A message to buyers from a Top Rated seller

[joeyperezwest]

Dear Buyers,

As you know and are aware of, buyers are now rated for their purchases. This rating gives us a hint of the experience you have had on Fiverr and for an assumption of the realistic expectations you might expect from sellers, especially sellers that work hard on each and every gig.

The buyer rating system also helps you be scrupulous with ever aspect of a sellers work requirements and delivery, in the most honest manner possible and deter lower then realistically, biased, unfair ratings against the seller.

Another important aspect of the buyer rating system is just as the system of searching for sellers with the best rating, sellers use can use the rating system to accept or not accept working with a buyer.

For example, for a while now, I no longer accept work orders, from buyers with less then 4 star reviews that is listed on their profile.

I highly suggest that buyers start to pay more care to their rating on Fiverr as much as sellers do otherwise, you will be limited on who is willing to work with you.

Thank You.

[fonthaunt]

Edit: Joey, I replied earlier to ask you about this since I don’t see buyer ratings. From what I understand most people can’t seem them and it’s an experimental feature available to a test group. I’m editing this now since most people including buyers probably won’t understand what your post is about. I guess we’ll have to wait and see what develops.

[emmaki]

I don’t have buyer ratings. I will be ecstatic if they are introduced though–it will also encourage me to share my experience with x, y and z more freely. There’s little point going into a detailed review if no-one will see it, and it’s distinctly unfair that only sellers are rated.

As this seems to be experimental for now, has your own rating system changed? I mean I can only rate on a 5-star scale, but I believe buyers have various options (communication, quality of work and something else from memory).

[joeyperezwest]

Got it. No problem. Its a great thing for sellers…

[ameliah]

If this is true then it is the end of good service. It means that buyers will have to rate sellers as being good to work with, even if the service they have recieved is dreadful, in order to have other orders completed. It will make reviews completely useless, and if reviews cannot be relied upon then fiverr’s service is going to tank badly.

[misscrystal]

Why would buyers have to rate sellers good even if they were bad?

[emmaki]

Because they’re terrified lemmings and the customer is always right. If a buyer’s being an asshat, they need to be called out on it. Ditto for sellers.

[misscrystal]

So they are afraid they will get what they give.

[Anna]

Yes, just had that experience myself. After giving a lower rating the buyer came back and lowered his rating as well. The rating system needs a lot of work!

[misscrystal]

I see only 5 stars for you across your gigs. Did you renegotiate? 🙂

[Anna]

Nope it’s still there. 😕

[emmaki]

“Poor experience” guy? Screw them! I clicked through to your profile and the only review that I took notice of was this one: “Getting a gig done by anni80 is like buying a famous painting from an art collector. Thank you again for doing such an exquisite job. I absolutely love how you read! 5 stars and then some. :)”

Now that’s a review!

[Anna]

Thanks Emmaki ;).

[gingerwriter]

This would be bad a^^ if they actually implemented a buyer rating policy. I agree, as it stands, there is little incentive for sellers to leave reviews when it does absolutely nothing to buyers.

I disagree that it will ‘tank’ Fiverr. Look at eBay. They rely on a mutual rating system that benefits both buyers and sellers. Fiverr is the ‘eBay’ of the gig economy, so it only makes sense for ratings to affect both sides of the buying experience.

[alexnath]

I’m worrying about the same thing. I had a seller do a bait and switch where they offered a custom program, which I bought, and then had them tell me they didn’t have time to do the entire custom program, but they would be happy to do the $5 program for the custom program price since they “are going to raise their prices anyway.” Any suggestions on how to handle this?

[Anna]

You can either point out the previous conversation to your seller in which he offered to do the custom program for that price, or just cancel the order and find another seller. Best of luck.

[emmaki]

You know how much Nike paid for “Just Do It”? It wasn’t $5 (or less), that’s for sure. All of your suggestions seem bad to me. Anonymized ratings? WHY? The reliability thing just adds an extra headache and secondary level of dispute. If a rating is proved unfair, it can be deleted. Else, it will stand. Also, if you want to promote your gigs go do it in My Fiverr Gigs.

[faraz9871]

Most important thing is you should first contact the seller before ordering the gig to avoid any confusion and negative remark

[robertaltoona]

you are right, so far as a buyer, I have 100% honest sellers and I send most of them a few bucks as a tip, cause $5 is cheap, even if it only takes a pro 5 minutes to do the work… I do look at feedback, only for bad negatives, prior to buying. I expect to see good ratings for sellers. I also discount lame “poor experience” ratings- especially when there are no details. You have a great day!

[robertaltoona]

ebay was awesome 20 years ago. rating system sucks now. almost all neutrals or positives… even when product is junk or non-functional… Having a buyer rating system is dumb, If they pay up front the only bad buyer would be a pain in the ass that wants revisions, etc. And if you post a price for revisions, you will be happy to do them! Set your rules and details and you will attract buyers that will return and spend more money- I do! and I just started here.

[Guest chrylent]

Great and important tips for buyers.

[Anna]

Please stop promoting yourself. You can do this by posting under “My Fiverr Gigs”

[mrproofreading]

Can you post a few screenshots to show us? About a year ago, this feature was introduced very briefly, but it disappeared a matter of days after implementation. So, I’d be curious to see what has changed, if anything.

[gingerwriter]

I completely disagree. My husband works exclusively through eBay, and the rating system gives him ground to stand on if the whole thing turns sour.

Don’t worry about me setting my rules and revisions, I’ve done that successfully for the past 4 years. My point is, either do away with the rating system altogether or implement it for buyers as well.

Are you saying that it’s just dandy the way it is? It’s rather obvious you just started on Fiverr if so…

[gingerwriter]

I just had a look and you don’t even offer gigs on Fiverr that I can see. That definitely explains your attitude towards a buyer rating system.