Official feedback thread re: the new leveling system

[williambryan392]

5 minutes ago, donnovan86 said:

penalize people when there are many revisions, and if the order takes a long time to complete. But if it's just a revision or two at most, I don't think it should/will affect sellers. I had a few revisions last week, very minor stuff, one was a bit more extensive and I needed a few days,

I agree! I think if you have a gig with 2 revisions, and it goes through 10 revisions that's probably not good.

I think if you have revisions outside the scope of the original delivery time again that may not be good.

3 minutes ago, emmaki said:

But if someone has a recording I can make a transcript again. 

Sorry I didn't record, but they said it'll be available in the next week.

5 minutes ago, imtiazgfx said:

If anyone joined the complete today's webinar, Can you tell me the questions they answered today?

Might be best for you to attend yourself so you can hear the answers directly. What non-account specific questions do you have?

2 minutes ago, leonormiserol said:

In that case I'm screwed.
I have an order under review 20 days ago, the customer went on vacation and will review it when he returns, although I have already made all the corrections. I sent him the final files. He asked for a correction only to say he would review it later.

I don't think you're screwed. If it's in revision, and it is clear that you are waiting on the buyer so you can make the correction and re-deliver I think the system will 'know' because the last message sent was you saying something like 'Sure, please let me know you have reviewed it and if you need any changes'.

8 minutes ago, emmaki said:

buyers on freelance platforms are noticing how robotic freelancers are starting to sound.

I've seen some very popular/high volume sellers recently getting bad reviews with buyers accusing them of AI. Obviously I don't know if it's true or not.

[celestialsteps]

My proof that this new rating system is a total mess: 

I have been on the top of or at least on first page of results for 3 years now. Numerous 5* ratings & tips and more than 4500 orders complete. 

Now, I do not appear at all on the search results. I also see some new sellers appearing on the first pages that have copied my gig description word by word. They think that my wording was my reason for success, but this is far from the truth. 

I reported the first one of these to Fiverr, the most obvious one, to see the result, and then I will go on doing this...  Some others have slightly changed the wording, but still, I identify my descriptions. 

I had seen this happening before but didn't bother. 

I'm sure that the quality of their work is not even close to mine if they can't even make up their own descriptions. They don't know what they are talking about. But they don't have any ratings, so probably are still waiting for their first order. But, the advanced AI system that rates us doesn't take these new sellers into account. 

I'm just imagining my account being compared to the account of the person who has copied my description. I have a 4 score and nowhere to be seen, while this person is in the first results!

 

[mandyzines]

28 minutes ago, imtiazgfx said:

The same information that they told in the previous Webinars? What is the meaning of Ask me Anything then?

Optics

[williambryan392]

One thing I've also seen by attending 2 webinars in such quick succession is the caliber of the chat/questions being asked is so, so low. Quite basic stuff such as asking your question in the right place, or people spamming the (wrong) chat with their question, or their account-specific question again and again, or even the classic 'how do I get an order?' to name a few. It just strikes me as being unprofessional.

I think it's just a small taste of what support and SMs get every day, and hot dang that would not be a great taste after a while!

I am almost 40 though, so maybe I'm a boring old out of touch wotsit.

[emmaki]

Speaking of which, @donnovan86, a few days ago you mentioned a high profile writer who is not the wildly successful self-promoter. 

I think I've figured out who it is! Do they share their first name with a US state? Because I noticed that wilding successful self-promoter had promoted this other seller elsewhere, but this other seller had a ton of bad reviews indicating AI/copy-paste and generic "didn't spend any time listening to my needs" issues. 

It's like an elite ring of sellers who fail upwards! 

[emmaki]

1 minute ago, williambryan392 said:

I am almost 40 though, so maybe I'm a boring old out of touch wotsit.

Never mind. You're still quite tasty, even with the faint hint of chemical flavor. 

[imtiazgfx]

10 minutes ago, williambryan392 said:

What non-account specific questions do you have?

I was hoping to get some transparency on the issues like the future of Flagged Accounts (Location Inconsistencies), Level 0 vs New Seller, any clarifications on Success Score metric calculations and some more insights about this product release.  

I also wanted to know if a person, whose account is flagged, will he ever be able to participate in this level system again even if the warning is removed or so. If not, will he be able to create a new account and start from scratch? These kind of general questions about this update and seller integrity I have.

[arianelaurent]

17 minutes ago, williambryan392 said:

I am almost 40 though, so maybe I'm a boring old out of touch wotsit.

An M&S cheese taster?

Edited February 26 by arianelaurent

[dutchbydesign]

7 minutes ago, celestialsteps said:

My proof that this new rating system is a total mess: 

I have been on the top of or at least on first page of results for 3 years now. Numerous 5* ratings & tips and more than 4500 orders complete. 

Now, I do not appear at all on the search results. I also see some new sellers appearing on the first pages that have copied my gig description word by word. They think that my wording was my reason for success, but this is far from the truth. 

I reported the first one of these to Fiverr, the most obvious one, to see the result, and then I will go on doing this...  Some others have slightly changed the wording, but still, I identify my descriptions. 

I had seen this happening before but didn't bother. 

I'm sure that the quality of their work is not even close to mine if they can't even make up their own descriptions. They don't know what they are talking about. But they don't have any ratings, so probably are still waiting for their first order. But, the advanced AI system that rates us doesn't take these new sellers into account. 

I'm just imagining my account being compared to the account of the person who has copied my description. I have a 4 score and nowhere to be seen, while this person is in the first results!

 

This is real and also I relate fully. I see a lot that copy me and I find I can't even block them. I been offering my services since 2017 on Fiverr and going over and over word by word using every scrap of character space and taking hours to define my wording - updating it every few months so to be different to others who have actually copied me.  It's so unfair that all our hard work is going to poop in so many ways. To add, I can't even work out where I am going wrong in the Customer Satisfaction ratings fall. 

 

[emmaki]

Yes, William is in fact a sentient, strangely-shaped cheese ball. 

I suspected it all along, of course. 

[williambryan392]

4 minutes ago, imtiazgfx said:

future of Flagged Accounts

If it's because of a bug then I think it will be resolved and the account will be fine.

If it's because ToS was broken then I think there isn't a future.

6 minutes ago, imtiazgfx said:

whose account is flagged, will he ever be able to participate in this level system again even if the warning is removed

If it's removed then I assume so, because there is no issue anymore.

6 minutes ago, imtiazgfx said:

If not, will he be able to create a new account and start from scratch?

I doubt it, I think it's a permanent ban when ToS is broken, and you can't have multiple accounts.

7 minutes ago, imtiazgfx said:

any clarifications on Success Score metric calculations

Fiverr aren't going to share more details about how they calculate it. What we know is gigs with more orders/data impact the SS more than gigs with less data/orders.

8 minutes ago, imtiazgfx said:

Level 0 vs New Seller,

I expect it's the same, although a long standing theory is that new sellers tend to get extra exposure for a short while to help them make their first sale.

(Again, all this is purely speculation)

[williambryan392]

We're definitely off topic here @emmaki @arianelaurent but have you ever tried these... They're a little coarse, but given the shape I can fit a lot in at once. I like that.

[emmaki]

Just now, williambryan392 said:

Fiverr aren't going to share more details about how they calculate it. What we know is gigs with more orders/data impact the SS more than gigs with less data/orders.

tbf there's probably more weighting given to gigs that sell at a higher price than others in the category. I mean actually sell, not just advertised at $x. Each order does come with a risk of failure which usually involves CS, so sellers who can perform at $$$ levels contrast to say, $ levels might not have the volume, but they do demonstrate expertise. 

Then again, maybe the more lax TRS/Pro stuff accounts for this (along with faster promotion, assuming consistent high performance). 

[emmaki]

Just now, williambryan392 said:

We're definitely off topic here @emmaki @arianelaurent but have you ever tried these... They're a little coarse, but given the shape I can fit a lot in at once. I like that.

I sometimes buy them from Lidl when they have "American week". They come in weirdly oversize pots with the American flag plastered all over it. They're.... not very good. But they are quite more-ish in the way that only cheap cheesy balls can be. 

I hope you all realize how hard I am trying to keep this conversation out of the gutter right now

[imtiazgfx]

3 minutes ago, williambryan392 said:

If it's removed then I assume so, because there is no issue anymore.

I have seen people who had a warning before but after the warning is expired, the flagged account status is still there. Now that is a bug or a violation. In the level system article, a warning usually shows "On Hold" instead of "Account Flagged". 

 

5 minutes ago, williambryan392 said:

I think it's a permanent ban when ToS is broken, and you can't have multiple accounts.

If a seller cannot get on with his current account due to it being flagged permanently and can't even create a new, It simply means if any seller had a violation even before 1-2 years, now they are flagged and their freelance career at Fiverr is permanently restricted? due to a violation a long ago? And above all, cannot even start again? It doesn't look good.

 

9 minutes ago, williambryan392 said:

I expect it's the same, although a long standing theory is that new sellers tend to get extra exposure for a short while to help them make their first sale.

What about the Benefits and Tools for Level 0? it isn't mentioned anywhere.

[catwriter]

56 minutes ago, donnovan86 said:

I wish they would actually say what's ok and what is not ok revision and extension-wise.

If they did, dishonest sellers would abuse it. They'd know exactly what to say and how to manipulate the system, and they'd insist that their buyers say certain things and behave in a certain way (and inexperienced buyers would fall for it, just like they fall for other scams).

And that's why we can't have nice things.

[emmaki]

OK, I can't not share this review I saw today. The censored bits are the buyer's full name and telephone number. 

Skip the irrelevant rambling life story and observe how one seller was able to turn what sounds like a 1-star review into a 4 star review... 

Quite frankly, I'm impressed - but not by Fiverr's advanced AI systems, which apparently completely ignored all of this. 

The point is that sellers can easily manipulate Fiverr and Fiverr won't catch it (or possibly turns a blind eye to it in certain cases)

Edited February 26 by emmaki

[maitasun]

8 minutes ago, emmaki said:

The point is that sellers can easily manipulate Fiverr and Fiverr won't catch it (or possibly turns a blind eye to it in certain cases)

I guess it all comes down to status. The seller is a PRO...

[emmaki]

Only in name, if you ask me. 

[ahunyady]

23 hours ago, priyank_mod said:

Yesss..

And I'm glad so far very few have figured or bothered to hide them!! 👀

Yes, it’s very rare for me to see a buyer who’s hidden stats. Hiding stats is in itself is a big red flag, so that’s an easy no from me.

[mandyzines]

I'm pretty sure that a message I sent via mobile didn't get through to the buyer and I don't want it impacting my social credit score, but don't know if contacting CS about it would be deemed as a "conflict" by my AI boss(es) and impact my social credit score.

There's also a chance that their response will be vague or use qualifiers such as "won't necessarily impact your score" like the response that I just received about whether or not their suggestion to ask the buyer to extend the delivery date if they didn't click "accept offer" for a few days yet the system started counting once the offer was sent. 

 

Edited February 26 by mandyzines

[emmaki]

Is it just me who is finding it easy to get 5 star reviews in this new system? I mean, I was really worried about it before but apart from turning on RTO, I haven't really changed anything about how I work.... the inbox hasn't exactly been singing and I've just spent a bit more time vetting prospects. 

I'm just asking because while everyone - including me! - has been rabbling about all the bad points of the new system, nobody's really shared if their experience is ultimately unchanged. 

Anyone? 

I may also want to brag a bit. 

[virgoca]

5 minutes ago, emmaki said:

Is it just me who is finding it easy to get 5 star reviews in this new system? I mean, I was really worried about it before but apart from turning on RTO, I haven't really changed anything about how I work.... the inbox hasn't exactly been singing and I've just spent a bit more time vetting prospects. 

I'm just asking because while everyone - including me! - has been rabbling about all the bad points of the new system, nobody's really shared if their experience is ultimately unchanged. 

Anyone? 

I may also want to brag a bit. 

the nature of my work make it so that each order has a long delivery window, so I haven't had the chance to deliver enough orders to make a fair assessment of my personal situation. I delivered 4 orders since the 14th, 2 from a single buyer, 2 from another single buyer. One of those buyers was a tough one that made the experience unbearable. I got two 4 stars reviews with him. The other buyer is one of my regulars, got two 5 stars from him. not enough to get a fair idea yet.

EDIT: I will add to this that 3 of those orders were on my most active gig. My SS on that one remained unchanged (10/10). the 4th order (from my regular client) was on a less active gig I have, got a 5 stars from him. Yet for some reason the SS there dropped down to 7/10. Today is up to 8/10, with no orders or interactions with any buyer since then. 

Edited February 26 by virgoca

[emmaki]

I've been back in the office since the 10th with 3 orders, all 5 stars. None of them were particularly hard, although with RTO I've pretty much eliminated challenging buyers from the equation unless my buydar fails me. 

Congratulations on squeezing 4 stars out of a tough buyer though! It's always a relief to get good reviews from them after a nightmare of an order. 

 

[newsmike]

23 hours ago, larrydrums said:

most of these updates are shoot from the hip and cross your fingers type methods. 

what a lovely way of saying "pulled from the bum."