Fiverr 4.0 - Some thoughts on the current state of things

[newsmike]

3 hours ago, donnovan86 said:

If you offer great service, there's nothing to worry.

Alex, I think you have nailed the single most important thought in this entire series of hundreds and hundreds of panicked posts. Of course it is predictable that the majority of posts offer knee jerk fear fueled half thoughts such as this deep think:  "Its not Fair."  Or it's sequel, "But it can be abused." Which is ironic because the routine sanitation and suppression of negative reviews by offering refunds is the very abuse this will end. 

Bottom line is that you have the best analysis.

 

We now return you to our feature movie, "The sky is falling, and it's not fair." Starring Joe Pesci, Sean Penn and the Meksell Cathedral Choir.  

Edited June 16, 2023 by newsmike

[mb100]

37 minutes ago, donnovan86 said:

You would be amazed what kind of "buyers" are on the platform. I had someone order from me just so .. let's say insult me, I won't write what they said. True, that was in the early days but still. I had other person that wanted me to promote their website where they were selling fake passports and IDs. So yeah, it depends on the niche, but you will find some very shady buyers. Writing gigs will certainly attract that kind of people, but they are not the only ones.. 

I've had all sorts of nonsense over the years and won't mention or bore you with the details. Probably less now than in the early days thankfully. 

[majidshowghi]

On 3/20/2023 at 10:17 PM, visualstudios said:

What I take from this is to avoid working with new buyer accounts, since it's an objectively bigger risk. Not only will they not know how Fiverr works - so will be more susceptible to get confused and have a bad experience, either by misinterpreting things (I had a new client be very confused why I was suggesting them leaving me a $2000+ tip, when it was Fiverr doing so with its automated % tip system that forgets about big orders, or leaving a 4 star review thinking that's great, or get pissed off because an order automatically completes, etc.), or by simply not understanding how things work, and having no basis of comparison - their private feedback will apparently be worth more. 

I completely agree with you! It would be beneficial for Fiverr to leverage AI technology and make the system smarter. If they want to prioritize new buyers, they could implement features that provide helpful hints or reminders during the buying process to ensure better understanding. For example, they could explicitly mention that rating on fiverr is a little bit different than school and a 5 out of 5 rating represents complete satisfaction, rather than leaving room for confusion with a 4 out of 5 rating. Maybe, Fiverr could consider adjusting the privileges or reducing the impact of negative feedback for new buyers, at least until they have a better grasp of how the platform works.

Another example; Fiverr should take into account the differences between gig categories when calculating cancellation rates. It's crucial to recognize that cancellation rates can vary significantly depending on the type of service being offered. For instance, a motion graphics artist and animator like me, who receives only a few orders per month should not be penalized in the same way as a voice artist who handles numerous orders daily. By implementing more nuanced calculations, Fiverr can ensure fair evaluation and ranking for sellers across different gig types. (I lose my seller ranks for 4 months every time I get a cancellation!!!!!)

Overall, making the system smarter and more adaptable would greatly benefit both sellers and buyers on the platform.

[adam_angst]

Fiverr is dead now. It appears they're forcing people to pay $20, or $40, per month to get any clicks. Since those seller plus payment tiers have started my gigs have all gone to less than 10 clicks per month. It's devastating. I've had zero new client inquiries in 3-5+ months. Especially the last 3/4 months. It's too bad. I've been a pro voice talent for 7 years, there's no reason why I shouldn't be getting work. My quality is great, my clients are happy (5 stars on my reviews), and I have 100% on all my scores across the board. No reason why this should be happening except the fact that I'm not paying $20-$40 for seller plus, or paying for clicks. 

[donnovan86]

2 hours ago, adam_angst said:

Fiverr is dead now. It appears they're forcing people to pay $20, or $40, per month to get any clicks.

It depends on the niche, but I will say this, if you talk about Seller Plus, that won't give you more impressions. It all comes down to the algorithm and they make some changes that penalize sellers if they don't have great performance. I will agree that the last 3-4 months were the roughest ones in my entire Fiverr tenure of close to 10 years now. I have seller plus and I can tell you it won't give you extra clicks or anything. The Promoted Gigs, maybe, but that's an ad system.

2 hours ago, adam_angst said:

My quality is great, my clients are happy (5 stars on my reviews), and I have 100% on all my scores across the board.

Yeah, the thing is that clients also get to leave a private review. And as you imagine, that private review can sometimes be random, or a buyer might punish their seller for nothing. First time buyers (for you or the platform) will have even more say in the algorithm too, so that alone is why a lot of sellers are dealing with problems now. Plus, in the case of my niche (writing) and your niche (voiceover), AI has become extremely problematic, so Fiverr is not really to blame.. there are AI services that end up offering a similar service at a lower price, sometimes way lower. So you can see why buyers go to that instead of Fiverr.

[saaddennis]

I am a TRS myself since 2018 and things have been really great for me even since, until around end of January 2023, I noticed that orders stopped coming the way they used to, I've been in the decline until now, but I do think that I actually know why thanks to @frank_d post, I have canceled two orders from first time buyers, which wasn't my fault and CS took care of it as it doesn't affect my metrics, I also had two or three reviews that were 3.7 stars or so. I just contacted a SM for my first time to know how my internal BSR ratio is doing to see if it's due to that or something else that is impacting all of us by mistake.

by the way, thanks to advices from frank, I became a top rated seller! he is a really great person!

[donnovan86]

3 minutes ago, saaddennis said:

I just contacted a SM for my first time to know how my internal BSR ratio is doing to see if it's due to that or something else that is impacting all of us by mistake.

I think Fiverr should allow us to see the buyer satisfaction rate, at least the overall number and see if it's ok or not. I don't like contacting my SM every week or month just to see if they were changes. I know they are busy and honestly if I had a graphic or just a number to know this, it would be much easier. Hopefully they eventually add this as a Seller Plus feature. 

In your case, those buyers might have left some bad private reviews. I saw you had multiple reviews that were close to 3 stars, a single star review within the last 3 months as well, so those can be the main reason. Also, AI might also play a factor when it comes to having less orders..

[saaddennis]

Do you think the window that affects us is 90 days?

[donnovan86]

14 minutes ago, saaddennis said:

Do you think the window that affects us is 90 days?

So my success manager said that the buyer satisfaction rate is calculated over the timespan of 90 and up to 180 days. So cancellations and bad reviews can affect us up to half a year. Which is why I assume many of us have issues right now

[saaddennis]

16 minutes ago, donnovan86 said:

So my success manager said that the buyer satisfaction rate is calculated over the timespan of 90 and up to 180 days. So cancellations and bad reviews can affect us up to half a year. Which is why I assume many of us have issues right now

So two things, first..we know it's not forever, two.. it might take us a year to improve the BSR and finally get back to the spot, I honestly don't think this is fair!!

[miiila]

Waiting for 5.0 with baited breath. @frank_d, can't you have birthday a bit more often, like quarterly? 😉

 

[donnovan86]

10 hours ago, saaddennis said:

it might take us a year to improve the BSR and finally get back to the spot, I honestly don't think this is fair!!

Well Fiverr wants buyers to be happy and come back. It's their platform so they get to choose how they penalize sellers if buyers are not happy. I've been dealing with a lack of exposure for months now and it has affected my life and Fiverr work. But I also realize it's not my platform and this is what happens when you rely on a platform made by others. It is what it is.

[kendal1747]

8 hours ago, donnovan86 said:

But I also realize it's not my platform and this is what happens when you rely on a platform made by others. It is what it is.

This is called putting all your eggs in one basket. 

[donnovan86]

13 minutes ago, kendal1747 said:

This is called putting all your eggs in one basket. 

Not all eggs, but the majority of them. Since I don't outsource, there are times when I am extremeloy busy and can't work on other projects. But yeah, this drought helped me reshift my focus.

Unlike other people, I won't leave the platform, I will just adapt to the new changes. I know a lot of people here come from YouTube and other platforms where they are recommended to just use AI and make money. So I am sure Fiverr wants to get rid of low quality providers, hence their recent changes. 

[kendal1747]

2 minutes ago, donnovan86 said:

So I am sure Fiverr wants to get rid of low quality providers, hence their recent changes. 

You are probably right. There were and probably still are some low quality providers. I just hope that Algorithm doesn't run away with newer changes that might not be for the betterment of the platform in general. Let's hope for the best and try to prepare for the worst. 

[saaddennis]

2 minutes ago, donnovan86 said:

Not all eggs, but the majority of them. Since I don't outsource, there are times when I am extremeloy busy and can't work on other projects. But yeah, this drought helped me reshift my focus.

Unlike other people, I won't leave the platform, I will just adapt to the new changes. I know a lot of people here come from YouTube and other platforms where they are recommended to just use AI and make money. So I am sure Fiverr wants to get rid of low quality providers, hence their recent changes. 

I just received an order this morning and after 5 hours in, the buyer requested to cancel "A new buyer on the platform" and this was their request....

 

"i saw your ads and thought you could do a great project and bought a package straight away.
after communicating with my team, a sense of disapproval was set on the air due to money wasting and etc."

now tell me how am I supposed to get over these cancelations and gain my exposure back, I have had 2/3 cancelations for the past 4 months with the same excuse. do you think this will still be impacting or it is just for secret reviews?

[kendal1747]

1 minute ago, saaddennis said:

now tell me how am I supposed to get over these cancelations and gain my exposure back, I have had 2/3 cancelations for the past 4 months with the same excuse. do you think this will still be impacting or it is just for secret reviews?

I got a brief and thank God the work had not yet begun. He sent a message to whoever takes care of the Briefs and said that he decided to withdraw the request. Right now just wasn't the right time for him. I know eventually I will probably get hit with your dilemma. 

[saaddennis]

3 minutes ago, kendal1747 said:

I got a brief

Unfortunately for me it wasn't a brief to make an offer, but they directly ordered and canceled after 5 hours, CS said it won't affect me and it actually isn't in my order completion ratio, but is it affecting me on the BSR? Only God knows..

[adam_angst]

On 6/19/2023 at 7:36 PM, donnovan86 said:

It depends on the niche, but I will say this, if you talk about Seller Plus, that won't give you more impressions. It all comes down to the algorithm and they make some changes that penalize sellers if they don't have great performance. 

 

I have 100% across the board on all my performance metrics. So, there's not reason they should be penalizing me. 

If sellers are leaving private reviews that differ from the public reviews they've given me, and the personal feedback I receive, I'd be surprised. All I hear is praise. 

[adam_angst]

26 minutes ago, donnovan86 said:

I won't leave the platform, I will just adapt to the new changes.

It's hard to adapt when you have no clue what's going on. Of 111 reviews I've had only ONE less than 5.0. 100% on all my metrics. And my clients tell me personally they love my work. Maybe they're lying to me? (I doubt it.) I have had some canceled orders, but not that many, and they weren't my fault. People changing their mind about something, etc. I'm marked as "highly response", I respond within 1 hour (that's what's listed on my profile). I can't imagine what could have caused my gigs to plummet to literally under 300 impressions per month. There's something going on behind the scenes at Fiverr that they're not telling us about. That's for sure. There are algorithms at work they don't tell their sellers about. I'm not sure what to do. Apparently there's nothing I can do except pay the $40 per month, and pay for placement. I did that before and got a business from it. So, I guess that's the best play at this point. 

[adam_angst]

34 minutes ago, kendal1747 said:

You are probably right. There were and probably still are some low quality providers. I just hope that Algorithm doesn't run away with newer changes that might not be for the betterment of the platform in general. Let's hope for the best and try to prepare for the worst. 

The problem is that they're hurting high quality providers like me. Of 111 reviews I've had only ONE less than 5.0. I am 100% on all my metrics. My response time is 1 hour. And my clients tell me personally they love my work. And almost all of my clients are return clients. My clients are incredibly happy, and they tell me so personally. I almost always get tipped as well. So, I can't figure out why this is happening. 

Edited June 20, 2023 by adam_angst

[donnovan86]

2 hours ago, kendal1747 said:

There were and probably still are some low quality providers

There are a ton of them, I see a lot of them ranked high and when you check their image on Google, it's from a random linkedin user. So yeah, many low quality providers try to manipulate the system, especially in my niche which is writing.

[donnovan86]

2 hours ago, saaddennis said:

Unfortunately for me it wasn't a brief to make an offer, but they directly ordered and canceled after 5 hours, CS said it won't affect me and it actually isn't in my order completion ratio, but is it affecting me on the BSR?

It shouldn't because there is no buyer, there's no order. And since they are a new client to Fiverr, they can't leave a review either. However, I dislike this sense of insecurity, why not talk with the provider first and if there are any other people that need to agree to this purchase, maybe talk with them...??Anyway, it is what it is. 

[donnovan86]

2 hours ago, adam_angst said:

I have 100% across the board on all my performance metrics. So, there's not reason they should be penalizing me. 

You don't know what those buyers left in their private review. Fiverr encourages them to be brutally honest, and my success manager told me that many times those secret reviews tend to be very different to what buyers left publicly. Only god knows what they leave there honestly.. All I hear is praise too and guess what, I only survive on return clients these days, few to no new buyers. And when i asked my SM, she said that my buyer satisfaction rate is lower than it should be, so clearly those private reviews are hurting me. By the way, if they are from a new Fiverr client or new-to-you Fiverr client, those do even more damage.

1 hour ago, adam_angst said:

The problem is that they're hurting high quality providers like me. 

The problem in your niche and mine (writing) isn't Fiverr, it's AI. AI writing and AI voiceovers are a thing, and people are willing to use those tools instead of paying us more. So yes, one of the main reasons why a lot of quality providers have been dealing with a low amount of orders is definitely due to AI being a less expensive option. I also see you had only 4 reviews the past 3 months or so. Fiverr tracks your performance only over the past 2-3 months, and one of the reasons why you might not be getting work is that others have more reviews/orders, even if they have the same performance as you, their volume is higher. 

But as I said, AI is definitely one of the major concerns here. I've been working on Fiverr for close to 10 years now, I always worked alone and had tens of thousands of orders, but even so.., I still feel the lack of orders. We need to adapt, and find different services that fit modern times.  At least that's the solution in my case.

[tme2012]

I decided to take a flyer and ask customer support at Fiverr about why I've gone from a ton of messages and jobs to virtually none. The response did not surprise me, nor should it surprise you. Denial of any sort of change in the algorithm and vagueness about how gigs are ranked. I bolded a couple of things I found interesting. 

 

Thank you for contacting us about this. I understand you'd like to know more about your Gigs' impressions and sales.

I reviewed your Gigs and I can confirm that they are all active and searchable on our site. 

Your Gig impressions and sales are dependent on many different factors, including your seller statistics, performance, and additional internal factors. 
Fiverr does not guarantee impressions or sales for any Gig. We provide a marketplace for you to advertise your Gigs and leave you to find the best way to make them appealing and promote them outside of Fiverr to increase the number of impressions and clicks your Gig receives.

If you keep providing the best possible services, I'm sure your Gig impressions will increase soon and sales will become a more often occurrence.
 
As it concerns the algorithm, I can guarantee there are no issues with your Gig or it. The market can change and fluctuate, so can the need for a service and the sales can also be affected by it.