US Locations and English Speakers?

[divavoice]

I have noticed that on at least 75% or gigs that I see, the location is listed as United States, with a stock photo, and poor English. I’m a seller, but also a buyer. When I see gigs like that, I immediately think they are being dishonest and/or a scam, so I skip right over them.



As a buyer, I have no preference as to where someone is located OR if English is your native language. If you offer a great gig and we can communicate, that’s good enough for me. The quality of your gig and work is much more important to me.



I thought I would post this because I’ve been reading through the forums and notice SO many sellers asking why they are not getting gigs, and almost every time I check out their page and/or gig, those are the first things I notice. In fact, I’ve ever seen some sellers go so far as to blatantly lie about being a native english speaker when they very clearly are not.



I’m not really sure why that’s happening (especially since there are buyers and sellers from all around the globe - one of my favorite things about Fiverr), but as a Unites States buyer - I thought I’d give some feedback about that. Hope this helps in some way. Remember, honesty is ALWAYS the best policy.



🙂

[Guest norrsken_marc]

I totally agree with you @divavoice. Honesty is truly more important than the country that someone comes from, or even the language they speak. Seems like this place would be more welcoming if it made sure everyone was who they said they were when they created their account, and also made sure any picture taken from the internet were removed from a profile picture. I also do the same things when someone asks a question on the forum: I go see their page to get a better idea of the user, and I much rather see someone from their real country than someone with a celebrity picture from the US. That, to me, is just wrong.

[inkpetal]

Yes! This is perfect.

[divavoice]

kjblynx said: I'm going to be clear here; there are a lot of native English speakers who cannot write to save their lives. They have no concept of grammar, punctuation, spelling, or sentence structure. There are people born and raised in the US who went through school and even college whom I don't understand at all.

 

Oh, I definitely agree with that as well. But often times, it's much more obvious because the language uses incorrect tenses, prepositions, and word order that's a dead giveaway for the non-native speaker. I can tell almost immediately if someone is just a poor writer, or if they are foreign speakers.

 

And for the record, I envy those who can speak, write, or read more than one language. I know minimal spanish, and I can read, write, and speak music - but really wish I had a better grasp on a second language. Knowing this, however, I would never try to pass myself off in spanish. But I can say anything in music! :)

 

[pixess]

your post is very perfect point to sellers and buyers.

[donnaowen]

It’s important to note that there are people who offer their services here for… only $5! They can edit your work to make sure you have proper grammar and spelling. People who have such badly put together pages and gigs just tell me that they’re only doing it for the money, not to actually help people.



I feel better when the link I click has a picture of an actual person somewhere on the page. It shows a certain about of accountability and commitment to the work that they will show their face. People who hide behind cartoon drawings of laptops concern me.

[jmanuc]

I have even seen some sellers go as far as using another fiverr person in their video so they can get more sales. It actually worked for them and they got many sales and featured on the front page. That’s what a pretty women can do for your gig haha

[divavoice]

Well apparently, I need to get someone younger and cuter to sell my stuff? (Actually, my gigs do pretty well, I’ll stick with my 42yr old self.)



But to be honest, that’s something that concerns me here. I see these really young girls - some I can’t even imagine being 18 - doing things like writing a logo on their body. They pose in these seductive poses and have TONS of sales, and it just creeps me out to no end, because I imagine that quite a few of the purchases are from perverted older men. I know that’s not always the case, and is a pretty negative viewpoint, but that’s the world we live in now. Younger people don’t realize how dangerous it could potentially be OR that it might come back to haunt them as the get older. I honestly wish gigs like that were’t allowed, for their sake.

[mgjohn78]

Reply to @divavoice: Guess the only solution would be some sort of verification of identity but that would affect fiverrs income due to loss of buyers and thus will never happen. Fiverrs policy on sharing contact information is at least some sort of protection for the younger members but atm thats pretty much it. Perhaps some blog posts on fiverrs blog now and then would be a good idea, posts about possible dangers and how to minimize the risks when working online etc .

[divavoice]

That’s not a bad idea. I might send it in the suggestion box. I hate to sensor anyone because I think that’s not good at all, but I worry so much about young girls being online. My neice had a situation, so that probably makes me hyper-sensitive to it, but still, I hope the Fiverr thinks about some ways to protect younger sellers without a lot of life-experience.