Fiverr should finally abandon $5 gigs

[newsmike]

Going to the movies used to cost a 24 cents... in 1920. Because of inflation, it is now more like $10. This along with the fact that Fiverr suffers from the nostalgia of branding itself as "Get anything for $5", has kept it anchored at that entry price point for 10 years. Meanwhile, other forces besides inflation have kept Fiverr with one foot in the past, while struggling to move into 2023. Among these, more competition. Fiverr is not the only freelance site, and tries to maintain the "big tent" mentality by allowing all price points including $5, while also trying to launch quality oriented initiatives to enhance their image, such as PRO and Fiverr Business. Of course this is attempting to mix oil and water. It doesn't work. Cheapness and quality are exact polar opposites.

The big news in retail lately is that the dollar stores are raising their prices not only to respond to inflation, but to allow themselves to maintain and improve their inventory selection. If they didn't do this, there would soon be nothing on the shelf that could be sold for $1 that would attract any buyers. The longer these stores, maintain the $1 price point the more outdated, cheap and irrelevant they become. 

For this reason Fiverr need to finally leave behind the $5 pricing option, forcing all gigs to a higher price point. Let's face it, $5 was a great gimmick to launch the brand with memorable branding, but now with inflation, competition and the flood of low quality $5 gigs flooding the site, it does nothing to build the quality image that Fiverr seems to be inching toward. I believe they know they must take some steps to one day purge the fake, low quality and scam gigs. Perhaps if major retailers can reinvent while maintaining their branding, Fiverr can as well.

 

 

If Fiverr does not take the opportunity to raise the minimum entry we become a relic, flooded with 2012 pricing, quality and mentality. 

 

[newsmike]

Just now, corsogr said:

This is like a brain fart, I mean the comparison with the dollar shop chain.

Thanks for the thoughtful and intelligent analysis. 

[newsmike]

@corsogr Or perhaps, maybe you would care to deconstruct my arguments, and offer something as a counter point, you know an actual discussion?  Otherwise, let the adults who can read and comprehend have a discussion.

Edited December 30, 2022 by newsmike

[katakatica]

Honestly, $5 gets me almost nothing here - but what's worse is that even where I'm from (Hungary) it's barely enough for anything at this point! When I started freelancing, it'd been enough to earn about $1500 a month (after taxes) to get by pretty well. Now it's still a 'lot' but would be spent a LOT easier. I still believe that in some places it's different and people SHOULD be able to sell things for cheap, but maybe it should be limited to certain things?

Like I'd be happy to write... (okay, this is more Math than I'd like to do) a 50 word pitch or something for that amount but not a whole novel (which is still a thing and so very strange.) You could get a (real) graphic artist to have a look at your logo and say 'hey x can be improved' for that as well, but not actual logos?
In Hungary, we do say ' many little (things) will end up being worth a lot" (or something similar to that) and I think there IS truth to it but in this world it's getting harder. 

(that being said, I had lunch and a drink for like $12 today (in Sweden) so technically you can still find cheap things out in the 'open'. Will they be  as good as regular-priced items from the same place though? (Likely not. wasn't at least in our case.)

 

[vickiespencer]

34 minutes ago, newsmike said:

The longer these stores, maintain the $1 price point the more outdated, cheap and irrelevant they become. 

For this reason Fiverr need to finally leave behind the $5 pricing option, forcing all gigs to a higher price point.

Because of the economy in many third-world countries, sellers can afford to sell their services for $5 and still make a living if they are successful on Fiverr. Plus, once they start selling, they can adjust their offerings to sell less for the same price of $5. 

It is not the $5 minimum price point that bothers me, but the sellers on Fiverr who have no skills but open up shop anyhow. Vetting them would help the platform's reputation more. 

Edited December 30, 2022 by vickiespencer

[grayprogrammerz]

  

I don't know such businesses math as my mind isn't yet that old. 😅

But there's another factor: dollar rate which varies country to country.

Currently 1USD = 220PKR. Here you can buy cheap services. Like with 20PKR, we can get cooked corn seeds which can easily fill a hand.

And what really 20PKR gonna matter for you ? 20PKR = 0.09USD 😂
$5 is cheap for some and expensive for some depending upon country.

 

Also some services are repetitive, which I don't mind to sell them at $5.

Like known fiverr logo maker which has ready made logos, just edit and hit $5.

[newsmike]

36 minutes ago, katakatica said:

Honestly, $5 gets me almost nothing here

Good point. I was not suggesting that the $5 sellers be booted out of hand, just that Fiverr would benefit everyone if they said to those sellers "you must raise to $10" to remain active. In the case of those who don't raise to $10 minimum, then gigs could be deactivated. The seller benefits, Fiverr benefits, and honestly anyone who would pay $5 will pay $10. Everything else in the world is going up, so keeping someone who only earns $4 after 20% for Fiverr in 2023 seems insensitive to the fact that the sellers at $5 probably need the raise most of all. 

[newsmike]

38 minutes ago, vickiespencer said:

Because of the economy in many third-world countries, sellers can afford to sell their services for $5 and still make a living if they are successful on Fiverr.

And we are once again at the argument of "Is Fiverr a publicly traded company, which as such has only 1 responsibility, which is to maximize investor value, or is Fiverr a charity dedicated to providing low wage jobs and basic income in undeveloped nations?" There are many charities that do that, and many corporations that serve their investors. Fiverr can't be both. Not effectively, and not without suffering. Just look at all the threads we discuss elsewhere where Fiverr is considered a joke because of the lowball price point. 

Edited December 30, 2022 by newsmike

[vickiespencer]

1 minute ago, newsmike said:

And we are once again at the argument of "Is Fiverr a publicly traded company, which as such has only 1 responsibility, which is to maximize investor value, or is Fiverr a charity dedicated to providing income to undeveloped nations?" 

Even at a $5 starting point, Fiverr and the investors still get their 20% cut, and with the number of sellers from "undeveloped nations", I think that is not a small amount.

[newsmike]

Just now, vickiespencer said:

Even at a $5 starting point, Fiverr and the investors still get their 20% cut

Would you rather have 20% of $5 or $10?  That is a 100% increase on a tremendous amount of sales. 

[newsmike]

36 minutes ago, grayprogrammerz said:

$5 is cheap for some and expensive for some depending upon country.

That misses the point. My entire point was regarding the branding and business ramifications of keeping one foot in the bargain basement arena. You are coming at it from a different angle, which is one of poverty and charity, which has nothing to do with what I pointed out. It is a good topic and you may wish to start a new thread with that argument.  

[markp]

there are several issues here.

Getting people with respectability authority to sign up. Once they see the 5$ signs hanging over the shop window it puts them off. Regardless of what is going on the background people with authority in their respective fields do come here directly and don't like this. Its not just the price point for 5$ sellers that is the issue but the demographic they attract. Let me give you some examples. I bought someone on here a few months ago. They are a real authority in the vertical they are in. All I did was tell them to sign up and see how it goes, as a seller. within an hour they started asking questions about this and they did make some pointed comments.  A couple of months ago I tried to bring an influencer on here. This person knows anyone and everyone from the bottom of the society to the top. They are very astute and made comments about the same thing immediately.

The problem here is not the 5$ gigs. its the. 5$ gig buyers.. A lot of the problems being reported on here , the forum, would go if you got rid of them. people asking for discounts. Who with any degree of empathy is going to ask for a discount on a 5$ gig. People trying to do chargebacks because...they can. people asking for endless revisions (people offering them are to blame as well here).

To be honest even 10$ is too low and if you are arguing its too high you need to look at the services you are providing and the value they provide. It doesn't matter if you are in London, Paris, New York or in the middle of you know what nowhere, that does not determine your prices or your value. The value of your services do and people need to stop arguing about that, that only benefits tire kicking buyers on a 5$ budget who will hang you out to dry because they have no perception or understanding of value beyond pile em high and get em cheap. Prices do need to go up

 

 

[maitasun]

9 minutes ago, newsmike said:

Just look at all the threads we discuss elsewhere where Fiverr is considered a joke because of the lowball price point. 

It's not about the price point. It's about the low-quality services provided. You may start at $5 and still serve your customers with high-quality products. It's a matter of adjusting what is being offered for $5.

The problem here is:

1. Cheaters from all over the world, not just third-world countries, dumping the price serving crap and fooling buyers.
2. Cheap buyers that don't mind quality and prefer to hire cheaters for cheap prices, even though they know they're being cheated by those types of sellers. 

[newsmike]

1 minute ago, markp said:

there are several issues here.

Getting people with respectability authority to sign up. Once they see the 5$ signs hanging over the shop window it puts them off. Regardless of what is going on the background people with authority in their respective fields do come here directly and don't like this. Its not just the price point for 5$ sellers that is the issue but the demographic they attract. Let me give you some examples. I bought someone on here a few months ago. They are a real authority in the vertical they are in. All I did was tell them to sign up and see how it goes, as a seller. within an hour they started asking questions about this and they did make some pointed comments.  A couple of months ago I tried to bring an influencer on here. This person knows anyone and everyone from the bottom of the society to the top. They are very astute and made comments about the same thing immediately.

The problem here is not the 5$ gigs. its the. 5$ gig buyers.. A lot of the problems being reported on here , the forum, would go if you got rid of them. people asking for discounts. Who with any degree of empathy is going to ask for a discount on a 5$ gig. People trying to do chargebacks because...they can. people asking for endless revisions (people offering them are to blame as well here).

To be honest even 10$ is too low and if you are arguing its too high you need to look at the services you are providing and the value they provide. It doesn't matter if you are in London, Paris, New York or in the middle of you know what nowhere, that does not determine your prices or your value. The value of your services do and people need to stop arguing about that, that only benefits tire kicking buyers on a 5$ budget who will hang you out to dry because they have no perception or understanding of value beyond pile em high and get em cheap. Prices do need to go up

 

 

Yes, but sadly every time we discuss this, the argument that derails the topic comes from people who cannot distinguish between a business and an income providing charity. It seems most people cannot think beyond "It's not fair." Which is a great argument...if you are 5 years old. But there are businesses and there are charities. 

[newsmike]

6 minutes ago, maitasun said:

It's not about the price point. It's about the low-quality services provided. You may start at $5 and still serve your customers with high-quality products. It's a matter of adjusting what is being offered for $5.

The problem here is:

1. Cheaters from all over the world, not just third-world countries, dumping the price serving crap and fooling buyers.
2. Cheap buyers that don't mind quality and prefer to hire cheaters for cheap prices, even though they know they're being cheated by those types of sellers. 

How would you proceed if you wanted to shed the sweatshop image, and build toward the higher quality direction Fiverr seems to desire?

[moikchap]

This type of change would cut away the widest portion of the "funnel" system Fiverr uses. Lifting the base price would also raise a headwind on their globalization push, putting up a higher wall between buyers and sellers from developing nations (potentially reducing revenue the company gains from those regions by reducing total transactions more than it increases from the average per transaction). There could be a negative impact on buyer acquisition, on-boarding, and retention. Ideally, for discussions like these, I feel we should have some numbers so our thoughts look more like a data-driven decisions rather than theory-crafting.

I'm wondering things like:
- How many buyers never order a gig above $5?
- How many buyers make their first order at $5 compared to $10?
- How quickly does a buyer who started at $5 and then proceed to larger orders compared to starting at $10?
- What does the satisfaction rate for $5 orders look like compared to $10 orders?
- What does the cancellation rate for $5 orders look like compared to $10 orders?
- What is the CS burden for $5 orders compared to $10 orders?
- What percentage of Fiverr's revenue is from orders are made at the $5 tier compared to $10?
- How do these numbers look when comparing established markets versus new markets?

Like, sure, maybe $5 gigs are the new Buyer Request; a trivial component of business that's practicially vestigial and should be deprecated. If that's the case, they're actually more problems than they're worth. But, they may be a lynchpin given Fiverr's funnel process and globalization growth strategy. 

[newsmike]

5 minutes ago, moikchap said:

Like, sure, maybe $5 gigs are the new Buyer Request; a trivial component of business that's practicially vestigial and should be deprecated. If that's the case, they're actually more problems than they're worth. But, they may be a lynchpin given Fiverr's funnel process and globalization growth strategy. 

All great points. And unlike most businesses, Fiverr has been saddled with an image problem most businesses don't have to face. It has the identity crisis of trying to be the BMW and Kia dealership simultaneously. 

[markp]

8 minutes ago, newsmike said:

The problem here is:

1. Cheaters from all over the world, not just third-world countries, dumping the price serving crap and fooling buyers.
2. Cheap buyers that don't mind quality and prefer to hire cheaters for cheap prices, even though they know they're being cheated by those types of sellers. 

1. people selling crap as you put it will have a harder time justifying it if the base price doubles or trebles. people accept it now and move on for that very reason. its 5$.

2. these will eventually disappear if the sellers selling  5$  junk disappear.

[newsmike]

2 minutes ago, markp said:

1. people selling crap as you put it will have a harder time justifying it if the base price doubles or trebles. people accept it now and move on for that very reason. its 5$.

2. these will eventually disappear if the sellers selling  5$  junk disappear.

I don't disagree, however that quote was not mine but was made by @maitasun

[markp]

oops my apologies to both of you

[maitasun]

9 minutes ago, markp said:

1. people selling crap as you put it will have a harder time justifying it if the base price doubles or trebles. people accept it now and move on for that very reason. its 5$.

2. these will eventually disappear if the sellers selling  5$  junk disappear.

Not really, and I'll give you an example:

If Fiverr sets its minimum to $10, a cheater, who right now is offering to translate 700 words for $5 in 1 day, will just double the word count and delivery time (1400 words for $10 with a 2-day delivery time) and adjust the rest of the packages as required.

A neverending story: the cheater will continue dumping the price and cheap buyers will continue to buy from him/her.

Edited December 30, 2022 by maitasun

[newsmike]

5 minutes ago, maitasun said:

Not really, and I'll give you an example:

if Fiverr sets its minimum to $10, a cheater, who right now is offering to translate 700 words for $5 in 1 day, will just double the word count and delivery time (1400 words for $10) and adjust the rest of the packages as required.

A neverending story: the cheater will continue dumping the price and cheap buyers will continue to buy from him/her.

But this supposes that there would be a one time bump from $5 to $10. Once Fiverr frees itself from the unfortunate branding of "FIVErr", the bumps should be regular and progressive...to $15, $20, and so on. This is how they get to become the high quality, PRO/Fiverr Business site they seem to want. One cannot become a high end provider of quality freelancers, and at the same time a sweatshop of stolen content and copyright violations.   Yes, I'll say it. The idea is to eventually squeeze the cheaters out. Once you get to a high enough price point, you might as well buy from a skilled freelancer.

Edited December 30, 2022 by newsmike

[maitasun]

3 minutes ago, newsmike said:

But this supposes that there would be a one time bump from $5 to $10. Once Fiverr frees itself from the unfortunate branding of "FIVErr", the bumps should be regular and progressive...to $15, $20, and so on. This is how they get to become the High quality, PRO/Fiverr Business site they seem to want. One cannot become a high end provider of quality freelancers, and at the same time a sweatshop of stolen content and copyright violations. 

You'll still not be able to get rid of the cheaters, who are the real problem and give Fiverr the awful reputation it has. They will continue to exist, make business and deliver crap.

Edited December 30, 2022 by maitasun

[newsmike]

1 minute ago, maitasun said:

You'll still not be able to get rid of the cheaters, who are the real problem and gives Fiverr the awful reputation it has. They will continue to exist, make business and deliver crap.

But why would anyone buy from them at $125, when they can get a pro starting at that price point. Their quality will not improve so it will be evident they are trying to peddle crap at $125, and they will wither away, while someone competent will get the order. 

Edited December 30, 2022 by newsmike

[markp]

1 minute ago, maitasun said:

You'll still not be able to get rid of the cheaters, who are the real problem and gives Fiverr the awful reputation it has. They will continue to exist, make business and deliver crap.

you will once the price rises make buyers question what they are getting.  if they start leaving negative feedback on the gigs they are going to get buried as well.