Update: Addressing new level system questions and feedback

[alanletsgo]

5 minutes ago, akshay_sihag said:

I feel your pain alan, this has happened to me so many times, they should add a system in cases like this where time can be extended if client is not responding. Either by contacting fiverr customer support or giving us an option in resolution center

I have a handful of orders that are being extended because the buyers are not submitting the information for me to be able to work on it.

Should I ask Fiverr to cancel the order or should I just keep waiting?
 

[akshay_sihag]

17 minutes ago, voicedbyken said:

I wish it were so simple. I'm losing my TRS rank because of a single digit in my Success Score. I have never delivered anything subpar to any customer. I deliver on time. I let them know what is going on with their order every single day they wait for theirs to come into the queue. I answer all messages immediately even when I get the notification while I'm sleeping. I ALWAYS overdeliver. There is rarely a week that goes by that one of my gigs is not a buyer's choice or featured. Am I just collateral damage? I don't feel like it's a good thing.

Why not just penalize those accounts who are guilty of such? 

That's what happens when a company takes decisions without launching a beta test and like 10% R&D. 

[akshay_sihag]

I think you should ask fiverr to cancel this order because extending the order will only result in a bad metric which is "Delivery time" - Strong Negative impact

[alanletsgo]

4 minutes ago, alanletsgo said:

I have a handful of orders that are being extended because the buyers are not submitting the information for me to be able to work on it.

Should I ask Fiverr to cancel the order or should I just keep waiting?
 

Well I just checked my gig stat.... I am in the green for delivery time for this gig.

[akshay_sihag]

Just now, alanletsgo said:

Well I just checked my gig stat.... I am in the green for delivery time for this gig.

In my case it is, don't know why because i too have taken many extensions on the order, and only few orders were delivered a bit late but because of late responses from clients and i had to take more extensions. 

This new level system didn't considered those metrics, fiverr should take some time and do some more R&D before launching this.  

[emmaki]

This is a cartoon from 19th century France. The chap with the pear-shaped head and the conveyer belt coming out of his mouth is Louis-Phillipe, one of the (not very good) kings of France in the restoration years of the early 19th century (i.e. between the Napoleons).

For some reason, I keep thinking of it as I think of Fiverr. Anyway, here's what ChatGPT has to say about this particular illustration: 

Quote

This is an illustration by Honoré Daumier, a renowned French printmaker, caricaturist, painter, and sculptor, known for his satirical lithographs on political figures and social themes of the 19th century.

The character depicted is indeed Louis-Philippe, who was King of France from 1830 to 1848, styled as the "Citizen King" and initially popular among the people. However, over time, his regime became increasingly conservative and disconnected from the citizenry, leading to criticism and unrest.

In this caricature, Louis-Philippe is portrayed grotesquely as Gargantua, a gluttonous giant from the works of François Rabelais. The image is a scathing political commentary. The king sits on a throne/latrine, insatiably consuming the wealth of France—represented by bags of money being hoisted up into his mouth by a simple pulley system. The wealth is coming from the toiling masses below, who represent the French people. They are shown depositing their coins in a collection basket that is directly transferred into the king's mouth, emphasizing the idea that the citizen's hard-earned money is being devoured by the king's insatiable greed.

The bags are labeled "Deputations," indicating that they contain the money from the various government departments or possibly bribes. The people on the bottom right, climbing the ladder to present themselves to the king, are bureaucrats and office-seekers, hoping to gain favor, which is signified by their climbing towards the king's rear end—an unflattering metaphor for seeking benefits through disgraceful means.

This lithograph is part of Daumier's critical series on Louis-Philippe, which contributed to the artist's legal troubles; Daumier was imprisoned for six months because of his daring political statements against the king. The image is a powerful piece of social commentary, using humor and exaggeration to critique the abuse of power and the suffering of the common people under Louis-Philippe's reign.

I think the parallels are fairly obvious. Daumier FTW! 

Edited February 17 by emmaki
the image broke so i kissed it better. which is more than fiverr is doing.

[ingeniousarts]

Hi @Kesha and everyone,

I am Moon, a seller on platform for last 5 years.
I have completed more than 25k+ orders.

Firstly, I would like to congratulate on business and platform development.
For the past two days, going through the new levelling system, I would like to raise few crucial points, as a long time experienced seller on the platform.

1. Success score:
Calculation of success score using the data for last two years period can be understood, but I feel the grace period of one month is not enough for sellers with high amount of orders.
In my personal experience, raising the success score where you have more than 500+ orders a month, it is very difficult to upscale the score within only a month period, when it is compared to two years data.

2. Value for Money Feedback:

I have noticed that value for money feedback is very challenging.
Since the new review system was launched, I have seen lot of my very much satisfied client giving 4.7 and 4.3 star instead of 5 star, due to value for money metric. This metric is very subjective in our industry where we are in a Service based industry.

3. Gig Score is relative to similar price category gig:

Recently, customer support raised a point that my individual gig score is also relative to other gigs in the same category within same price range.
This thing as a seller is very challenging, I think we should be marked on our own qualities and services that we provide to our client, instead of in comparison to other gigs with similar price range.

4. The gig benefits between levels:

The current new system update allows 10 gigs between level 1 and level 2, then 30 for Top Rated, which we feel is not justified. Having equal range difference between this would be a more justified approach. 

As a seller who exclusively works on fiverr and it is bread and butter to my life, I would recommend to please consider these few points and may be re modelling the level system and metric would be a point to think on. 
I strongly vouch on extending the grace period for seller who has been on platform for long time with high number of orders.

I would like to thank you for spending your precious time on reading our feedbacks. It is my humble request, if you can please consider these points, to make the system more successful for sellers and platform.

Best Regards,

Moon

 

[emmaki]

Or how about this delightful cartoon from Thomas Nash?

(How little things change...)

ChatGPT:
 

Quote

The image you've uploaded is a political cartoon by Thomas Nast, a prominent 19th-century American cartoonist known for his impactful and influential work in Harper's Weekly. Nast is often credited with the creation of the modern version of Santa Claus as well as the political symbols for the U.S. Democratic (donkey) and Republican (elephant) parties.

This particular cartoon, titled "The 'Brains'", is a satirical representation of a figure from Tammany Hall, the Democratic political machine that held power in New York City for much of the 19th century. The cartoon mocks the corruption associated with Tammany Hall by depicting a corpulent man with a money bag labeled with a dollar sign for a head, implying that money is the only thing on the mind of the Tammany politicians and that their intellectual capacity or 'brains' are solely focused on financial gain.

The caption, "That achieved the Tammany victory at the Rochester Democratic Convention," suggests that the victory was achieved not through legitimate democratic processes but through the influence of money and corruption. Thomas Nast was known for his attacks on Tammany Hall and its leaders, most notably William M. "Boss" Tweed, who was eventually brought down partly due to Nast's relentless campaign against him.

Nast's cartoons were powerful political statements that played a significant role in public opinion of the era. They were not subtle; instead, they were direct and harsh critiques of what Nast saw as abuses of power and trust by those in positions of authority. This image is a classic example of his style and his commitment to exposing corruption through his art.

I am now going to do some work on my own projects that will help me to shift my focus away from Fiverr eventually. What a marvellous update this is, eh Fiverr?

[emmaki]

Now, if Fiverr's artistic community would like to follow the fine example of cartoonists in times gone past...? 

[lenasemenkova]

2 hours ago, voicedbyken said:

Revisions are now penalized?

Wonderful. The unlimited revisions enthusiasts, buyers, and sellers alike are going to be so happy to hear this*. 

* My average is 1-2 revisions per order. Having 0 revisions is nearly impossible, everybody likes to tweak the copy once they see it laid out within the design.

Something that I noticed as well is that some regular buyers have stopped leaving reviews altogether as soon as the *new and improved* review system was introduced. I get fewer reviews, period. The new reviews are so helpful and awesome that buyers, especially the trusted ones, are actively avoiding them. Which will for sure get my profile to 4.7* and beyond quicker.

[akshay_sihag]

Hi @Kesha can you please clarify if the success score is calculated for the past 60 days like before or is it taking in account data since that gig was made ? 

[carineb]

6 hours ago, tom_godbert said:

Why are revisions considered a conflict?

What a surprise!

I get very few requests for revision. Most of them are because the client forgot to give me a few sentences to translate. Or he sends me a message through this channel because he doesn't know where else to contact me (sounds incredible, but it's happened to me several times!). Sometimes the client uses the review just to tell me that he really liked what I've done and that he'll get back to me in a few days if he need a review.
In most cases, it's not a revision!

[carineb]

4 hours ago, tom_godbert said:

This sort of thing needs to be written on the Fiverr help pages, and not just in emails between the CS and a few sellers.

Everyone needs to have this information.

[carminesannino]

Many of my works go through revisions because I’m a graphic designer, and I work on logos. Often, clients need time to understand, and I grant them that time because I know a logo should last, and I want to give the client time to choose what to do. But now, I’m reading that this has an impact on customer satisfaction. What should I do at this point? Should I tell the client that they have to accept what I’ve done and go elsewhere? But who came up with such a system, have they ever worked seriously in their life? I’m sorry to tag you, @Kesha, but I don’t know who else to tag here. Can you clarify this because this scenario is the most senseless thing in the world.

[Alex.M]

14 minutes ago, carminesannino said:

But who came up with such a system

definitely not a seller on Fiverr , it seems that those who are making the rules don't know too much about how Fiverr works

[uniquemonsters]

@Kesha

Myself Dharmishtha and I am full time active seller in Fiverr from last 4 years. I would like to ask and want to share some concerns regarding the recent update from the Fiverr.
 
Questions and Concerns:

- I have just referred the comment in Forum and at one place I found that if anyone's level dropped then seller plus membership program will not be cancelled and that seller will still be a part of the program, so along with that what other features will stay? Like Promoted gigs, Success manager?

- Practically and in general, average how much time is needed to up the level again? (I know it's depended upon so many factors but still want some clarification on this as Fiverr is providing only 1 month grace period so is it really feasible?)

- There are total 6 metrics which are affecting to the success score but why all individual gigs are not showing all that 6 metrics? Few shows just 2, few shows 4 and etc. For remaining one in each gig what we have to consider?

- Success score evaluated based on past how much time?

- What are the benefits for the sellers who are in this marketplace from so many years and well finished thousands of orders more comparison to the other freelancers?

- Success score is taking time to update so for the sellers it's very tough to know for several days/months/years to know whether it's going up or down because it's changing very little bit. Success score should be like ASP display data system (decimal point) in which we can check the present data at least. It will be more easier to monitor I think. 

I anticipate my points will take into the account by Fiverr team. Thank you.

[plantantion]

Hello @Kesha
My name is Chandani, and I have been an active seller on Fiverr for more than two years. I appreciate the recent updates to the seller level metric system, which provide a more holistic evaluation of sellers' performance. Nevertheless, I would appreciate the opportunity to provide my feedback.

Firstly, I would like to address the grace period offered to current sellers to improve their scores and maintain their seller levels. While I understand the need for a grace period, I believe that one month is insufficient, especially for sellers who have been dedicated to the platform for an extended period. I suggest extending the grace period to provide sellers with a fair opportunity to improve their scores.

Secondly, I would like to discuss the "value for money" criteria used in the rating system. As a seller, I understand the importance of this metric, but I also believe that it is a subjective measure that can vary greatly from person to person. I suggest considering alternative criteria that are more measurable and objective.

Additionally, I would like to share a recent experience with a buyer who rated me with only 3 stars for "value for money" despite expressing a desire to collaborate with me in the future. This indicates that the buyer was content with both the quality of my work and the pricing, leading them to choose future collaborations. However, the lower rating in this category affects my overall rating. This experience highlights the subjective nature of the "value for money" metric and suggests that an alternative option may be more suitable.

I believe that these suggestions will help create a more equitable and effective seller level metric system, benefiting both sellers and buyers alike. Thank you for considering my feedback, and I look forward to seeing further improvements to the platform.

Best regards,
Chandani
 

[lenasemenkova]

30 minutes ago, carminesannino said:

have they ever worked seriously in their life?

In any visual medium, some buyers just love revisions “to play around”. It’s like a fun game to them and it’s an exciting and expected part of the creative process. 

It doesn’t mean that their business is suffering and it doesn’t make me a terrible seller if I oblige. 

I’m sure Fiverr representatives have bought a logo or a postcard for grandma at least once in their lives. In fact, a Fiverr representative ordered a social media ad from me directly once and kept coming back to revise the dates because they couldn’t get them approved by the Fiverr higher-ups. They *know* how the design process naturally works, what are they doing?

Edited February 17 by lenasemenkova

[ssj1236]

5 minutes ago, plantantion said:

Additionally, I would like to share a recent experience with a buyer who rated me with only 3 stars for "value for money" despite expressing a desire to collaborate with me in the future.

Yikes, that tip is the icing on this messed-up cake. How can someone justify a 3-star rating on "value for money" and then have the foresight to leave that exact person a tip? 

Edited February 17 by ssj1236

[carminesannino]

4 minutes ago, lenasemenkova said:

I’m sure Fiverr representatives have bought a logo or a postcard for grandma at least once in their lives. In fact, a Fiverr representative ordered a social media ad from me directly once and kept coming back to revise the dates because they couldn’t get them approved by the higher-ups. They *know* how the design process naturally works, what are they doing?

I also work with other vendors, who are waiting for feedback from other customers, so they send the order in revision. Many of my customers do this, so now what is the point? What should I do from this point on?

[Alex.M]

10 minutes ago, ssj1236 said:

How can someone justify a 3-star rating on "value for money" and then have the foresight to leave that exact person a tip? 

I don't think they are doing it on purpose. It's the way Fiverr made the new rating system.. in such way that it confuses the buyer 

[carineb]

29 minutes ago, plantantion said:

Unfortunately, there are many of us in this situation!

Fiverr really needs to look at the "value for money" issue.
The fact that a client leaves a tip and scores 3/5 for value for money is proof that the client has not understood the question. And there are plenty more...

I don't know how the expression "value for money" is understood in the English-speaking world, but in France we never use this expression in questionnaires, because for many people this expression means "price level" (which is not at all the case!).

As soon as I saw this expression in the new satisfaction form, I said to myself that there would be problems of misunderstanding for French buyers. I didn't dare say anything until now on the forum because I thought that English-speaking people understood this expression in the right way, but there are lots of screenshots which show that this problem is not confined to my country and that it's the same everywhere!

Edited February 17 by carineb

[lenasemenkova]

6 minutes ago, carminesannino said:

What should I do from this point on?

I hope that this *negative impact* comes into play when the order takes a lot of revisions (5+?) 

Most of my orders take 1-2, sometimes 0 but it’s rare and I haven’t suffered any negative impact yet so maaaybee a revision or two is fine? I’m trying to be optimistic. 

If you have buyers who like to “play around” too much, I’d either repeatedly stress that you don’t do unlimited revisions or start turning these buyers away. 

[plantantion]

12 minutes ago, carineb said:

Unfortunately, there are many of us in this situation!

Fiverr really needs to look at the "value for money" issue.
The fact that a client leaves a tip and scores 3/5 for value for money is proof that the client has not understood the question. And there are plenty more...

I don't know how the expression "value for money" is perceived in the English-speaking world, but in France we never use this expression in questionnaires, because for many people this expression means "price level" (which is not at all the case!).

As soon as I saw this expression in the new satisfaction form, I said to myself that there would be problems of misunderstanding for French buyers. I didn't dare say anything until now on the forum because I thought that English-speaking people perceived this expression in the right way, but there are lots of screenshots which show that this problem is not confined to my country and that it's the same everywhere!

Therefore, all sellers recommend considering alternative options instead of value for money option. An alternative option would be preferable for all sellers.

Edited February 17 by plantantion

[lenasemenkova]

29 minutes ago, plantantion said:

Therefore, all sellers recommend considering alternative options instead of value for money option.

Are we sure that it’s specifically a “value for money issue” and not the final, 3rd metric issue when the buyer just gives up on clicking things at some point?

I looked through most if not all of my 4.7* reviews (old system and new) and all of them are missing the final 5th star in the 3rd row (where Value for Money currently is and Service as Described and Recommend to a Friend used to be). Except for the orders where there was a miscommunication of some sort and the buyer took care to leave 4* in the first row specifically (where the Communication metric was). 

Edited February 17 by lenasemenkova