smashradio

Recently, I received a curt request from a user. Despite their lack of courtesy, I asked for more information. The adventure before me was setting my spine tingling, hairs on end. Thunder growled in the distance, prophesying an approaching storm. Suddenly, another behemoth order thundered in, casting a shadow over the rudeness of the first. Tales of this ill-mannered user, their inappropriate demands, and their unsettling reputation echoed through the halls of past sellers. The foul fusion of a Demandogorgon, Scopoflayer, and Toxic Spider Monster seemed to be unfolding from the Up-Side-Down. Read all about them here. With a pure heart and the utmost politeness, I apprised the buyer of the unposponable project. The response? A vile tirade accusing me of wasting their time. The Demscospidermon was expeditiously blocked, their inexcusable conduct echoing into the void. The saga ends thus, whispering its wisdom: Heed your intuition, scrutinize the historic records of anyone crossing your path. It's a shield against a storm of anguish. In short: Trust your gut feeling. Vet your buyers. If you feel like something's up, take a step back and re-consider.

Hey there, You should always make sure you're on the same page before an order starts, and work with your potential buyers to map out their needs and expectations beforehand. That way, you can avoid misunderstandings and buyers leaving you hanging. Do you charge for these changes/revisions? If not, you should. This is unfortunate, as you delivering material you/the buyer don't have the right to is a violation of the terms here on Fiverr. Try explaining the legal repercussions to the buyer. Hopefully, they'll prefer to avoid legal trouble at a later date just as much as you would like to avoid getting banned. I know how you feel. Here's a post I wrote about different types of nightmare buyers, and how to avoid them: Your buyer sounds like they qualify for the Scopoflayer level. My advice is to end the discussion with a price tag. If you've exceeded the initial number of revisions agreed upon, make sure the client has to pay a fair rate for any work you do from here on out. That usually leads to one of three outcomes: The buyer will realize that they can't take advantage of you, and pay you, or.. The buyer will accept the delivery as is The buyer will accept the delivery but leave a negative review. if so, I recommend you read the following thread from beginning to end:

And it's funny... Most sellers suffering from feedbackophobia seem to treat Fiverr as a side hustle (based on their gig quality and profiles) yet they have this irrational fear of a negative review. To be clear: I'm not talking about the OP, as I haven't checked out their profile.

Indeed. I've had a single (one, uno, eins) bad review (out of more than 1000 reviews) because I refused to work for free. It didn't ruin me. Giving in to bullies on the other hand, would have taken me out of business a long time ago.

100% agree. Sellers are on here every day complaining about buyers demanding free work. But in the end, you're the one doing the work. You can choose to charge for it, or you can choose to let the buyer push you around. It's up to you.

Unfortunately, the buyer can technically ask for as many revisions as they want. This has always been a problem on Fiverr, and one that should be fixed. So far, our requests for this have been ignored, and I suspect they will continue to be ignored. The best you can do is to manage expectations before the order begins, make it very clear that you charge for any and all tweaks, and that your policy in regards to this is non-negotiable. Remember, it's up to you, not them. If the deal is 10 bucks per revision, you should simply send a custom extra for 10 bucks and explain why. Whenever a buyer asks me for a revision beyond the included ones, I use my quick response + custom order extra feature: "Hi, {username} - or first name if you have it. I hope you're doing well. Thank you for your feedback! Your attention to detail is much appreciated, and I'm eager to get started on your revision request. However, it exceeds the scope of our initial order. Each order comes with one free revision as standard. This is your (insert revision request number) revision. I'm more than happy to fulfill your requests, but please note that additional charges apply. You can purchase the additional revision from this message. Once done, I'll promptly get started. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions. All the best, Leo" By the way, here's my quick response if the buyer is asking for work outside of the scope of your original order that would not be considered a revision, just in case it's useful to other sellers who offer free revisions: "Hi, {username} - or first name if you have it. I hope you're doing well. I've received your request for X. It appears the tasks proposed go beyond the initial scope of this order. I absolutely understand your need for X, and I'd be happy to help! However, considering the added time, effort and resources involved, this cannot be considered a revision, but a change in scope. Please check out the extra in this message. Once processed, I'll promptly get started. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions. All the best, Leo"

Hey! If your original delivery was before the deadline, it will still count as an on-time delivery. Don't worry about it showing up as late, as long as you delivered the first round in time. What kind of changes is the buyer asking for? Could it be considered additional work or changes to the work you've already done? If the buyer asks for more work than what was initially described in your gig description or custom offer, you can (and should) charge extra. If you decide to stand your ground and charge for it, I recommend politely explaining to the buyer that a revision is meant to be small changes, not a change in the scope of the order. Example: A buyer orders a website. You design it, and they're happy with it but ask you to make the font slightly bigger. That could be considered a small change. On the other hand, if the buyer asks you to design four new pages with content beyond what you already agreed upon, that's not a revision: that's a change in the scope of your order. In that case, you should charge for it. And never offer unlimited revisions. Why would you want to work for free? I think offering one or two free revisions with every order is fine, but unlimited? You could be working with this buyer until 2030, and they can still keep asking for little changes. Not a position you want to be in. It's hard to give you better advice without knowing more about the project and what the buyer is asking for, but I hope this helps.

Fiverr should have sent you an email explaining the reason for rejecting your account. It’s probably because you failed to meet Fiverr's quality standards. Fiverr doesn’t tolerate low-quality gigs, or copied, unoriginal, misleading, or stolen content.

To stay on level 2, you must maintain a 4.7-star rating over 60 days. So it depends on how many other orders you've had and their rating. If you drop down to level one, you can still work your way back up to level two in a month or two, and the process is automatic. Dropping a level while on level 2 isn't the end of the world. Your profile won't be visibly changed by it, and you can still work with new and old buyers just like before. It's worse if you become a TRS and lose your level because you might never get that TRS badge back. If your buyers also left negative private reviews, you will feel it, but it's nothing you can't bounce back from, especially if you have regular buyers. But take it as a learning experience. Analyze what went wrong and how you can avoid it in the future. Danke! 😀

Don't be sad! As long as you display a willingness to learn the basics and do some research before asking questions, you'll be fine! We're a nice bunch, really, but the forum tends to be a place where lots of stupid questions are posted by people who ignore us when we bother to answer. If you're lost and need help, don't hesitate to ask! I just posted a basic guide on how to navigate the Fiverr levels. It explains more about what you can expect when you get started and what you should focus on, in case that's interesting to you. 🙂

A frequently asked question on the forum is how to become a Top Rated Seller. Another is why am I hitting a slump after being promoted – shouldn’t that lead to more orders, not less? And, of course, the ever-popular “how to rank my gig”? So I thought I would combine them with a few explanations of the different Fiverr levels, how they work, and how you can rise the ranks. I won’t focus much on the technical aspects of seller levels since they’re already covered here. Instead, I’ll look into what you should be focusing on when hitting the different levels and when you’re getting started. Remember, this is based on my experience. Your mileage may vary. Most of the subjects I’m covering here have been covered extensively in other forum posts. Search the forum and read all you can, but only take advice from seasoned sellers with a proven track record and success on Fiverr. Let’s get going. First, a glossary: Buyer satisfaction rate: A measure of how well you’re performing on Fiverr based on your performance. It’s calculated based on several factors, with private feedback given by your buyers being one of the most important ones. Others include public ratings, response rate, order completion rate, and on-time delivery. A higher satisfaction rate = more business coming your way and is even required to reach the Top Rated Seller level. Private feedback: Buyers can leave a public rating and private feedback for each order they complete on Fiverr. The public rating is visible to everyone, while the private feedback is only seen by Fiverr’s team. Getting negative feedback is one of the most common reasons sellers end up in a slump. New Seller/Unleveled Seller Fresh meat for the grinder, eh? Welcome! As a brand-new seller, you have a few advantages. Your profile is like a blank canvas. If you want Fiverr to give you a place in the spotlight (i.e., search results), you need to do things right the first time. New Sellers can often experience a “boost” from Fiverr. Fiverr wants new sellers to succeed so that they’ll stay on the platform and earn. Use that initial boost to your advantage and craft your gigs like works of art. Learn as much as possible about how Fiverr works before you publish your gigs. That way, you gain as much momentum as possible through the gates. Here are some of the things you should focus on as a new seller: Learn how Fiverr works. Make sure you read and understand the terms and community guidelines. Know your skills and limitations. Before you get started, ensure you have the skills to impress your buyers from the get-go. Make a business plan. Aim to offer something unique, and don’t just copy what everyone else is doing. You should also plan for dealings with difficult buyers, strategies to land sales, how you want to handle revisions, and so on. A man with a plan is a man that can. Research your competition. Learn what they’re doing and why it works for them. Use it as inspiration. Again, you need to offer something unique. Build your profile. Add relevant skills, certifications, a professional profile picture, a tagline, etc. Profile completeness will help you appear more professional. Be honest! I can’t stress this enough. Far too many new (and even seasoned sellers) are downright lying on their profiles, claiming to be fluent English speakers, being experts despite not knowing more than the basics, or claiming to have experience, diplomas, and education that they don’t. It doesn’t work. People will see right through you. Do. Not. Lie. Make your gig. Write an excellent gig description and title. Ensure it doesn’t contain typos and proofread it “to death” before saving it. Your gig title needs to be professional and engaging. The same goes for your gig thumbnails. Bonus tip: gig videos, if professionally made, can increase your chances of success. Consider your pricing. As a new seller, you most likely want to be more affordable than the top sellers in your niche but not so cheap that you come across as unprofessional. Fiverr prefers higher-priced gigs. Be prepared for failure. This is the hard truth. Not everyone can win at the business game; even winners can fail multiple times before they make it. Being a New Seller is a lot like a first date. First impressions matter, so make it count. Level One Seller Congratulations! You made it to second base. Expectations rise, and so should your pricing and service quality. Buyers will expect more bang for their buck. Many sellers experience a slump in their orders at this point. I have a theory about why this happens. Remember, it’s a theory. I believe Fiverr pools sellers by level to create a nice blend of new and more experienced sellers at different price points. Fiverr then serves this “blend” up based on various factors when a buyer searches for a service. These include: Buyer satisfaction rate Reviews Relevancy Buyer purchase history (most likely) My theory goes like this: Whenever you’re promoted, you’re not competing as much with sellers of other levels as on your level. You might find yourself beaten by the new and more experienced competition. People expect more from level 1 sellers, and Fiverr knows it. You should be focusing on: Enhancing your gigs. As expectations grow and the competition tightens, you need to stand out from the crowd. Keep learning and improving. Up-sell! Consider all the requests you’ve received thus far from buyers, and use the ideas to include new gig extras. Use your competition for inspiration, and look for ways to maximize your revenue. Becoming an expert communicator. If English is not your first language, work on that. If customer support is your weak side, work on that. Great communication is key because it will help you deal with difficult buyers, land more sales, and to avoid misunderstandings. Managing your time. More orders may start coming in, and you’ll need to be prepared. Make sure you can deal with the added pressure. Stay on your toes. By this point, you hopefully have some regular buyers returning for more. It’s easy to get too comfortable with regulars you’ve been working with for a while. Don’t. Stay on your toes, and keep up the excellent work. Those regular buyers are the ones who will get you through future order slumps and dropping stats if/when they occur. Consider making more gigs. If you have more than one skill or service to offer (and make sure it’s something you’re good at!), now is the time to consider making another gig. It can increase your visibility and revenue. Consider your pricing (again). As your skills develop and you start getting more and more regular buyers, it’s time to consider increasing your prices. Just ensure you do it gradually and that the value of what you can deliver increases proportionately. A few regulars might leave you now. That’s ok. New buyers with higher budgets will come along if you do things right. Never stop learning. As you grow your profile, never stop learning! Stay on top of changes happening on Fiverr, terms, conditions, and trends. Level Two Seller You've got orders under your belt. Don’t let it go to your head. Remember the first date? This might feel like you’re right back at that table. New buyers are expecting more from you now, and your competition is fierce. As with the promotion from New Seller to Level 1, you might see a temporary sales slump. Consider it a rite of passage. If you stick with it and work with your regular buyers, new ones should be along any minute. You’re swimming with the sharks now. Level 2 sellers can be some of the best sellers on Fiverr, and you need to be one of them to succeed. If you stop swimming, you die, just like the shark. You should be focusing on: Refining your unique selling proposition. Stand out with highly visible, optimized, and engaging gigs. Time to go premium! Start introducing premium packages and gig pricing that cater to buyers with higher budgets. Provide more value and make sure you can justify the higher price. Some sellers choose to stick with a volume strategy, and that’s fine, but if your goal is to work less and earn more, you want to work with the bigger fish. Learn new skills. I make it a point to learn something new every day, with the goal of becoming good at something every year. This year, I’m working on becoming a better video editor. Perhaps I’ll never make a gig for it, but as a voice-over talent and journalist, which can be useful in my line of work. Apply that principle by considering new ways to earn and never stop learning. New skills can be a gold mine in the future. Read the below list as well – it's relevant right off the bat when you become a level 2 seller. Top Rated Seller (so close, but yet so far) You've worked your butt off to get here. You just got nominated for Top Rated Seller status! But here's the hard truth: nothing is guaranteed. This is a manual selection process. Fiverr has a secret recipe, and only the cream of the crop makes the cut. Most sellers will never be awarded this level. Here’s what you need to focus on as a level 2 seller nominated for Top Rated Seller: Be a star! You need to deliver more than high-quality work and exceptional service consistently—under-promise and over-deliver to exceed expectations. Fiverr wants TRS sellers to go above and beyond. If you want to stand a chance, you have to improve. It’s not enough to stay in one place. Work on your portfolio. You want it to reflect the best you can do. If the best you can do isn’t better than most, you’ll likely stay on level 2. Manage expectations. Now, more than ever, it’s essential to manage expectations. Be precise, read everything twice before sending it to a buyer/potential buyer, and make sure the buyer feels confident in you. Be clear about what you will and won’t do, and make sure your gig description, FAQ, and custom offers reflect that. Misunderstandings can ruin your momentum. Don’t drop the ball on this one. If you do, you risk lowering your buyer satisfaction rate instead of increasing it. Increase your rates. Now is the time to increase your rates if you can. Look closely at the best sellers in your category, and make sure you’re not getting paid cents on the dollar compared to them. Top Rated Sellers aren't just selected based on their buyer satisfaction rate and quality but also on their ability to earn money for Fiverr. We do that by making more ourselves. Be a true professional. The communication skills you (hopefully) learned while climbing the levels should have been put to good use long ago. Prove your ability to handle disputes, feedback, and demanding buyers. Getting angry or not displaying a tactful sense of business skills at all times can cost you any chance of being promoted. Learn to meditate. This can take time, and you might never make it. Be prepared to stay on level 2. You’re doing just fine. Don’t focus too much on the levels, and instead, on improving your skills while increasing your revenue. Top Rated Seller This is gonna be a short list. All of the above. On steroids. I hope this gave you a better understanding of how to navigate the levels on Fiverr. Again, this is based on my experience and nothing else. If you made it to the end of my far-too-long post, I'm proud of you. I'm gonna leave you with some words of wisdom from Shia LaBeouf:

Yes, and guess who uses it? People in a hurry. If you're napping while being "online", they'll still expect a rapid response from your snoozing self. Kinda defeats the purpose, wouldn't you say?

You're allowed up to seven gigs as a new seller, yes.

Click on your profile picture in the upper right corner of the website, click on Settings, and then make sure this is set to "GO OFFLINE FOR...". Click Save Changes. Make sure you're not in unavailable mode by going to your Profile, scroll down, and on the left you'll see "Set availability". Make sure that it's not set to Unavailable. I hope this helps!

You say your account has been inactive for seven months. No wonder you're not receiving orders. If you've been inactive for that long, you can't expect Fiverr to promote you to potential buyers when thousands of active sellers are ready to work. Here are some tips that might help: Improve your gigs with new thumbnails, especially on your main gig. It has too much text on it. Increase your rates. Fiverr favors higher-priced gigs these days. Consider creating new gigs to cover more bases and get more exposure, but make sure it's for something you're good at! Bonus tip: Don't lie about your skills. I hope this helps! 🙂

I absolutely agree that it makes it more complicated than it has to be for certain niches. The way of dealing with this is by managing expectations ahead of the order, specifying exactly what you will do (and won't do) in your custom offers, FAQs and gig descriptions, and ensuring your terms are very clear before you start working. It's not bulletproof, but it helps. If/when a buyer decides they want to bully you into working for free, you have your description, custom offer, and FAQ to lean on in case of a dispute. Remember: if someone asks you for personal information outside of an order, don't give it to them. Refer them to the terms on Fiverr and explain politely that you'll need an order first.

The smart solution is to sleep and stop trying to cheat the system. 🙂

This happens every time. One of us takes the time to write something helpful, only to be ignored entirely by the very people who should read it.

Google Drive is not on the list of approved links for gig descriptions, which I tend to go by when deciding if a link is ok elsewhere on Fiverr as well. The list can be found here: Fiverr Help and Education Center As you can see, both wetransfer.com and youtube.com are on the list, meaning you could share your videos via one of them. Remember that if the material contains any personal information (i.e., putting your e-mail or a link to receive payments outside of Fiverr in a video description on Youtube) that would be a direct violation of the terms. I recommend setting up a dedicated Youtube channel, uploading the videos there, and then setting them to unlisted. That way, only the buyers receiving the link can watch the videos. Make sure the Youtube channel doesn't contain any contact information or other personal details anywhere, and you should be good to go. Disclaimer: Always contact support if you're in doubt in any way about what's allowed or not to get an official response. Rules change, and pages can be left without updates for years, so it's always best to be sure!

You can share personal information required to deliver the service on the order page. That means the buyer must have an active order with you first. Only share information that is absolutely necessary to complete the order, and remember that trying to circumvent the messaging or payment system on Fiverr is not allowed.

Thank you! It's meant for the sellers who already have enough traction to worry about their average selling price and not how rank on fiber affects your be always online stat. 🫡 With all that said, your advice should be required reading before you can even click on the "Become a seller" button. I think I wrote something to that effect the other day, specifically about being honest. Unfortunately, it seems that only 0.1% of people on the forum will read anything that could potentially involve them doing real work. Perhaps that's too much to ask. And don't worry about hijacking my thread – if I wanted a one-way conversation, I'd post my own congas. 🤣

If you’re a seasoned seller, you probably know this already, so this one is directed at all of you fairly new sellers out there. After nine years on the platform, I’ve tried and tested all these strategies, so I know they work! Here are some nuggets of wisdom I’ve gathered over the years that can help you earn more from Fiverr without doing much extra work. 1. Faster deliveries, higher earnings Buyers love quick turnaround times. If you’re not charging extra for it, you’re losing out on potential revenue. Just remember to under-promise and over-deliver. Don’t bite off more than you can chew by setting unrealistic delivery times. Aim to deliver before the 12-hour notification goes off. 2. Revisions: Not free, but fair Some buyers appreciate the safety net of added revisions, while others might request them during the order process. This ties in with the above: charge for it. I offer one revision with every order, but anything more comes with a price tag. And in case you missed it, a revision typically means small changes within the scope of the original order. New script? Extra work? You guessed it… Charge for it! Could some of the services you include in your gig be moved to your order extras list? 3. Cross-selling: Your gigs could be a goldmine Do you have one successful gig while the others are collecting dust in the corner of page 18? This is a game-changer to increase sales across your entire gig catalog. If a buyer is interested in one of your gigs, they might also be interested in your other gigs. Add a friendly note at the end of each delivery message, letting your buyer know you offer services X, Y, and Z, and always be on the lookout for new opportunities when you chat with clients. I've seen this strategy transform into regular buyers needing a multitude of services. In fact, one of my highest-grossing gigs to this day got started thanks to this tactic. 4. Pricing: Up your game Still charging the price of a cup of coffee for your gig? Price hikes, inflation, the increased cost of living - it all adds up. A well-planned strategy to increase your rates could be just what you need to boost your earnings. A higher price tag also sets you apart and makes you look more professional. Want to attract premium buyers? Do it with premium pricing (and make sure you’re up for the challenge!). 5. Offer seasonal services Festivities and seasons can bring in a wave of orders if you’re ready for them. Launching new gigs for special occasions like Christmas, New Year, the 4th of July, elections, or Black Friday, might make you the new go-to-seller for buyers searching for specific services. Increasing your earnings is all about identifying opportunities, adding value, and recognizing your worth. I hope this helps!

Beyond just regular gig rotation, one reason could be that you recently got promoted. It makes sense if you think about it: you're competing with other level 1 sellers in the rotation/algorithm game, then suddenly, you're moved to level 2 and have to compete with some of the best-selling people on Fiverr. Many sellers experience a slump after a promotion.

I'm sick and tired of the spam, too. And if it affects our response rate, we have to spend time reaching out to support to fix it, only to get a canned explanation of how the response rate system is supposed to work, meaning we have to respond to that, digging for a proper response from support. Meh.

I don't think a username like that in and of itself is against the guidelines. But if I saw a username like that, I would immediately think "spammer" and that connotation alone could have caused someone to report you. You didn't miss anything, but it might have contributed to your situation, which is why I wanted to mention it specifically. @miiila - great advice!