english_voice

You’ve got some amazing sales figurers and excellent feedback. I’m not sure that you need to ‘grow up’ - you’re already very successful. However, all your gigs are $5. Why don’t you try changing one or two of them to $10 and see what happens?

Your post is of course super helpful and well intended. However there is a large part of me that thinks sellers should sink or swim based on their abilities to communicate in English. If they can’t understand how to use upper and lowercase letters (the basics), then to be honest they’re probably not the sort of people I’d want to do business with. Even a basic data entry job requires an understanding of upper and lowercase letters. Likewise, while I used to quite enjoy helping people improve their profile and gigs via the forums, I now think it’s actually very unfair on buyers to do so - as it’s misrepresenting a seller’s true abilities. If someone buys a big based on a polished profile and gig description, but then receives utter nonsense in return with their order - then it’s not fair.

It is difference of opinion, and I think we both accept that. I suspect that neither of us will lose any sleep over it! The great thing about sharing experience on these forums (and I’m including you and a lot of the other forum regulars) is that we can pick and choose the words of wisdom to fit our own business model.

Put it this way, a response to a negative review is far more about making yourself look fair and reasonable to future potential buyers - and far less about responding to what that one individual buyer actually said about you. In other words, treat this as an opportunity to say to others reading the review in future “Look, I’m a decent person”. It’s an advertising and PR opportunity for you. Don’t blow it by sounding off and finger pointing at the buyer. That approach is emotional led, and not business led.

I’m simply offering my point of view. When responding to negative reviews, many people respond emotionally (which is understandable as their work has been criticised) and in forensic detail (because they want to communicate their side of the story). However, someone else (a potential new client) reading the response in future won’t understand the context. But they will understand the ‘fighting talk’ and can interpret that as someone who is a pain to do business with. That is why, in my opinion, it is best to respond with very neutral language along the lines of “Sorry it didn’t work out on this occasion. If you have another project in future, then let’s talk, etc”. Imagine you run a coffee shop and a customer has left bad feedback online about a stale cake. Do you 1) defend yourself saying something like “our cakes are never stale, how dare you accuse my business of this, and never walk through my door again”. Or 2) do you say something like “I’m really sorry this was your experience. On investigating your complaint, I have found out a new member of staff didn’t understand that cakes should only be on display for one day. I have spoken to them. Please comeback anytime in the next month and ask for me personally, and I will be happy offer you a free coffee and cake by way of an apology”. Scenario 1 makes you look like a monster. Who would want to eat and drink in your coffee shop?! Scenario 2 makes you look like a very welcoming, caring business owner. It’s all public relations.

I can’t agree! Sorry! That demonstrates that the seller is prepared to repeatedly do work that is outside of the scope of the original agreement. That should never be the case.

When phrasing a response to a negative review that’s going to be publicly viewable on your profile for ever more, always bear in mind how it will read to any future potential buyers who are reviewing your feedback. Ask yourself what’s best?.. a response where you are publicly blaming the bad buyer and pointing the finger at them and coming across as a bit annoyed and maybe even a bit feisty.Or… a response where you simply say “I’m sorry it didn’t work out. Should you have another design requirement in future then let’s chat as it would be good to make you happy”.Of course, you’re never going to work with this buyer again because you’re going to block them! You are, aren’t you? But it’s your public image you need to protect. For my money option 2 makes you look responsive, reasonable, and a really nice person to work with. For what it’s worth I would advise against posting the phrase “if you had given me more information in the beginning” because that will come back to bite you on the backside. It’s your job as the seller to ensure you have sufficient information to begin with.

Bad advice. Responding to negative reviews is crucial to maintaining reputation and minimising damage to a business. The op is completely correct to seek advice on how to respond if she is unsure. If such a response is well written, future potential buyers will be able to see both sides of the argument, and then make an informed decision about whether to work with the seller.

I’m with you on this one. I wrote a similar post a couple of months ago. I’m also based in the UK and lost 9% on transfer fees. I withdrew over $2,000. I didn’t do full research, and like you I figured I would lose 3-4% based on a quick Google. I’ll be honest and say I couldn’t find a satisfactory explanation, it appears very complex! As @erik_keresztes has suggested, I’d already decided that next time I will withdraw a smaller amount to my bank account and see how that goes. I also need to look into Transferwise as some people have suggested that previously - no idea if I can use that with Fiverr though. The experience changed how I look at taking on and pricing jobs through Fiverr. As a rough rule of thumb, when pricing a job, I simply halve the proposed $ amount for the job to get my £ profit after all fees / taxes, etc. This simple method gives me a realistic feel for whether a job is worth taking on. Quick example $100 job >>> Fiverr take $20 leaving $80 >>> I lose 9% in fees (lets say 10% for ease of maths) >>> leaving me $72 that then becomes £58 after currency exchange >>> then another 20% (approx) in tax and insurance leaving me with £46. I’ve also started being far stricter with enforcing my gig pricing. For example, previously if someone wanted 9,249 words proofread, I would have said let’s call 9,000 and I’ll charge $90. Now I treat those 249 words as an extra gig, so the client pays $100 as per the gig description. Just another really quick thought, not that I ever would explain the above to a client, but sometimes I really do want to! Most buyers have no idea about the amount of money we have to pay out it in fees / taxes as genuine UK based freelancers.

I don’t have the answer, but you shouldn’t really be identifying other Fiverr members in these forums. I know you are not alleging anything bad against them, but you might want to edit the image to remove their name.

If you look at most successful longterm sellers on Fiverr, they tend to focus on one service - in my case proofreading. I offer one gig but buyers can purchase multiples of 1,000 words. For example, a buyer could order just 1,000 words or 2,000 or 6,000 words, etc. However, in order to find the gig that really sells for you, most sellers in their early months on Fiverr do experiment with offering different services. But I would urge caution about setting up too many differences gigs, as potential buyers won’t understand what your core skill is. For example are you a data entry worker, a writer, a virtual assistant, a PhotoShop expert, etc?

Fiverr evaluates your performance once every month to determine your seller level. Fiverr looks at what percentage of messages you respond to, what percentage of orders you successfully complete, what percentage of orders you complete on time, and your feedback rating. From memory Fiverr averages the data from the past 60 days. For example, I’m a level 2 seller, and I have to maintain a 90% or higher rating for responding to messages, order completion and order completion on time, as well as an average feedback score of 4.7 or higher out of 5.0.

Thanks for your supportive comments. I ended up contacting customer support and although they’ve not confirmed that they amended my completion rate, I’ve noticed that it is back to 100% - so something has happened. I’m sort of happy about this, but it doesn’t change the basic fact that one buyer should not be able to adversely affect a seller’s rating / ranking / order rate so much. On Fiverr, the scales of justice are very much tipped in the buyer’s favour and not the sellers. This is so wrong. In my case, I have 100% positive feedback from hundreds of sales over six years. Then one buyer comes along, presents me with an impossible task - and I’m left with no choice but to cancel the order, and then I suffer the consequences with a massive drop in orders and reputation, while the buyer who caused the problem walks away. This aspect of Fiverr is wrong and I know others feel the same way.

Hello. I have been selling proofreading services on Fiverr for nearly six years, I usually receive one or two orders a day, and I have maintained 100% positive feedback. However, a recent experience has resulted in my order completion rate dropping from 100% to 98%. But more importantly I haven’t received any new orders since. This in no coincidence. However, I can’t find a way to contact Fiverr support to address this issue. This is what happened: A new client ordered my proofreading service but their document made no sense in English. There was no point in me attempting to work on it as I couldn’t understand any of the sentences. The order was cancelled by mutual consent - but now I’m left with bad stats and no new orders through something that isn’t my fault. The client set me an impossible task, and I am now being punished with no work and loss of income. I would like to resolve this with Fiverr, but how? Any suggestions please?