Update: Addressing new level system questions and feedback

[carminesannino]

49 minutes ago, Kesha said:

Hi @carminesannino! I would love to help clarify this for you. This metric focuses less on your language proficiency and more on your professionalism. To excel in this category, try to always be as polite, responsive, and communicative as possible with your buyers. You can read more about each key area, what it takes into account and tips on how to improve in this article here. Also, we recently did a webinar addressing the best practices of order communication. You can check out the notes here or watch the replay here. Lastly, this evaluation is not dictated by an AI. That information is not correct. 

I have always been respectful, quick, effective and professional in my responses. My puzzlement persists, but I thank you for your response.

[jackdharry]

@Kesha 

Hello, what happened to a flagged account? can we still withdraw the funds

 

[pyxisstudio]

LMAO This is hilarious, lol, a lot of sellers are going to get to level 0 from TRS. Well done fiverr This change was for sure needed.

[melanielm]

5 minutes ago, Kesha said:

as well as the number of disputes that had to be escalated to the Fiverr Customer Support Team.

We get penalized for using Customer Support for help with unreasonable buyers? Is the reason for contacting support manually assessed or is this part of the algorithm that automatically ticks the 'conflict' box and brings our score down?

For example, I've had to contact CS multiple times to have cancellations removed when the buyer never filled out requirements. Do those work against me now (or will things like that in the future)?

Edited February 15 by melanielm

[visualstudios]

2 minutes ago, melanielm said:

For example, I've had to contact CS multiple times to have cancellations removed when the buyer never filled out requirements. Do those work against me now (or will things like that in the future)?

Request to order on. I've been doing this for a long time - I only send an offer once I have ALL requirements. I don't accept any files after an order starts, and make that abundantly clear prior to sending the offer.

This means I never have any disputes, or cancelations due to requirements missing, etc. Seems to have paid off in my score.

[tanjina_islam22]

Very good,

[Kesha]

3 hours ago, mohamedamer423 said:

i have 6 month waiting for top rated and im best in my nich i dont know what the problem i need to buy for this ?

 

Hi @mohamedamer423! Good job on excelling in your niche. There is no purchase necessary to qualify as Top Rated Seller. Once you meet all the requirements, there will be an evaluation of your overall performance beyond the core metrics. This is a meticulous manual process done by our team, so it can take some time. Please be patient with us as we work to handle each evaluation with attention and care. 

[mandyzines]

So, do I have this right? The success score is relatively stable and also determines seller level. There's a month grace period from a point where we might be notified of an upcoming demotion, so that we can try to rectify problems. But, the success score is relatively stable.

[visualstudios]

Just now, mandyzines said:

But, the success score is relatively stable.

Relatively is pulling a ton of weight there.

[emmaki]

4 hours ago, Kesha said:

Gigs with higher order volumes have a greater impact on your score, while those with fewer orders contribute less. This ensures that your success score accurately reflects each Gig's performance relative to its order activity.

It is nice to see the admission that yes, the new system does indeed benefit cheap, high-volume gigs over big ticket, low volume gigs. 

I would like a response regarding Fiverr's continuing and deepened use of gamification in its new system, and whether staff have taken into account the potential ramifications on sellers mental and physical health. This is not a casino app, but a place where professionals work. 

Secondly, I would like a response as to why Fiverr has chosen to go down this route - making things harder and more stressful for low volume, high price sellers - at a time when its marketing strategy is targeting high value clients and moving away from cheaper market segments and looking for sellers to populate the catalogs that will serve them. 

At a time when the new system asks people about value for money and pushes prices down. Has Fiverr missed the memo that corporations were the biggest winners of the COVID epidemic, enjoying record profits as the rest of the world got poorer and continues to get poorer due to Cost of Living? 

Value for Money? 

Would it not make more sense to segment rating and leveling systems as the company did with the Pro, Certified, and Enterprise marketplaces? Or are these marketplaces to be stuffed full of low-scoring, low-level sellers per AI despite human staff recognizing that they are the platform's best sellers? Well, if they can, since the scores may promote less suitable sellers. It would not be the first time either; any system can be gamed easily by those determined enough to do it.

Are sellers merely a disposable and replaceable asset full of metric points for internal use that can easily be burned and churned with no consideration for their health and livelihoods? 

It is quite staggering that this was launched with the "cancellation oversight". This mess and oversight is a direct result of Fiverr's own policies introduced ~4 years ago to prevent sellers from cancelling gigs to avoid bad reviews! Surely it is not that difficult for Fiverr to keep track of its own policies and integrate them with each new update? 

Because the company certainly manages to do it when it comes to its most toxic system: gamification. 

 

[priyank_mod]

4 minutes ago, mandyzines said:

So, do I have this right? The success score is relatively stable and also determines seller level. There's a month grace period from a point where we might be notified of an upcoming demotion, so that we can try to rectify problems. But, the success score is relatively stable.

I wanna cry!! 🥲

[krrishsodho]

I set unavailable after reading tons of questions, concerns etc, I am eligible for TRS for almost a year and i never received it.

Although I am happy after seeing 9 score. I am gonna take a long break and i hope Fiverr will sort out issues.

[emmaki]

14 minutes ago, Kesha said:

Hi @mohamedamer423! Good job on excelling in your niche. There is no purchase necessary to qualify as Top Rated Seller. Once you meet all the requirements, there will be an evaluation of your overall performance beyond the core metrics. This is a meticulous manual process done by our team, so it can take some time. Please be patient with us as we work to handle each evaluation with attention and care. 

The SP program does say that if you buy SP you'll get priority though. Unless it was changed recently. You may be right though, maybe the new system will thin out the herd of eligibles enough so that sellers won't need to buy SP.

Although the RTO would definitely help in avoiding the minefield of buyers and their reviews, wouldn't you say? So, swings and roundabouts.

[emmaki]

The success score is just metric-ception. The levels system still works as it always works. If you do something wrong within a 30 day period, you will be demoted unless you're a wizard or something. 

It's just been given a shiny new coat of paint. Lead paint. In a house made of asbestos. In a warzone. 

[Kesha]

3 hours ago, chronos_1 said:

I have score of 10 but here is my input: 

1) Remove or change value for money:

- I set a price which I feel is justified for the experience and expertise I bring. Buyer is unknown about the work that gets put behind the curtains nor has expertise on how it is done.

- If the buyer thinks that price for the service required is high then he/ she should not start the order itself.

- I think this forces seller to reduce the prices as we get directly compared to other gigs with lower prices and provide same services. However, prices are based on final quality that you would receive which cannot be quantified without asking 2 sellers to do exact same work. 

 

2) Success score to remain TRS which is 9 is high in my opinion and it should be 8. Same goes for rating, since the new rating system has come into effect it seems 4.7* is the new 5*. To remain TRS we need to have 4.7* which I think is not good.

 

3 hours ago, charlsmcfarlane said:

Absolutely right!

 

1 hour ago, ellamicheler said:

I agree, it seems the new review system will encourage a race to the bottom when it comes to pricing. If Fiverr wants to get away from the perception that it is a platform for scam freelancers, they need to encourage buyers to understand that fair pricing is important for quality work. Of course buyers will always be happier to get something more cheaply. Yet by predicating a system on rewarding the cheapest offer, it's damaging to the livelihoods of freelancers who have worked hard to earn a living wage. 

I work in the field of translation, where rates are depressingly low despite the time, education and hard work that goes into quality translations. Fiverr, please don't encourage buyers to punish us for pricing our work fairly.

Thanks you for the feedback. We are taking everything into consideration as we continue to tweak and improve the system before it goes live next month.

[Alex.M]

It wouldn't be that bad if the system would be more clear... and the threshold for some metrics would be lowered. That overall success score should be lowered in my opinion for each level with a point 8/10 for TRS and so on. Same as for the overall rating since the new rating system is also changed, you can't expect to maintain a 4.7 average rating when the buyer is required to publicly rate the order for ' value for money ', some people will never be satisfied with what they pay even if the price is public in plus not all the buyers are power users , some of them simply don't know how to rate, it happened to me and to others several times in the past weeks. 

[msw_77]

@Kesha can you please look into the account flagged due to location inconsistencies issue? 

Alot of freelancers got this message. Can you please let us know if there is any hope for them to work on the fiverr or should they say goodbye to fiverr?

Any explanation why they are flagged?
They didn't get any warning no TOS violation 
Just suddenly out of nowhere they can no longer participate in level system ?

Your reply to this will be appreciated thanks.

Edited February 15 by msw_77

[terrygrantvo]

1 hour ago, Kesha said:

Hi @carminesannino! I would love to help clarify this for you. This metric focuses less on your language proficiency and more on your professionalism. To excel in this category, try to always be as polite, responsive, and communicative as possible with your buyers. You can read more about each key area, what it takes into account and tips on how to improve in this article here. Also, we recently did a webinar addressing the best practices of order communication. You can check out the notes here or watch the replay here. Lastly, this evaluation is not dictated by an AI. That information is not correct. 

Well if it's not being done by AI then how on earth are you determining whether or not I'm being 'professional' in my communication with clients? How specifically is this being determined? Are there keywords that are getting flagged? Are you guys reading all of our messages? How do you know when I am using 'jargon' or 'lingo' and when I am not?

 

(I read everything at the links, they don't address anything specific)

[emmaki]

1 hour ago, melanielm said:

Does NOT offering a Zoom call penalize us? (It better not, as that is blatantly discriminatory against people with disabilities who cannot offer such things at all!) If we don't share progress along the way, are we penalized?

Everyone forgets deaf people when it comes to discrimination 🙂 

 

[bbakersvoice]

The question everyone should be asking is what is the real driver for this "big" change?   Have we (the sellers) been begging for a better review system?  One that is hyper critical and will cause us to lose our breath everytime we getter an order because we are more concerned about our "rating" then delivering great work?   The "rating" is not for our ego...it directly impacts our future income...SO IT MATTERS.   But the last thing we should be focused on when working with a client is our rating.   You simply won't do your best work and you will appear desperate and make decisions just to get a "good" review.  So again I ponder over why this is happening.  Please don't say "transparency" as I don't think most sellers asked for this, however I could be wrong.  

I still wonder if this is a push to take Fiverr back to being what it originally was?  A place to go get a quick "Fiverr" as I foresee gig rates plumenting to the bottom of the barrel....in our effort to increase our rating for "value for the money."  

[adanaik]

@Kesha @Lyndsey_Fiverr I have seen a large number of Freelancers posting about ACCOUNT FLAGGED due to LOCATION INCONSISTENCIES, without any prior notice/warning or a mail explaining the actual reason. But you haven't mentioned these issues in your recent post.


Freelancers were once know as Digital Nomads 🙂 Now we have to stick to one place I guess to avoid INCONSISTENT LOCATION issues

 

Edited February 15 by adanaik

[riaus_g]

26 minutes ago, Alex.M said:

It wouldn't be that bad if the system would be more clear... and the threshold for some metrics would be lowered. That overall success score should be lowered in my opinion for each level with a point 8/10 for TRS and so on. Same as for the overall rating since the new rating system is also changed, you can't expect to maintain a 4.7 average rating when the buyer is required to publicly rate the order for ' value for money ', some people will never be satisfied with what they pay even if the price is public in plus not all the buyers are power users , some of them simply don't know how to rate, it happened to me and to others several times in the past weeks. 

Yes, you are Right!

[Alex.M]

1 minute ago, adanaik said:

Now we have to stick to one place I guess to avoid INCONSISTENT LOCATION issues

I contacted support about it , I was thinking of the exact same thing since I am also travelling sometimes.. I will get back with what they say .. if they reply 

[mariashtelle1]

5 minutes ago, voicedbyken said:

I can't wait to see what the shareholders think

I’m a shareholder and I’m selling my stock. I don’t believe in fiverr being a future of a freelance work. 
But I’ll keep selling here for now. 
This new system can work in a long run, all changes are painful but it seems that fiverr AGAIN doesn’t know what they are doing, they didn’t think it through, they made mistakes and they absolutely lack transparency. 

[riaus_g]

2 minutes ago, adanaik said:

@Kesha I have seen a large number of Freelancers posting about ACCOUNT FLAGGED due to LOCATION INCONSISTENCIES, without any prior notice/warning or a mail explaining the actual reason. But you haven't mentioned these issues in your recent post.


Freelancers were once know as Digital Nomads 🙂 Now we have to stick to one place I guess to avoid INCONSISTENT LOCATION issues

 

Facing the same issue but I have not changed the location