Improvements to our availability feature

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On 9/21/2023 at 6:20 PM, Noam.Arik said:

Based on valuable feedback from our community, we have made several fixes and improvements to our availability feature. We want you to take vacations, and want them to be stress-free! These updates will ensure that changing  your availability status does not negatively impact your business or compromise your services and visibility on Fiverr. Read more here.

It's a great feature as long as it doesn't affect the gig listing.

[alyssarivera]

On 9/22/2023 at 8:07 AM, sripra9007 said:

Question : 

Let's say a Seller is on Page1 in the search results for specific keywords currently, and he/she takes a vacation of 1 week & put as Unavailable.

After coming back from the 1-week vacation, if the seller notices that their gig placing has gone down a few pages, what action can the Seller take?

Raise a ticket with CS?

Is CS empowered to check and restore the gig placing back to where it was earlier before the vacation started?

Or just wait and keep praying (and try to sell) that the gig position restores on it's own? But then, what's the difference in this update?

 

Since coming back from my break, I've been buried 3-4 pages in, under people who had far less reviews/orders and lower rankings than me, when I used to be page 1.

I did reach out to customer service about it. They told me that's not true, everything looks fine, there's nothing I can do or any algorithm that could be affected. Which... is obviously not true. Of course there's an algorithm, and oh, look, they've rolled out a pay-to-promote feature which can boost our placement (as if 20% of our income is not enough already).

Anyway, after 2 months of crickets, I caved and started promoting my gigs, because my income is totally affected by the unavailability feature that I didn't know was a danger to my livelihood.

Hope for others' sake that it is fixed. Maybe they could retroactively address the negative impact it certainly had on some of their other long-time users.

[strategist_ceo]

50 minutes ago, onecubeideas said:

Even completed TRS requirements but awaiting

 

lol?

[dollob]

just got notification for this information, thankyou for sharing new avaibalbility feature

[rgbecker]

I took a two-day weekend vacation in February of 2022 and set myself as unavailable because I didn't have any internet at my destination and had been getting inundated with orders prior to that; I had hoped to avoid having my response rate go down or to leave buyers hanging when I didn't have Wi-Fi or a data signal. After I came home, I hardly had any orders until the end of August, despite advertising and promoting my gigs. I was shocked this spring when I was still busy full-time all the way through May, as I'd just assumed that February must have been the end of the busy season for my best gig. Fortunately I don't think I've had to use the feature since, but if it really has been fixed, it would be nice to have some more clarity on what exactly will happen if I turn the feature on, since Fiverr is my livelihood, and I can't risk downgrading my gig/ranking.

[donnovan86]

Damn, it seems I am late to the train on this one. Then again I was down due to Covid.. 

Regarding this change, like others I don't really understand what is new, aside from maybe solving some background things that brought issues.

Then again, I don't understand how people think they retain the same place in search results after being away for months. It's unfair toward anyone that works very hard that month to surpass other competitors just for X to come back and steal their spot, thus pushing them down in search results. It depends on everyone I guess, I always increased deadlines or extended orders when needed instead of pausing, and I also had surgery, severe health issues, so I've needed time out. I understand not everyone has the same work ethic I do, but still, honestly, I don't find it that hard to customize and adapt your work if you need a few days of vacation.

I always found extending deadlines to be WAY better than any type of vacation mode. 

[valeriasturza]

On 9/21/2023 at 8:50 AM, Noam.Arik said:

Based on valuable feedback from our community, we have made several fixes and improvements to our availability feature. We want you to take vacations, and want them to be stress-free! These updates will ensure that changing  your availability status does not negatively impact your business or compromise your services and visibility on Fiverr. Read more here.

What about letting *EXISTING* clients to message you but not *NEW* ones when the "enable" button is on?

When I am overbooked - I dont want to get overwhelmed by NEW messages but I DO want my exisiting clients to be able to message me if they need to ... and when you turn the out of office mode with the "enable new clients to message" it will only allow new ones to message and not old ones...

[valeriasturza]

On 9/21/2023 at 9:34 AM, melanielm said:

I've looked over that page and can't quite figure out what's different. Could you specify?

Also, what does "your visibility will not necessarily be negatively impacted" mean? That sounds like it could absolutely still be negatively impacted just like it was all along. What has changed there?

and what about letting *EXISTING* clients to message you but not *NEW* ones when the "enable" button is on?

When I am overbooked - I dont want to get overwhelmed by NEW messages but I DO want my exisiting clients to be able to message me if they need to ... and when you turn the out of office mode with the "enable new clients to message" it will only allow new ones to message and not old ones...

[asadsuny]

Drawing from my extensive experience as a Responsive Front End Web Developer-Designer and WordPress Expert, I'm thrilled to see the recent improvements to Fiverr's availability feature. These enhancements have significantly enhanced the platform's usability, making it even easier for clients like me to connect with skilled freelancers. As a lead generator expert, I know the value of efficient communication, and these updates align perfectly with my strategic, goal-oriented approach to client satisfaction. Fiverr continues to impress with its commitment to excellence!

[gbcodies]

I believe there should be a guarantee for sellers that their profile will not affect by taking vacations.

[jonassalvador]

Perhaps Fiverr could introduce some sort of system where clients could still place orders but have them under a certain schedule in correlation to a customised holiday system. For example, holiday systems could be edited and customised by the seller where they can still accept orders under a 'scheduled' system where orders could be labelled as on 'Standby' until their customised holiday dates are finished. This standby phase would be transparent for both the Buyer and the Seller, this would be mainly for repeat clients and new clients who wish to order with a specific seller but also allows them to be aware of the date when the seller would be next available without leaving them in the dark.

Not sure if I explained this well but it's just an idea, let me know how this can be improved on.

[haseebjaved2]

Please reduce the Fiverr fee from 20% to 10% like others platform especially Upwork.
That'll be a great relief for freelancers.

[susanmarlowe]

Well, this just confirms what I already suspected. I went on a brief vacation and changed my availability a while back and ever since then, I’ve gotten zero inquiries. I was wondering if the there was a connection and now I know there was. That’s pretty terrible Fiverr. Are people expected to be available 24/7 in order to be successful on this platform? 

[mizanur79]

I have observed one thing well.    Well is this correct algorithm I personally feel bad because I will only be sitting with mobile or desktop.  Can't I have another job?  I think it should be corrected.  If we are not active, the impression will not have any effect.If you're not active on the phone or desktop, your gig impression goes down.I have observed one thing well.  If you're not active on the phone or desktop, your gig impression goes down.  Well is this correct algorithm I personally feel bad because I will only be sitting with mobile or desktop.  Can't I have another job?  I think it should be corrected.  If we are not active, the impression will not have any effect.

[mefta_press]

On 9/22/2023 at 8:06 PM, angle_moni said:

For the last 3 years, I have not been able to take any vacation, I have not been able to travel anywhere, and life has become completely boring.

But if Fiverr would make an arrangement every year that would gift us $500 for 7 days of vacation a year and our profile would be fine.

I considered myself a proud member of a fiverr.

Thanks in advance.

Yes of course I am agree with you. your proposal is very effective for us.

I hope Fiverr Team will think about it.

[mustavi_rafi]

I greatly appreciate it. This feature struck me twice, and the first time was the most aggravating for me. But I sincerely appreciate Fiverr for this update. 

[awaismalik77]

I used this feature one time for 15 days, when I came back on Fiverr my impression did not get back like 15 days ago,
Like for example  if I say 15 days before 1 day impressions are 2k but after 15 days when I make available my account the impression comes like 200 only, even 1 months passed but still same going 200 only,

So maybe I can say after use of unavailable account features your gig may not rank like it goes before.

But I want to know others reviews also

[markmein]

That's fantastic news!😍 It's great to hear that you're actively listening to feedback and making improvements to the availability feature. It's reassuring to know that taking vacations won't have a negative impact on our business and services on Fiverr. Thanks for prioritizing a stress-free experience for freelancers like me!

[digitalavinash]

Simple thing I'm comfortable in night time (indian zone) working. If it ruins my response time, I am ready to accept it. I am ready to accept whatever Fiverr team deside. Also Fiverr can assume it like I am out of office mode, but I am not. I am following so called Fiverr forum expert, that always told (in forum) not necessary to be online to get order. But reality it oposite of it. You need to be owl. Thanks @fiverr 🙏 

[hammad5524]

This is great news. I am happy to see that Fiverr really care about workers. One thing most worried me that why i am not getting order since more  than 3 mouths ago i am still online but does not receive any message from buyer. I would very thankful to Fiver to help me out.

[glow_writer]

On 9/22/2023 at 6:39 AM, temizan said:

I've searched my gigs and couldn't find not even 1 out my 3 gigs, which literary means, my gigs are invisible to buyers let alone buying what I'm selling... 😢

The three sales I had was even derived from my facebook friends, I suggested fiverr for them as a great platform, but is this how I'm going to continue with my account?? 

It is sad. Really sad. I am suffering the same fate. Fiverr doesn't want to fix this issue. Gigs will just disappear for so long with no hope of when they'd return to search. So so sad. How is anybody going to purchase from me?

[mdshariar574]

This is really good news for all sellers and Fiverr is a good place to work.
Thank you for amazing News for worker. 

[patrick_writer2]

I don't really see the changes that was made because my gig impression keep on going down day by day 

[sidrabatool288]

That's great. Most of the time we(sellers) worry about our gig rankings.

[firingarrows]

In my opinion ... removal of Buyer Requests means almost NIL business on Fiverr these days ... After all, the point of freelance sites is to bid and apply for projects! I think it's time to look at other freelance sites for job openings considering the decline and then zilch orders post that update. Also, the rotating user status is no help either ... when the ranking is purely based on the orders you get which is next to nothing these days.