katakatica

Hi, unfortunately, there is little to do against spam. It's annoying, yes, but after a while, it cools down. At the moment, scammers see you as an easy target. As for spam (e.g. other sellers begging for work/etc.), just mark them as spam as well after a quick 'hey'. They won't disappear, sadly (but they unfortunately come with the site being global and everyone thinking it's easy to earn $ on here. For the vacation bit, I'd wait for a few hours to make sure it's not just a glitch (it could be) and contact support otherwise to see if you're either accidentally doing something wrong (been there done that) or it's a bug. The site isn't perfect, but most 'big' bugs get solved relatively fast (except for some old things that have more features than bugs now.) As for why your currency is changing the USD, I think that's just how the site is programmed - you can view others (and your own prices) in your own currency, AND you can withdraw in your currency as well, but for the most part USD seems to be the most common one on here. You can ask CS if there's a way to change it permanently, but it might be best to get used to it since many clients might ask you about the price in it anyway. Fiverr isn't super easy in the beginning, especially nowadays - you joined at a sort of... busy time, I guess? There are more and more new sellers, which makes competition (and thus spam and scams) kind of worse as well, but if you're good at what you do, you'll likely get used to it! Just give it a chance. Of course, if it doesn't work for you, that's totally fine as well.

I think it's the feature itself (showing how much you'll be earning after the 14 days are up) is 'coming soon'. Up until a while ago, our earnings appeared at the dashboard/etc. right away after an order was completed (even if we needed to wait 14 days for them to clear.) So, for example, if an order was completed on the 10th of Nov, it said 'earnings in November, x amount'. Now it doesn't - it only appears there after it's cleared so I'm guessing that later we'll be able to see the to-be-cleared $ amount there. It doesn't do anything though; if you scroll down, you should still see that your order is clearing and on x day (so the 14th day from the 16th unless you are a Seller Plus member), it'll clear, and you'll have access to it I'm not sure why exactly it's like this now, but I suppose it's easier for some reason. It's thrown me off as well, but from the look of it, all is fine, you just need to wait for a few more days to pass.

Unfortunately, you might be right. But please, hear me out (read this carefully!) It's OK for Fiverr not to be the right fit for you. Fiverr is NOT a 'get rich quick' website. Sure, the prices you might set have different values in different places (so some people in some countries could get 'richer' even though they'd be charging lower), but that doesn't mean that it's for everyone. Freelancing is tough. You need skills that SELL. You know what sucks about that kind of stuff? What worked last year might not work this year. Your category is full of people offering the same thing as you - and hundreds of them never managed to sell a single thing. It's just how life is - someone said that WordPress stuff sold well on Fiverr x years ago, and people still believe in it, but well, honestly? There are just too many sellers providing the same things. The issue isn't (necessarily) in Fiverr and the algorithm. It's very hard to cater to new sellers when there are THOUSANDS of them. Most buyers, yes, will choose people with more reviews or samples because they seem reputable. I understand your frustration, but I think perhaps it's time for you to think about other ways to make money. Learn new skills that sell now instead of blaming the system (THOUGH the system is far from perfect.)

It depends on when you complete the requirements. Evaluation is on the 15th, so it can be a few days but it also can be close to a month (the page explaining the levels explains this as well, give it a read!)

Hey! If I'm being honest, in your case, to me it feels like you're offering something a bit too... specific in a way. Are you an artist? To me, if an artist has a pattern gig, it makes sense. However, if I see someone just with gigs like yours, I get a bit concerned. I've seen people selling AI (etc.) made patterns online on other marketplaces, so that's where MY mind would jump. (Of course, you might create these by hand, but your buyers don't really know that. From what I know, AI is OK, but competition seems tight (and there are some rules for it.)Basically, if I were you, I'd slowly diversify my offerings depending on what people seem to want! It's not easy, but can be helpful when getting started with Freelancing is, well... quite tough due to the competition/etc.

Honest question (still relatively on-topic): is there any way to maybe publish content on debunking these myths site-wide? I know that Seller Plus/(and the forum) has a lot, but I'm not sure the main site just has enough and well, YouTube is easier to access. I could even imagine comics/videos that are super short/to the point (but are also 'everywhere'... Not sure how but could it be done? As it's been said many times, it's just not needed. I do often have a tab open myself, but yesterday I got two leads (and scored an order) while gaming and NOT being near Fiverr at all. Especially in the beginning, it can be tempting to try things the easy/fast way, but oftentimes those are lies spread by people who 'think' they know how the site works. They don't. Could I ask you where you've heard this? Especially as someone from Fiverr actually debunked the being active thing just above your comment - how can you prove your claim?

I think the point was more that if you work through Fiverr only, you will be able to show evidence to CS easily (and likely get help/if anything get the seller investigated) If you HAD gone against the rules, they would be unable to help you. If he took your work down (not his own, which would make sense if he'd actually started working / etc but it doesn't seem to be the case) I honestly would just take the case to CS, show every detail (the threats, your page being gone, the seller changing prices, etc.) and see what they say. If they misunderstand you first, try to explain again (I know it's frustrating.. ) It HAS happened before to me personally that I had more work to do than originally planned (e.g. it was a bigger project than it seemed) but I think communication from the seller AND buyer needs to be very clear in that case. If you sent all info through to start with and it fit with what the gig offers (which I will assume), the seller was absolutely in the wrong. It COULD have been just a misunderstanding as well but once the seller started harassing you it grew into a much bigger issue. I know it sounds like stupid advice but try to keep your messages to customer service (and if you reply to the seller for any reason) calm and I think you have a relatively easy case (though I'm unsure if CS can help getting your site back sadly.)

In my personal opinion (and after being on the site for a few years) being online doesn't do much. The reason for this is pretty simple - your gigs are still fighting against thousands of others. I think back in the day when there weren't so many sellers who faked being online around it COULD perhaps be helpful. However, with the amount of people either forcing themselves to be online by staying awake for dangerous amounts of time OR cheating the system) there's just too many gigs turning up when you narrow it down to online sellers (or at least, that's how I feel.) Back when you could be one of the ten people online (when say, there were 300 gigs) it could mean a lot but now the significance has diminished. Now does that mean that no one will get orders when they are online? No. But it's nowhere near as important as some other factors.

What have you been trying to do? You didn't get the best review to start with (4.0 is OK but still..) and you're in a VERY busy niche. Try to look at your gigs as a buyer. Do you offer something with value that differs from what others offer? Are you better than your competition? Don't look at Fiverr like a company where as long as you turn up you get paid. You need to show off your work to get clients and it's not easy.

I like to think about passive vs. active works hours. I will spend an hour or two (altogether) talking to clients a day, 3-5 hours writing (maybe a bit more if I have a LOT of work OR less when I have less), an hour or two a week on my gigs (seasonal stuff, updating, etc. and the rest of my dedicated work time on call (aka not at the computer necessarily but having an eye on it.) At some point in the day, I need a break. I'm sure some others are different but I personally can't write for 8 hours straight, I'd go mad! This still makes about 8 hours a day (sometimes more if there's something urgent at night going on.) I am off most weekends and often away / out. Of course, it took me a while to settle into a routine but it works for me quite well. Working efficiently is the best thing I've learned so far as a freelancer. Sure, there are longer days but I personally don't think working 14 hours a day would work for me (or would make sense for that matter!)

Honestly, the best tip is just to mark them as spam. It sucks, it really does, but everyone gets them (from top-rated sellers to newbies.) The second I open a new gig I'm swamped by them! Something that might help is to try and be as professional (both on your profile and in your gig) as you can be. Don't seem... desperate. I think they target people who look like they'd fall for the scams the most (though sometimes they seem to just message everyone!) I try my hardest to laugh at them myself, but it's gotten harder lately. You might have seen my recent post, I've griped about this a lot as well, but there doesn't really seem to be much of a solution. Keep on doing what you're good at and eventually, you'll get actual orders.

Focus on starting small. Don't aim for the top yet, set your aim on being noticed. Make sure your gigs don't have weird phrases or punctuation that sounds off (typos happen but keeping a keen eye out for them helps.) Try to see what other people are doing, don't copy but let yourself be inspired. Think about what YOU would be looking for in a service. Does your gig check all the boxes? Do you seem approachable but responsible in your bio? Would you purchase from yourself? These things have always helped me personally, so maybe there's some tidbits that will help you as well!

To me, whether you're a team of ten people or one person isn't clear in your bio. As a buyer, I prefer if it's specified a bit more clearly. Always look at your gigs through a buyer's eyes. Would you trust yourself? Would you purchase your own services? Unfortunately, there's a chance that you'll never get orders - though you might, of course. What you offer is a... Very competitive service to say the least and there's many other people offering the same thing. Copy-paste jobs / etc. are also things anyone can do which might make it harder to get even one order. Is there anything else you are able to do? I'd try to see what else you can offer that has a less crowded market perhaps.

This of course depends on what they are selling. That being said, I think in general there have been some changes lately regarding many categories. Up until a while back, there were some tasks you could do without 'skill' that people were still willing to buy (removing backgrounds with paid softwares, etc.) A lot of those things can now be done easily for free or for a small fee by the customers themselves. People with no variety in their skills will slowly have less and less work as there just won't be a market for them anymore. If your friends sold something else, that could've been replaced as well (but of course, they could be going through son rough times, too.) (Disclaimer: I know that actual digital artists need to remove backgrounds for things as well but in my head that's different as they can still find work selling their designs / etc. It was just an example but I'm sure many other categories will end up the same way. )

Staying online all the time does nothing. What does help is setting yourself apart from the many other sellers in your category. Niche down, try to stand out. Try to sound genuine in your description ( I personally would always avoid using AI for example, especially as the rules about it are ever changing and quite strict.)

You asked for help. I pointed out what you can do to appeal to buyers. It's not easy though and never will be. But yeah, I care about the community of the website that earns me a living. I want new sellers to do better but that requires effort from them.

It looks like you used ChatGPT to write your description (which can be OK but you need to state it) but the biggest issue is that it doesn't read like a gig but like you researching what to do (as it was stated before as well.) People won't buy from you if it feels like you're just rattling off info at them instead of actually providing a service. At the moment, as a buyer, I wouldn't trust you, simply because I'm not quite sure you know what you're selling based off your gig.

Despite a pretty bad review, you delivered more orders in the past week than I have. I think you're doing just fine. That being said, your gigs look alright but pretty similar to many others. A lot of what I see in your images looks like they could be done with Canva templates (or by just many other designers as well.) Try to find a selling point that is unique to you and double down on it. PS.: You also have some weird English in some of your titles/descriptions. While it's better than many other people's, some buyers might be worried (especially coupled with the bad review you got) about being able to chat with you properly.

Yes and no. Some categories that were popular a few years back can now be done very easily by yourself (think - I can use Canva to cut pictures out for myself or even design easy stuff for practically free, if I really need to, etc.) AI can also 'help' (though I'm not the biggest fan of it. Basically, new sellers have to provide skills that can't be replicated by the buyer for free, let it be something creative or just useful. I think many 'easy' categories will disappear (or just get less and less popular) due to this. By the look of it, you might be in one of them, sadly. (PS.: T-shirt is spelt with a -. That could also be causing you an issue.)

Help isn't always kind or telling you, 'just be online, and you'll do better', because oftentimes, that's a lie or simply can't be proven. Help can be harsh but useful. I told you what your issues are. No good translator will say, 'I will translation for who has looking for turkish, english'. I don't doubt your skills, I really don't, but you need to showcase them. Look at your gig from an English buyer's perspective for a second. Would you trust someone with that many errors if you want them to translate from Turkish to English? Not necessarily, right? When I hire a translator, it's for a polished-ish piece (which is why, despite being a polyglot, I do NOT translate. Not my thing.) Take a step back and try to think about Fiverr as a business. There are only so many translators in each category, but your 'storefront' has to be in English no matter what, so you have to focus on polishing that. Otherwise, others (new and old sellers) will outperform you. I do agree that new sellers should stick together and encourage each other, but you have to learn to be realistic. Do you really think that someone can earn cold, hard cash by just being online and posting their gigs everywhere? No, right? That's what many new sellers will tell you to do. I hope you find my advice useful. I'd love to see more translators thrive on here because that brings people just a touch closer to each other, but, well, you may have a long road ahead for that.

You do realise that I'm one of the biggest advocates for new sellers, right? I'm always trying to help and suggest features that will help. If I'm arrogant, perhaps you aren't too far from it either. Your gig has glaring grammar / spelling errors. That's why people might not trust you. There. I said it. I tried to word it nicely and tell you what Fiverr already gives you but perhaps I need to be more direct. But yeah sure, I'm terrified of losing my job but so would you be, right?

Absolutely. Only new sellers want to get paid and live well. New sellers for the win, top-rated need no more attention! ... 'Dominate' the market is a harsh word, all right? Top-rated sellers were new sellers once, and DESPITE there being other higher-rated sellers back then, they still climbed the ladder. Fiverr has ALWAYS supported newcomers: they get a boost in the beginning, there's plenty of info on how to make good gigs, etc . It's up to them what they do with those tools. I personally often purchase stuff from new sellers, and many others do, too, but buyers will ALWAYS gravitate to people who look and sound legitimate and whose gigs don't look like the 2000 others next to them, ESPECIALLY if their gigs don't look THAT good (or have spelling errors when they are writers/translators/etc. or just crappy images as artists. Reflect first, complain later. You seem to have joined this month...

Did you just copy the title of a post that has nothing to do with your question? I see some serious irony here... But seriously though... What exactly do you mean in your question? What sort of advice would help you?

Mini rant incoming (I mostly just love being a language nerd and actually thought about this a bit before!) There IS a difference in native and bilingual (that Fiverr should know as well.) If we talked in Mandarin, Italian or French (after a few hours of warming up) I'd be fluent enough for a good chat (so pass as 'conversational / fluent for them) BUT I could never even think about writing in either of the languages. English, thus, is a tier up from all of that. (To be fair, technically I was raised bilingual, though I'm Hungarian. Where you're from doesn't necessarily mean much (though it does indicate a lie in many cases. (Maybe indicating levels (as in A1-C2 on the (what scale was it again? I forgot) or something similar would be a better way to showcase what languages we speak?) OP might not be the same though, especially as they have no 'seals' but I wanted to clarify the difference from a nerd's viewpoint. THAT being said... You offer a cover (as in cover art, etc. right?) and deal with social media. Are you sure your art (at least what you show) is up to par with what you offer? I'm sorry but your gig image might throw most buyers off (both the typo and the image itself.) Are you sure you're telling the truth about everything - your experience included? If yes, why not use better pictures (and documents) to showcase what you can do?

It's Math (though I understand your feelings!) If you have 12 orders and 1 cancellation, for example, your completion rate will be about 92% (so you will go from 100 to 92.) If you deliver, say, 3 more orders (so it's 15 out of 16 that you complete, that will be just under 94. The jump upward isn't as big because that's how counting works (I might be slightly off with the numbers, but the theory is the important bit, right? In addition to THAT, only orders in a 60-day period count, so it's possible that you might deliver 3 more orders but 'lose' two in the process (as you delivered them, say, 63 days ago now.) That being said, if your customer cancels for a reason outside of your control (e.g. they don't need your product anymore for whatever reason, they ordered the wrong thing, they want too much and refuse to pay more, etc.) you MIGHT be able to get your rate corrected by CS. This depends on the reason why you had a cancellation, but I've been helped out before. The rules aren't unfavourable (though you need to know how to ask for help if needed, etc.) it's just due to how the calculation behind the % work.