vickieito

Hi @elleo1, I'm glad you are starting to get inquiries! Some buyers are just really busy and take forever to respond. One buyer messaged me in May and just now responded (he picked up the conversation from where we left off 5 months ago like nothing had happened 😂). Don't spend too much time worrying about when people will respond with information. I just let them know what information I need to start an order and I let the buyer decide when to respond and move forward. I get 5-10 messages a week where the buyer kind of walks away in the middle of the conversation. If they are interested, they'll come back. If they are really interested, they'll have the information ready to place an order

Several months ago, I was a Grand Master, had 5,000 reputation points, zero warnings, over 1,000 posts AND was still limited to 5 posts a day (including private messages). I didn't like it because some people thought I was purposely ignoring their posts when I couldn't respond to them for 24 hours or more. Especially if I didn't post for the day due to private messages. And there was one incident when the thread exploded and I couldn't defend myself because I was post-limited. I considered leaving the forum because of it. If we are post-limited, I'd at least like some sort of badge/label so that others on the forum understand when you can and can't respond. I'm not sure about that. I did research a lot of profiles on the forum to see why they didn't have a post limit and I did. I saw newbie profiles (less than 30 days old) with very little reputation points that had unlimited posting. I thought it was because of seller level but I found that wasn't the case. Nothing was consistent and it looks like reputation points alone isn't the deciding factor. So I really didn't know why they could have unlimited posts when I couldn't. However, I'm glad that I couldn't crack the code to figure out how to get unlimited posts (there are many who would immediately take advantage of this if this were the case). It was awesome when I could finally make unlimited posts! Each post used to be mini-essays because I wanted to fit in as much as I could in each post. Now I don't have to do that. 😊 I can attest to the fact that reports are taken seriously on the forum. I spend a lot of time flagging posts and those flags are looked at. The m0ds do a great job keeping the forum clean. You can also tag a m0d if you want to alert them quicker to a specific post (as @williambryan392 mentions). You can request a m0d to "lock" or close a thread if it's getting too spammy.

Brief & Match is very different than Buyer Requests. You won't see as many briefs as buyer requests - if you aren't getting a brief, it's because the AI isn't finding any matches for you. As I mentioned, I didn't see any matches for months. Since there isn't much we can do to get these matches, it's best to focus on tailoring your gigs to your target market so that you can be found via organic search. Fiverr won't reveal exactly how its Brief & Match algorithm works (and the AI evolves as it collects information from buyers and sellers). All we know is that it matches buyers with "a few, selected sellers" with the "highest quality and most relevant gigs." Sellers are also matched according to "your gig's price range." You can read more about this in the Help Center here: https://www.fiverr.com/support/articles/4415601609361-Get-matched-with-buyers?segment=seller

The images can only be removed with buyer approval. If I see something in my Live Gallery that I don't think should be there (usually an image or PDF), I'll ask the buyer if they really wanted it in my public, Live Gallery. Usually, they'll tell me that they don't and will then ask me to reach out to Customer Support to have the image or PDF removed. As long as I have the buyer's approval in writing, the images are always taken down.

The same Fiverr account, right? It seems like the OP doesn't know which payment account is linked to the Fiverr account. It could be a PayPal account like @catwriter mentioned or to the blocked Payoneer account.

If your friend's account isn't linked to Fiverr, you'll need to find out which account is (because that's where the money is). I would do that before contacting Payoneer.

It's not just the first step, but whole journey of building a business that is challenging. Business is very dynamic and you'll be faced with new problems every day. You'll have to deal with uncertainty. You'll have to convert your "employee mindset" to a "freelancer mindset." You won't have orders, then you'll have too many. You'll have customers who won't communicate, and then customers who micromanage you every step of the way. Just when you think you have a process down, that process may just stop working (so you'll have to build a new system). You'll make mistakes, feel burnt out, struggle with your work-life balance, and question whether you are making the right decisions. New sellers, Level 1, Level 2, and even Top-Rated Sellers each have their own struggles. There are rewards of freelancing life, too. You can be your own boss. You can be appreciated for your work. You can increase your prices and change your services when you want. You have more flexibility on when and where you work. If this is the lifestyle you want, then the challenges don't seem too bad. 😊

@fadiahamed - Your friend can contact Payoneer via their Live Chat here: https://payoneer.custhelp.com/app/chat/chat_launch I found them to be really helpful when I have issues. I agree with @strategist_ceo that your funds are probably in your friend's Payoneer account. As long as it's linked to Fiverr, the funds will transfer there, even if your friend is blocked from his account. If your friend is blocked, it's usually because something has to be verified on the Payoneer account. So your friend will need to contact Payoneer to find out what that is.

As soon as possible, let the buyer know that the requested changes are outside of the scope of the order and add the revisions as a gig extra. I did notice that you offer $10 for extra revisions, so you could go with that price. I agree with @mariashtelle1 - it would be nice if you could define what a revision is in your FAQs and/or gig description. You did clearly define the scope of services that are included (i.e., proofreading and line editing), so you can reference those when informing the buyer that the changes are outside of the scope of your services. The only issue I see is that during the order you agreed to add in humor, which falls under content editing (not proofreading or line editing), so the buyer might question why you were open to making those changes and not the changes requested in the revision request. Both appear to be outside of the scope of your services.

Hi @rudra_dey, No matter what category you are in, you will reduce your competition by niching down and targeting a smaller and more specific group of customers. Assess your skills and see which group of customers you can cater to the best.

When you view your profile in edit mode, scroll down the left sidebar (below your profile picture) and edit your bio. This will be above the "Language" section: In edit mode, it'll look like this (this is my view):

I would cancel the extension request now (or right before the delivery time expires) and then reissue a new extension request. This will give you a couple of days for the buyer to respond. As long as the extension request is sent before the delivery expires, the buyer can accept it and the order won't be considered late. I would also put in a ticket requesting CS to reach out to the buyer so that she can respond to your request. CS has been good at reaching out to non-responsive buyers and making them respond.

Hi @meh_mood_ahmed, It can take a while (even several months or more) to get that first order. Also, spammers/scammers often will target new sellers who may be more desperate for orders. I'm glad you can recognize them for what they are. Don't fall into their trap. Immediately mark them as spam. The good news is, if spammers can find you, that means you are visible to real buyers, too. Keep responding to messages in your inbox, and when legitimate buyers come your way, pay attention to what they have to say. They will give you valuable insight into how you can improve your services (and may also give you ideas for other gigs you can launch).

This is where I believe cancelations can hurt you. Two months ago, I had a lot of cancelations (initiated by me) because the buyers ordered the wrong package (a higher one) and so I cancelled the orders and reissued new custom orders at cheaper prices (which the buyers accepted). This was my worst month of cancelations and it was before the new policy came out, so these cancelations put my ORC to 90%. However, since my cancelations were in the best interest of my buyers (and they were all happy that I was willing to cancel so that they could get a package more reflective of their needs), I saw an increase in impressions and in Fiverr's Choice orders. It didn't take long for my ORC rate to get back up. Based what I see on the forum, a negative private review is devastating. It can affect you for 90 days or more, and some sellers never recover. I'd rather take a cancelation hit (and a seller demotion) than a negative private review. I did have one more cancelations that brought my ORC to 88%, but the new cancelation policy rolled out at that time, so I got lucky on that one. Customer Support had to adjust my ORC for me because the buyer accepted my new order before canceling the previous order first. This is based on my experience. I've had CS cancel projects for me that they said wouldn't hurt my ORC, and it did. In those instances, I immediately went back to CS and they adjusted my ORC rate for me (I had to reopen the tickets). They can get careless/busy sometimes, so I always double check on my end.

HI @majidshowghi, what do you suggest that we do? Whenever I run into sellers who are obviously not using original content, violate ToS, or have questionable quality, I flag them and report them immediately. Sometimes Fiverr takes down their accounts on the the same day, sometimes it takes longer. That's the only thing that I've been doing to help improve the quality of the Fiverr platform (besides trying to over services of the highest quality). If you can think of anything else, please let us know! It also looks like Fiverr is taking a tougher stance on quality and copyrights. They just recently updated their ToS and Community Standards and have been denying a lot of new accounts for "poor quality." I also noticed that there are also many existing sellers who are being shut down when they update their gigs because it triggers something in Fiverr system (so it appears Fiverr is trying to be more strict there). I think Fiverr's move away from Buyer Requests is also helping to improve the overall quality of sellers on the platform because we can now report sellers who try to misuse the Brief & Match system. There is still a lot of questionable sellers on the platform, but I'm optimistic that Fiver is moving in a better direction and all of these changes (and hopefully future changes) will help ensure that the talented, honest, and high quality sellers are rewarded and the get-rich-quick, dishonest, and low quality sellers fall by the wayside.

I'm not sure who is the seller here. Are you (or your sister) a U.S. citizen? If so, no matter where you live in the world, you have to report your income to the U.S. government. So you'll have to fill out that W-9 form. There are hefty fines placed for companies that don't ask U.S. citizens to submit a W-9 form (especially if you make more than $600/year). I'm a U.S. citizen in Japan, so I had to provide a W-9 form. I also file taxes for both the U.S. and Japan.

Hi @elementor_wasim, if it's just your ORC that is low, you should only be demoted to Level 1. Then next month, if your stats are back up, you can be a Level 2 seller again.

Hi @triumphpublish, many ghostwriters are writing for other buyers, so the copyrights wouldn't belong to them. If they do have their own writing, I'm not sure if they would want to list it on your site. It might be better to ask your ghostwriters for pre-made examples of their writing or do small test orders to verify their skills before using them for your larger projects.

Hi @alekseo21, it already looks like Fiverr hand-picked you as a "Rising Talent," so you are already getting promoted. So, Congratulations! 🎉 The Rising Talent badge should give you a nice, temporary boost in exposure, so take advantage of this time to get many orders, make good deliveries, and create happy, repeat customers.

My research was to take a look at your gig and look over all of your reviews. My intention was to see if you did have a case to present to Customer Support. However, with 2 reviews that say pretty much the same thing, it is very unlikely for Customer Support to remove that review. I'm not trying to argue, just trying to help. This is the same process I would be going through if it were my own gig and reviews. I still don't think I offered useless or nonsense advice but let me try to provide something more helpful for you. I did visit your forum profile and read through every single one of your posts to help me understand your situation better so that I can be more of help to you. I noticed two myths propagated in all of your writing: 1) Customer Support always sides with the buyer, and 2) It is bad to cancel an order. 1) Myth#1: Customer Support always sides with the buyer I also thought that Customer Support always sided with the buyer when I first started out and didn't reach out to them for several months. As a result, I allowed myself to put up with terrible buyers (like the buyers you mentioned) and letting my seller stats get hit because of buyer-caused cancelations. Once I started reaching out to Customer Support, I found out that they are really helpful for sellers - especially in dealing with buyer-related issues. I even received payment from Fiverr on a canceled order because I had pre-delivered some work that the buyer had access to. If you ever have an issue with a buyer, always reach out to Customer Support for help. 2) Myth #2: It's bad to cancel an order Don't allow yourself to put up with unnecessary requirements or treatment. I've made that mistake, too. Dealing with bad buyers can result in cancelations and bad reviews. You could have immediately canceled the order that requested for work in Bedrock instead of Java because it was outside of the scope of your services. By agreeing to do work that you don't normally do (it appears it was the first time you worked with Bedrock), you opened the door for a negative review and an unhappy buyer. Also, your spider senses were sending off alarms with that "yo wake up I got a order for ya" buyer, so you could have canceled right then and there. You shouldn't be afraid to cancel orders if they are outside of the scope of your services or if you don't feel comfortable working with a buyer. It's nice to get reviews from "serious people," but there will always be buyers who seemingly don't care about their order and have a lack of interest. Sometimes they are just really busy with other things going on and they ignore everything about the project (including the delivery and don't even leave a review). Sometimes they are really rude and wonder why you are asking questions. And other times, they will just respond with really short answers that don't really add value, such as "TY" and "OK" when you asked an open-ended question. So when those buyers actually leave a response, you do need to address them in a professional manner so that future buyers will see you in a good light. Sure, if you don't mind hearing more from me. 😊 I think both of your responses to the above reviews were similar, so I'll use this one as an example: Notes: I would avoid words in ALL CAPS because that makes your response appear unprofessional and emotionally charged. It looks like shouting. It also looks like you are attacking the buyer, which could scare away other buyers. I also think you mentioned too much information. All the buyer stated was "wouldn't buy again but it was decent." The response is really for future buyers, so an alternative response could be: This review was unexpected because the only feedback I received from the buyer was that "It looks really good!" After the third positive response from the buyer, and no other feedback or revision requests, we closed the order in agreement that the end product was absolutely amazing. It was disappointing to find out that buyer felt otherwise. I always reach out to my buyers and depend on their honest feedback to ensure that the delivery meets their expectations.

Hi @greentyt, As hurtful as it is to have this buyer throw this at you, this is the second buyer in 3 months to say that they wouldn't buy your gig again and that the work was decent, so there might be some truth in what the buyer is saying. Your responses to both of the reviews could also be better if you want to look good to future buyers.

Hi @elleo1, as @zeus777 mentioned, data entry is extremely competitive and the only way to eliminate the competition is to differentiate yourself from all the other sellers who are offering data entry (including myself). I noticed you don't have a bio written, and that's one way that you can differentiate yourself from other data entry specialists. I did notice in your gig that you mentioned you have 25 years of experience. Maybe you could talk more about your experiences in your bio. I did corporate training for 17 years and was an ESL teacher for 3 years, so the customers that I attract to my data entry gig are teachers and educators. Since I attract teachers and educators, I also opened up more gigs to cater to their needs - Research & Summaries, Curriculum Designs, PowerPoint Designs, and Writing Services. Most of my customers will place orders with at least 3-4 of my gigs that I have listed. Try use your experiences to see which customers you should target and create several gigs catered to them.

The only negative impact is if you pick keywords that don't represent your services, and it's only negative if you do nothing about it. You should always be monitoring your keywords for effectiveness and making appropriate changes. The marketplace is dynamic and changing, and you should be able to change with it. If your keywords are working for you, you don't need to change them. If they aren't, try to find better keywords to use.

@shamrock202, posting gigs should be the least of your worries. You are only allowed to have 1 account on Fiverr. Having more than one account is in violation of Fiverr ToS and all 4+ of your accounts are at risk of being shut down. If shut down, you will not be allowed to create an account with Fiverr again.