have a lovely day birthday-buddy! 🎈

Well happy birthday to you as well!

As for your question:

No you are not behind in any way.

ASP is only factored in as a way to determine relevancy.

Let me give you an example:

If Fiverr thinks that your gig is 90% relevant and then 8 other gigs are also precisely 90% relevant to a buyer’s search, then it will proceed to rank those gigs in order by looking at the ASP.

Now to clarify: I am not talking about the price tag on the gig’s packages.

I am talking about the rolling 90 day average of your sales for that period of time.

So this system is not meant to punish lower priced gigs, it is however incentivizing sellers who can upsell.

And because relevancy factors in initial price point you will never be put in a position to complete with a Pro gig priced 10x what you offer. Those may be peppered in there by Fiverr but buyer behavior is key and if your buyer is looking at $15-$20 gigs you will always come on top.

It is also a great way to cut the BS. I see sellers offering $500 gigs that could have 10 reviews already but all of them were made to “friends and family” for $5-$10.

Fiverr will bury those gigs so far down search results you need a metal detector to find them.

[donnovan86]

Enjoy your birthday Frank, have fun! I didn't realize it was your birthday, sorry. I do hope you have a wonderful time!

[frank_d]

16 minutes ago, donnovan86 said:

Enjoy your birthday Frank, have fun! I didn't realize it was your birthday, sorry. I do hope you have a wonderful time!

No need to apologize @donnovan86

Thank you!

[newsmike]

@frank_d So we get a gift on your birthday!. Another great set of insights. The ASP part is very interesting.  Maybe we all need to work harder to ask "Do you want fries with that?" in order to move the needle with gig extra upsells.

I hope you have the best birthday ever.

 

[frank_d]

5 minutes ago, newsmike said:

@frank_d So we get a gift on your birthday!. Another great set of insights. The ASP part is very interesting.  Maybe we all need to work harder to ask "Do you want fries with that?" in order to move the needle with gig extra upsells.

I hope you have the best birthday ever.

 

Thank you Mike!

I agree, this is a great way to react to an indicator that surfaces.

ASP is important and if can move the needle either by up-selling or by positioning yourself in a way that you are able to catch bigger fish when they land on your inbox.

So again, being an experienced seller and a great facilitator will get you to a place where if an opportunity to sell a higher ticket item presents itself you will be able to close and execute.

I think being able to create higher priced custom offers on a gig will yield greater results vs relying solely on gig extras.

[newsmike]

19 minutes ago, frank_d said:

I think being able to create higher priced custom offers on a gig will yield greater results vs relying solely on gig extras.

So the people who give discounts, or toss in usage rights, etc for free to get the sale, will actually be slowing their progress as opposed to those who hold the line.  Can you have a discount?

 

Edited March 20, 2022 by newsmike

[vickiespencer]

 

1 hour ago, frank_d said:

I have a birthday cake to go to, turning 41 today, so I will try to sum things up and give you some things to think about.

Happy Birthday, Frank. 🎉  🎂 🍨  🎁

It just so happens that I will be 71 in 5 days, so I am exactly 30 years older than you are. However, I have only sold on Fiverr since 2017. So, you are a senior citizen compared to me there!  👴🏻

I have noticed for some time now that I get maybe one order on the weekend. Most of my orders are placed on Monday and dwindle from there, which is fine with me, as it gives me the weekend to complete my orders or do other things. My theory has been that this happens because I have more Fiverr Select and Business buyers. What do you think? 🤔

[vickiespencer]

4 minutes ago, newsmike said:

So the people who refuse to give discounts, or toss in usage rights, etc for free to get the sale, will actually be slowing their progress as opposed to those who hold the line. 

I always hold the line! I even have a QR all ready to go when someone asks for a discount. Lol, some even say, "Of course for this "large" of an order we will get a discount." Lol, Nope! 🚫! I do not care to do more work for LESS 💰. I want to thank you @newsmike for your post about raising prices and the reasons to do so. I took it to ♥️ 🥰.

Edited March 20, 2022 by vickiespencer

[newsmike]

16 minutes ago, vickiespencer said:

I always hold the line! I even have a QR all ready to go when someone asks for a discount. Lol, some even say, "Of course for this "large" of an order we will get a discount." Lol, Nope! 🚫! I do not care to do more work for LESS 💰. I want to thank you @newsmike for your post about raising prices and the reasons to do so. I took it to ♥️ 🥰.

I am glad that you are realizing some additional success with higher rates. The people who ask for  discounts are funny.  It makes sense if you are buying goods, like a 24 pack of toothbrushes that you get a discount, but not when you are paying for someone's time.  It's like, "You get $25 per hour to paint walls, buy I'll pay you $10 per hour if you paint 5 of them for me." I have never set a QR for that, I usually play confused and say, "I don't understand, why are you asking me to work for less than my standard wages."  Works great. 

Edited March 20, 2022 by newsmike

[vickiespencer]

8 minutes ago, newsmike said:

"I don't understand, why are you asking me to work for less than my standard wages."  Works great. 

My QR was one that I got from @catwriterearly on in my Fiverr career. I say it is not fair to my regular buyers who pay full price. That works great too. I am wondering how they respond to you asking them the question you do? 

 

[frank_d]

29 minutes ago, vickiespencer said:

 

Happy Birthday, Frank. 🎉  🎂 🍨  🎁

It just so happens that I will be 71 in 5 days, so I am exactly 30 years older than you are. However, I have only sold on Fiverr since 2017. So, you are a senior citizen compared to me there!  👴🏻

I have noticed for some time now that I get maybe one order on the weekend. Most of my orders are placed on Monday and dwindle from there, which is fine with me, as it gives me the weekend to complete my orders or do other things. My theory has been that this happens because I have more Fiverr Select and Business buyers. What do you think? 🤔

Thank you Vickie!

Well it’s hard to say without insights on what gig they are ordering, if they are repeat buyers, what’s their niche and what the average order is about.

But that’s actually a good place to start looking at buyer behavior on your end.

If you can figure out why you get most of your orders on Mondays, you can essentially optimize your entire pipeline and also be proactive when it comes to buyer needs.

[newsmike]

3 minutes ago, vickiespencer said:

I am wondering how they respond to you asking them the question you do? 

Probably 80% just say, let's proceed, and forget the discount. Some disappear, or say, no thanks.  

[vickiespencer]

6 minutes ago, newsmike said:

Probably 80% just say, let's proceed, and forget the discount. Some disappear, or say, no thanks.  

I would say 95% say, "Okay, I understand." The other 5% say that is higher than my budget." and leave. I do not remember any that merely go away.

 

8 minutes ago, frank_d said:

Well it’s hard to say without insights on what gig they are ordering, if they are repeat buyers, what’s their niche and what the average order is about.

But that’s actually a good place to start looking at buyer behavior on your end.

If you can figure out why you get most of your orders on Mondays, you can essentially optimize your entire pipeline and also be proactive when it comes to buyer needs.

It looks like I need to do some research and analyzing.

 

Edited March 20, 2022 by vickiespencer

[catwriter]

10 hours ago, frank_d said:

They are not looking to shake things up and mess with the core business model, they are however looking on complimentary features and a way to improve/replace the BR feature.

Thank you for the clarification!

Here's something you didn't mention, and I'm not sure if you've even had a reason to notice it: Fiverr has recently added this to their search (or at least I've noticed it recently):

 

It doesn't show up for all search terms (maybe Fiverr doesn't have enough data for all services to calculate it).

I guess it might be interested to others in this topic to check where their gig falls in. 🙂

Edited March 21, 2022 by catwriter

[frank_d]

10 minutes ago, catwriter said:

Thank you for the clarification!

Here's something you didn't mention, and I'm not sure if you've even had a reason to notice it: Fiverr has recently added this to their search (or at least I've noticed it recently):

 

It doesn't show up for all search terms (maybe Fiverr doesn't have enough data for all services to calculate it).

I guess it might be interested to others in this topic to check where their gig falls in. 🙂

Thank you for sharing that, I hadn’t noticed.

It’s something that definitely ties in with what they are trying to do with briefs and to be honest, I had suggested this feature a few months back. 
 

I’ll try some searches and see how it works.

[animie_video]

Happy birthday Frank and all thanks to you for sharing these insights.
Still trying to absorb all of this in my head to understand better

[gongor32]

1 hour ago, catwriter said:

Here's something you didn't mention, and I'm not sure if you've even had a reason to notice it: Fiverr has recently added this to their search (or at least I've noticed it recently):

I have found this when searching for an illustrator in search bar. Maybe it's the reason I am getting less messages than my average. 🤔 I am pretty sure people are more interested in value part. 

[miiila]

14 hours ago, frank_d said:

but this is not a brand new thesis. 

Sooooo disappointing! You should be stripped of your Grand Master forum crown, effect immediate 😉 But no worries about my pitchfork, it has "for The TRICKS For Guaranteed Fiverr Success, #1 Stay Online 24 Hours... threads" carved into its handle 😉 

No, thanks for your insights, as always, and extra brownie points for the Foil Arms and Hog GIF, love those guys!

Your coupon theory is interesting, and, at least as far as I noticed, coupons haven't really been a topic on the forum so far, yay, but I'll read the whole .1 more thoroughly and ponder the coupons thing and my own theory some more, before adding a substantial post, or not, but, most importantly, Happy Birthday, before I'm too late! Good luck, health, success, and everything for your new year in life! 🍀

Enjoy your cake. 🎂

[miiila]

12 hours ago, vickiespencer said:

I have noticed for some time now that I get maybe one order on the weekend. Most of my orders are placed on Monday and dwindle from there, which is fine with me, as it gives me the weekend to complete my orders or do other things. My theory has been that this happens because I have more Fiverr Select and Business buyers. What do you think? 🤔

Similar niche and similar experience here. Quite some time ago already, I even moved a regular Monday "duty" that I had, to Tuesdays because of this, as it just made a lot of sense to have that extra time on Mondays vs. Tuesdays.