Fiverr's 20% cut is too high

[dereck_s]

I think you assume that the tips would be manipulated with malicious intent, while possible It's something they could very easily track given how all the communication would be happening on the platform. I also imagine it would be quite easy to see the number of $5 orders with $100+ dollar tips and act accordingly. Functioning in a modern environment on any platform normally means giving yourself as much advantages and using as many services as possible to guarantee success.

 

Fiverr years ago relied solely on merit and rating where now paying more money to the site does guarantee an easier and better experience. You may not think you need things like seller plus but I bet you have it.... the same with promoting your gigs and I bet you'll get or heavily consider the new feature we have to pay for further eating well beyond the original 20%.

 

Keep in mind while I say these things I still think it's worth it and I personally prefer Fiverr the best over any other platform I've used but if you think you only need to pay 20% and not promote and not be a seller plus you're going to have a much harder time on the site.

Edited May 21, 2023 by dereck_s

[muqeetumer]

So basically I was going through a project and I realized that fiver is taking 20% from seller , who make extra effort to deliver the client the project with blood and sweat and in return fiver thinks its funny to rip the pockets of the sellers, I think its highly unfair for this to happen and should be done something on this. 

[necramedia]

Want to be shocked even more? They also take from your tips!

[donnovan86]

2 hours ago, muqeetumer said:

who make extra effort to deliver the client the project with blood and sweat and in return fiver thinks its funny to rip the pockets of the sellers,

Fiverr offers you a place to create your gig, they promote it for you and BUYERS COME TO YOU. Try to create your own website and you will see how much it will cost you to bring in new clients. It's way more than 20%. Also, no one forces you to ask for a certain price. Instead, a good idea is to try and set a higher price to cover that 20 fee. While the fee is higher if you compare it with other platforms, the truth is that they also offer way more, you don't have to buy connects or apply to projects hoping they pick you.

[vickiespencer]

2 hours ago, muqeetumer said:

So basically I was going through a project and I realized that fiver is taking 20% from seller

You ticked the box that said you read TOS, which clearly provided the information you were surprised to find out. 

[newsmike]

8 hours ago, muqeetumer said:

So basically I was going through a project and I realized that fiver is taking 20% from seller , who make extra effort to deliver the client the project with blood and sweat and in return fiver thinks its funny to rip the pockets of the sellers, I think its highly unfair for this to happen and should be done something on this. 

Why did you join and agree that you had read and accepted the terms of the TOS then?  Kinda silly. 

6 hours ago, necramedia said:

Want to be shocked even more? They also take from your tips!

Why did you join and agree that you had read and accepted the terms of the TOS then?  There is a good reason for this and it has been answered a hundred times in the forum.  But just like TOS it requires reading and comprehension. 

Acting surprised at these things does not reflect well on either of you. Good Lord.

 

Edited June 1, 2023 by newsmike

[michmikaia]

8 hours ago, vickiespencer said:

You ticked the box that said you read TOS, which clearly provided the information you were surprised to find out. 

Marked without reading it.

[manmeetverma]

Basically, as a seller, we have to pay 20% as a commission to Fiverr. In addition to that, we that to pay 0.01% as tax,

[melanielm]

Where else can you launch your own business and only spend 20% of revenue on an online presence, payment processing, digital services, some marketing, etc.

[pinksamuraiii]

As a buyer, the fee increased for me overnight 😞 I now pay $8 for a gig that was was priced at $5 (simple gig).

I didn’t mind paying the service charge which increased it to $7, but it went up again and is pushing towards $8. That’s literally over 50% of the actually gig cost?

So, instead on the extra $2 spent on fees, expect your clients to be worried about the (now pushing towards), an extra $3 service cost. 

[swaybur123]

Everyone knows that Fiverr charges 20%, including old sellers.

[samcaff]

You agree to the 20% fee when you sign up, you can't complain. Upwork have dropped theirs to 10% recently for sellers. You have a choice!

[vickiespencer]

1 hour ago, samcaff said:

Upwork have dropped theirs to 10% recently for sellers. You have a choice!

However, they raised the prices of many of their services. 

[miiila]

On 6/6/2023 at 12:44 AM, pinksamuraiii said:

Maybe company should change name…

If you buy for... $40+, I think, you pay 5.5%, maybe try that, if you like the number 5 ;). Seriously, though, reading how much people pay as fees on $5 orders, and the many complaints about it, makes me wonder if many of them couldn't avoid that bad price/fee ratio, if they planned a little more, and ordered enough for the 5.5% fee at the same time. It's perhaps not doable if fast delivery is essential, but for some things, maybe "collecting" a week's worth of orders into one order would be just fine.

That said, I have regular customers who most probably could "collect", but the convenience, fast delivery, or maybe their workflow, and "having it off the table" seems to be worth it for them to place even tiny orders. 

[aerish369]

 

Fiverr's high commission rate of 20% serves as a deterrent for freelancers, making them less inclined to work on the platform. In contrast, Upwork offers a more appealing commission rate of only 10%, which serves as an incentive for freelancers to choose Upwork over Fiverr. Another aspect that adds complexity to Fiverr is its unpredictable algorithm, making it difficult for freelancers to navigate the platform effectively. Additionally, Fiverr's matching system restricts freelancers from directly sending proposals to clients after a match is made, further limiting their control over the client acquisition process. Unfortunately, Fiverr's matching algorithm often produces irrelevant matches, making it challenging to find the perfect client-freelancer fit. Considering these factors, it becomes understandable why many freelancers are compelled to switch to Upwork, even though they may have initially preferred to work on Fiverr. The high commission and inefficient workflow on Fiverr act as discouraging factors for freelancers.

[donnovan86]

14 minutes ago, aerish369 said:

The high commission and inefficient workflow on Fiverr act as discouraging factors for freelancers.

Fiverr is a business, and they do whatever it makes sense for them to generate income. There are pros and cons to Fiverr just like there are for any other freelancing platform. Just because that other platform ended up lowering their fees, they did it while also hitting benefits you had with long term buyers, among many others. 

Some people also prefer to just have jobs come to them instead of paying for bids that don't go anywhere. So as far as I am concerned, this is a much better platform for me. If it's not ok for you, go and pick another one, there are a large number of other options!

[filipdevaere]

@aerish369 Feel free to go to Upwork. Nobody is forcing you to stay here on Fiverr.

[leannelrivers]

Considering the traffic Fiverr gets, the potential exposure it gives freelancers, and the ease of being booked for jobs, I think 20% is very fair. I do pay for additional benefits on Fiverr, but that's not a must to get work here. There are pros and cons to every site, as @donnovan86 said, but, in my opinion, Fiverr is one of the best to work on, regardless of some frustrating aspects. 

You always have the choice to take the 20% into account when you price your gigs. 

I had some success on Upwork 3-ish years ago, but decent voice-over work is now hard to come by. Freelancers in other fields may have very different experiences. A 10% commission on every job is attractive, but this has hammered the top sellers previously benefiting from a 5% commission on jobs from regular clients. 

The jobs I did have also came with an additional VAT charge on top of the commission fee, which I don't remember being very transparent (or I didn't check the terms thoroughly). On Upwork, you receive ten free connects a month - the bidding currency, and that is good for two or maybe three job applications because the higher the client budget, the more connects you have to spend to apply. After those ten are gone, freelancers need to buy more. You also need to spend a minimum of 7 connects a week to have an 'Available for Work' badge on your profile and to be included in client searches. On top of that, you have to pay for the privilege of your earnings being private. If you don't pay, everyone can see what you've earned and how much you took for each job. Not only do I find this an invasion of privacy, but it also makes it difficult to charge higher rates for new jobs. You can pay a monthly fee to cover all of this and get more connects, if you wish. 

In conclusion, I'm not out to slam Upwork, it's a very successful platform and I still apply for jobs now and again, but I haven't won a bid since last summer; there is usually a minimum of 50 applications per job, but people do find success there. Just don't assume that the grass is much greener. Every platform comes with additional costs to boost exposure and productivity for freelancers, and to increase profit for the platform.  

[grayprogrammerz]

3 hours ago, aerish369 said:

Fiverr's high commission rate of 20% serves as a deterrent for freelancers, making them less inclined to work on the platform. In contrast, Upwork offers a more appealing commission rate of only 10%, which serves as an incentive for freelancers to choose Upwork over Fiverr. Another aspect that adds complexity to Fiverr is its unpredictable algorithm, making it difficult for freelancers to navigate the platform effectively. Additionally, Fiverr's matching system restricts freelancers from directly sending proposals to clients after a match is made, further limiting their control over the client acquisition process. Unfortunately, Fiverr's matching algorithm often produces irrelevant matches, making it challenging to find the perfect client-freelancer fit. Considering these factors, it becomes understandable why many freelancers are compelled to switch to Upwork, even though they may have initially preferred to work on Fiverr. The high commission and inefficient workflow on Fiverr act as discouraging factors for freelancers.

Initially I thought same. But some folks from upwork community changed my mind:
- why don't earn from both ? whatever tax they charge is from what we earn (we won't gonna pay from our pockets either, remember that)

reason why fiverr charge % is high because they start from small $5 and related services, order based...

and upwork mostly focuses on hourly rate, remote jobs, longterm...

 

[kram_mark]

I'm new to this platform. I'm looking for workers as a Buyer (not interested being a Seller)... and this topic/post alone has lots of reference to the Fiverr company and use of the commissions they charge, and many reasons why an aggregated service can out-do your own business costs and expenses (if going out on your own).... BUT, I haven't seen any "Staff" in these Forum posts... anywhere?  

Does Fiverr have a "development team" (tech development) or support team even, as I just see a fairly basic and somewhat broken web site, with a company turning over literally millions (possibly "hundreds") of dollars annually, with hundreds of supposed staff... but, it seems much of the current site UI / operational issues (from what I've been reading) are long term and haven't been fully corrected or addressed?  They're buying up smaller companies that would seem to help in some online capacity/functioning reasons, but what's happening to the future of the system?

Surely, the "20%" is part of the deal in maintaining a top-line web site experience for all... which I can't say I would agree with in my 1st week of viewing the platform from a Buyers point of view.  There are so many basic issues with the interface and operationally (on desktop) getting around the function of communicating with a Seller and working through some ordered work.

Like, not even having a suitable function in my menu to manage a Posted Request ("Brief" or whatever users call it)?  No stats or feedback on how the 8 or so random Sellers were selected for my created Brief?  I don't even know how to cancel it now that I'm not sure I've spec'd out the project enough for the variety of "no details, I can do it" to "well thought out approach/proposal" responses from the selected Sellers?  It seems very odd to tell the truth, as mentioned I haven't seen any staff posts in the "Site Suggestions" forum - saying "oh yes, we're on to that one, it will be released in the July update"?

How much is taken as commission has to be rewarded in the results of the system.  I think my experiences on Freelancer in the past as a Buyer have resulted in a better experience than what I have found on Fiverr so far?

[imagination7413]

23 hours ago, kram_mark said:

as mentioned I haven't seen any staff posts in the "Site Suggestions" forum - saying "oh yes, we're on to that one, it will be released in the July update"? 

It's exceptionally rare for Fiverr to notify about anything. They don't even notify when the ToS is updated. I think the only consistent mass notification that is posted on the main Fiverr site, is scheduled maintenance, and only as a banner that shows on every page. 

There is a quarterly newsletter, though, that sometimes has hints, but they're usually too vague to infer anything.  

[kram_mark]

4 hours ago, imagination7413 said:

It's exceptionally rare for Fiverr to notify about anything.

Not to sound like a downer 🙂 ... but I will take your obvious experiences with the system, and reading between the lines, I will save my energy in trying to make change suggestions for the site (which can sometimes be helpful as a new "raw" user).  If Fiverr were listening to comments, then that's a different matter, but happy to work with what's here as is and see if I can get some work done with Sellers. 👍

Edited June 22, 2023 by kram_mark

[charlsmcfarlane]

I don't find the 20% cut too high. I personally just try to factor the 20% fee into my pricing structure.

However, I do think that the extra charges incurred throughout the purchase process makes things harder.

For example, when one sends an offer, then the buyer has to also pay a service fee on top of the amount. Fiverr are already taking 20% from the order (and any tips).

Adding more to pay on the buyers' side can make it harder to make the sale, which hurts everyone.

[shahidfreelanc]

On 3/30/2023 at 11:09 AM, wanderingvoice said:

Fiverr's 20% cut is too high

 

 

Fiverr's all terms and conditions are open then this type of opinion is not acceptable. If you think it's high you leave it.