charlsmcfarlane

Scheduling meetings can definitely be improved. I use an app called overlap, which really helps when trying to calculate when a meeting will be in two or more time zones.

😏. Yea I thought it might be a risky joke.

When a buyer 'ghosts' a seller, a seller-initiated cancellation request should be automatically approved after a period of a few days and that cancellation should not affect the seller's stats at all. Here's an example: I had a buyer purchase some online training at the start of August. We agreed on a time to meet using Fiverr's integrated Zoom functionality and the time came and went. The buyer did not show up to the call. That time slot could have been used by another client, so it's a bit frustrating. Since this time I have been telling clients that I will mark the order as completed if they don't show up. As a result, I haven't had any no-shows since. In this case though, I offered to reschedule with them, free of charge. No reply. I have now sent 6 messages to the buyer with no reply at all. They have been on the platform, according to the "last seen" indicator. They even agreed to an extension request but no reply to any messages. It's now been almost 2 months and no reply whatsoever. Obviously no one ever wants to cancel an order but I like to keep organised and de-cluttered and I don't like the idea of these gigs just sitting in my to do list. Furthermore, I have raised my prices now, so if this buyer ever comes back to me, they'll be getting my current work at an old rate, which isn't a great deal considering how much they have already messed me around. I think after a certain amount of time and a certain number of messages sent with no reply, the seller should be able to cancel the order without any repercussions and without any need to contact Fiverr support. For example, if over the course of 2 months, 5+ messages have been sent, with at least 5 days between each message (so you can't just spam 5 messages in one go) and there has been no response, it should trigger this eligibility. Presumably the ability for the system to measure non-responsiveness is already built in as this is a criteria for the recent addition that allows buyers to leave reviews on cancelled orders. Thanks

They’re not new. They had several positive reviews, which makes it even stranger.

True. This is why I’ve recently started being very specific when I quote. I always define the currency very clearly – US$, for example. I did wonder if it was a currency disparity but in this case, the buyer was working in USD and so was I.

I had a buyer get frustrated when I sent them a custom offer. I had quoted them an amount in USD in conversation. They then said the offer they received was for ten(ish) dollars more. I assumed this was fiverr’s fees on top but even after suggesting that to the buyer they said they just saw a different amount. How can I avoid this in the future? Should I quote “US$200+Fiverr fees”, for example. I don’t really want to highlight that considering it’s not me charging them extra. Or, is it clearly laid out and this buyer was just not seeing the distinction between my offer and the accompanying fees? Thanks

I've seen many sellers ask for a way to have the revision number defined in the gig/offer actually relate to the buyer's ability to perpetually click "request revision". I really hope that Fiverr looks into this and makes this system work better. Regardless of whether this system changes, it would be great to have a way to communicate to the buyer what constitutes a revision. This can be done in the description, but they aren't always read by the buyer. It would be great if a seller could write some copy that displays to the buyer when requesting a revision. This would adequately set the expectation before the buyer submits the revision request. I'd like to be able to define what's included in a revision and also let them know to be as clear and complete as they can with their feedback as further changes will be chargeable. Thanks

I believe the intent is simply to set an expectation with the buyer. However the system does not really do anything with this number. I would love it if the system would say something like, “you have one included revision remaining” with a button that lets them request that revision. It would also be great if the seller could add some copy to this screen to advise the customer on what a revision means for their gig/offer. For example, I normally include one revision in most of my gigs, and when a customer requests the revision, I normally recommend they communicate all the feedback they want considered, as further revisions will be chargeable. It would be great if I could just add this copy to the screen, so the buyer is informed automatically when requesting a revision. Then, when they are out of included revisions the system could say something like, “your order does not include any (further) revisions”. In this case there could be a button that lets them purchase a revision at the rate set by the buyer. I do think that there should still be a button to request a free revision if the order is objectively wrong. For example, if the video was supposed to be delivered in 4K but was delivered in 1080p. That’s not a taste thing – that’s objectively incorrect and the buyer shouldn’t have to use up an included revision or pay for a revision in a case like this. Another advantage to having this “request free revision” button, would be that misuse of that button could be managed by Fiverr, so it is not abused. I’m sure there are other possible solutions (and probably better ones) for this but I think this approach could work.

Great idea!

AI doesn’t burp. Just saying 😜

Hi. The number of revisions stated in your gig/offer has no bearing on how many revisions the buyer can request. If you want to charge for more revisions, that is a conversation you need to have with the buyer and send them an offer for an extra.

True. I most certainly wouldn't agree to a zoom call for a gig worth such a small amount, but that's a personal choice. I can't see that being the reason for Fiverr to restrict it. If a seller considers it a worthwhile use of their time, why not let them? I assume it must be the cost to Fiverr to host the calls and the potential for low-quality sellers to use calls as a way to take buyers off-platform, as @visualstudios suggests.

I was, in terms of the objective metrics, eligible for TRS for several years without any hint that my account had ever been looked at. I signed up for Seller Plus and got TRS on the very next review date. They’re not kidding when they say that priority vetting is a feature of the subscription. If you think you’re being overlooked, it might be worth a shot.

If a gig has a video, the gig video becomes the thumbnail, which can’t be changed. This has meant that I need to put my gig thumbnail into my video and then select it. This then means that if I want to change my thumbnail I need to edit my whole gig video and then upload it. Then I have to wait for the trust and safety team to review it and then go back in to select the correct frame. Can we just be given the option to set the gig image as the default and have that display everywhere? Thanks

Forgive my ignorance but what is the purpose of this update? Why is the feature restricted anyway?

I periodically update my gig videos and it’s a little annoying having to wait for the trust and safety team to review it before it’s active and, more importantly to me – before I can select a frame from the video to be my thumbnail. it would be nice if the video review process could be removed for higher level sellers. For example, top rated sellers. I understand the myriad reasons why checking these videos is important but someone in that position has arguably proven their credibility and trustworthiness on the platform already. This would also free up trust and safety team to complete other jobs faster.

Yes this needs to be added, as well as the option to edit messages. Fiverr should be able to see the original/deleted messages though. Otherwise, during a dispute, someone could just delete a message and then claim, “I never wrote that”.

This sounds like a small improvement, which is always nice. However, I still don’t think this change will convince me to use the feature. I think a much smarter improvement would be just to extend all gig delivery timelines by the amount of time the seller defines – or at least have that as an option. That way, the seller can stay in the search results but have a slightly longer turnaround time than they would usually have, which a buyer might be absolutely fine with.

Great! Thanks for your response. I’m hoping it’s not something I’ll ever have to deal with, but I was curious in case it happens.

I have 21 gigs and am top rated. I’m not planning to move to level 2 seller any time soon but it could happen. I’m curious, if I were to move to level two, what would happen to my gigs? Would Fiverr simply disable one of them to bring me back under the threshold of 20? Also, if that were to happen, would I have any choice as to which gig(s) get disabled?

I know this is frustrating, especially because the buyers hold the keys to the review process, but there’s not much you can do. I will always ask for a review when a job completes but never try and coerce a specific review. Trying to influence the content of a review is against the TOS

Personally, I think buyers appreciate a personal connection, and using a real, friendly photo of yourself is a really good way to make a first impression and start off the relationship on the right foot. I even extend this to my gig images – most (soon all) of them feature an image of me as well. It’s worked for me, but others might disagree.

I’m not quite that selfish 😂

I totally understand your point here and I’ve felt the same standing in a long queue before. In the theme park analogy, the non-paying queue is made longer by the fact that there’s a paying queue next to it. All those that have paid are filling up the seats on the rollercoaster first, even if they haven’t queued at all. The only way to avoid a system like this is to get Fiverr to scrap the priority vetting altogether, and I can’t see them doing that as it’s a selling point of their subscription model. (Or more automated checks, as you suggest – but that still would hurt their subscription model so I can’t see it happening)

Yes, it can result in it happening quicker, I guess. (Bear in mind I got promoted this way but I can’t say with any certainty that I wouldn’t have been anyway. I’ve been eligible for years). I don’t really see how it’s different to paying at a theme park, to be honest. At a theme park, if you’re eligible to ride (tall enough, if we stick with the analogy) then you can. You just join a shorter queue that you’ve paid to be in. You’ll still only get the TRS accolade if you’ve done the work and are eligible for it.