[How does Fiverr use the private feedback?]

1 hour ago, designboom said:

And from a new buyer

I don't know if this is exactly how it happened, but I am often shocked at how much power Fiverr gives even new buyers over sellers who may have been active on the platform for several years. Especially with new customers on the platform that do not really understand how Fiverr works yet.

[How does Fiverr use the private feedback?]

Thanks for clarifying. Sounds awful. So it's better not to leave a review at all or just a 5 star review to not anger the master. A private review is not a problem in itself, but the fact that it has side effects like shutting down a whole profile for up to 60 days (as you can read in the thread of @designboom ) is probably not worth leaving honest feedback with an unfriendly customer.

[How does Fiverr use the private feedback?]

As a buyer, can you submit private feedback even after you and the seller have rated each other? Is it then not risky to rate buyers honestly (in negative cases)? There were a couple of threads that confirmed that private negative feedback has incredibly huge effects on a gig. Suppose the client is satisfied with the work and gives 5 stars, but for the seller the cooperation was unpleasant and they make this public in a negative review and the buyer sees it on their profile; do they still have the option to leave private feedback afterwards? Just curious. In that case you could "take revenge" untruthfully.

[Please message me before placing an order!]

8 minutes ago, newsmike said:

I said, and still believe that sellers have every right to ASK that they be contacted prior to ordering. But it cannot be required as this tantrum is about. There is nothing that compels a buyer to that demand should a seller attempt to require it. That's all.

That's true. I actually have both - gigs to order directly from and the more advanced stuff where I ask to contact me first because it just makes sense. I actually almost lost my TRS badge due to two of "tHeSe bUyErS" I had shortly after our discussion. They ordered directly, one was looking for something totally different and didn't understand the difference, the other one requested to cancel the order because I (quote) "was asking too much about his project". Like necessary stuff to get started. In cases like this it's just super frustrating that these guys can just go ahead and order. But that's how Fiverr works. And it makes sense - at least from a business point of view.

On 2/28/2022 at 5:26 AM, williambryan392 said:

If you're a seller that does this, may I ask why you do it? 

Do you not have confidence in being able to deliver the service you offer? Do you have too much work? What is the reason?

To answer your question: I am guilty of doing this. I am asking to contact me before ordering. Yet I am confident and proud of my work. But I'm working with 3D Animations, CGI & VFX and while I understand the difference between certain technical aspects, most buyers don't. And that's ok. That's what I'm here for and that's why I'd like to discuss a project upfront. Otherwise you'll get an order and someone will send you the trailer of Disneys Frozen asking you to "make an animated movie like this, just with my characters". You'll find some more reasons in the thread I linked. There are a lot of reasons you need to discuss projects in advance - at least in subcategories like mine. But of course I agree: it would "kill the vibe" if you have to do that for every small order. The whole magic of Fiverr is ordering within a few mouse clicks. Just saying that there ARE valid reasons people put this in their descriptions.
 

[Please message me before placing an order!]

7 minutes ago, newsmike said:

Absolutely, requiring contact prior to sale is the mark of a noobie, terrified of a bad review.

Ouch, Mike. Not long ago we had the same discussion, sad to see it didn't change your mind on this topic at least a little bit.

[Buyer Requests Responses are a problem]

9 hours ago, izah_moh said:

Please reply with the word "mustard" in your response

Actually something I can understand. I only used Buyers Request a few times and 99% of the sellers send out copy-paste template messages that have nothing to do with your briefing. You are just flooded with spam. That's one of the ways you can actually do a quick check to see if someone sent out an unique offer based on your request. Of course I wouldn't recommend "mustard" :D. And of course this has nothing to do with their cheap behavior of wanting the world for $5. Buyers Request is nothing more than a Battle Royale Mode. Only no one wins in the end.

[Top 2 reasons why you don't have orders! 💔]

7 minutes ago, ahmwritingco said:

Who do you think is trolling?

Timothykoen

[Top 2 reasons why you don't have orders! 💔]

This has to be a joke. Either 100% trolling (successfully) or absolutely delusional. Sorry but there's no other explanation.

[Would you welcome a paid Fiverr membership (as a seller)?]

1 hour ago, mastercreator3 said:

The analogy you have given is totally unrealistic to fiverr. If one has a McDonald franchise then he gets a fighting chance to prove he can give good service but on fiverr one does not guarantee an order so how will a person who is talented think of investing in an online platform that does not guarantee even a chance to prove oneself. 

I think you misunderstood his statement.

You are saying if you can raise $500,000 for a Mc Donalds franchise restaurant, you have a chance to prove that you deliver good service, but if Fiverr introduces a $29 joining fee, you have no chance to prove yourself? Sorry, but I don't think the comparison makes sense in context.

As a freelancer you NEVER have a guarantee of a steady and regular income. That's why this kind of lifestyle is not for everyone. I can be earning five figures this month and the next month the orders stop coming in. That's why, for example, getting a loan from the bank as a freelancer is an absolute pain - sometimes not even possible.

In my opinion Fiverr does more for sellers than I'm used to from other platforms. Fiverr provides you virtually free of charge the technical service to create a gig, access to a huge pool of potential buyers who use Fiverr, store your data on their servers and use an easy payment process. "Pay" you actually only do when you sell something (in the form of the 20% commission). We're all starting from 0. I feel like people sometimes forget that. Instead of researching and learning how to run a successful business, they come to the forum and ask "successful" and "veteran" sellers what they should improve about their gigs because they are not making sales. They're looking for easy answers. And some guy on YouTube told them it's super easy to get a lambo by working on Fiverr. Then they blame the platform because it doesn't make all 2.3 million sellers easy money.

Other platforms with different business models only provide you with the technology so that you can present your service there. But it's up to you to bring your service to customers, to do marketing and advertising. As an example: I use a site where you can upload your online courses and students can enroll. The platform provides me with the technology. Nobody cares if I ever have a student - that's my problem. I still pay monthly for the service. If the revenue doesn't cover my costs and doesn't generate a profit, I have to consider the business model a failure or think about alternative marketing.

Fiverr is not responsible for you making sales or being successful. I have some huge issues with Fiverr that I think should be talked about, but in this regard, Fiverr provides sellers with more (for free!) than I've seen elsewhere.

And that is both a curse and a blessing. And we come back to the original topic. At some point, the store here will become overcrowded and partially unusable. Anyone who has ever used the Buyer Requests (as buyer) knows that. I've tried to use it three times so far and each time it ended up with heaps of garbage (there's no other way to call it) and spam.

Because without a barrier to entry, the number of incompetent or fake sellers without experience will skyrocket. Customers will become more dissatisfied and talented artists will be lost among the flood (new ones or veterans, it will affect most). Since the pandemic, this has been proven for many. My impressions, clicks, and inbound messages have plummeted 70%. Fiverr's reputation will suffer as a result. Sooner or later, something will have to be done.

[Would you welcome a paid Fiverr membership (as a seller)?]

43 minutes ago, leannelrivers said:

I'm with raghnalltuathai, the idea of a lower membership fee is more palatable and it would be manageable for most people who are serious about their freelance career. Most of the successful freelancers I know have invested hundreds, if not thousands, into themselves over the years and it does reap rewards. 

That's actually a very good point and called ROI - Return On Investment. And if a monthly fee will help to get more spotlight onto serious sellers and gigs and increase your sales, it is worth it in my opinion. Of course there is no 100% guarantee for that, that's why I think something like a free month for new sellers and a monthly plan that can be cancelled at any time could be a fair agreement.

I have multiple businesses on other platforms as well (like courses, digital products, etc.). They all require a monthly fee or get a share of each sale. Even if you switch and set up your own business on your own website you'll have to pay for monthly server costs, maybe a wordpress theme or plugin, advertisment and more.

[Would you welcome a paid Fiverr membership (as a seller)?]

Hey guys,
I think you all are pretty stuck on the $250 proposal right now. However, that was just the idea of another user and was not in the original post.

I myself wouldn't consider $250 a month on Fiverr either and I really don't make bad on the platform. So that wasn't what was meant by my original idea. I was thinking more of a smaller fee like for the Seller Plus Program - say in the $20-$29 range and cancellable monthly. In exchange, you could lower the 20% commission percentage a bit, for example. And maybe the gig promotion feature would no longer be necessary.

Fiverr is actually one of the few platforms where membership is free - but you can see that because of the many copy cats, scammers and fakers that this plays into the hands of. And the 1000 forum threads on "how to make a first sell?!".

The danger due to the pandemic and the increasing number of "sellers" who have heard from some YouTube Guru that you can make money quickly by using photoshop templates, is that many really good sellers will go under (i noticed the rising amount of forum posts from people who once worked full-time on Fiverr and now get no more impressions, clicks and orders). Fiverr says you should also market yourself, but instead of then putting the money into Google Ads advertising, I would rather pay a small fee, which then ensures that the marketplace is cleaned of all the false offers and real services are found more often and more easily again. As I said - I'm checking the first page when looking for my own gig and 90% per site is scam and stolen portfolio. I have to compete with clips from Pixar Movies and potential customers with no technical background no longer have an overview of which service is realistic and fair for which price.

To throw another analogy into the room:
Fiverr is currently a fitness center where you can train for free. Sounds awesome first. But over time all those who actually want to train regularly would no longer get a place on the machines because they are all the time occupied by people who only come to train for 1-2 days before giving up and actually have no serious interest and knowledge of the workout.

[Would you welcome a paid Fiverr membership (as a seller)?]

I would only like a paid membership with a fixed amount. In no case further percentage fees. I already pay around ~10k a year to Fiverr and if I now had to give up another percentage for a membership depending on revenue, then I would rather leave the platform. A fixed amount, such as the Seller Plus program, would be very welcome instead. I really like how @frank_d explained the advantages. But I can also understand how it could scare off a lot of new and experienced sellers.

[Would you welcome a paid Fiverr membership (as a seller)?]

Hey guys,
I'm just finding my way around the new forum. It looks pretty nice!

In read-only mode, I picked up an interesting idea that I read in a conversation (don't remember which thread, but I think @frank_d wrote about it). It was about Fiverr possibly going for a paid membership for sellers. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's how I remember it. Even though I found it critical at first, since Fiverr already generates a lot of revenue via the 20% commission from sellers, a fee from buyers, the early payout option, promoted gigs and now seller plus, I like the idea of a paid membership more and more.

To that end, you have to know that in my main category - 3D animated music videos - I'd say a rough estimate is that 80% (or more) are scammers/faker. I struggle to rank well on pages 1-3 due to the mass of these fake gigs. These are people who either copy gigs and steal portfolios (from me, for example), or steal animations from YouTube and pass them off as their own, and in the worst case they even take scenes of movies like Frozen or the new Spiderman as their reference.

Funny note:
I had an interested buyer send me her latest music video. This she had also made on Fiverr. She asked me directly why my prices were so high when she had such a great and high quality music video made for $50. So I watched her video on YouTube and it was a compilation of scenes from the animated Spiderman movie. I then just sent her the original trailer of it and meant that Hollywood must have been inspired by her music video :D.

The pandemic has doubled the number of these scammers and as a result my impressions and clicks have plummeted. I believe that Fiverr could really clean up big time with a small (it doesn't have to be huge) membership fee, which could help all legitimate and reputable sellers back up especially in the rankings. There have been more threads about this lately. Apart from that, it would also help buyers not to encounter so many scammers or confusing gigs anymore.

What do you think? Would you consider a paid membership?

[I made my first $100.000 on Fiverr and you can do it too! - Tips from a Top Rated Seller]

So everyone should take a step back before jumping to conclusion this income on Fiverr is achievable in general.

I’m not saying that one’s vertical is irrelevant, but claiming that people should take a step back before they think about making a total of six figures on Fiverr, sounds like conditioning to me personally.

It’s like me back when I was a level 1 seller, reading the blogpost about a woman making millions by being an HR generalist.

I never once thought that:

I’m not in HR, therefore this isn’t for me".

Is it easier to present people with a larger amount when calculating life-long earnings on the platform if you are selling big-ticket items?

Sure. I personally felt like my ego took a punch in the face by superman himself when I met another seller via one of the Ice Breaker events.

He was a developer, and he was making over $500,000 a year on Fiverr. Had over 20 employees, and thought about scaling up.

I felt inspired and saw his earnings as a clear window of what can be achieved. It broke my mental ceiling. I am now working on getting there myself. (or to a version of that closer to what I feel comfortable with)

But a couple of things to note here:

A) by conditioning yourself in general, you are effectively creating a self-fulfiling prophecy.

B) by saying that “oh he makes 3D videos, that’s why” may appear as if you are brushing off just how hard it is for a seller to juggle those 4/5 digit projects each month. It takes a lot of skills, mostly soft skills, to tackle that sort of clientele, consistently.

@raghnalltuathai Keep up the good work, and please share the next part of your journey with us.

Hey Frank,

thank you! I definitely will. I think we sometimes forget that we are born all the same. I didn’t wake up someday and was able to create these 3D animated music videos. I started with purchasing a licence and a simple YouTube tutorial. And I’m sure there are even bigger niches.

To get some clients, reputation and reviews I had prices so low I was actually going crazy. I started with a $80 package. For a 3D animation :D. I almost thought about leaving the platform but I worked on my business and marketing and scaled it up year by year. And I’m sure everyone can achieve something like that if he or she really has the intention to do so.

3D animation is not something you can fake, as it is with design, proofreading, content writing, and similar. So you do not have many sellers (no point of scammers to even go there).

You would think so but actually it is full of scammers. They steal animations from YouTube, use it as their portfolio and cut parts of them together to provide “customized music videos” for their clients. Back in the days I was reporting these guys as they are scamming people and stealing others work. Hell, they even steal my portfolio, my descriptions, use the same prices and there’s even some guy who uses the same software and just copies my scripts and concepts but re-animates the exact scenes and created a “new” video out of it. They became more and more by day, so there’s nothing you can do about it actually.

[I made my first $100.000 on Fiverr and you can do it too! - Tips from a Top Rated Seller]

Since you started to do full time did you ever got into slow month ? Like without order. If so how did you got through that ?

Well, I never had a month without any orders since then. But I had some very bad months compared to others. The worst month was about $1.200. Still sounds like a lot but I live in a pretty expensive country and have to pay taxes and health insurance as well as my personal fix costs, so these months got me kind of in trouble.

[I made my first $100.000 on Fiverr and you can do it too! - Tips from a Top Rated Seller]

Jut an FYI, sadly, you can only edit your thread for a short length of time after it’s made. My own tips thread is outdated, due to this.

Edited out, thank you for your own edit.

I hope it’s okay if I post my link to it (otherwise please let me know and I’ll delete it)

Number 6, so no. Community Standards & Forum Rules - 2020

Making posts for the Tips categories: In most cases seller tips should be posted by leveled sellers with significant experience and understanding of the Forum Rules and Terms of Service. Tips should not be just copies or quick re-writes of off-Fiverr content or other seller’s posts. Tips should never be used in any self-promotional way. Posts that are considered redundant or otherwise a poor fit may be removed or moved to another category. Repeatedly posting tips that are a poor fit may result in posting restrictions.

Source: Forum Rules + Do's and Dont's - #2 by fonthaunt

Jut an FYI, sadly, you can only edit your thread for a short length of time after it’s made. My own tips thread is outdated, due to this.

Oh, that’s unfortunate 😕 Didn’t know that, thanks! Is there any specific time limit like “a day or so?”

[I made my first $100.000 on Fiverr and you can do it too! - Tips from a Top Rated Seller]

Hey guys,
this is quite a bait thread title now, I know. But it’s true though! I’ve been active on Fiverr since 2017, full-time since 2019-2020. Top Rated Seller for over a year if I remember correctly. I don’t want to brag about these $100,000 in income, but rather motivate you. Because when I started, I was still a student, had no idea about online business or Fiverr and had to take away deposit bottles at the end of the month because I didn’t have enough money to buy them.

An investment of $80 (the software I work with) and Fiverr have now resulted almost three years later in me working full-time from home, not having an annoying boss and yes, I do enjoy that freedom!

I’m active on the forum a lot, I’ve had some great conversations here, got super tips, met interesting sellers and would like to give something back today (even if it’s just a little something). So here are a few tips that will hopefully help you as a newbie, but maybe also as a veteran.

1. Know your value! I see so many freelancers selling themselves short! Stand by your skills and your prices. Of course, your rates should be realistic compared to your work time, but never let a buyer tell you what your time, talent and work is worth! The client’s budget has to adapt to your prices and not vice versa. You don’t go to the apple store and ask for a 70% discount on an iPhone because your budget doesn’t allow for more, do you?

2. Stand out from the crowd! I notice this especially when I search for a service as a buyer on Fiverr. In some sections the portfolios, prices and gig descriptions are similar as if they were clones. As a customer, you tend to buy on the off chance then. If you notice that your competition is big, then think about a unique selling proposition and marketing. Make a particularly appealing gig video, a humorous description or fancy samples! Think about your favorite products - they have competition too! So why did you choose your favorite product? Work on your online presence!

3. Prepare yourself for madness. This came to mind when a friend of mine also started his own business online and gave up shortly after because he couldn’t handle the attitude of some buyers. There are great customers! I love working with my regular customers, they are awesome! But a couple of times a week I get requests from people who brazenly want to negotiate your prices, insult you, threaten you (with a bad review for example), want to scam you, badmouth your work, don’t say hello or goodbye, don’t reply, waste your time or cancel your project. Grow a thick skin and be prepared. Don’t take it personally and focus on building long-term relationships with great clients.

4. Experiment with pricing. You don’t have to offer the same prices for years. Don’t be afraid to adjust your prices to your work time, education and professionalism. I too have shied away from this for a long time, thinking that the algorithm or the customers will then say goodbye. Exactly the opposite was the case and I then had the strongest selling months!

5. Turn down an order if you notice red flags or if you can’t provide what the buyer is looking for. Otherwise this only makes for unhappy customers, cancelled orders and wasted time. There’s no shame in turning down a project if you realize the scope is too large or the client wants something that’s outside your scope of work. I turn down projects several times a week.

6. Pay attention to your English. And I say that as a non-native English speaker! Fiverr is an international platform, which means English is a must. As a seller you need to be able to have a professional briefing to understand the project. If you don’t understand the client or you talk past each other, it will only lead to problems. If necessary, use free online translators or a language tools to correct mistakes. There is no shame in it, it rather shows that you are trying to do your best in communication.

7. Do not copy anyone and be unique! Every week other sellers are copying my description, even reproducing my work, stealing my portfolio to pass it off as theirs and matching their prices to mine. All in the hope that they will be successful. But who do you want to work with as a client? With the original or the copy?

I just realize this is already a pretty long thread. I’d like to update it every now and then when I think of something new that I think is important. I’m also happy about your comments of course!

Thanks so much for reading! I wish you all the best!

Best regards
Rag

[Early Payout Option Removed]

Was your problem resolved? Because I encountered the same issue and unlike cre8iveartwork I didn’t get any straight answers from a support agent.

The problem has been fixed for me. However, it still seemed to be some kind of bug. The promotion fees were deducted with on the first of March, then reversed, only to be deducted again on the fourth of March. After that, the feature was available again.

[Early Payout Option Removed]

I don’t think so. My fee for the promotion feature was paid on march 1st, yet a day later the early payout option went missing within an hour

that’s what support said

That’s weird then as it’s automatically being paid. Never happened to me before and the fee was paid on march 1st. Do we just have to wait or did support tell you how you can see what you still have to pay or how to pay the difference to activate the feature again?

[Early Payout Option Removed]

Mystery solved… it seems that if you haven’t paid yet the amount of money that you owe for your previous paid promotions option the feature is temporary disabled until you manage to pay the full amount.

I don’t think so. My fee for the promotion feature was paid on march 1st, yet a day later the early payout option went missing within an hour (I was about to use it, suddenly it disappeared for no reason). I’m using the promotion since months and something like this never happened. I think this could have something to do with the new cash advance option or the current “The user account you are looking for is no longer available” message bug that a lot of people (including me) get all the time. Seems like something caused a little bit of trouble. I hope they fix it soon, I find the early payout option very helpful.

Edit: Has someone opened a ticket for this issue? Don’t want to bomb CS with requests about this, but maybe someone got an answer already what’s causing the problem.

[Why is it that I cant leave feedback on a order that I cancelled?]

Sure in some cases it could be used for manipulation,

So you don’t care if a person’s livelihood gets destroyed, as long as you have your way to damage someone else’s reputation without even paying for their service in the end (you’re getting your money back). The system is fair. If you want to share your opinion about the experience, you need to pay for it. I find it very fair.

It reminds me of google or app store reviews from people who rate a service or app with 1* star because it costs money. Saying that if it would be free, they’ll change their review to 5*. I don’t understand how people think they should be allowed to rate something if they got their money back or didn’t even pay for it. That’s just wrong. As I said - I do understand where OP comes from and I know there are a lot of scammy sellers on fiverr. But as long as you get your money back, you should not be allowed to review a service due to whatever reason as this would have a huge negative impact on all great, professional and honest sellers on fiverr, who then have to take a hit from some lunatics. It’s the internet. There are not only sane and nice people and some of them really think they buy YOU with a couple of dollars. The attitude some people on this platform have is beyond my understanding.

[Why is it that I cant leave feedback on a order that I cancelled?]

I dont think that its unethical. I order a service, the seller couldnt do it and therefore deserves a negative rating. I should review the seller based on their performance.

I did end up buying their service and I expected it to be delivered, but it wasnt. They both wasted my time and I lost money because of it. Isnt it more unethical to plagiarize? This is all valid feedback and buyers deserve to know.

Fiverrs review system is rigged, people who are unhappy with the service cant leave reviews meaning that the seller can buy their own service and post good reviews.

Either way I bought the service and whether or not I got my money back, if it was the sellers fault I should be able to leave a negative review. I’ve noticed one thing and almost no seller has a review below 3 stars. The seller who plagiarised my content had a 4.9 rating and will continue to plagiarize and people will fall victim because she included a fake “plagiarism check”.

Because of this more than 1 week of my time was wasted and I had a strict deadline to follow. And who is going to compensate me for that. No one. So the least I could do is leave a negative review right?

I already said it multiple times on this forum in threads like this, but this is just a horrible idea. From your perspective I understand where you come from. There are scammers, there are resellers, there are just bad services on fiverr. I do know that, I have experienced that as I am a seller and buyer on this platform. But now comes my perspective - someone who is working full time for years as a top rated seller on fiverr:

Buyers can be creepy and absolute disgusting lunatics. The amount of times I have been harassed, threatened, insulted or damaged is too high and I’ve learned to live with it. But the only thing that kept my service protected from being destroyed by some mad “clients” is that they can not leave a review after I cancel their order. And I’m not talking about that I have wasted someones time, that I have delivered a low-quality product or that I lied. I talk about ““clients”” who ignore your whole gig and description, do not contact you upfront to discuss a project, then purchase the cheapest possible package to demand a service you’re not even providing. That’s what happens to me a lot. Like going into a bike store asking for the new Mercedes. And when I was cancelling their orders, I got threats like “FIVERR ACCEPTED TO LET ME REVIEW YOUR GIG! I WILL DESTROY YOU FOR NOT WORKING ON MY PROJECT”. And I’m like “Hey, sorry but you do want a website designed. I am creating 3D music videos…” - “YOU WILL SEE, WE JUST BEGUN!!!” (And that is an actual quote).

So, after reading this - you still do have the feeling that someone like this should be able to review me and destroy the service and income I build for the last couple of years?

As I said - I understand where you come from but it is a horrible idea for a lot of great freelancers on this platform. The client is not always right.