Fiverr PRO 2.0

[vickiespencer]

4 minutes ago, levinewman said:

And still, Amazon is one of the most successful businesses on the planet, and English by their users is horrendous.

I spend my fair share on Amazon, and I never buy from sellers who have shoddy English skills, and this is why. ⬇️

Just now, smashradio said:

the likelihood of you getting scammed increases tenfold?

Edited July 5, 2023 by vickiespencer

[levinewman]

Think of it in the simplest terms: capitalism. If those users have crummy English, and they're still kicking your butt in sales, maybe, just maybe, it's not about English. It's about sales. People clearly hire them and they're clearly making enough money to interest leadership. Money is the only factor in this regard. I'm not saying other things don't matter, but sales will always override feelings.

[smashradio]

Just now, levinewman said:

success isn't language based outside of specific areas.

But building a high-value, up-market brand is, in many ways, language based. Did you know the Norwegian government has official advice out not to take e-mails or websites with typos seriously, because the likelihood of you getting scammed increases tenfold? Just a thought. But like I said, I dont take issue with non-native speaking individuals not being fluent. I take issue with it when they lie about it. 

[smashradio]

2 minutes ago, bethanyvo said:

So far, NO gig under $100 has a pro badge.  A seller who does not have $100 gigs but was promoted to pro has pro on their profile but still does not have an under $100 gig with a badge.

Interesting. Thanks! 

[newsmike]

5 minutes ago, levinewman said:

And still, Amazon is one of the most successful businesses on the planet, and English by their users is horrendous. You're trying to dictate personal users which has nothing to do with Fiverr. I'm not saying it's not important for visual professionalism, but it's not something you, I, or Fiverr can dictate because this is a global platform and success isn't language based outside of specific areas.

Agree, and you know what, I believe that @smashradio and @vickiespencer hit it on the head with the fact that we see a tremendous amount of sellers here who lie about it, claiming fluency or native levels. So we have probably been worn down over the years by the thousands of forum posts in what is 3rd grade English, yet the profile says  English: Native/Bilingual.  We'll never fix it, but it does not build the image of quality for Fiverr. 

Edited July 5, 2023 by newsmike

[levinewman]

1 minute ago, vickiespencer said:

I spend my fair share on Amazon, and I never buy from sellers who have shoddy English skills. 

That's fine. But you're in the minority. There are also people who only buy "American made". Also the minority. I work on Amazon and I can tell you that the majority don't even read the dang content. They look at the stars, skim the content, spend more time reading peoples' reviews, and then buy. 

[levinewman]

Just now, newsmike said:

Agree, and you know what, I believe that @smashradio and @vickiespencer hit it on the head with the fact that we see a tremendous amount of sellers here who lie about it, claiming fluency or Native levels. So we have probably been worn down over the years by the thousands of forum posts in what is 3rd grade English, yet the profile says  English: Native/Bilingual.  We'll never fix it, but it does not build the image of quality for Fiverr. 

I will 100% agree with you that people lie about what they can do. It's not exclusive to Fiverr. Can Fiverr do a better job of vetting things? Sure. But the world is the world is the world. Sales still matter more, especially to Fiverr.

[levinewman]

Just now, alinam22 said:

 

It's quite hard to compete with someone that claims to be able to translate in any language combination and be "certified" in all of them. The translation category is full of these people from India/Pakistan that use stock images of women in the profile/gig image and claim to be professional in all languages. 

It's not always about sales. Some people will always go for cheap services and those people will get sales. Sales don't equal a good service just because someone with low standards was happy with it. 

You're not wrong. But you can't measure the immeasurable. You can only measure the stats.

[newsmike]

1 minute ago, levinewman said:

You're not wrong. But you can't measure the immeasurable. You can only measure the stats.

Are you saying we should not be concerned with the image of Fiverr and sellers who reflect poorly on the site? That people don't expect great quality form Amazon, they expect the whole spectrum of quality, from top tier to absolute crap, and it is up to you to sift through to find the right sellers and products? 

[smashradio]

It all depends on who you want to impress, I guess. If your target market is premium, you want to convey a premium brand. I don't think you achieve that by promoting services that don't fit within that strategy. You don't go on Amazon to buy a tailored Tom Ford suit. And you dont visit one of his stores for a cup of Darjeeling tea and a 10.000 dollar suit if all you have is enough to shop at Walmart during Black Friday. 

Both shoddy and premium can work well as a business model. The question is: which is it? Because you can't be both. 

[levinewman]

6 minutes ago, smashradio said:

It all depends on who you want to impress, I guess. If your target market is premium, you want to convey a premium brand. I don't think you achieve that by promoting services that don't fit within that strategy. You don't go on Amazon to buy a tailored Tom Ford suit. And you dont visit one of his stores for a cup of Darjeeling tea and a 10.000 dollar suit if all you have is enough to shop at Walmart during Black Friday. 

Both shoddy and premium can work well as a business model. The question is: which is it? Because you can't be both. 

It clearly can be both. There are Pro and TRS sellers for premium work and there are other people for varying budgets and opportunities. And Fiverr is smart to leverage both.

[alinam22]

Just now, levinewman said:

Are you saying that I expect you to do due diligence before hiring someone and take responsibility for your purchase?

I think the problem at hand is that Fiverr Pro is marketed as "vetted professionals". The person that got Pro in this thread did not get vetted at all.

It devalues the badge for everyone.

[levinewman]

3 minutes ago, alinam22 said:

I think the problem at hand is that Fiverr Pro is marketed as "vetted professionals". The person that got Pro in this thread did not get vetted at all.

It devalues the badge for everyone.

Prove they weren't vetted and I'll retract my statement. Proof matters.

[alinam22]

Just now, levinewman said:

Prove they weren't vetted and I'll retract my statement. Proof matters.

He said it himself.

[levinewman]

Just now, alinam22 said:

He said it himself.

No, he said he didn't apply. Not that he wasn't vetted. Not applying and then being approved means it was vetted.

[vickiespencer]

4 minutes ago, alinam22 said:

5 minutes ago, levinewman said:

Prove they weren't vetted and I'll retract my statement. Proof matters.

He said it himself.

Fiverr could vet them via its secret methods. 

[smashradio]

11 minutes ago, levinewman said:

It clearly can be both. There are Pro and TRS sellers for premium work and there are other people for varying budgets and opportunities. And Fiverr is smart to leverage both.

I meant that Pro can't be both; there's a reason why Pro has had a minimum price tag from the get-go. I'm not talking about Fiverr as a whole. Expecting Fiverr to only cater to a premium segment is unrealistic. But one would expect that from a "Pro" brand clearly made to differentiate the two segments. 

[levinewman]

Just now, smashradio said:

I meant that Pro can't be both; there's a reason why Pro has had a minimum price tag from the get-go. I'm not talking about Fiverr as a whole. Expecting Fiverr to only cater to a premium segment is unrealistic. But one would expect that from a "Pro" brand clearly made to differentiate the two segments. 

Ah, I apologize for reading that incorrectly. My fault. And I agree for the most part.

[moikchap]

This thread has been amazing and I wish I had a meaningful contribution to make.

Is there a general timeframe on when they might release the details whatever it is they're doing?

[newsmike]

Something has changed in the algorithm, as instead of the usual potpourri of seller levels on page 1, right now in VO, every single seller is TRS or PRO, with 2 exceptions, both of whom are L2.  Encouraging.  

[danno1950]

1 hour ago, newsmike said:

Something has changed in the algorithm, as instead of the usual potpourri of seller levels on page 1, right now in VO, every single seller is TRS or PRO, with 2 exceptions, both of whom are L2.  Encouraging.  

Very interesting! I just checked Copy Editing, Video Scriptwriting, and Sales Copy and saw the same thing.

Edited July 6, 2023 by danno1950

[danno1950]

I also saw that my message threads are now not displaying correctly. I just reported it to CS, and asked that it be addressed as an immediate priority. Anybody else have this issue?

I suspect it happened at the same time as the algorithm adjustment Mike just spotted.

Edited July 6, 2023 by danno1950

[vickiespencer]

11 minutes ago, danno1950 said:

my message threads are now not displaying correctly.

Mine are fine. 

 

[moikchap]

The re-alignment might just affect opening the vertical directly and not searches.

When I open a vertical, I see a similar thing where there's no New Sellers or Level 1s and it's 75% TRS. However, when I set up my "usual" custom artist search, it will boil it down to 13 L2, 11 L1, and 106 L0 gigs. Only 9 of the 24 available L2 and L1 gigs are on the first page. 4 of them are on the last page (3). It basically looks like it always has.

[newsmike]

37 minutes ago, danno1950 said:

Very interesting! I just checked Copy Editing, Video Scriptwriting, and Sales Copy and saw the same thing.

Yeah, this is how the sort should have been for quite some time. I just hope they don't go crazy with this new initiative of simply promoting sellers who up till now could not qualify for PRO to that status merely to fill the ranks as we've seen some claiming, even folks who never applied. If we just make everyone PRO then it has no meaning. I still think that sellers should have to earn PRO. It was originally sold as the top 1%, but if we lower the standards, then what's the point? 

Edited July 6, 2023 by newsmike