Is “Conversion Rate” harming a seller's desire to buy from other sellers?

[themarineiguana]

So, this is something I've been thinking about occasionally for a couple years now...

In situations where I’ve found that I might want to purchase services (e.g. voice acting) for personal projects, I’ve found myself hesitating to contact other sellers.

The main reason for this is the Conversion Rate Metric 📈, which determines how many people who contact you actually buy said gig.

For example, a couple years ago, I wanted to get a really authentic-sounding Ducky impression (from Land Before Time 🦕). I began auditioning different sellers to see if any could help me (I asked them to send in some anodyne phrase like “Fiverr is a site that was founded in 2010, yup yup yup!”), and I narrowed it down to a lady from the UAE and another from the Philippines who got pretty close, but I ultimately decided to go a different route for the project.

Afterwards though, I started thinking about the fact that me contacting them and not buying probably affected their Conversion Rate, and I suddenly got spooked about the idea of potentially trying to audition people in the future (concerned that I would cause more harm than good for a majority of the auditionees).

So, my question is… does anyone else find themselves grappling with this kind of guilt, and do you think this is this proving to have a chilling effect on trying to do otherwise normal things like hold "auditions"?

Do you think Fiverr should consider weakening the influence of Conversion Rate on our metrics? (After all, not getting a gig and then having it count against your metrics is kind of a one-two punch).

Or, just weaken it in situations where sellers contact other sellers?

Curious to know if I’m alone.

Edited July 19, 2023 by themarineiguana

[katakatica]

I've actually thought about this before! My passion projects are... honestly, kind of silly/odd (the game I'm working on is pretty dark but with a specific style which makes it hard to find the exact right fit and the gifts/etc. I get on here are pretty niche, like Arkham Horror player cards...) I also often end up not having the funds or the interest in the project for too long or having a friend who is off-Fiverr do it (being in games=I know many artists personally). I often feel bad about just reaching out, but often I'm not sure if the seller I find will really be able to do what I want.

I don't like ordering with 0 chat before, even if it looks like the gig fits what I want, which often ends in a 'sorry, I'm actually busy now'. I THINK conversion rate is perhaps a bit too highly valued (if it is, even, since I'm not even sure.) I try not to let this dampen my 'buying mood', but I definitely don't go messaging 5-6 people at the same time. (partially also because the inbox is the same, and it looks like I'm meant to answer quickly even to sellers I'm messaging, which is...yeah. Not fun.) I guess I'm just more careful about who I contact/when? It still doesn't always end in a project, which I always feel sorry about, but I have so many ideas and so little time/funds!

As a seller as well, I do have my worries. Just yesterday, as I'm coming back officially (updating gigs/etc.) after my holiday, I got 3-4 spam messages in a row. Even if those don't affect us officially, I wonder if they have some sort of weight (unless the system IS really good at taking them out of consideration.) 

[donnovan86]

18 hours ago, themarineiguana said:

Do you think Fiverr should consider weakening the influence of Conversion Rate on our metrics? (After all, not getting a gig and then having it count against your metrics is kind of a one-two punch).

 

That would mean the conversion rate would matter. For example, I am pretty high in search results and the conversion rate is very low in my case. The fact that I am still high in search means CR doesn't really matter that much, if at all. When Fiverr gives a lot of exposure, you can't control how many people will buy from you. Plus, there are a lot of "give me work" dudes and spammers, so just because you have lots of impressions that doens't mean they are relevant. I wouldn't focus that much on the CR. I just do the best job that I can.

[vickieito]

Hi @themarineiguana! Great topic!

On 7/19/2023 at 3:07 AM, themarineiguana said:

So, my question is… does anyone else find themselves grappling with this kind of guilt, and do you think this is this proving to have a chilling effect on trying to do otherwise normal things like hold "auditions"?

I've definitely worried about conversion rates when I talk to sellers, so when I vet my sellers, I place mini "test orders" to see if I want to work with them. I don't contact a seller unless I intend on placing a test order. This can get expensive, especially last year when I was buying 12-13 gigs a month.

On 7/19/2023 at 3:07 AM, themarineiguana said:

Do you think Fiverr should consider weakening the influence of Conversion Rate on our metrics? (After all, not getting a gig and then having it count against your metrics is kind of a one-two punch).

Or, just weaken it in situations where sellers contact other sellers?

Fiverr already weakens situations where sellers contact other sellers (or even buyers contacting sellers) because our analytics look at the overall conversion rate ...not necessarily the conversion rate of a particular user contacting a seller.

For example, if you "clicked" on a seller's gig in search, contact them, and then decided not to buy .... BUT the seller got an order that same day from a repeat buyer that same day (not from you), the seller's analytics would still show as 1 click and 1 order, and a great conversion score.

So, if you are a high-volume seller (in the case of @donnovan86) or a TRS (like @katakatica) you probably won't have to worry about the conversion rate unless orders significantly decrease. 

The sellers who you really need to be careful with are the newbies or the ones who are barely getting orders because contacting these sellers, without placing an order, can significantly hurt their conversion rates.

I don't have to worry about conversion rates now - I'm getting orders. However, when I was a newbie (3 months in), I had to turn down 8 inquiries in a row (I was on vacation) and that affected my gig for 2 months (dead silence, 0 orders). But only for that gig. I was lucky my other gigs were able to support me at that time.

Knowing this, I always check to see if the seller has recent deliveries or orders in queue so that I know my inquiries won't hurt them if they decline my project.

P.S. .... Good to see you back @katakatica! I hope you had a great vacation and are feeling better!

Edited July 20, 2023 by vickieito

[donnovan86]

43 minutes ago, vickieito said:

o, if you are a high-volume seller (in the case of @donnovan86)

Well I am not as high volume as I once was. The demand for writing services, even content writing has gone downhill this year.