Constantly catfished, no trust left for fiverr

[tkojohn]

Hi, I have no idea what the registration process is for someone offering services but it needs to be corrected.

I am constantly waisting time dealing with individuals that are not truthful with their location, official language and skillset. Not to mention profiles that are loaded with fake reviews.

Why isn't anything being done about this? Why has the report feature been removed and only used for gigs after payment?

After spending over $2k for several gigs and time wasted with imposters that flood this service I am exhausted and further behind then before.

Complete waste of time and money.

 

Sorry to the legit pros here but I can't find you, the service is loaded with thief's and con artists.

[vickieito]

Hi @tkojohn, It is frustratingly hard to find a good seller on Fiverr - I've also lost over $2k on bad sellers (and it took me over a year to feel comfortable as a buyer on Fiverr). The only reason why I continue to buy is because I'm also a seller, and I appreciate the amazing talent that you can find on this platform, once you know how to properly vet your sellers.

New buyers have to be especially careful because a bad seller could trick you, if you aren't familiar with how Fiverr works. However, in most of these cases, even if Fiverr can't replace your lost time, they usually refund your money (and will investigate any accounts that you flag with "report").

To report a seller (before purchasing the gig), you'll have to click on the three dots at the top of any of their messages and "Report":

Quote

 Over the past 2 months, Fiverr had a mass flagging of accounts due to "location inconsistencies" since they know that there are many sellers who aren't truthful about their location. They also recently revamped the level system and review system, to crack down harder on those who manipulate the review system and hopefully flush out some of these bad sellers. They are also revamping programs for Pro sellers and agencies to help highlight sellers and agencies who are vetted manually by Fiverr. So Fiverr is trying to improve and make it easier to find good sellers. Only time will tell if these changes are effective, though. 

For me, the number of reviews is just one thing that I look at (I have been scammed by a seller with over 1k 5-star reviews). Instead I use inbox chats to discuss my requirements and "see" how sellers communicate and conduct themselves.

[tkojohn]

the ... then report method is not available to myself or it's been removed. I only have access to it through paid gigs.

The last group of sellers all and I mean "all" where using fake profile pics taken from LinkedIn.....they weren't even smart enough to use that identity's location lol

Now I use a simple google image search before contacting someone but unfortunately that usually rules out 99% on being dishonest.

Honestly I would of been better off paying for professional local services. Soo much time wasted 😞

 

i do agree that there is some great talent here but it's not worth the effort it takes to filter out the garbage......and it's been getting much worse compared to 4-5 months ago.

Edited March 30 by tkojohn

[emmaki]

I hope Fiverr is listening to this.

AI is not going to resolve the issue of so many bad sellers on this platform. Unfortunately, Fiverr just made their problem worse by mass-promoting so many sellers to Pro based on easily-gamed metrics while telling the world that these sellers are vetted. As it is, buyers have to wade through acres of AI-infested profiles and gigs from incompetent sellers who would sell their granny several times if it were an option. There are sellers who brag (elsewhere) about being on their 2nd, 3rd, 4th profile and knowing many others who are in the same boat. There are guides to starting new accounts and circumventing the systems Fiverr has.

Sorry you had that experience. Believe me, a lot of sellers are sick of Fiverr's nonsense at the moment, too. It is currently using AI to judge all sellers by the behavior of the worst sellers, driving many of its best sellers off the platform. I'm not sure what they're playing at, to be honest. The worst part is where they pretend to listen to us and talk about "transparency".

[vickiespencer]

6 hours ago, tkojohn said:

Sorry to the legit pros here but I can't find you, the service is loaded with thief's and con artists.

Sadly, not everyone's mamas taught them to be honest and forthright. On top of that, there are many cultures where dishonesty is the only way to get by if you hope to feed your family.  

[marinanp86]

6 hours ago, tkojohn said:

Why isn't anything being done about this? Why has the report feature been removed and only used for gigs after payment?

I honestly didn't know there wasn't a button to report if you hadn't made a payment.
I assume it's to prevent competitions from purposefully mass reporting and ruining accounts.
In any case, if the seller does not give you confidence in the conversation prior to purchasing the service, simply do not buy their service and that's it. If you think they are acting suspiciously, you can report the profile by writing to support.

I'm a seller, I have no idea what it's like to negotiate here as a buyer, but I can't think of how there can be so many ways to scam. The question would be: how did this situation occur and why?

And I think the answer is simple: Fiver does not want to spend money on employees to monitor and maintain the proper functioning of the platform.
Why are humans needed? because all situations are different and have a context, and that is something that AI does not know how to interpret, only a human can make a judgment about a situation between seller-buyer. Just as there are scam sellers, there are also buyers.

AI cannot control that with algorithms. It's ridiculous. Under that concept, I don't think Fiver improves its quality as a platform.

[dereck_s]

6 hours ago, tkojohn said:

the ... then report method is not available to myself or it's been removed. I only have access to it through paid gigs.

The last group of sellers all and I mean "all" where using fake profile pics taken from LinkedIn.....they weren't even smart enough to use that identity's location lol

Now I use a simple google image search before contacting someone but unfortunately that usually rules out 99% on being dishonest.

Honestly I would of been better off paying for professional local services. Soo much time wasted 😞

 

i do agree that there is some great talent here but it's not worth the effort it takes to filter out the garbage......and it's been getting much worse compared to 4-5 months ago.

Out of curiosity were you using sellers listed as Pro or TRS? Those sellers have been manually vetted to some extent.

[newsmike]

7 hours ago, tkojohn said:

Hi, I have no idea what the registration process is for someone offering services but it needs to be corrected.

There is literally no vetting process. If you have a cell phone, you can open an account from a village in East Elbonia and claim to be an award winning singer, writer, actor, or whatever from Beverly Hills. Fiverr knows, they don't care. 

Edited March 31 by newsmike

[smashradio]

The only way to size up a seller is to have a conversation with them these days. Metrics/levels mean zilch. It takes a bit more time at the start, but it's a huge time-saver down the line.

Unfortunately, Fiverr has handed the reins over to AI. Even the Fiverr staff appears to be run by GPT these days. I'm not sure if there's any hope, but as someone mentioned in another post recently: hope is all we have.

[tkojohn]

14 hours ago, dereck_s said:

Out of curiosity were you using sellers listed as Pro or TRS? Those sellers have been manually vetted to some extent.

Both?? Unsure what a TRS is....

When I would need a gig filled I usually choose a pro, a level 2 and a level 1. Last year out of those 3, worse case scenario I used to be able to compile and piece some together or pull my hair out trying to decide which was better because they all where soo great.

Now....ugh 😫

Good time for someone to create a competitive community that recognizes location via IP and disallows vpn's. 

[vickieito]

14 minutes ago, tkojohn said:

Unsure what a TRS is....

"TRS" stands for "Top Rated Seller." These have the badge next to their names (and are vetted by Fiverr). Level 1 & Level 2 sellers are not vetted by Fiverr (these sellers receive their levels automatically when specific metrics are met, such as reaching a certain number of orders and sales). 

It looks like the last seller you used was TRS, but it's hard to tell with the others (they may have lost their levels when the new system was launched). I don't see you using any sellers - these are sellers also vetted by Fiverr to have this badge on their account.

 

Edited March 31 by vickieito

[emmaki]

I wonder if Fiverr is reading that from a buyer: the more AI it uses in its systems, the worse the quality of the sellers it promotes. 

I wonder if this has anything to do with encouraging everyone to use ChatGPT if their communication skills were akin to a molding vegetable at the back of the fridge and using AI to deliver in lieu of having anything approaching a talent. 

I guess we'll never know. 

[tkojohn]

1 minute ago, vickieito said:

"TRS" stands for "Top Rated Seller." These have the badge next to their names (and are vetted by Fiverr). Level 1 & Level 2 sellers are not vetted by Fiverr (these sellers receive their levels automatically when specific metrics are met, such as reaching a certain number of orders and sales). 

It looks like the last seller you used was TRS, but it's hard to tell with the others (they may have lost their levels when the new system was launched). I don't see you using any sellers - these are sellers vetted by Fiverr.

 

I use 5 accounts for different companies/divisions, I am horrible at bookkeeping so by doing this it's easier for myself to keep records.

Thank you for the clarity!

In your experience would it be better to use a TRS over a pro? 

I do know that I did not receive anything decent from a TRS recently....

[vickieito]

 

24 minutes ago, tkojohn said:

In your experience would it be better to use a TRS over a pro? 

In the 117 orders that I've placed over the past 2 years, I've never been scammed by a Pro or TRS seller. I've had zero issues with a Pro seller, and only one hiccup with a TRS seller. Level 2's are tricky because that's where you can often find the best talents (but as a new buyer, it may be hard to differentiate between the good sellers and the bad).  

24 minutes ago, tkojohn said:

I do know that I did not receive anything decent from a TRS recently....

When did the bad experience happen with the TRS (before or after the review)? I found your review on the TRS profile:

Quote

I know you mentioned most of your "bad" sellers were found before the sale/purchase. If you don't see a report button in chat or if you find an account violating Fiverr's ToS (as in using fake profile pictures or locations), you can report the user to Fiverr via support ticket here:

https://www.fiverr.com/support_tickets/community-standards-and-terms-of-service/report-violation/create-ticket

Edited March 31 by vickieito

[tkojohn]

36 minutes ago, vickieito said:

 

In the 117 orders that I've placed over the past 2 years, I've never been scammed by a Pro or TRS seller. I've had zero issues with a Pro seller, and only one hiccup with a TRS seller. Level 2's are tricky because that's where you can often find the best talents (but as a new buyer, it may be hard to differentiate between the good sellers and the bad).  

When did the bad experience happen with the TRS (before or after the review)? I found your review on the TRS profile:

I know you mentioned most of your "bad" sellers were found before the sale/purchase. If you don't see a report button in chat or if you find an account violating Fiverr's ToS (as in using fake profile pictures or locations), you can report the user to Fiverr via support ticket here:

https://www.fiverr.com/support_tickets/community-standards-and-terms-of-service/report-violation/create-ticket

Thanks you for the info!

That seller i left the review for is definitely unique. I have used him multiple times, pricey but if I need something quick he's on it.

I just took a look through all my orders and he is the only TRS I used over 48 projects.

I am currently using a level one with a 4.8 rating over 400+ reviews and I am so disappointed....honestly I think anyone with a little bit of motivation could learn the platform and would of done 100x better if not more.

I am currently trying to find someone to create what he couldn't but after looking at the price point on these TRS"s I could go to a local marketing firm and get it done for much le$$.

Just had a level 1 send me some examples of work "he" did but after contacting 2 of the 5 companies I found that he was just claiming other people's work as his own.

This is a current situation. Ugghh

 

[catwriter]

@tkojohn, here's another thing you can try when vetting the sellers: just like you run their images through reverse image search, run their gig descriptions and responses (after you contact them, if you contact them) through an AI detector. AI detectors do give false positives, but they could still help you to dodge more than a few bullets.

[tkojohn]

How does someone become a TRS and what differentiates it between other rankings?

I regularly use a level 1 seller with over 4000 reviews but a TRS has 80...

[tkojohn]

2 minutes ago, catwriter said:

@tkojohn, here's another thing you can try when vetting the sellers: just like you run their images through reverse image search, run their gig descriptions and responses (after you contact them, if you contact them) through an AI detector. AI detectors do give false positives, but they could still help you to dodge more than a few bullets.

Thanks, that will actually pick up translators too!

 

[levinewman]

17 minutes ago, tkojohn said:

How does someone become a TRS and what differentiates it between other rankings?

I regularly use a level 1 seller with over 4000 reviews but a TRS has 80...

As a TRS and a Pro seller, I can tell you in simple terms--we have no idea either. There's absolutely no definitive answer as to what the standard is for anyone.

[newsmike]

2 hours ago, tkojohn said:

Good time for someone to create a competitive community that recognizes location via IP and disallows vpn's. 

And a monthly fee to sell on the platform would go a long way. 

[maitasun]

32 minutes ago, tkojohn said:

Thanks, that will actually pick up translators too!

Translation services on Fiverr are rife with cheaters and scammers—at all levels, whether new sellers or TRS, and in all language pairs! You really need to invest time in vetting who to hire.

[mandyzines]

1 hour ago, tkojohn said:

How does someone become a TRS and what differentiates it between other rankings?

I'm a level 2 with metrics met for Top Rated but because they aren't looking to add Voice Actors to the TRS category I'm not even being considered for manual (human, I think) review. If there is ever a call for VA's to add, I might not make it. There are a lot of things we aren't told.

Take, for instance, that Success Score. Not even Fiverr Staff seems to know what all it does and does not entail. 

 

Edited March 31 by mandyzines

[emmaki]

So.... how are everyone else's green bars looking?

Does the green bar mean once you get past it when it is invisible you're actually a 5-star seller? Because I'm getting 5-star seller vibes. It's OK, I'm just putting my own spin on a system that nobody understands with rating systems and doodads that nobody understands.

Here is mine as a 4.9-star seller. 4.95 sometimes. Until recently, a 5. But don't worry, I'm really a 10, even though I have some 9s.

And guess what doesn't have a little green bar, but the red bar is further to the left?

So, yeah. Any smart people in the room who can decipher this riddle?

 

 

Edited March 31 by emmaki

[priyank_mod]

10 hours ago, newsmike said:

And a monthly fee to sell on the platform would go a long way. 

Seller Plus Standard is now anyway available to one and all. They should just turn that ON for everyone as "platform usage fee". (Except for the premium subscribers. They are anyway on the hook, on a different tier)

 

After the outrage, they can waive the fee for anyone doing more than a certain amount (i.e. $200) every month. 

All this will create value for shareholders too and delight them immensely. 😇

[fahadislamjuel]

 

On 3/31/2024 at 6:29 AM, vickiespencer said:

there are many cultures where dishonesty is the only way to get by

I don't think that there are any cultures or regions in a country where dishonesty is the only way to earn money. To be specific, illiteracy and limited education makes people think dishonesty is somewhat acceptable. Even in the poorest third world countries, you will always find good ways to make a living. Still, people don't take those paths because of a combination of factors like lack of proper education. The opportunities are always there, but the people need to work smarter to succeed.