vickieito

Thanks for the screenshot @aaryan_727! @ana_tomy - Can you help @aaryan_727? CS may not be helpful because they often ignore any type of request coming from a restricted account (until the review period is over). Since the email states the OP can make a withdrawal, the OP should. Thanks in advance for all your help! (And welcome to the Forum! It's good to see you here!) 😊

Why not now? You have been a seller for 5 years now, which much longer than I have (I published my first gig in Nov 2021), so I feel you already have invaluable experience on the platform and can really share your experiences on how the market changes over time. I would love to hear your experiences!

Hi @aaryan_727, From what I've seen on the forum, if your account is restricted, you will not be able to make a withdrawal until your account review is complete (this usually takes 60-90 days). Once the review is complete, you should get instructions on how to make a withdrawal. At that time, you should also be able to set up a new withdrawal method.

Hi @rajasain72 - This is normal. Business is dynamic, so you can't expect it to be bustling along all the time. There will be some slow periods. I had several gigs that didn't have new clients for 6-9 months. During those times, I was really grateful for the repeat clients that I had, and that I was offering a diverse range of skills (so when one gig was down, another was going strong). Take care of your repeat buyers because they'll keep you going until business comes back up. It's also good not to put all your eggs in one basket - make sure that Fiverr isn't your only source of income. Fiverr was my only source of income until last fall. Even though I could continue that way, once I diversified my income, my stress levels went down and opportunities from unexpected places started popping up. I'm currently reconnecting with my colleagues that I worked with for more than a decade ago, and have remote projects that I can work on with them.

Hi @zaeema_nazir!⬆️I agree with @ana_tomy - this is the one thing that helped me most when I was a newbie seller with zero sales and zero orders. Although only select sellers have the Portfolio option, ALL sellers have the gig gallery that they can take advantage of. New sellers have the most to gain from utilizing ALL of the gig gallery options - the gig video, 3 photos, and 2 PDFs. This your business card to buyers and this is what gives you credibility in lieu of reviews and orders. New sellers also have the time to really develop their portfolio (and hone their skills!), so take the time to create new samples to show off what you can do. Start with an engaging gig video that clearly explains your service and highlights your unique selling points. According to Fiverr, this increases user engagement with your potential buyers by 40%. Select a frame that you can set for your gig thumbnail - this is what buyers will see when your gig shows up in search. Buyers only have a few seconds to decide to click on your gig, so make sure your thumbnail has a title that clearly describes your service (1-3 words long) and relevant images. Right now, it's hard to know what service you're offering just by looking at your gallery, so make this crystal clear to your visitors. I also noticed that you don't have any PDFs in your gig galleries - add them. PDFs can showcase a ton of portfolio samples. You can also use it to help the buyers (I used to have a "Top 10 Tips for Getting Started on Fiverr" PDF for my buyers in each gig gallery because the platform can be a little tricky (and doing business on Fiverr is different from anywhere else). Buyers will appreciate the time you take to help them out. And when they see a portfolio sample that resonates with them, they will contact you in your inbox to learn more. Make sure you are always keeping the buyer in mind and try to find out ways to make things easier for them.

This would explain the increased inquiries from irrelevant buyers. This also increased the amount of time I spent answering questions from buyers who weren't relevant, so even though they were very interested in placing an order, I had to kindly tell them that I didn't provide the services they were requesting and turn them away. Although this shows higher buyer engagement, I feel bad because it was a waste of those buyers' time to chat with me. If the conversion rate was from gig to inbox, it did increase (in the form of higher inquiries from buyers). I think the Portfolio section helps a lot because that section is pretty big and hard to miss. I do like how our Portfolios are highlighted. Although I don't have a seller video, I do notice that most of my high-dollar clients will always request a Zoom meeting first to discuss their specific needs and projects. Since the Portfolio section is highlighted (and seller profiles now look very empty without it), it would be nice if more sellers could have this feature to show off what they can do. This is probably the best part of the new profile layout. Currently, new sellers (without orders) can only have this feature if they have the Rising Talent badge. Level 1 & Level 2 sellers only have it if their account is "selected" to have it (probably based on seller metrics). All TRS and Pro sellers have this feature. I was a Level 2 seller for the longest time without the My Portfolio section (but all writing gigs at the time had a huge gallery to show off work samples). Now that there are several categories that have a very small gig galleries, it might be nice to offer the Portfolio section to more sellers or at least make it available by paid subscription.

Hi @Kesha! I'll have to admit that it was really hard for me to come to terms with this new layout over the past year. I grumbled a lot because I really liked the old layout. I thought the old way provided a better "snapshot" to buyers without them having to click so much to expand all the different sections. After seeing your post, I did update my seller profile, but it was to include less information. My seller intro was condensed to three lines (so buyers don't have to "Read more") and the number of skills that I have listed was pared down to five (so buyers don't have to click on the "Show more" to expand the skills section). I also deleted a bunch of certifications so that buyers would not have to scroll down to see more if they clicked on the "More about me" button. I'm now happy with this new look but deleted a lot of information about myself in the process. I know the goal was to increase buyer engagement with seller web pages but I found most buyers weren't expanding the sections to read more (especially in the gig descriptions). I do like how big the portfolio samples are and those samples are getting seen by buyers. 😊 While this is good move for the seller profile (which should emphasize the seller), this was not a good move for the gig page (which should emphasize the service). Because I didn't like how the new gig view emphasized the seller instead of the service, I switched all my subcategories so that I could retain the "old" gig page view - the view that emphasizes the service being provided, the gallery samples, and allows all buyers to read the entire gig description without clicking more to expand the section. I felt this change was necessary because I received so many spammy and irrelevant messages from buyers who were not reading my gig descriptions after the new gig page view was implemented. I can see why Fiverr is trying to make all gigs look like Pro gigs. However, the increased engagement is probably due to the increased clicking that is required to read all the content. As for conversion rates, I know mine fell with the new seller-focused layout for my gigs. Buyers weren't reading past the few lines of the gig description that was shown. So I reverted back to the old view and had better conversion rates. I'll have to adjust if all gigs eventually revert to this new gig view.

Hi @hamidur_rahmaan, You are assuming that everyone should have more than one gig. Some sellers do very well with just one gig. Every seller has a unique set of skills, experience, and background so this should be taken into account. Look at your skillsets and pay attention to what buyers are attracted to your gig. Modify your strategy if you are attracting the wrong buyers. Listen to what the buyers are asking for and if you can provide those services, go ahead and make those gigs. Pay attention to your workload and if you can handle the orders from different gigs. Sometimes it can be hard to context shift from one gig to another (such as a writing-based gig to a design-based one), so monitor your performance and make sure that you are maximizing your time. I used to offer a lot more design-related services but decided to concentrate on technical writing because that's where I get the most Earnings. Go ahead and experiment and "try" out new gigs. You can always pause or delete the gigs that are not performing as well.

Hi @Lena, How was the ticket worded? CS still thinks we are disputing the warning but we are reporting a separate violation (this time by the buyer): I've seen an increase in this type of behavior being reported on the forum but it doesn't look like CS is taking this as seriously as the Community Standard would like us to think. Here's another similar case that was reported within days of this one: These two cases are similar in that the buyer was requesting additional work and then "reported" the sellers for delivering partial deliveries. Although I believe the sellers should be taking as much precaution as possible to ensure a full delivery - both issues stemmed from the buyer first asking for additional (free) work and then the buyer not being satisfied and "reporting" the seller. Unfortunately for both of these sellers, Fiverr did validate the violations (but seemed to overlook the unacceptable buyer behavior). So the sellers were given warnings and the buyers' behaviors are only being "considered" (as the CS agent stated above). @technase summed up his feelings in this statement here: With the recent changes to Fiverr's cancelation policy (allowing reviews on canceled orders), updates to the review system (making it easier for buyers to rate sellers lower), and increased reports (at least in the forum) of sellers who were reported by unsatisfied buyers who were asked to do more free work, sellers may be less likely to stand up for themselves when buyers do ask for more work because they do not feel that Fiverr will protect them if they stand their ground. Part of this may be lack of knowledge on the sellers' part but I also wonder if Fiverr would have supported them if no issues were found with their delivery button. @Kesha, Many sellers seem to be getting warnings about partial deliveries, and most of them are doing the full work (and buyers are receiving it) - yet they were found to have made partial deliveries. So there's a knowledge gap that many sellers have. This might be a good time for Fiverr to make a post about partial deliveries, common violations, and to reiterate Fiverr's expectations on how deliveries are to be made, especially when the work can't be delivered by attachment because work is done on another platform or application. Are the sellers with violations only including links (but no attachments)? Or are they sending a screenshot of the work with a link (and that's not enough)? If the latter is the case, I'd like to know what is acceptable. Thanks!

Hi @amcallisaya! This is correct. ⬆️ I would also add that you should follow the time limit provided by Fiverr's online platform. Buyers shouldn't be able to come back a month later asking for another revision (because they didn't use any of their revisions on the order). Once an order is closed, those revisions expire and a new order should be placed for any additional work. No, you are free to refuse any work, for any reason. I do try to take care of my clients but will direct them to make changes themselves if they are getting nitpicky on points that are more related to personal style preferences than the style guide that we agreed to follow. No, but if you use Word, you can just use the "Compare" feature from the "Review" tab to pull up the file you delivered and compare it against the file changed by the buyer. This feature will redline all the changes for you so that you can quickly review the changes, even if the document is 100+ pages. If you want the buyers to highlight their changes, they can do it in this same manner. If you want to see how a successful proofreader mentions their revision policy in their FAQs, you should check out @vickiespencer's gigs. She does a great job communicating this to potential buyers.

I can see your response @stinekoch and I think it shows clearly that the buyer was trying to threaten and manipulate you to do work for free. Fiverr recently started allowing reviews on canceled orders. Although I wouldn't dispute your warning, I think you could also report the buyer for their uncalled-for behavior, since that is a separate issue (and should be reported in a separate ticket). It will confuse CS if you include this dispute with your current ticket. They aren't the greatest at multi-tasking. It is against Fiverr's Community Standards for buyers to threaten a seller to do extra work for free: Not only did the buyer threaten to leave negative feedback to try to get you to do extra work for free, they also canceled the order (taking all of the work you did do for free) and took extra retaliatory steps by reporting you. Although Fiverr did end up finding a violation, this behavior by the buyer is not acceptible and should be reported. You should be able to include the screenshots of all your conversations. @Lena do you think you can help @stinekoch with this? Thank you!

Hi @hamidur_rahmaan, Unfortunately there isn't a one answer that fits all sellers because everyone has different gigs and pricing structure. So take a look at your gigs and determine a price that represents your services and monitor the briefs that you get (when they start coming in). It took me several months before I got my first brief (initially set at $50). I now have it set at $200 and may continue to raise it since my brief orders can be more than that. I also saw on the forum that some sellers set the price at $50 but then found that they got more briefs at $5. So monitor how many briefs you get. I haven't seen anyone who gets most of their orders through briefs (unlike the buyer requests, where there were sellers who were fully dependent on this feature). Plan on getting the majority of your orders through organic search and repeat buyers, and a few buyer brief orders in between.

Hi @jessica_chi, I used to create offers because I thought reaching out to the client in the inbox was spammy. However, I found out (through conversations with buyers on the forum and my own experiences) that I have a higher conversion rate when I send a single message to the buyer with my own quote. Don't chat with the buyer unless they respond back to that single, well-thought out quote. I found out most buyers don't really know their prices or their criteria and they are hoping that a seller will "see" what they want and need. Even if the prices are much higher than the amount listed in the brief. Most are only using the price as a placeholder. If you are a seller that can "see" what a buyer wants and needs (even if the brief lacks that info, then you'll be lightyears ahead of the sellers who will just provide quotes at the price listed on the brief. I've seen many buyers who complain that sellers are not reading their briefs and are just sending quotes all at the same prices. Be different and show that you are putting thought into your quotes (and that you are actually reading their briefs). I work off of a template and custom-tailor it to each brief that I see. This is why this has worked for me: 1. It is not spammy - I'm only sending my best quote based on the information the buyer submitted in the brief. I don't plan on contacting the buyer again if the buyer doesn't respond. 2. My quote show the buyer that I thoroughly read their brief and considered each point that was mentioned in the brief. It also shows that I'm aware that the brief is missing information required for a more accurate quote (and I show them several options that they can select on based on their needs). 3. I can show them relevant samples of my work, based on the brief provided (and include relevant links to the gigs or portfolios that will be of interest to them). 4. I don't send an offer, so I don't have to worry about the buyer accepting it when I may be getting a high amount of orders.

When I received the Fiverr Select invite two years ago, I reached out to CS because I read the terms of service for the program and it said that sellers are not allowed to join the program. They confirmed that I could not join, even though I received the invite. It was really tempting to click on the green "join" button! I was really sad that I couldn't join because I would have benefited from having a success manager or better resources on the buying side. Instead of losing thousands of dollars on the wrong sellers. I spend a lot of time going through the forum looking for good buyer-only threads. There aren't many. I wouldn't mind just being a fly on the wall with only "reaction" privileges if I could read and learn from content in a buyer-only forum.

Have they ordered your services in the past? If so, you can send a new message from your "Growth & Marketing" tab and "Contacts." That will let you send them a new message. Otherwise, if they are a prospective client, there's no reason to reach out to them. If they are interested in ordering, they will reach out to you in their own time. If you reach out to them, it might be considered spam. Edit: I just found out how to restore any deleted conversation in your inbox (even if the buyer hasn't placed an order with you): Type in: www.fiverr.com/inbox/username This won't work if no previous conversation exists, but it'll bring up all of your previous communications. Only message the buyer if they are expecting a response or quote from you.

Is this in your inbox? If so, once the user messages you again, all your previous messages will show up again. I delete messages all the time in my inbox because I know these messages will come back (and I want to keep my inbox clean).

Fiverr allows 40 minutes, but it took me less than 10 minutes to complete the test (as a native English speaker). If anyone takes the full 40 minutes, they are most likely not a native English speaker. I got a 9/10 doing the test (so not a perfect score - I saw several second-language learners get a higher score than me) but this hasn't affected my sales. My communication with my buyers (via inbox/order chats or Zoom calls) and work samples are more than enough to convince my buyers of my English abilities.

I think all the threads are set to close after 5 years, so it would be nicer to have a shorter timeframe. Today, I've seen @Lena lock several threads immediately after she replies to commonly asked questions, which is really nice. There's just a question and answer and the thread is closed. I also noticed Fiverr Staffers closing threads pretty quickly upon requests, especially if the responses start getting spammy. Even though Forum rule #6 hasn't ben updated Forum rule #1 states: Based on this, I'm flagging any self-promotional post, whether it has gig links or not (and these posts are getting removed very quickly).

@filipdevaere dominated his category and stood out to the Fiverr team, so Fiverr approached him and asked him to apply and become a Fiverr Pro seller. He wasn't seeking the Pro seller badge or title at the time. Just delivering quality orders and keeping his customers happy.

Here's the post that @mariashtelle1 was talking about:

Hi @ramsbass & @ammuabhirami, Congratulations for making it to Level 1! You are now competing with more serious sellers, and should work on "leveling up" your business as well. I like how @smashradio explains it in the article below: I posted my first gig 2 1/2 years after I opened my Fiverr account, so I was only a Level 1 Seller for a month. The next month I was a Level 2 seller. I became a TRS four months ago. Business has increased over time but I wouldn't say it was linear or exponential growth (more like the waves of the sea). Don't assume things get easier with higher levels. You still have to work just as hard to maintain or grow your business as a higher-level seller, possibly even more than when you were a newbie. There's also no "coasting" in freelancing. If you stop, your business stops as well. Edit: I should have checked the OP's profile before posting (since this post is over 2 years old). However, since the OP is still a Level 1 seller, I'll keep this post as-is.

I really love all the changes that have happened over the past year on the forum, especially with the increased interaction and engagement with members of the Fiverr team. It makes a difference knowing that Fiverr cares about its sellers and listens to our concerns. Agreed - some users accept advice from anyone posting on the forum, even if they have no authority or experience in what they are recommending. Others seem to think that higher forum badges equate to more success on the Fiverr platform, which is not true. I like how we can see labels on the Fiverr team (e.g., "Fiverr Staffer" or "Admin"). I wonder if Seller Level would be helpful for newbies who are getting advice on the forum.

A banner at the top that says, "Are you a buyer? Then this section is for you!" (with a link) This can lead to a closed club or forum section where buyers can feel comfortable with asking their questions (without being spammed by sellers). If a forum section, have each post approved before making it public to ensure that it doesn't turn into another "Tips for Buyer" category. Since most buyers are looking for answers quicker than CS's response (or are trying to find out how to contact CS), these posts would need to be approved fairly quickly.

It would be nice to have the "News" category in the "From the Fiverr team" section. Can we also have a dedicated section for buyers? Thanks!

Hi @victory_med, Welcome to the forum! I see that you already have your first order under your belt, so congratulations! I don't know if you have this already, but make sure to turn on your "Live Portfolio" so that buyers can see a delivery image for each review that you have (if the buyer decides to showcase their project in your gallery). This will add to the number of images in your gallery and can give you greater credibility with your buyers. High impressions and low clicks mean your gig card is being shown to buyers, but no one is interested enough to click on it (and visit your gig). Buyers only have a few seconds to decide if they want to click on your gig so make it easy for them. Your gig images should clearly state your services in 1-3 words. Right now it isn't clear what your services are just from looking at your gig video. I like how you have an image of yourself but also have a representative image of your services as well. I usually add a thumbnail image to my gig videos to make sure my gig thumbnail have these three components (title, image of self, image of service). You can select any frame to be your thumbnail image for your gig video from your "Edit Gig" function. From "Edit Gig," go to "Gallery" and hover over your video. Click on the edit feature and play your video. Pause your video on the frame you want to set as your thumbnail image and click on "Set as Preview." Once you make changes, monitor your gigs for a week to see if you start getting clicks. If not, make additional adjustments to your gig card, gallery images, gig description, and tags to see if you can generate more clicks by making changes there.