english_voice

Looking at this from a seller’s perspective I have blocked potential buyers who have messaged me because they have used a fake profile picture. I would rather not take their work than deal with someone who feels the need to be dishonest.

That’s a long way to journey back in time lol

The whole idea of vacation mode is that buyers can’t place an order!

Just a simple ‘hello’ works for me. You don’t need to know a buyer’s name. Sometimes they will offer it when they sign off a message - sometimes they won’t.

Hey @english_voice ! Well this is just me making this assumption. I could be wrong, but hear me out: If Fiverr wants to track efficiency, and one of the platform’s main pain points is sellers missing deadlines, then this automated notification could be used as a metric. It tells the system the percentage of orders you complete by “cutting it close”. The machine isn’t that bright, so it can’t really tell if that’s OK or if your buyer didn’t get back to you on time on X, etc. But it can see that out of 20 orders, 12 of them were down to the wire. So this may tell the system that you are not that efficient, or that you are too busy at the moment. Or that maybe your gig is not optimized as you should add a day to your delivery window. Feel free to take this with a grain if salt. Right now I am not getting as many messages or orders as before because I had 3 Pro orders, each one taking 15 days to complete plus some of my regular gig orders were delivered within that “last 12 hours” window. So my belief is that it does count, not sure what the exact weight of this metric is. It’s definitely not as weighted as you missing the delivery of course. Sorry to resurrect a thread that’s a few days old but I thought it might be useful to quickly outline what I’ve done to try and avoid receiving the ‘12 hour’ reminder / warning. At the moment I’m getting more custom offer requests rather than organic orders. So, for example, in the message section I’m telling the client that ‘while I will be able to deliver your order tomorrow morning, it might just nudge over the 24 hours - hence me selecting the 48 hour delivery option’. I’m still working on the exact wording - but basically by adding an extra 24 hours to the delivery time, it will avoid me receiving the 12 hour warning, and I’m still very clearly managing my client’s expectations. @frank_d I know you said something like the 12 hour reminder message being used as a metric was just an assumption on your part, but hopefully by making the official delivery time a day longer, managing client expectations and, so far as Fiverr is concerned, delivering nearly a day early - this should safeguard my stats. Others might want to think about doing something similar…

I could be 100% wrong about this. It’s based on my personal observations and I could be mistaken about most of it. This could very well be a simple reminder, just as well as it could be a reminder that’s also getting measured. But have you noticed that we got a number of notifications we didn’t use to get in the past 2 years? -the buyer is waiting on an update -you have 12 hours to deliver -the buyer is new to fiverr -this is a VID buyer -this is a business buyer -check the requirements -this is a Fiverr’s choice order Maybe this is Fiverr being as transparent as they can be with us: “You need to provide a great service, here’s what we need for you to do.” Yes, I have noticed. Your original post makes perfect sense. Thank you. This thread is a perfect example of why the Fiverr forum can be so useful.

@donnovan86 thank you for sharing. That actually does not disprove the existence of that marker. Like I said my observations may be wrong. I may be wrong about how important that is, or I may have stumbled upon only a fraction of the equation. If you regularly deliver within the “last 12 hours”, and you are doing just fine, then that means that this metric’s weight is not as important, or that other things are also factored in, like the average duration of your orders, how many orders you have at one time, how many out of those are under revision, and so on. It’s definitely a lot more complicated than my initial post may have implied. I just wanted to hint at the existence of those metrics, I have no way of knowing the exact formula or how they tie in with everything else. I follow my own advice and I do get orders. But this post wasn’t made to be used as a “guide” to “get orders”. I get it and, just in case it wasn’t clear in my post, I thank you for opening my eyes. With hundreds of thousands of sellers in some niches, Fiverr clearly needs a way to differentiate between sellers. But the system needs to be transparent, and that’s why I’m troubled by this! Maybe it was my interpretation that the ‘12 hour reminder’ was just that - a reminder. Anyway! As I said, great post and it’s given me food for thought.

Hey @english_voice ! Well this is just me making this assumption. I could be wrong, but hear me out: If Fiverr wants to track efficiency, and one of the platform’s main pain points is sellers missing deadlines, then this automated notification could be used as a metric. It tells the system the percentage of orders you complete by “cutting it close”. The machine isn’t that bright, so it can’t really tell if that’s OK or if your buyer didn’t get back to you on time on X, etc. But it can see that out of 20 orders, 12 of them were down to the wire. So this may tell the system that you are not that efficient, or that you are too busy at the moment. Or that maybe your gig is not optimized as you should add a day to your delivery window. Feel free to take this with a grain if salt. Right now I am not getting as many messages or orders as before because I had 3 Pro orders, each one taking 15 days to complete plus some of my regular gig orders were delivered within that “last 12 hours” window. So my belief is that it does count, not sure what the exact weight of this metric is. It’s definitely not as weighted as you missing the delivery of course. Thanks for taking the time to explain your thinking - it makes sense. Based on your theory, there are two types of on time delivery - one that won’t affect seller accounts, and another that will adversely affect seller accounts. I’m now going to rethink how I handle deadlines. As I mentioned, I haven’t had a late delivery in four or five years - because I thought I was being efficient with pencilling in work and clearly communicating to buyers when they can expect their delivery. However, it would appear my ‘efficiency’ might have been harming my account - despite delivering on time for 1,000+ days over several hundred orders. The term ‘down to the wire’ is an interesting one. Let’s take a 24 hour service for example. Although I don’t advertise a 24 hour service, I do sometimes offer my trusted clients such a service for quick jobs. In this case is delivering after 12 hours and one second making the delivery ‘down to the wire’? I would say not. It’s basically half way through the buyer / seller agreed delivery time. Also, in my opinion, successful and efficient freelance sellers ‘diary in’ work for completion. I’ve always thought ‘buyer beware’ if a seller is available for work immediately! Successful sellers tend to have one or two jobs on the go already. A good seller will communicate this to their buyer. Something like: “Thanks for your order. I am working on completing a job for a client this afternoon. I will be able to start work on your order in the morning and deliver by mid afternoon” - for example. If your theory is correct (and it makes sense), then it’s unjust that Fiverr punishes sellers for simply delivering on time (albeit within the final 12 hours). If the ‘12 hours’ message is not just a friendly reminder but in fact a warning (and one that will adversely affect seller accounts), then Fiverr needs to be upfront and communicate this. For all the above reasons - on time delivery and clear communication - I consider myself to be a good seller. But if Fiverr is artificially limiting my account and ability to attract new orders by taking into account the ‘12 hours’ message - then I need to know about it. I’ll adjust my business accordingly. This is one of those really frustrating (and harmful) aspects of Fiverr. And yes, I note that yours is a theory. But it’s a very rational and well argued theory!

I had never stopped to think that this could be a metric - and a negative one at that. I can’t recall when I last delivered an order late, but it will be several years ago. However, I have had plenty of these ‘12 hours’ reminders - because I diary in my work and tell clients when they can expect their finished job. I’ll often receive the ‘12 hours’ notification overnight knowing that that client’s job is pencilled in for first thing in the morning. All this time should I have been treating these ‘reminders’ as warnings, and therefore ensuring that I don’t deliver orders in the final 12 hours? PS. Very informative post. Thank you.

I’ve written about this before, so apologies to the regulars - but it might be useful to hear. Whenever I’ve used Out of Office mode (usually a couple of times a year), I’ve found it can take two or three weeks each time for my account to start to recover in terms of volume of orders and messages. But recover it does. However, the peace of mind that comes with OoO is that it is like shutting the front door behind you. People can’t hassle you and expect replies. I have also paused gigs in the past, and in my opinion the effect of pausing gigs is a little more unpredictable. I’ve had gigs spring back into life the moment I’ve un-paused them and I’ve also had once successful gigs (100+ orders) never do anything again. However, pausing gigs won’t stop existing and previous clients from messaging you. A half way house would be to extend your delivery times, this way your gigs stay in the search but buyers will hopefully be put off ordering because you’re stating 20 days for a one hour service for example. However, you will still need to service your account by responding to messages etc. In other words it doesn’t allow you to switch off from Fiverr. I wish you a speedy recovery. If you’re likely to be out of action for a few days, then consider extending delivery times - if you’re likely to be out of action for a couple of weeks or more then I personally would opt to use OoO mode.

Although I understand the valid points made by @vickiespencer and @vibronx (two forum users I respect the views of), I don’t like the concept of private reviews. It allows for the possibility of double-standards - either maliciously or through individuals not having the guts to publicly say what they are thinking. Either way, it’s not good. I’ll openly declare that some of my favourite forum threads are from sellers who are moaning about receiving a 4.7 star review from a buyer. Usually the accompanying review is something like “The buyer did an okay job but their communication was poor and I had to explain myself several times to be understood. I won’t use them again because of this.” What a lovely honest review! The buyer did an okay job but their communication was poor. That’s all Fiverr, the seller and future buyers need to know. Why the need for secrecy and private reviews? If people don’t have the balls to say what they think (so long as it is an honestly held view) then they shouldn’t leave a review at all.

I’m genuinely trying to be helpful. A prospective client will also look at the wording. It’s like buying a new car with scratches and dents and saying but it still drives. Anyway, I wish you the best.

Your sample image, the one you are using to advertise your services to potential customers, contains at least three spelling and grammar errors. Why would someone trust you with their social media posts? It shows a lack of attention to detail.

I get a bit defensive about my use of Apple products! I genuinely enjoy the user experience and interface of macOS (and the associated software) - but unlike some pretentious protagonists, I’m definitely a low-end Apple user. My 10 year old MacBook Pro still does everything I want it to.

Several experienced sellers have shared their views - but you don’t like what you read. Regardless of whether the buyer read your description or not, you chose to invest several days of your time on a service that did not match the gig description. That’s why I suggested you should have cancelled from the very start. Recognise the warning signs of a bad buyer. If a buyer can’t even order the correct service, then I wouldn’t even bother trying to work with them. As I said, it was only ever likely to end in tears. You can’t only blame the buyer here.

I think you and some of the other posters are missing a key point here. You spent several days working on an order for a service that you don’t even offer. In your own words ‘I make layout design, not development’ and ‘I spend days working on the project’. This was only ever likely to end in tears. I don’t say this to be horrible, but in my opinion you were just as much at fault as the buyer. In my opinion, what you should have done is cancelled the order the moment you received it. This way you would still take the hit of having a cancelled order, but you wouldn’t have wasted several days of your time. You say it’s ‘not my fault’ - but it partly is.

Safari is not only for rich people! I use a 2011 MacBack Pro. Current value, about $175. I use the free Apple office applications - Pages, Numbers and Keynote. If ever I need to ensure 100% compatibility, then I use the free Microsoft Office online applications - but this is rare. Maybe for about 1 in every 50 jobs. I much prefer the clean look of macOS and the rugged feel of the MacBook. Plus the native applications have a very clean and uncluttered look which I find helps with my productivity. When you rely on a computer day in day out for your work, you’ve got to feel comfortable with it - I just don’t like Windows. The interface is too cluttered for me.

I use Chrome and Safari. Both work fine for me.

Your buyer chose you for their job - they must therefore have liked your style. Your client gets you to do double the original amount of work that they paid for. Then after getting you to do twice as much work - they want half their money back? And you call them “amazing”? Totally ridiculous. The buyer has to accept some responsibility here. They should have carried out due diligence to make sure you were the right seller to work with. They should have ordered two or three sample images to start with - not 24, which then turned into 48. Your buyer is not “amazing” - they are awful. Why are you letting them walk all over you?

I’m waiting for someone to non-ironically suggest that you need to advertise your gigs on social media…

You have my sympathy. Based on what you’ve presented in the forum, your story makes me upset and annoyed on your behalf. Like you, I would be gutted to have had the order cancelled as it represents so much work - particularly as it was a creative and bespoke service. I’ve said this a few times in the forum, because of the liberal way in which orders appear to be cancelled (as reported by a number of sellers in the forum), I would never consider offering a service on Fiverr that would take me any longer than a couple of hours to complete. There was one chap three or so days ago saying how an order had been cancelled that represented a month’s worth of work. If Fiverr are to allow orders to span such a lengthy period of time, there really does need to be better policing of the dispute process. I’m sure there are many cases where buyers genuinely feel aggrieved, but there are also cases where buyers unjustly receive their money back. Disgusting.

I just want to say well done - well deserved!

I have published, paused and deleted a few different gigs over the years. Two of my gigs have really taken off and attracted hundreds of orders, although I stopped selling one of them a few years back due to workload. I think it’s important to experiment and publish new gigs.

Then be prepared to receive a warning or have your account suspended.

This month is only 1 day old! Give it a chance!