TOS changes to note

[mgjohn78]

I grabbed a snapshot of the terms on September 1 2016 and today on November 14 i grabbed another snapshot and compared:
So here are some changes that sellers should know about.

1: Promoting your gigs using adwords is nolonger allowed.
“Sellers may not promote their Gigs or any Fiverr content via the AdWords platform.”

2: You can no longer get feedback removed by mutually cancelling an order where feedback was already posted.
“Sellers may not solicit the removal of feedback reviews from their buyers through mutual cancellations.”

3: Disputes and Cancellations the 13 day limit for cancellations by customer support has been removed.
Old tos
"Order cancellations (when eligible) can be performed by Customer Support only up to a period of 13 days from order completion date. We will not cancel orders after that time.“
New tos
"Order cancellations can be performed on Fiverr, when eligible, by Customer Support or through the Resolution Center per order.”

4: Protection for sellers added.
“Orders
Users with the intention to defame competing sellers by ordering from competing services will have their reviews removed or further account status related actions determined by review by our Trust & Safety team.
Users are to refrain from spamming or soliciting previous Buyers or Sellers to pursue removing/modifying reviews or cancelling orders that do not align on Order Cancellation or Feedback policies.
Fiverr reviews cases of payment provider chargebacks and disputes on behalf of sellers. Although results vary per case due to each chargeback reason, we work hard on resolving disputes in the seller’s favor. If the chargeback case allows, Fiverr will return parts or full revenue back to sellers.
Gigs
Users may report Gigs to Customer Support that may be in violation of Fiverr’s Terms of Service based on the reported Gig’s replicated similarity to pre-existing services (copycat Gigs).
Fiverr will respond to clear and complete notices of alleged copyright or trademark infringement. Our Intellectual Property claims procedures can be reviewed here.”

5: Withdrawing revenues from disabled accounts can now be done after 90 days (used to be 45)

There were more changes but those were the ones that caught my eye.

[taverr]

Thanks for the update!

[writer99025]

All I want is protection for PayPal chargebacks. That’s the only thing that worries me.

[babibalubi]

Interesting, really interesting…

[jonbaas]

#2 is likely to affect unprofessional sellers the most:

“2: You can no longer get feedback removed by mutually cancelling an order where feedback was already posted.
“Sellers may not solicit the removal of feedback reviews from their buyers through mutual cancellations.””

[mgjohn78]

I think it will affect us all in a positive way.

[catwriter]

Actually, when it comes to cancellations: “Completed orders may be cancelled, upon review of our Customer Support team, up to 14 days after the order is marked as complete.”

[eoinfinnegan]

Yes, I agree. I sent a message to CS about a potential $5000 order asking how safe I am if they do a chargeback. This is the conversation - left a lot to be desired in terms of protection but does suggest there is the possibility of Fiverr representing us to Paypal.
eoinfinnegan
Hello,
I am currently quoting for a particularly large order. The client is happy with my price and I am to do a paid sample (which is the order number quoted). The work involved will take approx 6 weeks and the total amount is for approx $5000.
Before I proceed with this order I would like to know how safe it is to do so. If I complete this order for $5000 and the client issues a Paypal dispute, will you respond to the dispute? The work is translation so I cannot have any rights over the content as the content is theirs already. This means they could dispute through Paypal, use the work and I cannot do anything legally.
Of course, if I deliver the work you could produce this to Paypal and explain the completion of the order. However, I understand that this is not done most if not all of the time. I had a chargeback on an order of $100 which was annoying but not a disaster. Chargeback on $5000 however would be a disaster. Before I proceed with this, I would like to know I am some way covered.

CS
Greetings Eoin,
Thank you for reaching out. I would first like to mention that your account cannot send a custom offer for $5000. So this means that you would have to break this down into parts. We would recommend that you set a sort of milestone for each order so that you can keep track of the work that is being done and so that you can send proof to the buyer on the order page to show that these requirements have been met. If a dispute is made on the orders, you are welcome to contact us to review and assist you further with the disputes.

eoinfinnegan
Yes, of course I will be splitting the order into a couple of parts but you haven’t answered my question. I am not asking for an open guarantee, I just want to know that if the buyer does decide to do an unfair chargeback that there is some possibility of not losing $5000 and 6 weeks of work.
When I last had an unfair chargeback there was no communication from Fiverr and the money was just taken from my account. After sending a ticket, there was no solution or query about the situation, essentially it was a “tough luck” message. I can’t do that with $5000. Are there situations where Fiverr defend chargebacks?

CS: We can review and assist in some cases as long as you the seller can prove that the work was done for these orders. This is why the milestones were mentioned for you to look into for each order.

[writer99025]

I don’t know man, you’re taking on a really big risk. I wouldn’t trust anyone other than my mother with that kind of money. I just don’t know.

[miiila]

That sounds better than a ‘You’re on your own, mate.’, but not exactly protective, no. Also, watch your account from in 6 weeks approx., you might not get spammers, but you might get hackers 😉

[miiila]

Thank you for the post, it´s interesting to see, in comparison. A doubling to 90 instead of 45 days for instance is quite a change.

[eoinfinnegan]

You see this is the problem.
The client is an excellent online portal based in Germany. Their site looks good, the idea etc is good, they have been in business a long time and I am dealing directly with a company rep - its not a reseller.
This is EXACTLY the type of client Fiverr really wants but the fear of chargebacks may stop me from working with them. Until the chargeback issue is sorted, or at least clarified, Fiverr is a risky place for sellers when dealing with big amounts. I have another client with a similar project, not quite as big but large enough and the same fear means I am unsure what to do. No clarity from CS. No definitive rules about it. Yet Fiverr wants us to take the chance on it. And yes, I know they lose their fees if there is a chargeback on an order that size - I however, would lose a lot more - and I suspect Fiverr would survive quite well without it whereas I wouldn’t.

[eoinfinnegan]

Its actually nearly worse than a blank no. The response tempts me to think they would be helpful in the situation but I cant shake the reality that my last chargeback was the 4th order I had with a client, all 5 star reviews and the chargeback was allowed and never queried.

[miiila]

Hm, understandable. That´s a real quagmire there. The high amount orders possibly are often great, and not just for the money, but yeah, having one´s reality already been shaken, won´t make a decision like that easier. And, well, their suggestion only helps you to know how you can even make them a high offer like that by splitting it up, which you already knew on your own, but it´s no solution, if all those split up parts still are from the same buyer, it needs just this one buyer to charge back all of them. No nice thought that in case you work 6 weeks maybe just on one project and it might lead to a charge back, they might not even look into it much.
I don´t even think they wouldn´t want to help, but with all one reads regarding trouble with, not only, PP, I have the feeling that it might not help, even if they tried. Which, again, won´t help you with that. The BBB pages are full of troubles of that kind.
But there´s no real way out of this I suppose, things like fiverr have to go with PP or similar solutions.
Anyway it was no real reply to your problem. Probably helplessness more than not wanting though. Same result for you, unfortunately, nevermind the reason why.

[myskillsforsale]

Super helpful post, and thanks to eoinfinnegan for the chargeback discussion. Though I thoroughly read the ToS when signing up, I forget on occasion that Fiverr is in a constant state of flux. 90 days to get money back is harsh – a whole quarter of the year? Particularly disconcerting when accounts can be shut down without much reason/chance to appeal.

Nice to see a little something in the ToS about gig plagiarism. We’ll see how well it’s enforced, though.

[seotalent]

Thanks for sharing this valuable info. #2 is clearly warning the sellers to be more serious on quality and professionalism.
#4 is good for those sellers who are working sincerely and professionally.

Overall, a good combination of changes in TOS.

[jonbaas]

I don’t know. #2 looks like a lot more than just a mere warning. It looks like Fiverr is changing things up and saying, “we’re not allowing sellers to game the system by refunding orders just to get rid of negative feedback.”

At least that’s how this quote from the Fiverr Terms of Service reads: “Sellers may not solicit the removal of feedback reviews from their buyers through mutual cancellations.”

[seotalent]

May be thats the thought, but sellers now have to be more professional thats for sure!

[miiila]

I agree, don´t think the use of the word ‘solicit’ is accidental.

[psychicbunny]

#2 should be removed in my opinion, I don’t know why people aren’t blowing up. Now we’re all going to be susceptible to negative reviews, this is ridiculous.

[logographs]

I agree with mgjohn78! I know I am not a good designer. Though, I have more than 400+ happy buyers, who loved my gig. But, you know, there must be some of buyers who won’t like your gig! It’s natural I think. Suppose in 100 of people, you can face one critical buyer who may not like your delivery product ( after gig order ).

Sorry for my bad English!!