Freelancer Product Release

[Kesha]

At Fiverr, we’re elevating the freelancer experience and revamping your tools for success so you have everything you need to boost your business, right at your fingertips. In this product release, we’re focusing on transparency and clarity to empower every freelancer’s journey and help great quality shine.

Here’s what we’ve been working on:

Revamped Fiverr freelancer levels (coming soon!)
Discover our new level system, a game-changer in tracking and boosting your Fiverr career. Make the most of clearer criteria, powerful insights (a new success score!), and more accessible benefits and tools to guide your growth.
To learn more about the transition to the new level system, read more →

Enhanced Ratings & Reviews System 
Get a more accurate reflection of your performance, with an updated ratings & reviews system providing more streamlined feedback collection in order to increase marketplace trust and credibility. 
Read more →

Paid Consultations
Uncover new opportunities by offering your expertise through focused, one-on-one sessions to foster trust and convert potential customers with your industry insights, strategic direction, or mentorship. 
Read more →

Agencies
If you’re an agency, enjoy new tailor-made features that showcase your team’s expertise and help you stand out in our thriving marketplace.

 

Ready to make the most of your new path to success? Discover all the details of our latest updates and how they can transform your Fiverr journey.
Get all the info here → ‘
 

[khafff]

Hearing that you guys admitted the weak point of the rating system just feels incredibly heartwarming. Every seller knew that any non-five-star rating meant serious issues with performance... And this used to be so weird! Doesn't a rating of 4.7-4.9 reflect that the job was done wonderfully? Moreover, it shows the areas you can grow in the future.

Overall, I'm so glad that you guys are finally shifting the 5-star paradigm! ⭐️

[uk1000]

@Kesha the page linked to shows:

Quote

And research shows, ratings between 4.0-4.9 are actually more trustworthy.

If 4.0 to 4.9 ratings are more trustworthy, and the rating system has been changed to make people get lower ratings, why are the level requirements all higher than 4.0 (ie. min 4.4 for level 1, min 4.6 star for level 2, min 4.7 star for TRS)?

Also what were the reasons for late delivery % and completion rate % being taken out of the calc? Are they less important now (or is now about how affected the buyers were about things like those, and the ratings they leave?).

Edited January 30 by uk1000

[levinewman]

So, they want reviews to go down but they still want to create/maintain impossible standards for maintaining TRS based on 60-day review periods without regard to the entire body of work you've established. Sounds totally reasonable and not at all like it's going to be a problem with keeping successful sellers around. /s

[vovkaslovesnyy]

9 minutes ago, levinewman said:

TRS based on 60-day review periods without regard to the entire body of work you've established.

As I know, the review period will be even longer, and the process of evaluation will be daily. 

At the same time, I am not expecting any transparent or open reply now. It will be tested on sellers, and adjusted if needed while not taking sellers into account at all.

For now, it can be summarized with the following: We don't want you to be stressed out, so we want you to keep 4.7+ while "ratings between 4.0-4.9 are actually more trustworthy."

When I was younger, we used this emoji for similar situations: 

Edited January 30 by vovkaslovesnyy

[hedayetsaadi556]

So in the new level system, every seller will be eligible for the Seller Plus program? How will they get access to it? 

[nicks_voice]

The new rating requirements for levels seems a bit cut-throat for newer sellers with smaller order averages and high-price, low-quantity sellers where 1 bad review can make an extreme impact VS a seller who does hundreds of orders in the span 60 days.

Also, if the whole point is to show that less than 5 stars is still a good review, why are we being majorly penalized for having less than 4.4 on the levels scale? According to the current system, that only leaves wiggle room for 2 stars lost on any of the metrics in total, after that it’s a 4.3 review, which is under the threshold to even get the first level.

Would appreciate a reply to these issues.
@Kesha

Edited January 30 by nicks_voice

[catwriter]

So... If a level 2 seller loses their level, they lose eligibility for the Seller Plus Premium program. Once they're eligible for it again, do they purchase it at the price they have initially purchased it ($29, or $19), or do they have to purchase it at the latest price ($39 per month, if I'm not mistaken)?

[Kesha]

 

2 hours ago, jellyvector said:

We are excited about the new features.

I'm happy to hear of your excitement! These new changes are designed to help you as a seller continue to grow and find success on the platform and we're looking forward to your future success.

[filipdevaere]

On 1/30/2024 at 11:29 AM, Kesha said:

I'm happy to hear of your excitement!

He is "excited" because he has absolutely no idea what impact these changes are having (new seller without sales).
The veterans here are not "excited". 

[levinewman]

13 minutes ago, Kesha said:

 

I'm happy to hear of your excitement! These new changes are designed to help you as a seller continue to grow and find success on the platform and we're looking forward to your future success.

This comment completely ignores all the other people concerned which is the biggest problem with Fiverr. It infuriates me that you're picking and choosing instead of addressing real problems. But, I guess, this is par for the course for the political game that is Fiverr these days. 

/Create Problem

/Ignore Feedback

/Praise Randomness

/Ignore Feedback

/Implement Life-Altering Changes Based on the Feedback of People Not Actually Selling on Fiverr

/Profit??

[Kesha]

Thanks for the engagement! I'm happy to hear your positive sentiments about the new rating system.

2 hours ago, khafff said:

Hearing that you guys admitted the weak point of the rating system just feels incredibly heartwarming. Every seller knew that any non-five-star rating meant serious issues with performance... And this used to be so weird! Doesn't a rating of 4.7-4.9 reflect that the job was done wonderfully? Moreover, it shows the areas you can grow in the future.

Overall, I'm so glad that you guys are finally shifting the 5-star paradigm! ⭐️

[uk1000]

Also, now that the levels are being 'revamped' - shouldn't the "new seller" level be renamed?

eg. someone could have joined in 2010 and been here for 14 years and still be called a "new seller" on their level or someone could drop from level 1 and then be "new seller" but it's a bit of a misnomer if it's not related to when the seller started. They could be called Unlevelled or Level 0 (or start the numbering from 1 so they first become level 1, and the current level 2 is renamed to level 3).

Though there could also be an automatic level above the current level 2 so the number of sellers per level gets more evenly distributed and it's easier to distinguish sellers in the current level 2.

Edited January 30 by uk1000

[Kesha]

3 hours ago, uk1000 said:

@Kesha the page linked to shows:

If 4.0 to 4.9 ratings are more trustworthy, and the rating system has been changed to make people get lower ratings, why are the level requirements all higher than 4.0 (ie. min 4.4 for level 1, min 4.6 star for level 2, min 4.7 star for TRS)?

Also what were the reasons for late delivery % and completion rate % being taken out of the calc? Are they less important now (or is now about how affected the buyers were about things like those, and the ratings they leave?).

 

1 hour ago, uk1000 said:

Also, now that the levels are being 'revamped' - shouldn't the "new seller" level be renamed?

eg. someone could have joined in 2010 and been here for 14 years and still be called a "new seller" on their level or someone could drop from level 1 and then be "new seller" but it's a bit of a misnomer if it's not really related to when the seller started. They could be called Unlevelled or Level 0 (or start the numbering from 1 so they first become level 1, and the current level 2 is renamed to level 3).

Though there could also be an automatic level above the current level 2 so the number of sellers per level gets more evenly distributed and it's easier to distinguish sellers in the current level 2.

Hi! Thanks for your questions.

Seller levels are higher than 4.0 because though it is a fair rating, it is still important that sellers are working hard to continue improving their scores. The level system provides a goalpost for sellers to work towards.

In the new system late deliveries and completion rate is no longer part of the seller level criteria, but they will still play a part in the seller's overall success score. 

Lastly, if a seller is demoted from Level 1, they will be in Level 0, not new. Hope all this helps! 

[uk1000]

5 minutes ago, Kesha said:

Lastly, if a seller is demoted from Level 1, they will be in Level 0, not new. Hope all this helps! 

Though this page calls it "New Seller".

https://www.fiverr.com/cp/freelancers-levels-ratings

Quote

New Seller

 

Jumpstart your Fiverr career with all the benefits you need to succeed.

It doesn't mention "Level 0" on that page. But it might be more meaningful if it did show "Level 0" or "Unleveled" or something.

This page also calls it "New Seller" https://www.fiverr.com/levels even though someone could be here for years with that level.

Quote

New Seller

Overview

This is where everything starts. When you create a Gig on Fiverr, you’re automatically ranked as a New Seller. We encourage you to deliver your best work and service to move up to the next level.

 

Edited January 30 by uk1000

[levinewman]

9 minutes ago, Kesha said:

Seller levels are higher than 4.0 because though it is a fair rating, it is still important that sellers are working hard to continue improving their scores.

And yet, value for money is a distinct way to sabotage hard work based on its wildly subjective nature, thus ensuring an inescapable grind where success is more closely tied to 5-star ratings than ever before.

Edited January 30 by levinewman

[jefftuts]

I am curious what specific metrics will be counted for your new "Success Score" - does anyone have more context on this? 

[shuvo_va]

Every trading platform wants to have as many 5 star ratings as possible for their services. As a result, the confidence of buyers increases. But Fiverr wants its service rating to go down to 5 stars.
The rating of the freelancers is the same as the rating of the Fiverr platform.

I think most freelancers will get ratings less than 5 stars because of the updated rating system. As a result it will have a bad impact on the career of freelancers. It will also have a negative impact on the Fiverr platform.
When a buyer sees a Top Rated Seller or a reputed sellers rating less than 5, they will doubt the quality of the Fiverr platform efficiency.

 

Edited January 30 by shuvo_va

[visualstudios]

 

Btw, Fiverr, please tell me this - why is it that you have a fair, balanced review system for CS, and not for sellers? Where's the "exceptional" checkbox? If the "exceptional" is such a great idea, shouldn't you use that across all forms?

[uk1000]

12 minutes ago, jefftuts said:

I am curious what specific metrics will be counted for your new "Success Score"

So far there's just what's been mentioned on the linked page.

ie.

Quote

A new success score to provide clarity on your service and delivery quality and how it’s evaluated

Quote

That’s why we’re introducing the success score to help you better understand the factors shaping your performance evaluation and visibility in the marketplace. Designed to enhance stability and accuracy, it takes into account many metrics, such as Gig order history, customer satisfaction [which is probably the buyer satisfaction rate - probably calculated from the private ratings], and quality of communication, providing a measure relative to other freelancers in the marketplace.

 

Quote

Your success score will:

Assess various metrics to ensure a holistic performance review

Assign a score to each Gig for deeper insights

Reveal insights on your strengths and areas for improvement

 

Edited January 30 by uk1000

[donnovan86]

3 minutes ago, uk1000 said:

such as Gig order history

This is strange. How does the gig order history relate. 

I think they are introducing the requirement of having multiple unique buyers a month, if I am not mistaken. Regardless, it's clear that it's becoming much more difficult to keep a level, and obviously much easier to lose it. 

5 minutes ago, visualstudios said:

Btw, Fiverr, please tell me this - why is it that you have a fair, balanced review system for CS, and not for sellers? Where's the "exceptional" checkbox? If the "exceptional" is such a great idea, shouldn't you use that across all forms?

Simple. That's for internal use, it doesn't appear publicly and it doesn't have any relevance. Seller reviews are public and they will affect the overall gig score. They could use the same wording though, I agree. Although to be honest, I always left 5 stars to CS, I rarely had an issue that was not solved. 

[jefftuts]

3 minutes ago, donnovan86 said:

This is strange. How does the gig order history relate. 

I think they are introducing the requirement of having multiple unique buyers a month, if I am not mistaken. Regardless, it's clear that it's becoming much more difficult to keep a level, and obviously much easier to lose it. 

I think it's the opposite.

I predict they are planning to merge your Repeat Buyer score into this, which is a bit upsetting personally as my services aren't really the ones that people buy on repeat.

Wish this was more transparent 😕

[Kesha]

23 minutes ago, levinewman said:

And yet, value for money is a distinct way to sabotage hard work based on its wildly subjective nature, thus ensuring an inescapable grind where success is more closely tied to 5-star ratings than ever before.

Hi! We see many sellers with scores less than 5 that are selling well and we don't anticipate the new value for money sabotaging sellers. 

On the contrary, we hope this helps our sellers. Previously, freelancers couldn't see the submitted feedback for value for money. Now, with this change, we are able to provide you with more insights into customer perceptions and make them more transparent. This also simplifies the feedback process, reducing the number of forms customers need to fill out and allowing for more feedback to be collected, while offering pricing insights. For example, consistently high ‘value for money’ scores may signal opportunities to raise Gig prices. It’s important to note, our analysis of historical data over the past 4 years shows consistent ‘value for money’ scores across pricing levels, ensuring dependable feedback as you navigate your freelancing journey. 

[gunawanguan]

@Kesha

I still learned about this new level system.
And I don't know if it factored / counted to my account already or not.
But does this new score system affect the eligibility for buyer brief?

Cause this month, before the date of 12th I still able to get a buyer brief every day.
But since 13th January, I never got any buyer brief and I was told that it because of my performance drop.
I didn't notice or know that this performance drop could affect our eligibility for buyer brief features.

Is it because of this new score system that affect the eligibility for buyer brief?

Thanks for the explanation.

[visualstudios]

10 minutes ago, Kesha said:

For example, consistently high ‘value for money’ scores may signal opportunities to raise Gig prices

@Kesha do you realize what this actually will do?

If consistently high value for money means I should raise my prices, that means I should aim to not have consistently high value for money, but average. In other words, I should steadily raise my prices until my value for money is average, as in, fair. Which yes, makes sense - that's what it should be.

The problem is that means I'll get reviews of 4 stars, or even lower, since value for money counts for the final rating. That means I'll lose my level, since I need to maintain a 4.7 average, and Fiverr states that dropping levels can affect gig positioning. If I get 3 stars on "value for money", the review will be lower than 4.7

If we could see our "value for money" and have that not affect our rating, or if the threshold to keep levels was lower, then yes, that would make sense. As things stand, you can't win with the system. You can't raise prices because you get punished for doing so.

Please tell me how you think this works. How can I raise my prices if my value for money is high without dropping my rating average?

 

Edited January 30 by visualstudios