Update: Addressing new level system questions and feedback

[webcut]

@emmaki I already paused one of my gig by thinking it will improve my score. But nothing happened for me! I am seeing different writing: Like One staff saying it will impact but other is saying it won't impact.

What can I do then? Should I active that gig!

I know you are not the Fiverr staff but still asking if you get any solution on it 😞

[emmasuebowtique]

10 hours ago, graphicsplayer said:

same concern here. This new so-called transparent system is showing that cancellations are strongly negatively impacting the score on one of my gigs while there are only 4 cancellations out of 100 orders in the past 3 months. 
Furthermore, of the 4 cancellations, three resulted from the buyer's carelessness (requesting a service that wasn't part of my gig or making a mistaken order). I even contacted customer service during this time to remove the impact of these three cancellations and CS made sure the impact was erased.

My CS manager confirmed there is a bug regarding cancellations made by CS and it is not calculating our scores correctly. 

[pyxisstudio]

@voicedbyken Did your success score change yet after deleting the gigs or still the same ?

[virgoca]

so I just thought I'd come here and add this to the discussion for anyone who'd care. I use the Early Payout (EP for short) option quite frequently, depending on the amount of orders I'm working on at the moment (sometimes I can't afford to wait 2 weeks per order because the nature of my gig demands long delivery times which make it hard to wait 2 weeks on top of that after the deliveries). After the new system was launched and Early Payout became a TRS exclusive officially, all my orders that were on pending clearance status at the moment got the EP button greyed out. After a couple of days, seemingly out of nowhere, the button became active again, so I got everything out in case it was just a bug on the system before it was deactivated again. Since then, I've delivered three more orders and, to my surprise, the EP button has been active and functioning as expected with no issues. I am not TRS, not Fiverr Pro nor on the Seller Plus program. So, either the effect of this new update hasn't been made active yet on that, or seems like some sellers are still being allowed to use it despite not having the required level (Like when it was introduced as a beta feature). I thought this was an interesting (albeit confusing) thing, so, in case any of you are dependent on it and/or have any concerns about it, thought this might be an interesting read for you. 

Edited February 21 by virgoca

[ana_standret]

I got two 4.7 review in the last few days just related to the new metrics Value for Money. Still, I got tips for both orders and very nice words in feedback about client' experience. I do not understand this parameter at all. I do not force clients to order my service, so if they choose it they should consider if it is cost-effective for them. Should we all sell our services for $5 to get 5 stars for Value for money?
This new review system is a disaster. 

Edited February 21 by ana_standret

[gunawanguan]

@Kesha

I don't know if this is the right place to talk, but I think it still has something to do with the new level system.
So I thought, maybe the Fiverr team could hear it.
I find this new system interesting and measures whether or not we are worthy enough to reach the level we should be at.
It's like if we are level 2, then provide quality work as a level 2 seller.

The way clients rate us from various aspects is good to help us sellers maintain good work but at the same time it is a bit difficult if clients don't care even though we have done a good job.
In my experience, I once got so many tips but clients kept giving me only 4 stars, and they repeated orders.

So, if I may suggest, maybe in this new level system, TIP can add to our score.
Because there are several clients who have thoughts like this

"My tip was more than enough to appreciate the seller's good work.
So I no longer need to fill out reviews / judge based on reviews"

So if clients who tip can add to our score, it will be very helpful for balancing in this new level system.

Edited February 21 by gunawanguan
failed to mention someone name's here.

[gunawanguan]

3 minutes ago, ana_standret said:

I got two 4.7 review in the last few days just related to the new metrics Value for Money. Still, I got tips for both orders and very nice words in feedback about client' experience. I do not understand this parameter at all. I do not force clients to order my service, so if they choose it they should consider if it is cost-effective for them. Should we all sell our services for $5 to get 5 stars for Value for money?
This new review system is a disaster. 

@Kesha

This is some of the case that I mean where "TIP" from client sometimes speak up more than their review.
So if Fiverr can add TIP as a plus score, that will make this new level system better and balance.

Thanks.

[graveyardshiftx]

3 hours ago, edc_lab said:

First of all thanks for providing these links, luckily some slides are in English so I can have a broad idea, at least.

You know what? Right now I don't want to know exactly how their algorithm formula works but, for instance, I just want to know that if I'm setting a gig with a 3-day delivery and I have an unresponsive client and then I request an extension, do I get penalized by asking for an extension? Apparently, no (but is that really true?).
Someone could say "A member of the staff wrote that on the forum", wait, what? I'm expecting to see it right on the platform, not on their forum!
Instead of writing "set a realistic delivery time" they should say "set a realistic delivery time to avoid getting penalized - read more".

Pretty much like when you write the word "email" on Fiverr chat and a tooltip warns you about using that term.
Too much text for a tooltip? Ok, make an article listing good and bad behaviors that could impact sellers' scores.
This is the type of transparency I'd like to see.

If you, Fiverr, really want to make people better sellers you just need to warn people before they make a bad decision, not after they make it (especially because, right now, the seller's analytics don't help much in that sense).

Let's say, I write a not-very-clear gig description and this leads to a cancellation, right before confirming it Fiverr should tell me how heavy the impact of this decision will be (and a wise person would immediately go to read more about writing efficient gig descriptions).
So, mistake after mistake new sellers will learn how to use Fiverr just by using the platform, this is how experience is made.

Instead, a week later, I see sellers left alone and some of them are trying to fix this tough situation by exchanging feedback and theories by sharing their own experiences to find a way to improve the success score by pausing or deleting gigs. Maybe two days ago deleting not-performing gigs was a smart move, but today after someone made edits to the algorithm, it could have been a bad decision and now those gigs are gone.
I perfectly understand people trying to improve their success scores in one way or another, but this is not how things should work.
This should be something Fiverr needs to do, not the sellers.

I love the points you are making, but let's take this a step further: what if i need an extension anyway? We are NOT employees. That's the whole point of hiring a freelancer in the first place. We are not employees and we are not beheld to the same standards as employees because we do not have the same rights and protections.

When I started my business, I was young and carefree. Now I have a young boy, and try as I may, things are not the same anymore. I work my ass off and I know that I do provide an amazing service to companies and individuals who might not otherwise be able to afford the benefits of having a full time employee on the payroll.

But recently, my kid has started daycare and now he brings home a new bug every other week. I'm not fishing for sympathy here, I'm just pointing out the reality of juggling a business and being a Dad. People age, people evolve, that sort of thing is gonna happen anyway, no matter how good or how "on top of things" you are.

If I was a paid employee, then fair enough, I'd chin up and say nothing. But I am a freelancer. Someone you hire at a specific point in your business development to fullfill a specific task. I'm not MissCrystal, I do not see into the future. I try my best, I deliver quality, professional work, but at the end of the day, I am a business owner and a person. Things happen and I think it's really unfair if once in a blue moon, I message a client to explain that something unexpected happened and that I need a few more hours to complete a task. 

I'm not asking for preferential treatment here. But if I explain to a client why I need an extension and they accept it, I don't get why Fiverr would count that as a negative impact on my score. It's pure bollocks.

And don't get me started on other clients who need emergency help with their websites (I design websites). I manage 76 websites. Once in a while, a client comes to me with an emergency request and I HAVE to do it. Saying no isn't an option, that's the nature of the gig. What am I to do then? Let down an old, trusted Fiverr client to assuage a new one? I swear, Fiverr are putting us between a rock and a hard place and we cannot win, no matter what we do 😕

 

Rant Over/

[jellyvector]

On 2/15/2024 at 9:10 PM, bbakersvoice said:

Do you value your freelancers as much as your clients?  I mean you can't have one without the other...correct?  Why do you put so much "teeth" into clients' review while the freelancer has a  simple 5 star tool with comment section?   Believe it or not some clients are not professional, friendly or/and honest.   Some want the world for nothing and no matter how fast you deliver, the quality of the work, the communication, etc. they are never satisfied.   This really comes to light with the "value for the money" rating.   Right from the start this is flawed as it is so subjective in nature.   The fact that they hired me should imply that they felt my work/service is worth paying the price.   

Your rating system creates a "power struggle" between the hardworking freelancer who make Fiverr successful and the client.   The client has all of the power over the freelancer due to the rating system and their ability to just extend/cancel projects at will.   It's obvious this is creating undue stress on many professional freelancers who are now wondering if they will see a significant drop in revenue when their 5 star reviews drop to 3.  Same quality, same service, etc. but a new tool that seems to want to drive ratings down.

It will be interesting in 3 months from now (or sooner) when potential clients come to Fiverr and search for a professional (in my case Pro Voiceovers) and see a talent pool with low ratings (i.e. 1 to 3 stars).  Are they really going to have confidence in our services?   Will they be more likely to hire us?  Time will tell.

I make a great income here on Fiverr and Fiverr benefits from this as well.   However, I definitely concerned this will change everything.

 

 

Completely agree with you on this point.

[Alex.M]

44 minutes ago, ana_standret said:

This new review system is a disaster. 

but Fiverr is very proud of it 😄

[crawford_copy]

5 hours ago, rapidtech1898v2 said:

It seems the complete platform is going nuts currently
Today my sucess score changed 3 times from 7 to 6 and now again to 7
Gigs are showing sometimes a "-" and sometimes a value between "-" and 8

And the best thing is i haven´t done anything today (no orders, no approvals, no reviews, nothing).

I'm guessing this is because our scores are calculated relative to everyone else our categories, so as other people get reviews and move up and down, your position relative to them changes.

[crawford_copy]

58 minutes ago, ana_standret said:

I got two 4.7 review in the last few days just related to the new metrics Value for Money. Still, I got tips for both orders and very nice words in feedback about client' experience. I do not understand this parameter at all. I do not force clients to order my service, so if they choose it they should consider if it is cost-effective for them. Should we all sell our services for $5 to get 5 stars for Value for money?
This new review system is a disaster. 

The system could be configured so that when a client leaves a tip, but also selects less than five stars for value for money (perhaps by mistake), they get a prompt from the system: "Thank you for leaving a tip. Are you sure this seller doesn't deserve five stars for Value for Money?"

[Alex.M]

Is anyone else experiencing this _ _ _ _  ? It's the 3rd time in 2 days 

[donnovan86]

17 minutes ago, Alex.M said:

Is anyone else experiencing this _ _ _ _  ? It's the 3rd time in 2 days 

 

I saw your post about this a few days ago, and it happened to me that exact day. Not sure if we're dealing with a serial "cancellator" or anything, but it is weird. There might be some undecided people... did you have any increase in impressions or a lot of clicks from Promoted Gigs? The canceled order I had was from Promoted Gigs. Not sure if it's the same in your case.

[prof_arehman]

On 2/20/2024 at 8:26 AM, prof_arehman said:

Returning Customer and yet he didn't find any "value for money" in the delivery 🙂 Besides that, the client is COMPLETELY SATISFIED with the delivery and didn't even ask for a single revision.

This option seems flawed. Why would clients accept the price in the first place? If they don't like the price, they wouldn't order? And if they did, and they were ok with the price, they accepted the delivery while being totally satisfied with the work then what is the point of this "value for money" option?
It is like "I worked with you before and I will keep working with you because I love the quality of your work but no, you have no 'Value for money' in the work you deliver"

@Kesha @Lyndsey_Fiverr
I would really appreciate your take on this. Thanks!

[voicedbyken]

1 hour ago, pyxisstudio said:

@voicedbyken Did your success score change yet after deleting the gigs or still the same ?

Nothing changed except I now I two less gigs

[leonormiserol]

Apparently the moderators have already abandoned this post, since there are many inconsistencies between what they said here and what support tells us.

Does anyone really think they take us seriously?

They are very happy with their new update, as shown by the webinars and responses.

 

The Terminator arrived and we don't have a John Connor to defend us from the AI.

[maitasun]

41 minutes ago, crawford_copy said:

I'm guessing this is because our scores are calculated relative to everyone else our categories, so as other people get reviews and move up and down, your position relative to them changes.

Yes, Fiverr is comparing low-volume, high-quality serious sellers, to cheaters, scammers, and $1-a-dozen sellers. Fantastic, isn't it?

Doing so, Fiverr just came up with a new law: apples can be compared to oranges... 🙄

Math students will be delighted to know that, from now on, they can perfectly add 'x' and 'y' terms and reach the correct solution...

 

[gunawanguan]

28 minutes ago, leonormiserol said:

The Terminator arrived and we don't have a John Connor to defend us from the AI.

😀

[antonnzuev]

2 hours ago, ana_standret said:

I got two 4.7 review in the last few days just related to the new metrics Value for Money. Still, I got tips for both orders and very nice words in feedback about client' experience. I do not understand this parameter at all. I do not force clients to order my service, so if they choose it they should consider if it is cost-effective for them. Should we all sell our services for $5 to get 5 stars for Value for money?
This new review system is a disaster. 

The most interesting thing about this situation is that even selling your product for $5 doesn't guarantee you a maximum score in the "Value for Money" column."
That's just absurd.
Considering that we're on a platform where the customer is searching for a contractor. 

[leonormiserol]

2 hours ago, Alex.M said:

Is anyone else experiencing this _ _ _ _  ? It's the 3rd time in 2 days 

 

 

It is something worrying. Since this is circulating and it looks exactly like what you are saying.

https://hacksnation.com/d/27990-fiverr-de-rank-any-seller-on-fiverr-with-new-level-system

[carminesannino]

4 minutes ago, leonormiserol said:

 

It is something worrying. Since this is circulating and it looks exactly like what you are saying.

https://hacksnation.com/d/27990-fiverr-de-rank-any-seller-on-fiverr-with-new-level-system

This is very serious; the platform will suffer. @Kesha

[Alex.M]

1 minute ago, carminesannino said:

the platform will suffer.

The ones that will suffer are only us. These are the consequences of Fiverr's actions

[carminesannino]

1 minute ago, Alex.M said:

The ones that will suffer are only us. These are the consequences of Fiverr's actions

Yes, and the credibility of the platform itself. I suffered from the same thing, and now I am Level 0 and was Top Rated until 6 months ago. There are so many Top sellers in my category, (graphic designer) offering terrible work, but they stay Top and sell a lot. It is something nonsensical

[katherinasim]

I finally decided to ask our lovely Customer support about one gig, I am very curious which answer I receive - do they really use AI to reply? This gig of mine was ordered 5 times. All orders completed, clients super happy and satisfied. The resolution center was never contacted about the "unresolved issues". 

At this moment I start to think all the numbers in our new stats are just random 😆 None of them make any sense