visualstudios

Yes, of course, but it's still curious that I got people to spend more precisely when the trend seems to be people spending less. Maybe a bit too curious. Of course I don't have the numbers, so it's impossible to tell.

That's what's weird though. If spend was going down, it wouldn't make sense that I sold my two biggest orders ever this year. Sure, it can all be "luck", but we're talking about two single orders each valued more than a lot of entire months last year. So there's definitely people out there with money to spend. They exist. The problem is that Fiverr doesn't seem to send them to me frequently enough - when I've proven I can close those deals, and make Fiverr a ton in commission. Sure, money to spend can be going down - but that's a double edged sword. Maybe before these guys would go to a LA studio and pay 50k por a commercial. Suddenly, paying 10k to a freelancer is not spending a lot - it's actually cutting down spending tremendously. In the meanwhile, my SM has suggested again and again that I should go for lower priced, quicker orders, which given the current climate would be an obvious mistake. The "ready made quick thing for cheap" era is over - AI killed it. The value now is in the creative direction, in the personal touch, in the bespoke. And that can't come "cheap". They just don't get it.

Nobody does, but I think it's dangerous to be more afraid of that than of not calling out what's wrong. I feel that's happening more and more, recently.

Well, there are "cultures" out there that marry out girls at the age of 12, and worse. Up to you to know if that's harsh or not.

Well, in other news I just sold my largest gig ever. Second time this year, it's actually what's propping up my numbers, so I'm on track for my goals. So yeah, if things keep going like this, numbers will go up, while number of orders will go down. I'm fine with that, but I just feel that's tempting luck too much. One big order doesn't come through for a while, and numbers are total crap.

Ah, so I take it from looking at your profile that you are always offline, then?

Sure, but that's if you accept the order. If someone tells me "I want this made for $5", that's not imposing anything. I mean, it's imposing a no from me, I guess lol.

Then it's not imposing... it's very easy to say no, when no order is open. He did you a favor, actually, by showing his cards prior to order start. Good riddance.

Sure. The problem is, it's not the buyer "imposing" them. It's the platform. If Fiverr greyed out the revision button after the number of specified revisions had been exhausted, and switched it for a button to pay for extra revisions, as it should, then it would be correct.

That's the problem. Fiverr consistently shifts the blame and responsibility towards sellers - so sellers look bad, never Fiverr. It's the same bs with revisions. Instead of Fiverr taking the responsibility to enforce revision limits, it's the seller that has to refuse revisions above the agreed amount, and ask for more money. So the seller is always the bad guy.

There ain't. These people are on the internet. They have access to the same information we all have. If they wanted to be educated, they would be by now. They don't care. They won't read. Cultural differences? Sure. But I don't buy total cultural relativism. Some cultures are better than others. Namely, the more adaptable ones. In Rome, be roman. If your culture prevents you from following what works in a certain market / context, your culture sucks. If, on the other hand, your culture promotes flexibility and adaptation, that's a productive culture. It will work well for you.

Oh, they are definitely impolite. I get a ton of spammers and scammers, and it's always from a select group of countries. It goes way beyond English skills or lack thereof. Case in point, just now:

Write in English. Don't call people beautiful or handsome.

Well, I'd like to be an employee, then. I think successful sellers are much more qualified to be success managers anyway - at least they know exactly how things work, and how to succeed, and have proven it.

So they should be held to a stricter standard, right? ... right?

It's worse, it's like going to a doctor in the states. Here it would be the same generic useless advice, but at least it would be free.

I have 347 years of experience in graphic design. And I'm not even a graphic designer. Or 347 years old. See? Anyone can say whatever they want. Funny how that works.

Why are you obviously joking? I'm not. If sellers get feedback that affects us, SM's should as well.

"All of my gig statistics are well above 100%" I find that very hard to believe.

You did not work for Amazon. You did not work for Fiverr. You did not work for Youtube. Did Fiverr and Amazon and Youtube (or one of their subsidiaries) hired you? No? Then you didn't work for them. Think about it for a minute. If you worked for Fiverr just because you sold gigs on Fiverr, then every single seller on the platform would be able to put Fiverr on their client list. That doesn't make any sense. Ah, and you didn't work for Binance or Opensea either. Your 5 clients are all lies. If you had indeed worked for any of them, I would expect to see them in your portfolio. The brands you have in your portfolio are PixelDeal, KRWN Studio, SafeCash, etc. Those are your clients. Not Fiverr, Amazon, Youtube, Binance and Opensea.

She got the website mixed up. She's looking for the one that starts with only and ends with fans.

Excellent post. Every single one of your points is precisely correct - and they do cover most of the major red flags.

There's no point to it. I've said that, and more, and nothing ever changes. I've had 4 SM's so far. Some better, some far worse. I don't get to rate them (why?). My feedback is clearly not wanted. I've linked them forum threads. Crickets - they give the corporate spiel (many times ignoring what I complained about), and just gloss over what they don't have the corporate answer to. Because there isn't one. Even in the forum threads started by Fiverr employees, they just drop whatever bomb they want, and then ignore any replies or questions if they aren't convenient for them.

Maybe you should?