Sticker Shock

[squirrelyfreela]

Hello and thank you in advance to everyone who responds to my question. 

I am new and reading a lot through the Fiverr resources and all over however, I seem to have missed a detail someplace. Now of course just because I did not see it does not mean it is not written someplace. I may need to clean my glasses if it is indeed written. Here is my shocker moment and why I have come to you. 

When posting my gig I looked at a lot of other gigs to get an idea of what time frame and price range I should be listing my gig at with what is offered in the gig. So I decided to price in a comparable range as underpricing is an undercut to those who are rocking it making customers ask that "why aren't you selling at $10 questions. as if that was the real value of the work) and an insult to yourself too low of a price. (I mean really, our conversion is not at 3X's the exchange which makes me wonder still, why charge so low? This seems like poor thinking to me. If you are at a conversion of 2 or 3X yet the going rate in that area is more, why still undercut? Just list at the same relatable rate in that area and your conversion would make even more for you. But that is not my question sorry, I digress.) So, I posted the comparable price and then when all was done hit publish and review. The selling price was altered to 35.22% higher than what I listed the price at, I looked for why this happened since the only thing I could find is that we are paid 80% of the selling price of each gig. So, naturally I am surprised to see and additional 35.22% added to what I listed.  

My questions:

Why is there 35.22% added to my price?

Is it that I am paid 80% of the total price Fiverr listed or of what I listed originally? If what I listed originally then that would mean Fiverr actually makes 55.22% not the 20% as stated in the statement "You are paid 80%"

Again, if this is indeed written someplace my apologies, I did not find it. And there is a lot of places to read in the Fiverr information load.

Thank you for anyone who responds in helping my understand what this is.

[joyh97]

Hi there - 

On top of the 20% that fiverr takes from you, the seller, the buyer also has to pay a fee on their side. This is in addition to the 20% fiverr takes from the seller.

If you mean your actual base listing price changed, I've never seen that, the price advertised on my gigs is the price I set.

---

" So I decided to price in a comparable range as underpricing is an undercut to those who are rocking it " - while this isn't part of the question, I do feel I should address this - those who are pricing themselves at the average fiverr range, with plenty of reviews and respect on the platform etc, can price themselves at that range because they provide added value to the customer in terms of up front trustworthiness about the quality of service they can provide.

When someone hires a seller with 0 reviews, they are essentially having to take on risk, and I do think that should be factored into your price point.

The kind of buyer looking for a seller at a low rate, who is willing to take on this risk in exchange for this discount, is not the same type of buyer who is happily spending extra money to pay for the added value that an established seller provides through their extensive live portfolio, hundreds of reviews, etc. For this reason, I did want to say that you might be shooting yourself in the foot by viewing an initial introductory discount as undercutting others. Finding buyers willing to take a risk on you in order to get those first few reviews in is an essential part of succeeding on fiverr, and often one of the biggest hurdles. 
As long as you frame your lower price point as a limited time introductory offer, and then raise your prices once you get a few reviews in, I personally don't think this is a negative or harmful approach.

[squirrelyfreela]

1 hour ago, joyh97 said:

Hi there - 

On top of the 20% that fiverr takes from you, the seller, the buyer also has to pay a fee on their side. This is in addition to the 20% fiverr takes from the seller.

If you mean your actual base listing price changed, I've never seen that, the price advertised on my gigs is the price I set.

---

" So I decided to price in a comparable range as underpricing is an undercut to those who are rocking it " - while this isn't part of the question, I do feel I should address this - those who are pricing themselves at the average fiverr range, with plenty of reviews and respect on the platform etc, can price themselves at that range because they provide added value to the customer in terms of up front trustworthiness about the quality of service they can provide.

When someone hires a seller with 0 reviews, they are essentially having to take on risk, and I do think that should be factored into your price point.

The kind of buyer looking for a seller at a low rate, who is willing to take on this risk in exchange for this discount, is not the same type of buyer who is happily spending extra money to pay for the added value that an established seller provides through their extensive live portfolio, hundreds of reviews, etc. For this reason, I did want to say that you might be shooting yourself in the foot by viewing an initial introductory discount as undercutting others. Finding buyers willing to take a risk on you in order to get those first few reviews in is an essential part of succeeding on fiverr, and often one of the biggest hurdles. 
As long as you frame your lower price point as a limited time introductory offer, and then raise your prices once you get a few reviews in, I personally don't think this is a negative or harmful approach.

Thank you for your feedback, I agree to some point. You would of course know more and I however, my prices are at a lower price than the experts as I stated I set them comparable, not at exact prices.  I did consider that I am the new one here and my prices are lower but not undercut lower as that is an insult to myself and my skills as well to others. It's like hiring a cleaning person to clean your home. You can hire a very good cleaner for $38/hr or you can hire a good cleaner who doesn't know their value or they just want to undercut others to take the jobs away at a rate $10/hr. Why would anyone do that? It's insulting to the $38 hr person as well the undercutter. Sure they get more work but the type of customer also changes. Comparable pricing is offer $28 or $30 per hour, not the insulting $15. I hope that makes more sense of what I was talking about there. If I am wrong thinking for the Fiverr platform I suppose I will find that out. 

For my actual question here's an example, I set me price at $40 for basic package and after published the price was now $54.09. The same was done to each of the gig levels. A 35.22% increase on each one. Clearly this is not the price I originally set it at. This is what I am asking about. If you don't have that issue than perhaps I should be directing my question to customer support. If this is not experienced by others is this a newbie thing? or a glitch? or Fiverr going in a new direction? I don't know. 

Thank you for your feedback, I really do appreciate the support and time taken to reply. 

[smashradio]

Actually, I remember seeing something about Fiverr testing out different price points on gigs with the goal of increasing sales and revenue for the buyers (and Fiverr).

I can't remember where I read it now. How annoying! But I swear I saw something about it. The fee for the buyers certainly isn't 35%, and that fee isn't showed on the gig, but during checkout. 

Either way, I'd contact support and ask if this is the case. 

I know Fiverr loves to do A/B-testing all the time on absolutely everything, so I wouldn't be surprised if they are increasing your rates for some buyers to see if it works well or not. But making changes to seller pricing without asking is...questionable? Now I'm not 100% sure on this. Maybe my memory is failing. But damn, I'm so sure I read that somewhere. 

Maybe @frank_d knows something? 

Oh well. I hope you find out what's going on! Keep us updated, yeah? 😄

[mariashtelle1]

3 hours ago, smashradio said:

Actually, I remember seeing something about Fiverr testing out different price points on gigs with the goal of increasing sales and revenue for the buyers (and Fiverr).

 

That was only for a LogoMaker tool, not for gigs 

 

5 hours ago, squirrelyfreela said:

For my actual question here's an example, I set me price at $40 for basic package and after published the price was now $54.09.

Did you check the currency that is displayed when you published your gig? 
You chose prices in US dollars when setting up your prices however when you open the gig it might be showing it in CAD as your browser probably set to CAD

[squirrelyfreela]

9 hours ago, smashradio said:

Actually, I remember seeing something about Fiverr testing out different price points on gigs with the goal of increasing sales and revenue for the buyers (and Fiverr).

I can't remember where I read it now. How annoying! But I swear I saw something about it. The fee for the buyers certainly isn't 35%, and that fee isn't showed on the gig, but during checkout. 

Either way, I'd contact support and ask if this is the case. 

I know Fiverr loves to do A/B-testing all the time on absolutely everything, so I wouldn't be surprised if they are increasing your rates for some buyers to see if it works well or not. But making changes to seller pricing without asking is...questionable? Now I'm not 100% sure on this. Maybe my memory is failing. But damn, I'm so sure I read that somewhere. 

Maybe @frank_d knows something? 

Oh well. I hope you find out what's going on! Keep us updated, yeah? 😄

Wow what a great reply, even if your memory is... possibly... failing? haha just kidding. Seriously though, thank you  and I love the reply, very informative. Yes I did send a question to support staff, just waiting a reply. 

Oh and don't feel like you're getting old, my mind was lost years ago, I just pretend it still works. 🙂 

[frank_d]

I don’t think there’s any program/initiative on Fiverr that tests out inflating the gig price after you publish it.

My gut feeling is that the gig price was set to a different currency than the one the OP is viewing the published gig in.

A screenshot of the gig price when listed and when in gig edit mode would be helpful.

[uk1000]

I'm sure @mariashtelle1and @frank_d are correct when they talked about the currency.

When you create a gig I'm sure that's in USD like has been said. So you entered $40 for your basic gig price (in USD). When you view your gig normally you check the very bottom of the page to see the currency you're browser is set to display when viewing gigs and you can change it there. But for me it also shows the full currency name before the gig price when viewing gigs.

Viewing your gig, and changing what currency it displays using the option at the bottom of the page:

Basic Price US$40

Basic Price CA$54.44

You said selling price was altered to 35.22% higher. 40+(35.22% of 40)=54.09 approx. So it's roughly the US to CA $ exchange rate difference that Fiverr uses (and maybe the exchange rate used by Fiverr has changed a bit since you created and first viewed the gig).

[squirrelyfreela]

11 hours ago, frank_d said:

I don’t think there’s any program/initiative on Fiverr that tests out inflating the gig price after you publish it.

My gut feeling is that the gig price was set to a different currency than the one the OP is viewing the published gig in.

A screenshot of the gig price when listed and when in gig edit mode would be helpful.

Thank you for your reply, that is an excellent thought. But wow! that's a huge difference hey? wow. 

[squirrelyfreela]

10 hours ago, uk1000 said:

I'm sure @mariashtelle1and @frank_d are correct when they talked about the currency.

When you create a gig I'm sure that's in USD like has been said. So you entered $40 for your basic gig price (in USD). When you view your gig normally you check the very bottom of the page to see the currency you're browser is set to display when viewing gigs and you can change it there. But for me it also shows the full currency name before the gig price when viewing gigs.

Viewing your gig, and changing what currency it displays using the option at the bottom of the page:

Basic Price US$40

Basic Price CA$54.44

You said selling price was altered to 35.22% higher. 40+(35.22% of 40)=54.09 approx. So it's roughly the US to CA $ exchange rate difference that Fiverr uses (and maybe the exchange rate used by Fiverr has changed a bit since you created and first viewed the gig).

Thank you for your reply. How did you get it to show the currency name? But I agree, I am sure that was my error and misunderstanding. I had not thought of the exchange rate at all. I guess I am still not thinking inflation as the exchange wasn't so bad prior. 

[smashradio]

18 hours ago, mariashtelle1 said:

That was only for a LogoMaker tool, not for gigs 

There you have it! Thanks for clearing that up. Seems my memory IS failing me. 😂