[Top Rated Seller? Now how does this 'new thing' work?]

Hey! I'm not sure how new it is (I think it's been around for years I think though perhaps we have a bit more info on what happens now?). What I know is that I was first 'nominated' (e.g. fulfilled all criteria) last Jan or Feb. I've been TRS since last July, so it took ME half a year or so. However, I think this depends on a lot of things. Some people never get it; some people might become TRS a month or so after they reach all of the goals. There are a lot of decently capable sellers on here, so it's likely pretty hard to go through everyone's files which can make it a lengthy process, I'd guess. 

[Second account for different service? Is it possible]

5 hours ago, catbasilio said:

Hi. I'm digital artist and web developer. I want to create another account(I genuinely believe that it needed for my services, the audience is completely different).

I'm aware of fiverr's "one account only" policy. Is it possible to create different accounts for services and not breaking fiverr rules? Maybe fiverr can give you a permission if you contact their support?

Nope, one person, one account. Even if the target audiences are completely different. CS would say the same. I'd just post the new gigs and see if they'd take off. You can always delete them if not (but if they don't, they'd likely fail on a new account as well.) 

[When will I stop receiving scam messages?]

I'm a TRS and I get more spam now than ever before. I think when it comes to the telegram bots (or people, who knows) they don't really check who you are. They might scope out the NEW ARRIVALS page from time to time but trust me they also bug basically everyone else. The more places you pop up at, the worst it gets basically.

There's other scams as well of course. Maybe you might get targeted more by people who want to 'pay later to test you' or something but honestly I have them from time to time as well (and some aren't even scammers just new to the site.) 

As for just spammers who are new sellers asking for work I notice that to be sort of periodical. Maybe whenever a new video telling people to do it (though it's against the TOS) is out? 

But yeah, I wouldn't have high hopes it will wane much. Mark as spam and try to ignore them as much as you can (but it's not great for sure.)

[Why is a Seller charged a fee for the tip they receive AND the Buyer is charged to send the tip? Is this "double-dipping?"]

1 hour ago, omnilegentangel said:

I still dont' understand charging the Buyer for the tip AND the seller. As a Buyer, the lowest amount you can tip is $5. I've paid $2.38 on top of the $5 just to give the tip. That's a total of $7.38. Then, as a Seller, Fiverr takes out 20% of the tip. When I've received a $20 tip, I'm only getting $16 of that tip. So if Fiverr is charging half of the tip to the Buyer ($10) and I'm being charged 20% of the tip ($4), that means Fiverr is making $14 on a $20 tip. That seems a bit much to me. Just my thoughts. 

My theory works in reverse as well. If a buyer realizes that he's not charged (or charged a lot less) for a tip, he might start asking sellers to quote him, say, $5 and 'he will pay the rest as a tip'. With how obvious the difference it cost it would be, I think people catch on... and well, I don't think ANY seller wants to be paid that way. 

I do think the fee is a bit high (though I think it stays $2.5 or something for a bit, so it doesn't scale up, but I haven't given a tip in a bit), but it likely just matches what buyers already pay. If it does stay the same, I think it also encourages people to spend more in a way (outsource the same seller for bigger projects/etc. It might be kind of unfair but... it's just how it is, I guess.

[Why is a Seller charged a fee for the tip they receive AND the Buyer is charged to send the tip? Is this "double-dipping?"]

From what I reckon, it's the same as ordering (or for example, paying for a gig extra.) Basically, the service fee is paid by the buyer - and we also pay our cuts (the 20%).

I do think that before it used to be a bit different (tips went to the seller fully) but that didn't work out. From what I remember, some people asked buyers to pay say, five bucks and tip the rest. Basically, on one hand of course this way Fiverr gets extra money but also it makes sure people can't play the system. 

[Message to previous buyers]

I'd refrain from it. As a buyer, I'm not huge on people who I worked with (or didn't) sending me messages, mostly because it can get excessive very quickly. The official standing is 'no spam', which, well... messages like that can get spammy very quickly. You can definitely double-check with CS, but I'm quite certain they might say no. (I'm curious as to what they might say, actually, too.)

[I AM NEW ON FIVER I WANT TO BECOME BEST SELLER IN WORLD]

42 minutes ago, abdullahbabar0 said:

IF YOU SAYING WATCH FREE VIDEOS TO GET ORDERS I THINKS ITS THE WASTE OF TIME IF ANYONE HAVE ANYOTHER IDEA SHARE ME 

You're a writer, right? I'm not sure I would trust someone who communicates like this to write my book reports (also... That could is a very finicky gig to have. Reads a bit like a school assignment almost though I know they have different purposes as well.)

You're quite right that many free videos don't show you the full truth, but that's why you need to study things yourself. Learn to do research on what you're trying to sell, techniques to market yourself better, etc. "Tricks" won't get you work. Hard work and skills will. 

[I AM NEW ON FIVER I WANT TO BECOME BEST SELLER IN WORLD]

9 minutes ago, abdullahbabar0 said:

IF YOU THINKING YOU WILL GET ORDERS ON 1ST DAY AND THEN YOU HAVEN'T GET DONT BECOME YOUR MORAL DOWN KEEP WORKING HARD AND BE REGULAR 

What do you view as 'hard work' if someone doesn't have any orders? What is 'regular' in your opinion (when it comes to this topic?)

I do agree that people shouldn't lose hope, but how can they 'work' if they have no work to do? Or do you mean they should study/make samples to prove their work, etc? 

[Unpaid Work and a Negative Balance: My Experience on Fiverr]

10 minutes ago, aymenghnia said:

hank you for your response and willingness to help. I agree that it's strange to have a negative balance for a cancelled order before delivery.

Do you just mean the -44 at cancelled orders? That stays there, even if the order is cancelled without any delivery AND even if the order doesn't affect your profile. I had 3 cancellations like that in the past 2 months and they are there still, though will disappear after 60 days each, 

If you reach out to CS, you might be able to fix your completion rate (depending on if you've talked to the buyer/etc.) since it IS unfair to just cancel like that, but the numbers will stay like that for two months. Was this your only cancelled order? 

OR do you mean that you had more $ pending ($120 something if I'm calculating correctly) prior? That would be odd for sure since you never really got the money! 

[Is “Conversion Rate” harming a seller's desire to buy from other sellers?]

I've actually thought about this before! My passion projects are... honestly, kind of silly/odd (the game I'm working on is pretty dark but with a specific style which makes it hard to find the exact right fit and the gifts/etc. I get on here are pretty niche, like Arkham Horror player cards...) I also often end up not having the funds or the interest in the project for too long or having a friend who is off-Fiverr do it (being in games=I know many artists personally). I often feel bad about just reaching out, but often I'm not sure if the seller I find will really be able to do what I want.

I don't like ordering with 0 chat before, even if it looks like the gig fits what I want, which often ends in a 'sorry, I'm actually busy now'. I THINK conversion rate is perhaps a bit too highly valued (if it is, even, since I'm not even sure.) I try not to let this dampen my 'buying mood', but I definitely don't go messaging 5-6 people at the same time. (partially also because the inbox is the same, and it looks like I'm meant to answer quickly even to sellers I'm messaging, which is...yeah. Not fun.) I guess I'm just more careful about who I contact/when? It still doesn't always end in a project, which I always feel sorry about, but I have so many ideas and so little time/funds!

As a seller as well, I do have my worries. Just yesterday, as I'm coming back officially (updating gigs/etc.) after my holiday, I got 3-4 spam messages in a row. Even if those don't affect us officially, I wonder if they have some sort of weight (unless the system IS really good at taking them out of consideration.) 

[Summer Holidays]

I'm going in just two days to Italy for a week or so! I decided to take it off properly since the last week of June was slow anyway, I will just come back full power once I'm back. I'm also doing some smaller trips (just came back from a friend's wedding but I do tend to work (somewhat) during those. Generally, I take 6-8 weeks off a year, some I sort of work through, others I don't at all (like Christmas or if I'm abroad and actually touring the place and not at conferences / etc.) It works OK for me so far but I always try to be flexible in case something comes up. 

 

[This is very Upsetting Not Approved]

40 minutes ago, filipdevaere said:

You can make only 1 account.

If they close the previous accounts I think it's OK to try again eventually but I would definitely talk to CS about it first to be honest. 

47 minutes ago, mehar_01 said:

So, you are suggesting that i should do some more research and target a less targeted niche, then remake a new profile and start all over, 

 

I'm suggesting you to STUDY something new. Not just target a different niche. Take the time you need for it (might be months or years.) Don't just try again and again. I would likely also ask customer service first to see if that's even OK since technically you CAN only have one account. 

[This is very Upsetting Not Approved]

15 minutes ago, mehar_01 said:

How'd i know that i'm fit for the site? 

By Fiverr telling you, I guess. I get your point, but it does look like, at the moment, according to them, you just don't qualify. Maybe there are just too many gigs in that field right now? Maybe they are looking for people with different experiences/etc. Hard to say, but I'd take it as an indication to wait and maybe learn some new skills. 

[This is very Upsetting Not Approved]

50 minutes ago, mehar_01 said:

This is my 2nd profile and same tragedy happened. My gig was live till last night which now tells me that your profile wasn't approved check your email and the same old text is received that we can't approve you, check back later. Please someone, give me an expert advice on how to set up a profile which get's approved and sustain it's status. 

Something to think about is that if what you offer wasn't accepted the first time you tried to go online, just opening a second account...won't really help. Are you trying to post the same gigs? Or did you try to change things up? 

I would take a bit of a break and do some research to see what you were doing 'wrong' (were you offering something against the TOS? Not your own images? Is what you want to sell just not on Fiverr? And see if you're even a fit for the site before trying again. Having multiple accounts is a no-go to start with, so you don't really have that many chances. There aren't really any universal tips to be honest other than the obvious, you really need to find what works best for you,

[Response Rate Issues]

56 minutes ago, spinnekop04 said:

Hi fellow Freelancers!

Are there any other Fiverr users that are seeing an increasing amount of spam messages? I am getting anything from 2 to 5 spam messages per day from seemingly new users who don't know how to use the platform. I have contacted support about this and it was said that if I report these messages, it counts as a response and will therefore not affect my response rate. However, my response rate has now fallen from a constant 96% to 83%. I respond to ALL my messages in a timely manner and am very diligent about this. I even went over all my messages to ensure I didn't miss anything. I know how the response rate system works so it truly does not make sense why my response rate would plummet like that unless the spam messages are to blame. I would like to find out if anyone is having the same issue since contacting support was not able to provide answers.

Regards

It's always been on and off for me, but the 'ons' are worse than ever. I always send a quick 'hi' back and then mark it as spam (so not report but mark it as spam). I think (but I'm not sure where the topic is) someone was told that only marking as spam counts, but I honestly prefer to reply even if it's annoying. Could you reach out to CS and show them that you'd only missed spam, though? Maybe they could fix your rate? 

I've been getting a lot of 'sneaky' spam these days, by the way, more than before. People actually seem 'interested' but turn out to be other sellers who want to sell me stuff. The rest are usually just 'give me work' OR just 'give me money' but yeah. 

I do realize that it's impossible to filter out all spammers, but I'd love it if some changes were made to the system since, well, it does get pretty tedious/annoying.

[What video/board games have you been playing recently?]

21 minutes ago, imagination7413 said:

Playing on TV, synced with a classic-style controler. I've not tried the portable functionality the switch offers, so I don't have an opinion on which is better.

I'll admit, I use my alarm clock app to help me put the game down. Breath of the Wild is really good, but it is indeed LONG, and sometimes difficult to find good player-rest points, as there's almost always more to do or discover. 

BotW and TotK are both very different from all (but one) of the other games in the series, inthat they are not required to be played linearly and/or that the puzzle-solving factor is greatly diminished. Some fans will debate these departure from "the Zelda formula", but most agree that the story and mechanics make the games count. 

We ended up starting with BotW since my partner had it, just never got around to playing it. I'm honestly glad we started playing right before we go on vacation because I can see half of the summer being spent just playing! 

I haven't played any of the other games much (maybe a few hours of the Ocarina of Time on an emulator as a teen lol) so I have little to compare it to but I'm honestly shocked at how addictive the game has been. 

Likely TotK will be next but I'm super curious to how it will be, I've mostly heard good about it so far as well. I'm curious to see if we will use the switch while travelling (we'll see on Friday!) but I think if for anything it'll be good to have on trains / flights. 

 

[What kind of Privilege does this Seller has?]

Hey!

So I can see this being two things.

My strongest hunch is that the seller has been spammed a lot before and mistakenly thought you were a spammer (basically a new seller who was interrogating them to get advice and eventually maybe even orders from them.) It's relatively rare for me to have this happen but every once in a while someone will write quite similarly to me and end up as just a seller like that, wasting my time. It's not great to always assume but when you get several messages like that a day it gets hard. 

Alternatively the seller might have felt like you weren't a good fit / would not work well together and chose the easier option though I find this option less likely.

Sometimes, the way you phrase your questions / etc might also feel like a red flag to someone. I personally don't block due to that only, but I find that phrasing definitely matters to me as well. 

(No offense to you and not trying to protect the seller, just guessing.)

Fiverr is OK with sellers marking others as spam if they think they are (or just blocking them) which 99% of the time ends up being a correct guess but sometimes we might end up being overly vigilant.

 

[Fiverr keeps scamming freelancers again and again, now with their courses]

1 hour ago, donsalluste said:

Yup, but this stays a shady business habit. Thanks to the magic of TOS. And since there's countless complaints about Fiverr never helping the freelancers, I should have been aware that they would find any excuse not to give back a dime, even if course wasn't fully completed.  

I get your point, but when it's a course like this, I'm not sure I agree with you. There is, of course, a chance that you learned nothing from what you purchased, but you still watched (completed/etc.) it, right? The product, in this case (I think), is the course itself AND the badge you get from it. If you don't need the badge, you still saw/watched the course. 

It's a bit like... going to the cinema and then saying, 'I saw the movie, but I hated it, so I want my money back'.On the other hand, courses SHOULD hold content that most people will benefit/grow from, but with such a wide audience, I think it's tricky. 

I'm not saying that this business practice is 100% correct, but I can absolutely see why it is the way it is. Just like how a buyer can lie to you and say they don't like what you made (and then still use it), YOU could be saying the same thing. Now, of course, you're not - but how will Fiverr know that for sure? 

I'm NOT claiming Fiverr is perfect. It's not; there are a lot of odd details that should/could be changed, but... I can understand why you can't get a refund on a product you already 'used' (though I do agree it should be advertised for newcomers if it IS that simple/touches only basic topics.)

PS.: I generally get 10x profit off promoted gigs minimum every month. If it doesn't work out for you (you gain nothing/etc.), maybe it's not needed for you, but I wouldn't. call it a scam.) 

[I am a New Seller After All These Years... Thank You Fiverr!]

Did you contact CS about that cancellation? Generally, if a buyer has been like that with me they'd always restored my cancellation rate, it seems like they just need to be notified of it. 

I can understand your frustration but while I'm not sure you'd get your level back at least your rate could be fixed potentially. 

Edit: It's good to show proof to CS if you haven't yet. As long as they see that your buyer was being unreasonable, they tend to be able to be helpful. Not every cancellation qualifies but if you can prove you couldn't do much I think it'd be OK.

 

[Important Update: Some canceled orders now qualify for buyer reviews]

42 minutes ago, donnovan86 said:

In theory this is a great idea, however it will affect some users. Then again, we will have way less people with a 4.9 and 5.0 score, which I guess is important, because it will differentiate sellers quite a lot more. That also means we need to focus more on quality rather than quantity. I for one focus on raising my prices sooner rather than later. 

What I'm curious about is how the change will affect things. Will buyers who've been here for a long time also be informed that the new standard is different? Everyone wants to see high ratings, so if some people manage not to get any bad ones (for example, lower-volume sellers who choose whom they work with, etc.), how will that shape the market? I'm - assuming - this will be a slow process, but hard to say. 

(good to hear you're raising your prices! It's scary, but it really helps in the long run, though, of course, bad apples/or just bad fits are everywhere.) 

[New update: Buyers will soon be able to quallifying canceled orders...but sellers won't?]

4 minutes ago, newsmike said:

That, unfortunately is a different topic and should never be tolerated.

It's a different topic but two of those people (with my current understand of the rules) would have been able to leave a negative review on my gigs just because. 

Sure, it's in special cases only, but it's always a possibility to consider. Since reviews aren't removed for no reason, it's worrisome. 

(I don't tolerate it, it's usually straight to blocking them but if there's on ongoing order...)

I do agree though that 4.7 was never a 100% reliable / honest score. People were afraid to leave worse reviews (many sellers at least). Bad reviews happen and they shouldn't be such a big deal.

I think what many are worried about is what those bad reveiws might mean for their business. Will a single bad review from someone do what a bad private review does and tank our impressions? Will it be regarded as normal and actually help in the long run?

[New update: Buyers will soon be able to quallifying canceled orders...but sellers won't?]

8 minutes ago, newsmike said:

I am fine with sellers reporting bad buyers. I see your point there. I am commenting on the large vocal group of people getting hysterical over the fact that buyers who were disappointed can review even after getting a refund. Many sellers try to use the cancel feature as a way to "sanitize" their poor deliveries from being public.  Essentially saying, "Here. I'll give you your money back because it prevents you from telling others how I performed." In essence a payoff. 

That is the main reason why people are upset about this. It no longer allows them to censor reviews that they don't like. It is nothing more complicated that that. Many prefer to refund occasionally and present a false history of 100% satisfied buyers merely because they bought off the bad reviewers.

I applaud Fiverr for not allowing such censorship of reviews, which is in essence allowing sellers to trick the system.

The seller can always respond to the review.  

I'm more concerned than upset (though perhaps that's what it might seem like.) I've had about 7 cancellations since last January, of which two were valid (well..sort of) and all the rest were either misaligned expectations AFTER an order was placed (e.g write more for what I paid', buyers disappearing before sending in details or people demanding something I do not write as it's too explicit for the site. I don't think I personally will be affected all that much. However, I am worried because humans are, well, humans and you never know what some people might do knowing that they still get to leave a review after cancellation. 

I've had people curse, harass, stalk, etc. me. I'm worried that this might be the source of more issues in the long run. 

That being said, with the specifications, it does seem like it might work. I can, however, understand why people might not agree with it. You don't have to be a bad seller to worry, you can be a pushover (like me, which I try to fight against, yes) or just on the cheaper side and target the wrong audience. 

Since private reviews exist though, I do think that our actual (non just public) performance is what matters, so I'm not sure if reviews on cancelled orders will really do that much since they seem to have the option to do so already, it's just hidden / private. 

We'll see what this change brings I guess. 

[Important Update: Some canceled orders now qualify for buyer reviews]

2 minutes ago, jasmeowthecat said:

To be quite frank, not sure what comment I aim to provide here.

This really does screw over sellers if the buyer cancels just after ordering (Or whenever the threshhold is which will be likely found out immediately) people can mass order and mass "bomb" 1 star reviews - Even 5 star if they are doing the reversal of trying to get more positive reviews. 

I see this as an absolute shamles of a decision - I agree it's a fantastic idea in the planning phase, not the implementation... 

From what I understand, officially, if they order by mistake / etc. (which would have to happen to cancel like that), they won't be able to leave a review, only if the seller is unresponsive/late/delivers, but the work isn't good enough. I wonder if these will be normal reviews, though, because who would leave a 5-star review on a bad experience, right? 

I do agree though that this IS risky, though, because things can get blurred very fast. Seller doesn't reply within an hour of the order being made? They are being unresponsive. They aren't sending updates 2 days into the order process? They are late, etc. 

While this - normally - shouldn't be the case, I've had some buyers complain (many of them cancellations in the end) because they'd thought that the order would be delivered sooner. Sure, but...there's a deadline for a reason. 

I do think that this COULD be good if it's handled well (CS looks into buyers potentially being manipulative/etc.), but I'm not sure the capacity for that is there. I guess it'll all boil down to how buyers behave. Will people who are actually just scammers even bother to leave reviews after they get their money back? I'm not sure, honestly, but it's really hard to tell. 

[New update: Buyers will soon be able to quallifying canceled orders...but sellers won't?]

4 minutes ago, newsmike said:

You are only looking at one side. Would the buyer's perspective be something like, I ordered, sent requirements and received terrible work. This seller could not perform what I needed?"  As a result, the buyer loses his time, misses deadlines and is late to market. Does this sound like something fair?

You are making my point. Every seller who receives a cancellation blames the inept buyer who cannot appreciate the perfect delivery that was provided. This is the "infallible buyer fantasy" we hear about every day in the forum from sellers who, in their minds, only provide "immaculate, perfection" yet still suffer cancellations. It makes no sense. 

Not every seller claiming that is innocent, but some are (and some buyers are... quite hard to work with.) I understand what you're saying, but I do find that it's very easy for buyers to make up lies on the spot if they want to get away with something. People lie, both sellers and buyers and it's a very tricky thing to navigate, I think. 

I'm not saying that I'm perfect, heck, I've' f-cked' up a lot, but I HAVE been played a lot as well and still continue to be messed with. My personal concern is that this is only going to get worse because now we can even get a bad review for a cancellation. Basically, buyers who knew how to play the system (as few as they are, hopefully) could get an even bigger advantage. 

(sorry for the cursing; it's not directed at you, and I can totally understand where you're coming from!) 

Though...

It COULD be a good thing in a sense since some sellers might choose to take the money AND the bad review (push for the order not to get cancelled/etc.) If the product is delivered, it SHOULD be the standard to get paid for it, I think, so honestly, who knows? 

Bad sellers WOULD eventually be weeded out, though...maybe... but I'm not sure that's what will happen first. 

It's all down to how things aren't all black and white I guess. Some sellers lie, some buyers lie, too.

[I AM A NEW SELLER. THIS MESSEGE FOR BUYERS.]

3 hours ago, tanvirif said:

So much effort to get the order is not working. Buyers look for high rated sellers, but they don't know how well new sellers can do.

The bare minimum, as a buyer (for me) is gigs and profile descriptions that make sense. You say, amongst other things, 'I am a skilled data entry, copy past, web research, B2B generation'. ESPECIALLY when looking for a data entry specialist (or, just anyone, honestly), I don't want to see such mistakes. 

(English IS important in your case and either honing it or learning how to at least correct your basic mistakes HELPS. Having others help would just create more trouble later on.)

People are telling you what's wrong and all you say is 'ok' or ask them to help with what you're supposed to know.

Take a step back and study your profile.

Can you TRULY say 'oh, I can do all this' or are you just trying to get easy money? 

LISTEN to what others say and READ up on what you are trying to do.

Buyers go for sellers who have experience partially because many newcomers present like you - and that's NOT a good thing.