Fiverr 4.0 - Some thoughts on the current state of things

[kendal1747]

16 hours ago, bjornbauerart said:

Yes, the hyperreal photo based stuff it produces is amazing, but in terms of replacing a human who actually knows how to draw, I don't think we're there yet.

I think we are much closer than a lot of people think. Remember the world champion chess player Garry Kasparov? He was beaten by a computer 25 years ago. He made the comment that the computer was not calculating; the computer was thinking. Computers are thinking. This is very scary. Elon Musk and 2 other scientists have written a letter asking that there should be a 6 month moratorium on AI development. The scientists know that AI will be out downfall.

[katakatica]

I also got the all-clear from my SM - it was a mistake for me as well (which I guess I predicted once everyone was getting the same reply.) I'm honestly a bit torn - as it's been sad, I think we really should have been told 'hey guys, sorry, this was a fluke' without having to reach out ourselves.

I'm honestly not sure if it IS connected to the drop people are having, but at this point, everything is a possibility. It makes sense it wouldn't affect me that much (since I mostly worked with return customers and have some really niche gigs), so... 

[leannelrivers]

11 hours ago, danno1950 said:

Maybe if everyone who got the email in error sends a similar message to their SM, it can alert them to the scope of the issue.

I asked my SM this morning, but she has already told me that my BSR is fine.

[donnovan86]

The drop is caused by first time buyers for most people I think, so this email was most likely meant for some Seller Plus members, not all of them. Still, it shows that first time buyer reviews are more important than ever, which might end up pushing most of us away from those new buyers, as it can lead to all kinds of risks. I already have the worst month since I've been on the site, and my SM said it's due to first time buyers. So in my case it's confirmed.. 

[leannelrivers]

8 minutes ago, donnovan86 said:

it's due to first time buyers. So in my case it's confirmed.. 

So many of us are having a bad time of it here, many of us got the same email about first time buyers but only some of us have actually seen a drop in BSR. Still as clear as mud. 

[donnovan86]

1 minute ago, leannelrivers said:

Still as clear as mud

I agree. These emails are not helpful at all. We need to have a way to check our BSR ourselves. It doesn't have to share all the tiny details, but even a 3-tier system like Bad, Average and Good will be better than.... nothing.  Adding that to the metrics would at least tell us something. Same with the first time buyers. You're penalized but you have no idea where this comes from, we should know what was wrong and what order this pertains to. Otherwise, how can you learn and improve when you're just shooting in the dark trying to make changes that may or may not be appropriate. 

As I said earlier in this topic, it is what it is. But I do hope these darker times will go away soon for everyone. 

[leannelrivers]

8 minutes ago, donnovan86 said:

how can you learn and improve when you're just shooting in the dark trying to make changes that may or may not be appropriate. 

Precisely. Having these insights kept from us makes no sense. Everyone loses. I can't remember who made the point about seller satisfaction, but that should be a thing. We're just as important as the buyers. No business should suffer because of one or two clients. But this is just a reminder to me that Fiverr isn't my business, it's a place I do business and it can't be the only option. I wish I'd been far more active in developing elsewhere, but I got comfortable when the income was pouring in here. You live and learn. 

Edited April 3, 2023 by leannelrivers

[Alex.M]

22 minutes ago, donnovan86 said:

SM said it's due to first time buyers.

I haven't received that email and I am experiencing the same.... I think that the truth is they don't know what's going on

[donnovan86]

4 minutes ago, cre8iveartwork said:

I haven't received that email and I am experiencing the same.... I think that the truth is they don't know what's going on

Well I reached out a week and a half ago, so it was before all of this stuff with random emails. And I did have a few sketchy buyers, so I can see why my SM would be right. But then again, I also think they work with limited information and they are not the ones sending these emails. So they only know so much to begin with. 

[miiila]

11 hours ago, donnovan86 said:

they already said it was a mistake

Could've been worse, they could've said that the mail was just a visual glitch.

Jokes apart, though, I sincerely hope that they'll quickly fix it or somehow make it up to all affected sellers if it actually is the reason for some people's slow business.

As a comparison, not having received that mail, I've had an awful February, although maybe due to having had to cancel a new buyer's substantial order not just once but twice, as they paid with the wrong card once, and then the wrong card got billed another time (3rd order luckily was the charm). March was pretty good, however, mainly due to a regular customer needing a lot of work done.

Edited April 3, 2023 by miiila

[donnovan86]

9 minutes ago, leannelrivers said:

I wish I'd been far more active in developing elsewhere, but I got comfortable when the income was pouring in here. You live and learn

You and me both. I rely solely on Fiverr, and the past 30 days were brutal for me. It's not due to my work being lower quality either, I can only assume it's bad luck when it comes to dealing with some rather shady new buyers, but as you said you live and learn. And this is aside from AI being a problem for many niches, especially writers. Man, 2023 is a blast thus far....

[donnovan86]

Just now, miiila said:

March was pretty good, however, mainly due to a regular customer needing a lot of work done.

Good luck @miiila, for me the entire month of March was pretty bad. Honestly at this point I am extremely doubtful of any new buyer, my lack of orders most likely comes from that. So like most people, I will look way more into new buyers to see if they are a risk.  Because they can easily damage your reputation here with just a single click...

[bjornbauerart]

9 hours ago, kendal1747 said:

I think we are much closer than a lot of people think. Remember the world champion chess player Garry Kasparov? He was beaten by a computer 25 years ago. He made the comment that the computer was not calculating; the computer was thinking. Computers are thinking. This is very scary. Elon Musk and 2 other scientists have written a letter asking that there should be a 6 month moratorium on AI development. The scientists know that AI will be out downfall.

I agree know we are definitely close. My point was that as of now, it's not as if a potential client of mine could easily get an equivalent service from AI, so I don't think this is a significant factor in my current drop in sales.

[melanielm]

Gosh, this thread is invaluable.

The same email arrived around the same time for me, and I contacted my SM this morning, so no response yet. I both hope it's an error and not. If not, maybe there's something I can do to improve things.

For the first time ever, I'm also looking into other platforms. Fiverr isn't my only income, but it was a decent chunk I don't want to give up. If I have to go elsewhere... Ugh.

Thank you guys. You're helping tamp down the stress!

[newsmike]

6 hours ago, katakatica said:

I also got the all-clear from my SM

Same here, just got the all clear.  I find it odd that they are not talking to us to inform us about what's happening,  @frank_d has been so much more informative. 

[katakatica]

11 minutes ago, newsmike said:

I find it odd that they are not talking to us to inform us about what's happening

That's my main concern. I'm tempted to try and pry a bit, but my lengthy email was given a 4-line response, which I get (not everyone vomits words as I do, I mean, it's my job, so), but even then... I guess they don't want us to know. Or was it just a weird email bug when they were setting it up and had nothing to do with whatever that's going on? 

Like, are we seeing too much into it?

I know bugs are 'normal' (my boyfriend's game that he's finishing up has tons of them. It's no biggie), but... I don't like the way this whole situation was handled. (...or... not handled. ha.)

[donnovan86]

6 minutes ago, katakatica said:

Like, are we seeing too much into it?

 

Most likely yes. I had a very lengthy email too and my reply was 2 lines, not 4. So you received more info than I did. Still, SMs are doing their job, we just want to know more, but at the end of the day it's up to Fiverr to choose what they share and what they don't. As I said above, personally I would prefer more transparency and in-depth analytics so I can see what's wrong and what to improve...

[visualstudios]

Better Nate than lever.

 

 

[newsmike]

22 minutes ago, visualstudios said:

Better Nate than lever.

 

 

Yep, just got mine.  But it fails to address why we are all in the penalty box. Does anyone have access to Alexa data to see Fiverr's site traffic over last 6 months?

Edited April 3, 2023 by newsmike

[melanielm]

Just reporting that I got the same response. I wonder if the people who received the error email but didn't contact anyone also got the 'This was a mistake' message. 

[danno1950]

I got the confirmation of the "it was a mistake" email.

My SM also said: I've looked into this and the email was in fact sent in error and has no impact on your account. No need to worry, it won't have any impact on placement in the algorithm. 😊

That sounds like the official position, and no indication that the Development Team would be contacted about us being in the penalty box. Less than totally reassuring.

[leannelrivers]

12 minutes ago, clippingpath336 said:

I am a professional graphic designer and image editor. I have experience of 5 years, I can do any work in Photoshop and can Adobe illustrator Professionally. Just try me once. You will be surely satisfied.

You've obviously read through this thread. And i've reported your private spam message. 

Edited April 3, 2023 by leannelrivers

[miiila]

If there's no impact from that, how about other commonalities... did everyone who hears crickets regarding new buyers activate the "Request to order" feature?

[leannelrivers]

8 minutes ago, miiila said:

did everyone who hears crickets regarding new buyers activate the "Request to order" feature?

I've only used this once, while I was away last week. I extended my delivery time and activated request to order for new buyers. I got 3 inquiries during that week. One that argued with me fee and never came back, and two spam messages containing spam links.  

[danno1950]

1 hour ago, miiila said:

If there's no impact from that, how about other commonalities... did everyone who hears crickets regarding new buyers activate the "Request to order" feature?

Request to Order came out as my sales were beginning to slip. At first I set it up for all my gigs. Then I scaled back on my setup of that feature, thinking that maybe in Fiverr's wish for quick transactions, they might drop you down in search results if you didn't have "quick completion of orders" capability.