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What's your thoughts on Advanced Rating System (ARS)?

thepromogirl

By thepromogirl
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jtengle Rookie

jtengle

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Okay, I’m going to make one last post on the subject and then I’m done. There’s no point in fighting the star system because it seems clear it’s here to stay.



So instead, like others have mentioned, we need an effective buyer rating system. This would need to include limiting buyers to one account (a PayPal account can only be linked to one username, etc to provide a safeguard against creating multiples).



A major competitior that connects freelancers with buyers across all service industries uses the star system much more effectively than fiverr. They include a buyer rating system. You rate them on communication, whether payment was released from escrow in a timely fashion and whether you would work with them again.



On fiverr a version of those things would be helpful to know. I’d like to know if they provide the required information, if they have a high rate of mutual cancellations and if other sellers feel comfortable with them as repeat buyers.



When I receive a new order I can review the buyer’s profile and see if he’ll be a good client or if he’s likely to be abusive or might request a refund (ie; getting free work). Then, and here’s the kicker, I should be able to make a choice as to whether or not I accept the project. If I decline fiverr could post a message saying I declined because perhaps I was too busy or whatever and present him with a list of relevant gigs.

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anarchofighter Enthusiast

anarchofighter

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ozzieuk said: Reply to @ezinearticles4u: I just checked your gigs you have 100% rating across the board with orders in your queue. Can you say specifically that the star rating is affecting you and how, do you have analytics to share with us here?

 

I too tend to be suspicious of claims like this.

 

Likewise, claims to the contrary.

 

We as humans are wired to attribute agency and that's why our evidence and methodology for collecting it has to be solid.

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anarchofighter Enthusiast

anarchofighter

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ozzieuk said: I know for sure just this week I have seen 3 new faces on support tickets I've sent in

 

I have been told that the "faces" on the tickets may not be trusted.

 

ozzieuk said: Reply to @markp: You're right, there was a bug. Some reviews came as 1 star but with postive comments, I believe that those issues should now be resolved as of a week ago.

 

That's all very interesting.

 

When I contacted CS it was a noisy situation. Evidently, between the time I contacted them and the ticket was handled the buyer deleted the feedback.

 

Though I did provide pictures, I was not told that 3-stars negative was a bug or a known one. SO maybe at that time CS didn't know either.

 

IT is certainly PROPER for 3-stars to be "positive" because "satisfactory" is positive.

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anarchofighter Enthusiast

anarchofighter

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ozzieuk said:
thepromogirl said: threatened and bullied by male buyers because of our gender and how they think we 'should' look when it comes to filming.

 

 

I would hope Customer Support are objective enough to recognise this behaviour from buyers, do you have incidents you could share where they where they were not, and sided with the buyer?

 

That is asking too much of people since sexism is systematic in patriarchy.

 

Male privilege simply exists. Does it mean we should feel bad for being male-identfied? No, but it means that without a whole lot of very specialized training, experiences, or a great dose of fortune, ...we will not see sexism where it is and how it is.

 

Sure, we can get it if it's "blatant" but that's the problem, most blatant sexists have gone. It's now covert and insidious.

 

 

http://fiverr.com/support//cdnec20.fiverrcdn.com/assets/v2_backgrounds/bg-homepage-welcome-video-2cafbc46fcac2bbb8ffa5180b6b3f169.jpg

Fiverr: Graphics, marketing, fun, and more online services for $5

http://fiverr.com

 

 

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anarchofighter Enthusiast

anarchofighter

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thepromogirl said: Right there with you, I've started moving more outside Fiverr. I came here because it was fun, relatively easy, and stress free way to make extra money.

 

This is the biggest, invisible cost of the ARS

 

It's the reason that the system needs to go even if some think or even want it to stay.

 

The rush of great talent that is being lost and denied to buyers is a travesty.

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anarchofighter Enthusiast

anarchofighter

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ozzieuk said: How about the flip side of this though; the buyer still had a thumbs down button. What would prevent them from using it in this same scenario ?

 

I think the standard isn't "prevention" ...

 

The standard is incentive.

 

Giving 1000 cases like this... 500 of them with a Seller A in the Review vs a Seller B under the Rating System.

 

Seller A - will have to make fewer refunds to keep a 100% review ranking (and thus 5-stars).

Seller B - will have few if any situations where they get 4 or 5, a goodly number at 3-stars, and many they could try to refund at 2 and 1 star.

 

So, while the Review System is not a GUARANTEE against a negative review...it is still a better situation in the aggregate.

 

Additionally, we wouldn't want it any other way.

 

That's why there's a thumbs down at all.

 

To express dissatisfaction.

 

The fault in our stars is that there will always be ambiguity AND there will also be buyers who feel the stars are like reviews of a property. And that 4 or 3 stars is a serious deficiency.

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anarchofighter Enthusiast

anarchofighter

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fayestap said: There is a psychological shift that takes place when you start talking about 5 star experiences.

 

5 star hotel. 5 star meal. 5 star gig experience....

 

You response here is a 5-star example of consequential thinking.

 

The standard is not ...show there is no way to abuse the Review system,...

 

But rather, what is not being incentivized and what is the schedule of reinforcement.

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anarchofighter Enthusiast

anarchofighter

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goodgift said: Reply to @ozzieuk: The very last piece of feedback I received before shutting down was “Not great.”

 

Actually you didn't get that feedback at all.

 

That was one of those automatically generated fake reviews.

 

Fiverr is putting words to the star ratings that someone doesn't take time themselves to do. Which is another problem with the ARS.

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anarchofighter Enthusiast

anarchofighter

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bjbravo said: Sorry for my bad English

BJ

 

Your English was totally comprehensible.

 

The flaw rests in your logic. As Wayne responded, you share your personal experience so far. But anecdote is not data.

 

When there are options and enough outcomes, every possible thing will happen. You, so far, (and maybe forever) have gotten the best of all possible worlds ...perhaps by chance.

 

While others have gotten one of the much worse possible outcomes ...on their first order.

 

Keep selling and keep considering this issue, not just personally, but globally.

 

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anarchofighter Enthusiast

anarchofighter

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ryuken said: Best solution, to improve this system is - adding the buyers own rating on their profile, their weight to others should affect. e.g. If one of the buyer constantly getting 1 star from sellers, his rating on other seller should not affect much.

 

While I'm generally not interested in trying to "improve" the system.

 

This is an interesting solution. It's actually vastly better than a "reject buyer" button.

 

If in effect a buyers' feedback is 0-impact for 1 star, 10% for 2 stars, 50% for 3-stars, 90% for 4 stars and 100% for 5 stars, that lets someone take a 1 star buyer and not have to worry!

 

All that being said, it's still too easy for someone to buy a gig from a friend, get a 5-star rating...then come to you a competitor and 1star you with 100% impact.

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anarchofighter Enthusiast

anarchofighter

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Reply to @looknofurther1:



Sadly it doesn’t work both ways.



Your rating of a buyer has no impact on them nor does it protect future sellers.



Finally, it will not separate the mediocre from the stellar …it will separate two stellar sellers by pure chance of the distribution of subjectivity.



We LIKE to think we’re in control of our future and have choice and power. But with the ARS we do not.

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bjbravo Contributor

bjbravo

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anarchofighter said: While others have gotten one of the much worse possible outcomes ...on their first order.

 

May indeed be so lucky this maybe on my side in a certain part, but I can remember I've found clarmente buyers who have really made my life tables, at the time I entered quiet and just do my best to please them well is more than simply agreed to have a good review.

 

It is true that in certain occasions but I think maybe abuse is the price to be paid by buyers at this time have the power.

 

And I'm still watchful eye on as it continues to affect overall levels of sales users and in my own way.

 

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lordixe Newbie

lordixe

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The bad of this new system is that there are some people who will never feel its right to rate people 5 star in the 3 aspect of the rating. NO! even they themselves can’t seems to rate 5star over 5 star for themselves not to talk of a stranger. The Thumb up or Thumb down was the perfect rating system I will have love to have on fiverr.

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emasonwrites Apprentice

emasonwrites

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I was very frustrated and very wary of this system when it first appeared on my profile, and after reading some of the very negative early experiences with the system (buyers who gave three stars but wrote “That was great, will be back!” for example), I was extremely dismayed, especially because it seemed like Fiverr was pretty much ignoring our opinion on the matter.



Now that it’s been in for, what, a month (?), I can say that biggest negative for me is that it is just too much work for the buyer. This has been discussed at length by others. I’ll just say that basically none of my buyers are leaving ratings anymore and those that do, do so because I’ve asked them specifically to and I know they’ll leave me five stars.



I’m panicking less. That’s not to say that I’m in love with the system. I’ve read enough amazon and yelp reviews to know that there will always be people who refuse to leave a five star review, even if the product is essentially perfect (or at least, exactly what was promised).



I think we need to wait and see how things play out. Realistically, this could work out just fine for us. We’ll keep getting high scores as we keep delivering quality product, like they said in that condescending post about how we can take advantage of the new star system. Sure, a 5.0 might be impossible to attain or maintain, but 4.5 might become the new normal and buyers will learn not to have any problem purchasing from someone who has a less than perfect rating–a rating that in the thumbs system might have indicated some serious problems, but in the new one, is just the new equilibrium, the new signifier of quality.



I still see the system as being deeply flawed–what each star means needs to be better clarified and be less subjective. If buyers give us three separate star ratings, why don’t we give them three separate star ratings? And most of all, the star ratings should show up on the their profile, so we can quickly click through and see if the buyer has a history of being unreasonable or over-demanding.



That being said, I am willing to wait and see what happens. I’m incredibly grateful to have found this website and for the business it has allowed me to start, so I’m not going to jump ship quite yet.

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gingerwriter Newbie

gingerwriter

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Reply to @thepromogirl: Exactly! Buyers ratings should be reflected on their profiles. how hard would that be? It still wouldn’t effect their ability to buy gigs, but at least it could give sellers and buyers a better understanding of the ‘bully’ buyers that we all experience on Fiverr and why they rate the way that they do.

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gingerwriter Newbie

gingerwriter

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Reply to @jtengle: I love this idea! It would be more of a freelance website instead of an outright 'you work for us regardless of how the buyer treats you, and oh btw if you don’t provide 5 star service your ratings will drop. Thanks for working for us!'



Fantastic! Now, how can we get them to implement this…

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alliemadison12 Enthusiast

alliemadison12

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ozzieuk said: I would hope Customer Support are objective enough to recognise this behaviour from buyers, do you have incidents you could share where they where they were not, and sided with the buyer?

 

Hi, just wanted to pop in here! I just got caught up on the whole discussion. Unfortunately, I can recall one specific instance last year when a buyer told me I looked ugly and left a bad review. I was obviously really upset and hurt by that, but customer service suggested that I should redo it :O Another time a few months ago, a buyer refused to pay my gig "extra" for an outfit request, and left a negative review because the shirt I wore was too loose. Once again, CS said I should redo it. I believe I cancelled both because the whole concept of getting a negative review for not wearing a tight shirt blew my mind.

 

Like the previous video girls have said before, it's tough being rated for how we look, speak, talk, etc. Granted, that's our choice and we have think skin, but being rated on a 5 star system almost belittles us to objects that are rated on amazon, you know? Thumbs up/ down was down to the point.

 

I actually have had more buyers not rate my orders at all than ever before.

 

Another two things I wanted to add to the forum....

 

#1. It's always an awkward situation when I have to explain to buyers who ordered my gigs they owe more money to get what they want. (ex. buyer sends 100 word script for a $5 video when that costs $10.) They can mark me down a few stars because they might think I am charging too much, etc.

 

#2. So far, most of my ratings have been 5 stars. For the occasional order when I receive less than that, however, I message buyers to make sure everything was okay and if there's anything they would want me to do differently. So far, *most* of the buyers have said that they left 5 stars in each category and they weren't sure why less showed. The other buyers had no complaints, and felt that 4 stars was good. Has anyone else experienced that?

 

I do have to admit though that the system isn't as bad as I initially experienced. I am thankful that Fiverr does not hold cancellations against sellers and it is pretty easy to tell before even completing an order if a buyer is going to be difficult or not. I do not hesitate to cancel orders anymore. It's interesting to see how each seller feels about this rating system. There seems to be a connection between what sort of service is offered.

http://fiverr.com/support//cdnec20.fiverrcdn.com/assets/v2_backgrounds/bg-homepage-welcome-video-2cafbc46fcac2bbb8ffa5180b6b3f169.jpg

Fiverr: Graphics, marketing, fun, and more online services for $5

http://fiverr.com

 

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thepromogirl Rookie

thepromogirl

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alliemadison12 said: customer service suggested that I should redo it :O Another time a few months ago, a buyer refused to pay my gig "extra" for an outfit request, and left a negative review because the shirt I wore was too loose. Once again, CS said I should redo it.

 

I've been told this exact same thing. I actually had to fight them (Customer Service) to cancel an order where a guy was asking me to really weird (I forget exactly what, but I know it was fetish related, because I looked it up and found the material on YouTube and seen other girls on film that were from Fiverr, which led to a fetish site where they sold the videos).

 

The guy was refusing to cancel and was fighting with me because I quote "didn't have anything against funny/prank videos" on noted Gig description. Customer Service was suggesting I filmed it, and asked me what the issue was when I said no. I basically had to tell them it was for a porn/fetish site and I wasn't going to be forced or subjected to such material when my Gig is clearly for scripted video reviews.

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