Update: Addressing new level system questions and feedback

[leonormiserol]

4 minutes ago, katherinasim said:

I finally decided to ask our lovely Customer support about one gig

I would like to give you hope, but I have had a ticket open for a week, I only receive automated responses to my questions that are very specific. Even I could answer that question for you, with some of the answers CS gave me. It is very sad.

[Alex.M]

16 minutes ago, katherinasim said:

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

Unfortunately, they won't give you a clear answer, I assume that they are going to say that this is influenced by other gigs in your category that are performing better ( they left room for this in case they don't have a real answer )

[stanhenderson]

6 minutes ago, leonormiserol said:

I would like to give you hope, but I have had a ticket open for a week, I only receive automated responses to my questions that are very specific. Even I could answer that question for you, with some of the answers CS gave me. It is very sad.

Me too. My impression is that they don't know what to do or say since they don't understand this themselves, Or they have blind faith in this update and are just sitting in silence waiting for the storm to blow past........ I hope they come to their senses soon, because every second we are left in this limbo, the more faith we lose in fiverr as a platform. They are suppose to have our back, That (and the marketplace) is the whole reason for why we are on this platform!  

[imtiazgfx]

1 hour ago, antonnzuev said:

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. 

If client cannot understand the Value of your service or Value for Money, you have to educate the buyer about Value for Money part. You have to tell them about the order process, effort, time utilization, quality work and service value so he can understand what you are doing and how much effort you are putting in so he/she can understand that is their Value for Money for sure.

Ultimately, it depends on your guidance to buyer that will explain and justify your service with Value for Money.

[katherinasim]

26 minutes ago, Alex.M said:

Unfortunately, they won't give you a clear answer, I assume that they are going to say that this is influenced by other gigs in your category that are performing better ( they left room for this in case they don't have a real answer )

I got a reply - and it's exactly what you said 😅 

 

[virgoca]

8 minutes ago, imtiazgfx said:

If client cannot understand the Value of your service or Value for Money, you have to educate the buyer about Value for Money part. You have to tell them about the order process, effort, time utilization, quality work and service value so he can understand what you are doing and how much effort you are putting in so he/she can understand that is their Value for Money for sure.

Ultimately, it depends on your guidance to buyer that will explain and justify your service with Value for Money.

problem here is, even if we are as thorough and transparent as possible, we cannot ensure the buyer will feel that they got the best price for the result they wanted. Many buyers will always want it cheaper, I've been a witness to this already once since the new system rolled out. And if we take the route of literally explaining to them what our value for money is, explicitly, we may be risking being flagged for review manipulation. It's a very volatile metric we have no way of predicting. We CAN be extremely methodical about using proper polite and professional language. We CAN be methodical with delivering in a timely manner. There are ways we can ensure the most likely outcome to be a perfect score on those metrics. But the value for money? Well, as ugly as that notion is, that can only be determined by how cheap the buyer you are working with is. 

Edited February 21 by virgoca

[stepanc]

Dear Fiverr,

Thank you so much for your new level system! We love it! 😍

Sincerely
Your Upwork

[prolancer724]

Fiverr Support is getting worse day by day. They took very long time to respond and also gave the same replies to the sellers. When I contacted them about this issue of level system update they told me "Your account has been flagged due to activities indicating a connection to violations of our Terms of Service or location inconsistencies." 

When I asked to please explain this they took another 2 days and told me we had found a connection with another account that was disabled. I was shocked because this is my first account on Fiverr. I verified my account around 2 years ago I am level 2 low and earned more than 30K with 1100+ 5-star reviews and my all statistics are 100%.

 

I was waiting for Top top-rated badge and I had to face this issue. This is very disappointing for me and my reputation in Fiverr. 

 

Working on Fiverr nowadays has become very complex and unfavorable for the extra care of the Buyers as well.

 

All you know is how much effort we have to put into maintaining a good account status.

 

But after hard work for 2 years, it's not desirable to hear this kind of valueless news from the support team.  I also told them I could supply my documents if they need any verification documents that I don't link with any old Fiverr. 

 

They are just skipping the issue and making me harassed. Nowadays sellers are being harassed by support teams than bad clients.

 

Let me know if you agree. I am addressing this issue to maintain a neutral, friendly, and equal environment to working on Fiverr. 

 

 

 

[msw_77]

Seems like fiverr staff left this thread no answers since 5 days

[karlaofficial]

32 minutes ago, msw_77 said:

Seems like fiverr staff left this thread no answers since 5 days

Great customer service at this company

👏👏👏👏👏

[graduatescope]

I am a big level 2 seller with $280,000 earned in less than 3 years ( I started on Fiverr in 2021). I have completed 4,000+ orders as a seller and have also spent $19,000+ as a buyer. I agree with everyone here about how Fiverr is making mistakes repeatedly with their product releases and updates. 

Read my detailed post on what I think about their new updates + some feedback to improve them. Comment if you can think of any other improvement as well.  

We need to stand strong and voice our opinions without stopping to make Fiverr understand. They usually don't listen but we need to stand our ground. 

I love Fiverr and how it helped me build a successful freelance revenue stream but I am very disappointed with how they progressed over the last couple of years especially with bad product releases. 

[emmaki]

Here's the Q4 blurb if anyone's interested

https://investors.fiverr.com/static-files/29ad13ef-764e-47f7-89f7-75eee7d4a596

ChatGPT summary:

Quote

The Q4 2023 Fiverr Shareholder Letter highlights several key annual growth metrics and financial outcomes for Fiverr:

- **Revenue Growth**: Fiverr reported a year-over-year (y/y) revenue growth of 10.1%, reaching $91.5 million for the quarter.
- **Active Buyers Decline**: The platform experienced a 5% decrease in active buyers, totaling 4.1 million.
- **Spend Per Buyer Increase**: There was a 6% growth in spend per buyer, rising to $278.
- **Take Rate Improvement**: The take rate improved by 160 basis points y/y to 31.8%.
- **Gross Margin**: The GAAP gross margin increased, reaching 83.1%, with a non-GAAP gross margin of 84.6%.
- **GAAP Net Income**: Fiverr achieved a GAAP net income of $4.7 million.
- **Adjusted EBITDA**: The adjusted EBITDA was $16.1 million, representing a 17.6% margin.
- **Financial Outlook for FY 2024**: Fiverr provided a financial outlook for FY 2024, expecting revenue growth of 5-7% y/y and an adjusted EBITDA of $65.0 - $73.0 million.

These figures reflect Fiverr's operational and financial achievements, including strategic initiatives around AI and market expansion, as well as their expectations for continued growth and profitability in the coming year.

And the ELI5, because I love AI ELI5s:

Quote

Imagine Fiverr as a big playground where people come to play different games (buy and sell services). Last year, more people came to play, and they spent more money on their games, especially on the really cool and complicated ones. Fiverr also got better at picking which games to show off so that everyone can have more fun and spend their allowance wisely. They're planning to use some smart robot helpers to make the playground even cooler this year!

 

[edc_lab]

11 hours ago, graveyardshiftx said:

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.

(...)

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.

I agree with that, but the thing is, Fiverr needs bonus & malus points because they need to make rankings, so in one way or another they need to do that.
That's why I said they should make an article listing all the main bonus & malus decisions a seller can make while working on a gig.
If I need an extension and I ask for it, I need to be aware that if they refuse it I'm going to get penalized for that.
I don't want to know their rating formula, I would just like to know what's good and what's not.
If they clearly say "accepted extensions are not going to penalize you" everyone would be more than happy to know that.
When it comes to working with a client there are a lot of variables involved, but if you know where the possible traps are (bonus & malus), you'll have all the necessary info to make custom workflows for every client out there.

If a buyer made a wrong order you can't penalize the seller.
If a buyer didn't provide requirements you can't penalize the seller.
If a seller receives a tip the buyer shouldn't be able to leave negative ratings.
If a buyer needs a simple "it didn't meet my expectations" to get refunded, you can't let them abuse your sellers so easily (which are Fiverr customers too because of the fees).
And many other things that probably I'm not aware of.

Making the system transparent could help sellers become better professionals. But first of all, they need to specify what transparency means for them.

Your message is full of energy, convert it into a positive one, and remember why you're doing that.
I wish you all the best, stay strong!

[shailene_george]

HI @Kesha,

The new review system seriously needs some attention as we have had a lot of instances now where buyers wanted to rate higher but ended up giving a lower rating. 

From the buyer's end, it's a simple apology in most cases but they don't know about the consequences that we sellers could have to face due to such mistakes of their's.

Take this as an example, where a buyer wanted to leave a 5-star review but ended up leaving a 4-star review. Now to maintain our TRS level, we need to have a minimum rating of 4.7 stars and just to offset this review that was left by mistake we now need to get 3 x 5-star reviews as the overall overage would then be following,

3 x 5star = 15

1 x 4star = 4

Total average = 19/4 =  4.75

Generally, only 60-65% of the buyers leave reviews after approving their order. This means that to get these 3 x 5-star reviews to make up for the buyer's mistake, we will have to potentially complete about 5 orders. 

=============================================================================

Question: Now with the new Value of Money question, how likely it is to score 5/5 in that criteria each time? 

The answer is very less likely. 

============================================================================

That being said the probability of getting a 4.7-star review or lower is very high and it might take us the next 10-12 orders just to offset the impact of this mistake and despite of all that effort our Success Score will still suffer.

Not to mention that all this effort is required just to maintain the minimum criteria to remain TRS and avoid demotion. To stay ahead of the competition, it would be logical to say that we might have to maintain a minimum rating of 4.9, and with this mistake, it can take us the next 30-40 orders just to offset it and push our average rating back to 4.9. 

 

Edited February 22 by shailene_george

[abeljimenez271]

Just 2 weeks back, I was rocking the Choice label, everything was peachy, and my Gig was Top 1 on multiple keywords. Now I'm a level 0, with a measly 4 success score 'cause apparently, I have negative impact in effective communication...

It's crazy, man. I've got a 100% response rate, over 50 orders ALL rated 5 stars, and not a single cancellation, but now my gig's gone from search results.

And get this, with my keyword, there are only 3 pages of results, and mine ain't even on the last page. Contact support? Might as well be talking to a brick wall—just canned responses, zero real help.

So long, Fiverr.

[carrotymusic]

10 hours ago, stepanc said:

Dear Fiverr,

Thank you so much for your new level system! We love it! 😍

Sincerely
Your Upwork

I think Upwork is happy with these changes on Fiverr 🙂 

[jennifer_ryan]

I also have a gig that has only ever received glowing 5 star reviews, that has been chosen as Fiverr's choice numerous times, yet has a success score of 4.  This is highly frustrating.  One of the metrics that lets it down is 'conflict-free orders', yet I have never had any conflicts with clients.  

My question is, in order to calculate this score, are the support requests being counted towards this?  I have sent numerous support requests to Fiverr regarding Promoted Gigs and other non-client related subjects.  Is this unfairly being counted towards this score? 

I have never received anything other than 5 star reviews in the 3 years that I've been working on this site, on all of my gigs.  I have never had any sort of client conflict or any order cancellations - not one!  What is going on??

[emmaki]

They certainly will be as foolish freelancers go there thinking that 10% is "cheaper" than Fiverr, somehow completely neglecting to consider the connection fees, the fake jobs, and all the other problems endemic to that site. If you think Fiverr's greedy, UW takes it to the next level.

The grass is definitely not greener over there... and depending on how good you are at bids, you might spend a lot of money on connects before you even get a sniff of your first job. Compare that to Fiverr, where you don't need to pay until the job is complete.

- le me, fiber defener

[thesibyl]

On 2/17/2024 at 6:28 PM, thesibyl said:

@Kesha Could you please clarify if members of Seller Plus Premium that are not TRS will lose 7 day clearance and Early Bird with the new system? Ever since Seller Plus Premium came up I have counted on these two features (that are actually the most useful in the program) and I need to prepare since this will affect my financial planning. Thank you.

@Kesha This question is very important to me, since how I arrange my finances would be affected by it. My success manager is not responding to it. I really need an answer about this, please.

Edited February 22 by thesibyl
Typo

[emmaki]

@thesibyl https://help.fiverr.com/hc/en-us/articles/360010560118-Fiverr-s-new-level-system

[thesibyl]

Just now, emmaki said:

@thesibyl https://help.fiverr.com/hc/en-us/articles/360010560118-Fiverr-s-new-level-system

Yes, I have seen that, but I am Seller Plus Premium, and it is unclear whether or not I will maintain this with Seller Plus Premium or not. I have a success manager that doesn't answer e-mails or answers super late and who has a habit of cancelling my appointments so it's not that I am paying for the perks of having a virtually absent SM.

[msw_77]

Just now, thesibyl said:

Yes, I have seen that, but I am Seller Plus Premium, and it is unclear whether or not I will maintain this with Seller Plus Premium or not. I have a success manager that doesn't answer e-mails or answers super late and who has a habit of cancelling my appointments so it's not that I am paying for the perks of having a virtually absent SM.

I am not TRS but I still have 7 day clearance because of seller plus. 

[thesibyl]

Just now, msw_77 said:

I am not TRS but I still have 7 day clearance because of seller plus. 

I still do, too, but it's unclear what will happen to Seller Plus / Seller Plus Premium and I would really like for them to address this.

[sathisultana900]

@Kesha 6 to 9 months ago due to buyer's non-cooperation or misunderstanding, 2 orders or 1 order was canceled due to which the order competition decreased.  Even 3 months ago, a buyer blocked me with the product and sent me an order cancellation request, although when I contacted customer support, they fixed the order competition.  I have completed all the requirements 100% through good work. Due to the launch of my new update system, all the hard work I have done has ended. I am unable to find jobs and success scores.

[emmaki]

@thesibyl My guess is that due to the 30 day grace period to fix issues (you should have an email from Fiverr about this, see screenshot, it was sent yesterday), SPP will probably be lost and it will automatically be downgraded to SP Standard and eligibility returns with a return to Lvl 2, but you'd still need to be TRS to be eligible for Fiverr's calculated cash grab "cashflow" feature.