Is 4.3 the New 5.0? How Fiverr's Rating System is Jeopardizing Profiles and Gigs

[alexiscottray]

Hello everyone,

As I am reviewing this great post

 I am realizing that the current rating system is quite unfair. 



As I am seing this, this is true. As a French freelancer, it's hard to give 20/20 to something. Usually 14 or 16 is an excellent grade. 

The issue is that some older freelancers here collected a lot of 5 star reviews VS the current system. So some gigs already have 1000+ reviews, and it's not probable that the new system actually affects them. 

In my case, I have some gigs with 10-50 reviews only, so any 4.3 review is directly affecting my gig, going from 5/5 to 4.9/5 or less on the global score. As everyone know, as a buyer, if I see a gig with 5/5 score 100 reviews VS 4.9/5 score 100 reviews, I am most likely to go with the 5/5 instead 4.9 score. 

I generally tell the clients that as a Top Seller, we have to maintain a score higher to 4.7 - any review below 4.7 is actually putting my profile in danger. It's quite discouraging to see 4.3 review with "excellent work, very recommended I will work with him again".

When I see this kind of review, I wish I don't work with this client again because if he keeps giving me 4.3 reviews for excellent jobs, I am damaging my profile. 

Any thoughts on this suggestion from the post above, changing the 4 star review to "Good" and saying "What seller shortcoming made you skip the "Great" rate"? 



Thank you and good luck to you all

Alexis

Edited Saturday at 12:40 PM by alexiscottray

[alexiscottray]

[alexiscottray]

Just to say that most of the time when I receive communication 4/5 - I have not received any feedback from the client after the delivery. I ask if there is any question, any thing that can be improved and I have ZERO communication. 

Then, I receive 4/5 on communication after 10 days without ONE message from the client, I think it's quite a joke. 

[priyank_mod]

10 minutes ago, alexiscottray said:

I generally tell the clients that as a Top Seller, we have to maintain a score higher to 4.7 - any review below 4.7 is actually putting my profile in danger. 

Your concern is a fair point but avoid telling this to buyers - it might be perceived as review manipulation by Fiverr. 

[alexiscottray]

One of my latest experience to help a client with a 10$ fix on Typeform. 

I normally do not offer form optimization services, only build from scratch. The client insisted so that I can fix the logic, which is a 10-min job that I've charged 10$ to make a favor as the client really insisted. 

When I saw the form, actually I had to spend more time because the current logic was really messy and I've spent more time that I thought. 

The client asked for two revisions (on a 10$ order) to ask questions (for instance: how do I integrate the form with Mailchimp? As a revision... leaving days before each message. I've answered the questions in a very kind and polite way. 

Then, I see this review: "Good I am satisfied"... 3.3/5 review for a 10$ job. 

Sometimes, you think you are helping people, and this is what you get in returns. Not fair. 

[alexiscottray]

Just now, priyank_mod said:

Your concern is a fair point but avoid telling this to buyers - it might be perceived as review manipulation by Fiverr. 

I have already discussed it with Fiverr's team. I am simply providing awareness to the clients so that they understand the system on Fiverr.

A lot of clients after the review told me "oh I did not know that 4.3 was a bad review, how can I change it?" and it cannot be changed. Educate users about the system is not a manipulation. It's a simple information. 

[alexiscottray]

Let's talk about this review for instance. Obviously I stopped working with this client, if the client always leave 4/5 reviews "excellent job as always" then I am killing my profile myself. 

[alexiscottray]

4 minutes ago, alexiscottray said:

Let's talk about this review for instance. Obviously I stopped working with this client, if the client always leave 4/5 reviews "excellent job as always" then I am killing my profile myself. 

Not educating the clients about the rating system and keeping the collaboration with this kind of client is the perfect way to lower my global score in a few months and loose the Top Rated Seller one day. 

[alexiscottray]

I've just received the client feedback about this review



As you can see: 



So 4/5 looks like a good score accordingly to clients. But they will always pick the service that has 5/5 when they search for gigs and Fiverr still considers you have to maintain 4.7 as minimum to keep the top selling level. 

Edited November 25 by alexiscottray

[mrubaid820]

48 minutes ago, alexiscottray said:

Educate users about the system is not a manipulation. It's a simple information. 

Well, I can understand your situation, but when it comes to ratings, you really can't make the buyer aware of it. It's against Fiverr's rules, and if an AI model detects it, you might receive a warning for it.

By the way, 4.3 or 4.7 is considered a good rating, but too many ratings like these can affect the overall rating of our profile. Some buyers have a habit of not giving more than a 4-star rating. In this regard, you can join the Seller Plus program, which will allow you to know in advance the average rating a buyer typically gives. This way, if someone has an average given rating of 4 or 4.3, you can avoid working with them.

Additionally, one benefit of this is that your buyer won’t be able to place a direct order. Before placing an order, they will have to message you first in the Fiverr inbox. This way, you can protect your profile more effectively.

Edited November 25 by mrubaid820

[alexiscottray]

9 minutes ago, mrubaid820 said:

Well, I can understand your situation, but when it comes to ratings, you really can't make the buyer aware of it. It's against Fiverr's rules, and if an AI model detects it, you might receive a warning for it.

By the way, 4.3 or 4.7 is considered a good rating, but too many ratings like these can affect the overall rating of our profile. Some buyers have a habit of not giving more than a 4-star rating. In this regard, you can join the Seller Plus program, which will allow you to know in advance the average rating a buyer typically gives. This way, if someone has an average given rating of 4 or 4.3, you can avoid working with them.

I will create a ticket with Fiverr to mention this, thank you. 

Regarding the Seller Plus program, I am already a seller plus. I avoid the buyers with low ratings, but a lot of buyers have zero ratings and/or place directly orders. Amongst 650 reviews, I only have 18 reviews 4/5 

But it's highly increasing the last few months after 4 years on Fiverr mainly receiving 5/5 ratings. 

[donnovan86]

1 hour ago, alexiscottray said:

The issue is that some older freelancers here collected a lot of 5 star reviews VS the current system. So some gigs already have 1000+ reviews, and it's not probable that the new system actually affects them. 

I have over 18k reviews. With this new system, they only take into account the last 2 years, and private reviews matter more than what people leave as a public review. But yeah, most of those reviews are there just for people to browse if they want to. They don't make any difference, so the playing field is leveled. Basically, the average reviews reflect only the work you did in the past 2 years, because some people can easily slack off and rely on older reviews. For But it's not the case. 

[katakatica]

1 hour ago, alexiscottray said:

I generally tell the clients that as a Top Seller, we have to maintain a score higher to 4.7 - any review below 4.7 is actually putting my profile in danger. 

So while I totally understand your point (and I have been given odd reviews at times!) this very easily could lead to a warning. 

There was once a thread about how to reach out to customers about this (because there were glitches in the new system and whatnot that messed up some reviews - or just in general, customers were often confused) and the general consensus was that intent mattered as greatly as wording did.

In your case, one could easily think that you're pusing your clients to give a better review. 

Is that entirely true? No.

But it could read as that - and all it takes is one person who reports you. 

That being said, I do agree that this is a pretty significant issue. I've been saying this for a while but the current system doesn't really recognise that sellers and customers are human (I mean of course it knows but still...) we are expected to be performing well in a world that is quite colourful - which is awesome- but also challenging. Some people think a 3.0 is a decent review. Some people won't want to leave reviews at all (because of matters only they know.) Sellers are balancing in this strange mix where you never quite know what affects you (and how).... and sometimes it's just the fact that your client is human and needed 2 weeks to read through 2 pages because they got busy. (And sometimes you'll be affected by them giving a review they deemed good but the system doesn't.)

Not sure what can be done - but being extra careful about interactions with buyers is one thing I do. 

[alexiscottray]

15 minutes ago, donnovan86 said:

I have over 18k reviews. With this new system, they only take into account the last 2 years, and private reviews matter more than what people leave as a public review. But yeah, most of those reviews are there just for people to browse if they want to. They don't make any difference, so the playing field is leveled. Basically, the average reviews reflect only the work you did in the past 2 years, because some people can easily slack off and rely on older reviews. For But it's not the case. 

Hello Donnovan,

Thanks for the reply. I've seen your profile and luckly for you, you have two gigs with 1k+ reviews for each gig. The new system is not impacting you as much as on my profile, where I deal with around 20 orders per month and have 5-100 reviews at maximum on my gigs. 

If you get a 3/5 review, your score will remain the same, mine will go from a 4.9/5 scored gig to 4.0/5 or less with only one review. 

[alexiscottray]

8 minutes ago, katakatica said:

So while I totally understand your point (and I have been given odd reviews at times!) this very easily could lead to a warning. 

There was once a thread about how to reach out to customers about this (because there were glitches in the new system and whatnot that messed up some reviews - or just in general, customers were often confused) and the general consensus was that intent mattered as greatly as wording did.

In your case, one could easily think that you're pusing your clients to give a better review. 

Is that entirely true? No.

But it could read as that - and all it takes is one person who reports you. 

That being said, I do agree that this is a pretty significant issue. I've been saying this for a while but the current system doesn't really recognise that sellers and customers are human (I mean of course it knows but still...) we are expected to be performing well in a world that is quite colourful - which is awesome- but also challenging. Some people think a 3.0 is a decent review. Some people won't want to leave reviews at all (because of matters only they know.) Sellers are balancing in this strange mix where you never quite know what affects you (and how).... and sometimes it's just the fact that your client is human and needed 2 weeks to read through 2 pages because they got busy. (And sometimes you'll be affected by them giving a review they deemed good but the system doesn't.)

Not sure what can be done - but being extra careful about interactions with buyers is one thing I do. 

I understand, but then what should be the greatest attitude regarding a returning customer that leaves a 4/5 review ? 

Should I say nothing, keep working with the client until my gig goes lower and lower after each order and collaboration with him? 

[katakatica]

6 minutes ago, alexiscottray said:

Thanks for the reply. I've seen your profile and luckly for you, you have two gigs with 1k+ reviews for each gig. The new system is not impacting you as much as on my profile, where I deal with around 20 orders per month and have 5-100 reviews at maximum on my gigs. 

The new system impacts everyone. 

As mentioned above, it only considers reviews in the past 2 years. 

Even if someone is delivering 50+ orders a month (many of us aren't!) eventually they will be affected. 

I've niched down and started working on bigger orders, so some months I take on less work (never more than 20 orders!) I've personally been able to stay fine even with the bad reviews coming in. I can see in your case it being a bigger issue (if everyone is like this) but at that point you have to consider whether working like this works for you - and if not, how and what can you improve to avoid what's going on. 

7 minutes ago, alexiscottray said:

Should I say nothing, keep working with the client until my gig goes lower and lower after each order and collaboration with him? 

No.

If someone rates me poorly or just simply isn't kind I don't work with them again. 

Easy as that. 

If needed, get seller plus to try and help vet buyers. Focus on providing even better services. 

The only way out is to try and work with the system. 

[alexiscottray]

This is a reply from Fiverr support : 

Quote

While having all 5-star ratings might seem beneficial according to an analysis done a while ago on clients, many of them do not fully trust freelancers who have 5-star reviews on all their orders.
 
Such ratings on many occasions seem manipulated as providing flawless service all of the time is very hard to achieve and many clients might not fully trust such a freelancer affecting the business relationship.
 
Now as you know all clients leave feedback and ratings they feel are right for the service provided even if it sometimes may look unfair. However, even if this is their honest opinion about the service provided you can still offset it by staying in touch with the client after the review is left and checking if there is any particular area you might improve to get a better rating in the future.
 
At the end of the day, the ratings and feedback clients leave do not reflect only the quality of the service you provide but of the whole experience the client had while working with you.
This includes communication and tone, your readiness to assist the client further if needed or provide additional help, respecting the deadlines, etc.
 
All these efforts combined should help you not just realize why the clients are leaving lower ratings than expected but also help you improve the whole order process and appear even more professional.
 

So I understand that users prefer to have a service that has a few 4/5 reviews, but I don't think users prefer a service rated 4.0/5 VS a service rated 5.0/5.

About asking clients' feedback, when I ask them, they say they were happy and thought 4/5 was a good review. To me, accepting this kind of reviews and continuing to collaborate with these clients without saying nothing, is accepting to progressively lower my score so that one day I get to 4.6/5 and be removed from top sellers. 

[alexiscottray]

3 minutes ago, katakatica said:

The new system impacts everyone. 

As mentioned above, it only considers reviews in the past 2 years. 

I am referring to the fact that if you could build gigs the last 10 years and get 1k+ reviews on your gigs, it's unlikely that you are affected especially if you keep delivering a good quality, as 3/5 reviews may not affect your gig score. 

I am not talking about the LEVEL system on fiverr here, I am talking about the score you have on your gig here inside the search: 

[alexiscottray]

10 minutes ago, katakatica said:

No.

If someone rates me poorly or just simply isn't kind I don't work with them again. 

Easy as that. 

So you agree that I should not keep the collaboration with the client AND that I cannot explain to the client WHY (why = because he left a 4/5 review saying the service was excellent) and above all, the client simply thinks that 4/5 is a good review and doesn't understand why the collaboration has to stop. 

This is not helping the strategy of returning buyers that we should have on Fiverr. 

[alexiscottray]

7 minutes ago, alexiscottray said:

I am referring to the fact that if you could build gigs the last 10 years and get 1k+ reviews on your gigs, it's unlikely that you are affected especially if you keep delivering a good quality, as 3/5 reviews may not affect your gig score. 

I am not talking about the LEVEL system on fiverr here, I am talking about the score you have on your gig here inside the search: 

If tomorrow, I receive another 4/5 review on this gig for instance, as I only have 100 reviews, I will go from 4.9 to 4.8 etc... Not the same scenario as Donnovan that has more than 1000 reviews on his gig. 

Then, if we cannot say anything to the clients that are not aware of the system, then this will be common: 

It happened many times that one client gave me a rate 4/5 and then asked in the chat "what's the next step? I would like to continue working with you" 

And then I am replying "sorry, but I cannot work with you anymore, as if you keep leaving 4/5 reviews on my profile, then I am putting myself at risk and you will lower my global ratings on my gigs" 

Then the client replies "oh I was not aware of this, sorry" but it's simply too late. 

[alexiscottray]

I think it's easy to understand my point with this service here that I had to pause because I received a 4/5 review, then my stats and my clicks on this new service simply dropped and I could not get more orders. 

For the same service, users will most likely click and order a 5.0 scored gig VS a 4.8 service. 

[alexiscottray]

3 minutes ago, alexiscottray said:

I think it's easy to understand my point with this service here that I had to pause because I received a 4/5 review, then my stats and my clicks on this new service simply dropped and I could not get more orders. 

For the same service, users will most likely click and order a 5.0 scored gig VS a 4.8 service. 

You can see the client review here: 

[mrubaid820]

15 minutes ago, alexiscottray said:

Have you seen my review "Excellent job as usual" the client is obviously happy with the job and wants to continue the collaboration with me,

As I mentioned earlier, some clients have a habit of giving 4-star reviews and don’t give higher ratings. None of us can truly understand our buyer's mindset, their situation, or their sentiments when they start giving us ratings, right? So, in this regard, we can’t do anything except be patient.

And furthermore, if you don’t want to work with a buyer, you don’t need to directly tell them that you don’t want to work with them because they didn’t rate you properly. You can say something else, for example, that you’re unavailable for new projects for a week, or something similar, etc.

[alexiscottray]

2 minutes ago, mrubaid820 said:

As I mentioned earlier, some clients have a habit of giving 4-star reviews and don’t give higher ratings. None of us can truly understand our buyer's mindset, their situation, or their sentiments when they start giving us ratings, right? So, in this regard, we can’t do anything except be patient.

And furthermore, if you don’t want to work with a buyer, you don’t need to directly tell them that you don’t want to work with them because they didn’t rate you properly. You can say something else, for example, that you’re unavailable for new projects for a week, or something similar, etc.

Yes I agree, it's just that based on the new rating system, users are more likely to provide ratings at 4/5 VS 5/5 with the previous system. 

And it's affecting new gigs or recent gigs that have a few ratings more than gigs that have more than 200+ reviews for instance. The issue is that "old" gigs that have 1k+ reviews will stay at 5.0 but to develop new gigs, it becomes more and more difficult. 

[alexiscottray]

This is why I think that the post from vhskid from my first message on this post was very interesting, a 4/5 rating meaning "Good" and a 5/5 rating meaning "Great"