Fiverr 4.0 - Some thoughts on the current state of things

[lenasemenkova]

It feels like subtle pressure to increase the prices and revamp the products that are being sold. So you no longer have quick gigs, you have proper projects and only proper projects. Once you’re involved in one, you’re really involved. Weeks of hand-holding, lengthy chats, conference calls, and stretched payment schedules. Things I kind of don’t miss.

 

Not to jinx it but my experiences with new buyers are usually pretty good. The worst, in my experience, are accounts registered in 2012-2015 with less than a dozen of purchases in total who have pretty archaic views of what Fiverr experience is/should be. The kind that expects you to fall over yourself over a promise of a $5 tip, that kind. 

[grayprogrammerz]

I think algorithm you described is not secret or hidden

sellers can see their repeat business metrics, see:

[danno1950]

empty

Edited March 30, 2023 by danno1950
deleting duplicate post

[danno1950]

On 3/28/2023 at 1:23 PM, terrygrantvo said:

My gut says both, probably. Being intentionally obtuse about how things actually work so they can 'spread it around' in a more efficient manner, combined with the unintentional effects of silo'd dev teams each of whom are responsible for only a small part of the ecosystem.

Well said! 

 

16 hours ago, sabinespoems said:

I know not having a steady income is the 'risk' of freelancing, but I must admit it frustrates me a bit not knowing where the draught is coming from. If I did, I could approach it more effectively (but I'm aware that's part of it all).

Yes, it really is frustrating because we can't pinpoint exactly what is causing all of this. 

[frank_d]

14 minutes ago, grayprogrammerz said:

I think algorithm you described is not secret or hidden

sellers can see their repeat business metrics, see:

Who said anything about the repeat buyers feature being hidden?

[williambryan392]

Just now, frank_d said:

Who said anything about the repeat buyers feature being hidden?

@frank_d if you need one of us to explain your analytics page to you please just ask.... 😜

[grayprogrammerz]

19 minutes ago, frank_d said:

Who said anything about the repeat buyers feature being hidden?

Aren't "Buyer Satisfaction Rate" and "Repeat Business Rate" are same ?

like you mentioned, they sum up no. of orders, total money spent etc... So the repeat business analytics serve same, right ?

Or its different ?

[donnovan86]

2 hours ago, williambryan392 said:

As for first time buyers it makes perfect sense to me that Fiverr considers their feedback particularly important

That's the thing, a lot of people think it's about the first time people buy something on the platform.

According to my success manager, it's the first time a person buys from you. And I tend to agree with that, because none of the "new buyers" I had were new to the platform, they already had at least a review. Yet their reviews affected me to the point where any lack of messages or orders seems to be coming from a few, most likely bad, private reviews left by these people. 

 

[catwriter]

20 minutes ago, grayprogrammerz said:

Aren't "Buyer Satisfaction Rate" and "Repeat Business Rate" are same ?

No.

[williambryan392]

12 minutes ago, donnovan86 said:

it's the first time a person buys from you. And I tend to agree with that, because none of the "new buyers" I had were new to the platform

oh really, ok. That's a different angle then! Most of my buyers are new, I'd say a good 90%, so that means most of my reviewers are heavily weighted. At the same time maybe the point is that the weight of a repeat buyer private review is less, therefore new buyers are by definition more. The 'would you buy this again' question would have more weight with newer buyers.

I'd guess the review weighting is something like this...

1) New to the platform, new to the seller

2) Not new to the platform, new to the seller

3) Not new to the platform, not new to the seller

 

We often talk about indicators on the platform, and for me this is the sign...

 

[donnovan86]

Just now, williambryan392 said:

1) New to the platform, new to the seller

 

Yes, I agree. What I quoted is the most dangerous because it has the most weight. In fact, the email from my manager said that even new buyer reviews have a different weight, so I am sure your categorization is actually the most accurate way to represent these new buyers.

That being said, I am still uncertain if canceled orders received from a new buyer can also be reviewed. Because I did have one 2 days ago and since then, nothing....

[frank_d]

40 minutes ago, grayprogrammerz said:

Aren't "Buyer Satisfaction Rate" and "Repeat Business Rate" are same ?

like you mentioned, they sum up no. of orders, total money spent etc... So the repeat business analytics serve same, right ?

Or its different ?

No they are completely different things.

[donnovan86]

On 3/21/2023 at 9:26 PM, visualstudios said:

UPW also has profiles and clients contacting you directly, just like Fiverr. They also have retainers (so, keep getting paid on a fixed schedule, so the bid argument is way less relevant, since it's recurring revenue once you land them), etc.

I was not sure what to quote, but I chose this, anyway it seems that UPW is making some changes. I opened their site today and I saw this message:

"Starting on May 3, 2023, we’re moving all freelancers from the current 20/10/5% sliding fee scale to a simpler fixed percentage fee of 10%. We understand that this change has an immediate impact on freelancers working in higher-value relationships, which is why we are honoring the 5% rate on existing and eligible contracts through the end of 2023."

So it seems they are removing the very low fees for those higher paying return clients. I can only imagine a lot of people were upset regarding the sliding fee scale, so just like Fiverr they are choosing a fixed percentage. Whether Fiverr will choose to bring their fee down in order to stay competitive, that remains to be seen. Still, I thought you may want to know this update, and also anyone that wants to use UPW as well for their business.

Edited March 30, 2023 by donnovan86

[grayprogrammerz]

31 minutes ago, donnovan86 said:

I can only imagine a lot of people were upset regarding the sliding fee scale, so just like Fiverr they are choosing a fixed percentage. Whether Fiverr will choose to bring their fee down in order to stay competitive, that remains to be seen. Still, I thought you may want to know this update, and also anyone that wants to use UPW as well for their business.

There's few UPW sellers even having few clients that can reach $10,000 that %5 relation.

So I believe "a lot of people" will be happy, not upset. (Imagine you have pay %10 on every order and new client, not to wait for from 20% to 10%, then 10% to %5)

I'm sure fiverr stunned. UPW traffic is 24% less than fiverr, still revenue is 20% more. Interesting !

[visualstudios]

@donnovan86 Yes, I was aware of that as well. I've seen people here saying things will never change, again and again, for years. That 20% is a small price to pay, that Fiverr will never accept less, etc. Well, we'll see about that. Competition is good. Upw has long been considered much more professional in the industry (as opposed to the low value platform with a bunch of hacks perception that plagues Fiverr), and now it's significantly cheaper as well. If Fiverr is serious about attracting serious professionals, they have to do something. If Fiverr wants to stay true to their initial reputation as a cheap platform for cheap services, then whatever. Personally I don't think that's very smart - all low value stuff will be gobbled up by AI fast. At that point, Fiverr would be better served by just becoming an AI services company, have no sellers, and sell automated logos and copy. That seems to be their goal, sometimes - then they can keep 100%.

Edited March 30, 2023 by visualstudios

[katakatica]

So... I'm writing here again because it's interesting (I will contact my SM about it sometime soon, but yeah.)
I got the same-ish email as @frank_dgot. March was my best-selling and second-best revenue month ever (I would have beaten the first one with ease, but this week I had a lot of doctors' appointments and dental stuff going on, which made it so that some things were delayed (no one minds that though and the deliveries this week so far had been to frequent buyers who were trying to tell me to rest instead of working for the most part.)

The way I do things is that I do a quick test order or chat with buyers as a first step to make sure our expectations are aligned, and some never come back, so that could be it, I guess (so people who are new to me deciding not to order again), but it's kind of normal to shop around, right? I guess my point is that the indicators on the sight (actual orders, etc.) aren't always a clear sign of what's going on on the inside?) I've had a few rough cases since January with new-ish buyers (mostly mismatched expectations or someone not realizing my pricing/etc.), but that's really all I can think of. Nothing sticks out in March and most of Feb.

I totally understand Fiverr's focus on new buyers, but if there's no clear sign of them being dissatisfied, it's really a bit difficult to keep track of them, I guess. 

I'm posting here; I guess, because the mail came as a bit of a 'slap' (or bump on the head). I'm doing the best I have in years, but that's not good enough.

I wonder, though, did anyone who's going through a slump (and is in seller plus) also get the email?

 

 

[williambryan392]

47 minutes ago, katakatica said:

I got the same-ish email

I did too, 3 hours ago.

What I would like to know (along with a lot of other things!) is whether the drop in BSS is compared to the average of all sellers, or compared to your prior score (I think it's your prior score).

Hypothetically, if I was getting 99/100 for my BSS, and then it drops to 90/100, then that's a big drop and could trigger the email, but it's still a good score.

I just don't know if it's 'you're bad compared to other sellers' or 'you're bad compared to your previous great self'

[katakatica]

23 minutes ago, williambryan392 said:

(I think it's your prior score

What I thought prior was that it's an average that is 'acceptable'. So for example, 3.5 or 4 or whatever. Everyone is compared to that (instead of different metric.)  Your idea makes more sense to be honest! 

We did seem to get the email at the same time though which is interesting. 

[Alex.M]

10 minutes ago, katakatica said:

We did seem to get the email at the same time though which is interesting. 

I am waiting for mine 😄

[katakatica]

3 minutes ago, cre8iveartwork said:

I am waiting for mine 😄

I wonder if it's gonna be a monthly thing - you get a mail at the last of every month if you're doing badly? (I... don't think that's the case. Actually, I HOPE not. I don't think my anxiety could deal with that.)

[donnovan86]

So is this email for top rated, pro sellers, or just anyone a part of the Seller Plus program? I didn't receive any email myself.

Edited March 31, 2023 by donnovan86

[visualstudios]

Just got it. If everyone is getting it, it's meaningless. Sure, remove all the pro and trs from the search results. Leave the new buyers to go with an ever rotating roster of meksells. If this is how things are, I'll outright refuse to work with any new buyer from now on. The sheer audacity of the e-mail, btw - 

• "Make sure to offer revisions to the Buyer so they know you can address any issues they may have
• Have patience! New Buyers are unfamiliar with Fiverr so it is crucial they know you are there to help them throughout the process"

I have my policy revision very clear. Extra revisions cost TIME. That costs MONEY. Fiverr doesn't care. I'm not a baby sitter. I'm not CS. I'm a video editor. I don't want to be handling clueless new clients that can tank me. No thanks.

Good luck fiverr, you're digging your own grave with these attitudes. I revamped my upw profile, I'll look more into getting direct clients outside platforms, and look into other platforms. I'll also sell my Fiverr shares, I don't trust this company or its management. If they keep going this route, I may actually short it. It's heading down the drain.

Edited March 31, 2023 by visualstudios

[williambryan392]

51 minutes ago, katakatica said:

email at the same time

10.38 UK time for me...

[visualstudios]

10:31 here.

[vickiespencer]

22 minutes ago, donnovan86 said:

So is this email for top rated, pro sellers, or just anyone a part of the Seller Plus program? I didn't receive any email myself.

I did not get an email like that either. I am happy to say that things may be beginning to look up a bit, however. I had four days straight without one inbox message, and yesterday I had 3.