I'll be honest, I feel abused and discarded.

[moikchap]

I feel like this type of situation works against the "Go Upmarket" goal mentioned all the time in the shareholder's letter.   

I have a skillset that's on par with a Head of QA when it comes to mobile gaming. I sell my services within my personal real-life network for a lot more than I need to live. I can gain and retain upmarket clients at upmarket prices. But, the only reason I don't make a fiverr gig to offer out those skills is due to situations like this. This invisible hand of a Success Score and other various gig rankings doesn't exist in real life. It's off-putting. I keep seeing long-time successful people saying their long-time work was randomly unraveled with no definable source. It makes me not want to "invest" in the seller side of the platform since it seems too unreliable. 

It strikes me like Fiverr is similarly blunting it's own potential when it lets this happen and messing with its own money.

With the comments people are making about the Value For Money ratings, it also strikes me that possibly Fiverr is abandoning the "Go Upmarket" pillar to pivot to a sort of moneyball "bang for the buck" value proposition as their market position. That makes business sense to me, but it would be a bad omen for a lot of long time sellers who raised their prices to what the market can bear.

Edited February 15 by moikchap

[jonbaas]

5 hours ago, pyxisstudio said:

Why would fiverr show you who has given you a low rating privately ? You know what private feedback Means, right ?

That's the crux of our complaints. The private reviews are breaking the new system -- for us, the sellers, anyway,

And, FYI, I was quoting a legal phrase when I stated, "Show me my accusers".

[cheftychefty]

12 hours ago, almostfauxreal said:

I think it's time to focus on other platforms and customers outside of fiverr.

 

This! First of all I love your name. Makes me sad about mine because I randomly blurted a word twice and used it upon signup because thought I would be able to change it later. I've been stuck with it for 6 years now 🤣

But, to your point...

I did the math today and in the past 4, out of the 6 years, I've brought in $221,396.40 through fiverr. Then they take their 20% cut. That's almost a quarter of a million dollars and just like me, thousands of artists are now at a risk of losing their entire careers because some devs at the office were bored and wanted to try out some new ideas.

I have had clients who would probably spit on me in public given the chance just because theyre that mean, rude, and unhinged. I've dealt with some really intense people and I've smiled through it and asked what I needed to do to get the product where they would be happy. I've literally had a customer once tell me she was really happy with the logo and then gave me a 1 star review and said she wished she hadn't ordered from me. like what? lol.

I've had customers request a cancelation after I've spent days and weeks a project because they've said "You know, I honestly just don't know what I want and I was hoping this would help me figure it out but I'd like to cancel if you don't mind"....

The list goes on about the type of people us sellers are faced with on a daily basis and we have to smile through it and do our best so we don't get our accounts flagged and risk demotion. lol we literally get bullied on here and just have to brush it off.

I knew something was weird because this time last year I was doing 11k a month in sales but last month I barely did $1,500 and right now in February i have $500 in sales. I was going in circles trying to figure out if it was taxes... or too much Christmas shopping... But now that this has rolled it, it's apparent that they've been running it in the background for months and they're going to force us all to just leave.

They'll be stuck with the AI users selling $5-$15 packages because none of us will trust this platform ever again.

 

[ndm_archviz]

16 hours ago, jonbaas said:

How do I have such a low seller Success Score? I am among the best-selling sellers on this site, with thousands of buyers (in 94+ countries), mathematically great reviews, more all-time revenue than most sellers, and otherwise fantastic metrics.... except -- for unclear reasons -- a low success score. I have dealt with some terrible buyers (most that were incapable of being satistifed -- the kind of buyer we all try to avoid), as we all have, yet, despite being a successful seller -- for a decade on this site (since 2014) -- my newly-imposed low success score means that I -- as it stands right now -- may no longer be able to sell my popular service(s) here. I don't see how I can "improve" from this low success score, and big-gig-weighted "strong negative impact" seller satisfaction metric (and certainly not in one month!). Out of all of my many completed gig sales, within the past two years alone, I have only had three 1-2 star reviews. That's well above average for my gig category(s), and easily outweighed by my many other great reviews.

I work hard to please my clients. I always have. That's part of my branded reputation. That's why my clients hire me.

So, who the heck has secretly reviewed me so low as to put me into "strong negative impact", low seller Success Score territory? "Show me my accusers".

Why am I being penalized for metrics that I cannot/could not control? The new system sees only numbers and metrics, without taking into consideration the true reasons for those metrics. I am not a bad seller. In fact, I am well-respected on the site, as well as here on the forums. People know me. Forum users know me (all too well, in fact). I've influenced hundreds of big business brands.... I've created artwork, logos, and other business elements for celebrities, notable hotel chains, government officials (some running for election at the time), entertainers, a notable Country Music singer, new inventions (some that are already on the market), even an astronaut! Heck, I was even so trusted by Fiverr as to serve as a forum moderator for a while (years ago)!

I've worked hard, over the years, to EARN my strong, positive reputation. So why are blanket uncontrollable metrics waiting to kill me, as a seller, here on Fiverr?

Surely this new Fiverr system can do a better job of quantifying the value of its greatest assets -- proven, successful, respected sellers like myself (and others).

I don't want to stop being a great seller, here, on Fiverr, yet, for some reason, this new system thinks that I should.

Where's the fairness, or respect, in that?

----------------------------------------------------------

(NOTE: I am not trying to start arguments, just expressing my valuable thoughts and concerns)

I am a new freelancer but I totally understand your point. This new metric has totally lack of transparency and so far form being fair.

[pyxisstudio]

On 2/16/2024 at 4:44 AM, cheftychefty said:

This! First of all I love your name. Makes me sad about mine because I randomly blurted a word twice and used it upon signup because thought I would be able to change it later. I've been stuck with it for 6 years now 🤣

But, to your point...

I did the math today and in the past 4, out of the 6 years, I've brought in $221,396.40 through fiverr. Then they take their 20% cut. That's almost a quarter of a million dollars and just like me, thousands of artists are now at a risk of losing their entire careers because some devs at the office were bored and wanted to try out some new ideas.

I have had clients who would probably spit on me in public given the chance just because theyre that mean, rude, and unhinged. I've dealt with some really intense people and I've smiled through it and asked what I needed to do to get the product where they would be happy. I've literally had a customer once tell me she was really happy with the logo and then gave me a 1 star review and said she wished she hadn't ordered from me. like what? lol.

I've had customers request a cancelation after I've spent days and weeks a project because they've said "You know, I honestly just don't know what I want and I was hoping this would help me figure it out but I'd like to cancel if you don't mind"....

The list goes on about the type of people us sellers are faced with on a daily basis and we have to smile through it and do our best so we don't get our accounts flagged and risk demotion. lol we literally get bullied on here and just have to brush it off.

I knew something was weird because this time last year I was doing 11k a month in sales but last month I barely did $1,500 and right now in February i have $500 in sales. I was going in circles trying to figure out if it was taxes... or too much Christmas shopping... But now that this has rolled it, it's apparent that they've been running it in the background for months and they're going to force us all to just leave.

They'll be stuck with the AI users selling $5-$15 packages because none of us will trust this platform ever again.

 

That's true they have actually shadowbanned a lot of gigs and when I say a lot I mean it, No Money for Us, I guess lol.

Edited February 17 by pyxisstudio

[awaisahmed489]

Well, I'm also facing the same issues, and here is what I have observed so far. 

1- The new system is taking data from the last 2 years. It's not good for old sellers since Fiver has a lot of data from our gigs. But most new sellers have a better seller score. In my point of view, the time period should be a maximum of 6 months because how can we fix the issues caused in the last two years within a month? Also don't know if Fiver is trying to encourage new sellers since old sellers are already generating good sales.

2- Order cancellations via seller support still affect our seller score. My question is why should we suffer if the buyer has placed an order without reading? Most of the time we reach out to seller support after cancellation because it's the buyer's fault and they assure us that this will not affect our statistics. Just wondering were they lying all the time?

3- Increase your price guys. I don't know about you but for me, most issues are caused by a low-budget gig which I kept as it is for experiment even though Fiverr is asking me to increase its pricing. But if I check the stats of this gig then it is the one that is generating a lot of impressions and sales are good too. The gig where I charge so much has a rating of 9 even though I have cancelled a couple of orders too. So yeah pricing matters in my opinion. 

4- One more thing I'm not sure if it's correct or not but I noticed that the gig score is being calculated based on the sales amount while the gig weight is being calculated based on the number of orders. For seller score gig weight matters and If I calculate the average of all my gigs it's above 7 but in reality, I'm getting a seller score of 6.

[jonbaas]

6 hours ago, awaisahmed489 said:

Well, I'm also facing the same issues, and here is what I have observed so far. 

1- The new system is taking data from the last 2 years. It's not good for old sellers since Fiver has a lot of data from our gigs. But most new sellers have a better seller score. In my point of view, the time period should be a maximum of 6 months because how can we fix the issues caused in the last two years within a month? Also don't know if Fiver is trying to encourage new sellers since old sellers are already generating good sales.

This. Totally this.

[Alex.M]

On 2/15/2024 at 10:56 AM, priyank_mod said:

Possibly, subscribing to Seller Plus Premium and seeking help from your Success Manager will help. 🥲

naaah don't count on that ... The benefits from the seller plus program are cool but your success manager can't do much for you

[dereck_s]

2 hours ago, jonbaas said:

This. Totally this.

Is this why people like me are getting screwed? I've kept my account in damn near perfect standing for a decade (no easy task) and because of that I'm going to lose everything? I almost want to put on my tin foil hat and wonder if Fiverr is trying to "thin the herd" so to speak.

[dereck_s]

On 2/15/2024 at 12:29 PM, pyxisstudio said:

Why would fiverr show you who has given you a low rating privately ? You know what private feedback Means, right ?

So I've said this in another post but my hot take is that if you won't say it publicly than maybe you shouldn't say it. Where I live it's a fundamental right to be able to face your accuser and defend yourself. Why on earth would someone publicly give a 5 star review and then behind close doors give a bad rating. Seems suspicious and shady to me especially since we can't see the review or even be told we received one to have a chance to defend ourselves.

Edited February 18 by dereck_s
typo

[cal5086]

I've been trying to not read the forums, because it's depressing. But you have a really good post. I've also been on the site for more then 10 years, most of those as a top rated seller, focusing mainly on book cover designs for new independent authors, I genuinely just like helping them and being creative.

I have thousands of 5 star review, 99.9% of my clients love working with me. I don't know why they are making it so hard to just provide our services to people, why everything has to have this overbearing system upon systems heaped on to us. The level of stress to even operate on this site is more then it would be going into a day job at this point, and it wasn't like this originally, it was an AMAZING place to be.

I've figured out so far that the reason I am 8/10 is because of revisions, and those revisions being in red, which a week ago did not count as late and did not count as something that would lower your score for TRS, I was told some time ago by a Success manager that as long as it was delivered on time, the revisions period don't count as late, so I've operated under that assumption. Now it's been retroactively changed and I'm at risk of losing my TRS. Otherwise I'd probably be 10/10. My biggest gripe is I'm a TRS, I've been a TRS under the rules set by Fiverr for more then 8-10 years now. If I've successfully operated under their rules to keep my TRS, that shouldn't change with a new system. I'm 100% fine with new rules going forward I mean ultimately Fiverr is going to do what they do, but allow me to have a chance to operate under this new ruleset before retroactively applying it to the past 2 years of my work and demoting me.

I'd like to say also, don't overly stress... my gut feeling is there is a ton of discussions going on about this and I have a feeling everything will shake out. If not then we are all highly talented and motivated creative people, our opportunities are endless. 

Edited February 18 by cal5086

[amel_designs]

On 2/15/2024 at 9:02 AM, karyface1 said:

Yeah I feel the same.... I've been on fiverr since 2011, more than 13,000 sales.... used to be a top rated seller with 50 daily orders and now I have 5 orders a month or less.... because All my gigs are HIDDEN.... Sucess score is 4 😕 and i'm pretty sad because Fiverr was my only source of income. 
HOW DO THEY WANT US to get a better score if people can't find our gigs with a lower score?

Fiverr only cares about the buyers and their satisfaction but some buyers are mean, rude, cancel orders just because, want free stuff and if you don't give them what they want they get upset... Fiverr should do something about it too.
I'm really dissapointed

Exactly the same here! How can i get a better score if my gigs are hidden because of score!! They give you the option of promoting gigs but it doesn't work too! 

[andywarburton]

5 hours ago, cal5086 said:

I've figured out so far that the reason I am 8/10 is because of revisions, and those revisions being in red, which a week ago did not count as late and did not count as something that would lower your score for TRS, I was told some time ago by a Success manager that as long as it was delivered on time, the revisions period don't count as late, so I've operated under that assumption. Now it's been retroactively changed and I'm at risk of losing my TRS. Otherwise I'd probably be 10/10.

This is a super interesting point... revisions are decided by the customer, we as sellers have no control over customers requesting a revision. Why should it impact our scores?

Just this month, I completed an order (3 days early) and the customer came back to me with a weird question and instead of asking, he posted it as a revision. I needed more info to answer the question and they took a week to respond, during which time the revision sat there in red ticking away.

My scores are currently green across the board, if this is true then I should soon see an update to my scores to reflect this "red revision".

[karlaofficial]

On 2/15/2024 at 8:02 AM, karyface1 said:

Yeah I feel the same.... I've been on fiverr since 2011, more than 13,000 sales.... used to be a top rated seller with 50 daily orders and now I have 5 orders a month or less.... because All my gigs are HIDDEN.... Sucess score is 4 😕 and i'm pretty sad because Fiverr was my only source of income. 
HOW DO THEY WANT US to get a better score if people can't find our gigs with a lower score?

Fiverr only cares about the buyers and their satisfaction but some buyers are mean, rude, cancel orders just because, want free stuff and if you don't give them what they want they get upset... Fiverr should do something about it too.
I'm really dissapointed

This is the core point — how can we increase our success score if our gigs are being hidden?!?! @Kesha please answer 

Edited February 18 by karlaofficial

[jonbaas]

On 2/18/2024 at 9:41 AM, andywarburton said:

the customer came back to me with a weird question and instead of asking, he posted it as a revision. I needed more info to answer the question and they took a week to respond, during which time the revision sat there in red ticking away.

This happens to me a lot as well. 😕

[victel]

I agree. Mine is down due to ONE client who ordered something I absolutely don't sell and that cancellation lowered my overall score! How is that my fault? I wish Fiverr would just work on known issues and bugs instead of rolling out these pointless new updates. I guess all that matters to them is the almighty dollar.

[melanielm]

On 2/17/2024 at 12:47 PM, awaisahmed489 said:

2- Order cancellations via seller support still affect our seller score.

I sent some evidence of this to customer support and received this:

"Additionally, we are aware of the issue of cancellations rectified by Customer Support affecting success scores. We recognize this oversight and are actively working to resolve it before the transition period concludes on March 14. We will keep you informed of any updates."

So... perhaps they will fix this before March. Another mystery.

[awaisahmed489]

2 hours ago, melanielm said:

I sent some evidence of this to customer support and received this:

"Additionally, we are aware of the issue of cancellations rectified by Customer Support affecting success scores. We recognize this oversight and are actively working to resolve it before the transition period concludes on March 14. We will keep you informed of any updates."

So... perhaps they will fix this before March. Another mystery.

Yes, I have already seen that in the official topic. Hopefully, they'll fix that too since most people have this problem in common.

[whollyjordan]

fiverr is hostile to sellers.

i suspect they have non-merit based, new —and promoted— employees making key decisions.

[jonbaas]

On 2/20/2024 at 2:29 PM, whollyjordan said:

i suspect they have non-merit based, new —and promoted— employees making key decisions.

Or, just employees who have never actually worked as freelancers within these systems. Managing something, and being subject to the workings of that something, are two very different things.

[gary513]

On 2/15/2024 at 2:21 PM, jonbaas said:

Why am I being penalized for metrics that I cannot/could not control? The new system sees only numbers and metrics, without taking into consideration the true reasons for those metrics.

I got fake order cancellations and it impacted me negatively, SM and CS cant do anything, i feel this system is very unfair and broken.

[gary513]

On 2/20/2024 at 10:44 PM, melanielm said:

So... perhaps they will fix this before March. Another mystery.

Still not fixed

[yonbi_dev]

 

10 hours ago, gary513 said:

I got fake order cancellations and it impacted me negatively, SM and CS cant do anything, i feel this system is very unfair and broken.

SAME,  Although all of them were rectified, they still show a strong negative impact on order cancellations. Unfortunately, CS  didn't help.