katakatica

If what I perceive as Fiverr CS sends me a message like this (as a newbie or someone who's not THAT tech savvy), how am I to know that they are leading me 'outside' Fiverr? I'm not saying people should fall for this (it's a pretty common scam, seems new here but I've seen it on many sites), but these people are literally CLAIMING to be CS, have a Fiverr profile picture (and recreate the site so it looks like Fiverr.) Is there a way for maybe an email or notification to go out for people to keep a close eye out for these spam messages? That way everyone would know and people would stop (hopefully) posting screenshots/etc. In this particular case, I genuinely think spreading the word is the right way to go because this scam is pretty scary.

I want to highlight this advice because depending on how it's done, it CAN be great... or dangerous. If we're talking about projects in general (so not necessarily on Fiverr) or projects that we are explicitly allowed to share, it's all good. BUT when it comes to projects strictly via Fiverr (especially in the case of wanting to do behind-the-scenes infos/etc.) aren't we technically forbidden to disclose information about what we've done (unless the buyer permits us?) From what I remember in the TOS, Fiverr is quite strict about anonymity and keeping our clients' work (even what we have done for them) safe. If I were to post a puzzle I've made for a new escape room (or something) on my social media, wouldn't that be quite risky? What if the room isn't out yet? What if the 'before and after' I shared allows others to steal the idea that doesn't even belong to me (anymore)? Of course, again, this depends on what you're sharing and how, but I think it's important to think about whether our buyers would want us to share their things (or not.) I know I'm quite paranoid, but I wouldn't be happy if someone shared what they've made for me (on Fiverr or somewhere else) without my permission. It depends on the project of course, but still...

An update: The second agent will reach out to the buyer. Still no answer if it's explicitly forbidden or not, but there's that at least. I'm honestly exhausted by this already today and it's not even noon 😀 (I'm very concerned why two agents, two hours from each other's message are saying such vastly different things... my SM is away as well so they can't help either (likely).

Exactly my point! I honestly feel like I can't win at this point (the buyer is already annoyed by the outdated way some things are handled, which again, makes sense), but on the other hand, if I comply with them DESPITE what CS (well, someone from CS says) I'm risking everything else. Sigh.

So.. Sometimes, we all need some guidance, right? OR, we need guidance for our buyers in one way or another. That's fine, right? Would it really REALLY be too much to expect consistent answers from two different agents (on the same day?) Here's what happened (I'll leave out any details that might identify the buyer (or me... wait.) or the agent, of course. So, long story short, we are working on a huge project and the buyer wanted to work on it in a specific setting. I've double-checked that with my Success Manager and CS before and was always told NOT to use it. So, I went to the buyer, told them and said 'but you can check with CS as well'. Buyer, surprisingly got the OK (with some caveats.) I told them that I'd double-check just in case (which I'm sure didn't feel nice, I'd feel a bit off about it as well.) The SAME CS agent gave me the green light. Naturally, I told the buyer that I was given the okay, only for another CS agent to advise me against it (and 'correcting' the previous agent, to use their words.) Now, here is the issue I'm facing now: CS told the buyer it was FINE. I also said so (after CS told me it was fine)... How am I supposed to say 'oh, actually-' now? Fiverr, please. We've talked about consistency before. This isn't it. (please note: I'm not looking for advice here necessarily, I'm handling it with CS okay, I just wanted to rant. Also, my apologies about the choppy style this is written in. It's a rant, not literature :D)

From where I'm from, the winter is the same - October-March we have darkness (not total, but often from around 2PM to 8/9AM the next day. In the summer, the weather here is usually quite mild. So for me, I'll be going out a lot more than before and soaking in what little sun we get!

I know... I know, it's been a while. I think I can speak for a lot of us that things have been, well, a bit rough. But... the sun is starting to shine more (it's a whopping 4 degrees Celsius outside!) and the days ARE longer so I felt like it's time to check in with everyone! As always, let's start with me! My summer is going to be filled with some really fun/interesting things that I won't quite spoil yet, but if you like cosy fantasy (and puzzles) maaayybe you might get to read something fun. Sometime this year. Maybe. Oh, and of course: What's the 1 thing you're proud of this spring so far?

I've been asked to help before, only for it to never happen. It was right before AI, so it could be due to that..(or my internal stats, who knows.) I'd still love to help organise something though (I feel like many of us here would!) AI CAN be a useful tool, but I think there'll be a time when more and more people start to seek human-made content out. Even now, many do because AI is still easily detectable (and just not 100% original.)

But if you spend a 'considerable' amount of money (e.g anything over 50USD can be a lot to many people) wouldn't you WANT to see what's going on? I feel like I would log on at least once a day to make sure that everything is okay? I've tried asking for extensions but those don't always seem to go through either. I always write something like 'I'm finished with x but I need you to take a look...' I haven't had many replies to those either... The one issue I have is that I seem to be the one who's punished for this. I'm dinged a lot for 'effective communication' but I literally chase after buyers like crazy sometimes... (Maybe it's ineffective because they don't reply? :P)

I've noticed this a lot more than before as well! I try to keep the drafts/etc. to the order page (and some messages about them in the inbox) and honestly, 3/5 people don't write back for the longest time (the record was 12 days recently?) The issue I'm facing is that I NEED their approval on plot ideas/etc. sometimes - or they even TELL me to update them... My theory is that there's been something funky going on with notifications/etc. It's either that or people are especially busy this spring? I've had deliveries go completely unseen for days only for the buyers to ask for more time literally last minute a lot lately as well.

Fiverr's communication HAS been pretty meh for the past year or so. Not sure if you remember that time everyone (seemingly) got the message that their performance has dipped below standards... OR even just recently when the APP could have absolutely had a pop-up of 'hey, we are changing the system now so if you don't update in x hours, you won't see your ranking anymore'. I wouldn't be surprised if whoever is in charge just does not realize how serious these oversights these can be. If you've only sold, say, max 10 things on the site, you might not (yet) get the stress of 'is this a bug or am I screwed???? That being said, this time round I think it's more just... not everyone got the mail because maybe certain mailing lists lack some people...or something.

This is what I'm working on as well. The issue is, I technically often have enough work to be a full-time job, but... it's just not worth it at the expense of my mental (and honestly, physical health...) I was on my own for like, 6-7 months? I genuinely had done very little wrong other than have some cancellations (one truly valid, one just plain weird and one, well... the one I freaked out about above...) I understand that performance matters and that doing your best is important, but there's a limit to what humans can do. I've been trying to formulate this thought for a while now (might post about it one day) but I'm not sure Fiverr knows how to tackle creative projects flexibly. There's so much that can go wrong even just when two people have different opinions in what they want, and uh, people aren't very good at knowing what they want either? From what I've seen as a buyer, it's similarly 'empty' as well. NEO is shiny and all but if something goes wrong, AI might not be able to help efficiently (and support, while they side with buyers mostly, don't seem to understand what's going on half the time.) I just wish something changed but.. that seems unlikely at this point.

I've thought about this a lot lately as well. I'm competent enough to ask chatGPT to give me advice on things so why am I paying someone else to use it (or to reformat their thoughts with it? I want human connection, especially when I'm frustrated or just genuinely curious and need help. There was also a post lately clarifying what SMs do (which feels less now than before) so part of me feels a bit like the service is declining but we are paying more. I understand the need for the communication of people working for the same company needing to be uniform (or correct when it comes to English / etc but I'd rather have someone sounding human when replying to me than starting with the "I understand that"- But then again, the articles by Fiverr have been pushing us to use quick responses / setting up automessages as well (like when someone first writes to you.) From their standpoint it looks good? I don't get it. I really don't because I struggle enough with humans already but maybe it seemed to do well initially and they thought that meant it was a good idea?

I honestly don't know who thought all of this was a good idea. Change is FINE (for the most part) but I feel like we are being gaslit into thinking that we're just 'scared of change'. I honestly don't care about what the level badges look like (though they aren't cute enough to be my style :P) but I care about knowing WHY I have orders (or why I don't.) I think the biggest issue is that on paper, gamification seems to work. There are always new sellers joining the site and a lot of us are still sticking around despite it. The whole level system/the way reviews work/etc. looks like it's inspiring sellers to do better... but in reality, it's hurting us. Games are AWESOME (I know I'm partial as a game dev but still) but there are things in life that shouldn't be overtaken by fancy badges and weird metrics.

I've thought a lot about writing this post in the past few months. I'm a sensitive person, after all (and so, my experience might not reflect everyone's.) However, the more things change on here, the more I see that I'm not alone. (warning: some of this might be pretty triggering if you have anxiety so read with that in mind) Almost a year ago, right around my birthday, I had a cancellation that sent me into a breakdown. It wasn't the cute 'sniff-sniff, this is bad' kind of breakdown, but a full-on 'shouting-crying-hating myself for existing' one. I pour my heart and soul into what I do. Writing has been my LIFELINE for close to 15 years now. So, 'naturally', when I faced 3-4 rough orders one after the other (none of them 'affected' me in the end, but I never got the money back, of course), I broke. I've been asked a lot since then (and even before) why I don't just run my own site and just pay for ads. My answer has always been 'well, Fiverr is my safety net. If something goes wrong, they'll help...' But.. they don't. They didn't help when the buyer said 'I needed to lie to her that I like the product' or 'the product might have been good if she didn't delay it (meanwhile they were late answering to me several times. I was 1-2 days 'late' after the order's scope was doubled (it was supposed to be a sample) a few days before the deadline because they wanted something else. Anyway, I don't hold the buyer at fault anymore because I was (am) the pushover. I should have been firmer (and tried to communicate better.) For all I know, they genuinely didn't know what they wanted and that's okay.. (to some extent.) But I still broke down then. And then in September, too, because someone purchased something that they didn't actually want and got mad because they didn't understand how paying per word count works... Fiverr CS, as always, said 'ah, we're sorry, we'll make sure those orders don't affect you'... but they do (and they probably always have.) You might be wondering where I'm going with this, but... Fiverr keeps saying that they understand that mental health matters. That we are important... and then they allow 2-3 cancellations to WRECK accounts for 6-7 months. Fiverr doesn't seem to understand that we're all humans: both us and our customers are. This means that if someone is in a bad mood (or they are just a cranky person) they can easily RUIN a seller. Heck, they can ruin us on PURPOSE. I'm reaching a point where Fiverr being my safety net just isn't justified at this point because it's NOT. There's no steady stream of orders if you mess up once, there's no support if things go poorly... Heck, it took CS and my SM nearly a month of constant back-and-forth and waiting to tell me (for the 5th time) to go to my tax advisor with my valid TIN because it's invalid. (it's not. My tax advisor gave it to me...) I'm not leaving (yet) but I'm not sure what the future holds for me on here... (my rant is over now.) tldr.: I'm not sure I feel safe on Fiverr anymore.