omnilegentangel

I still dont' understand charging the Buyer for the tip AND the seller. As a Buyer, the lowest amount you can tip is $5. I've paid $2.38 on top of the $5 just to give the tip. That's a total of $7.38. Then, as a Seller, Fiverr takes out 20% of the tip. When I've received a $20 tip, I'm only getting $16 of that tip. So if Fiverr is charging half of the tip to the Buyer ($10) and I'm being charged 20% of the tip ($4), that means Fiverr is making $14 on a $20 tip. That seems a bit much to me. Just my thoughts.

Hello All: I achieved a new level on Fiverr (Level One) and wanted to share my experience. I started on Fiverr in July 2022 as a Sensitivity Reader and Beta Reader. After receiving more clicks on my Sensitivity Reader gig, I quickly put all of my energy into that gig and started receiving inquiries about two months later. I got my first sale almost three months into being on Fiverr. I removed the Beta gig so that I could refine it as I had refined the Sensitivity gig but became so busy with personal things, I never found the time to go back to it so I've had only the Sensitivity gig up since about October 2022. My Sensitivity gig is not among the cheapest and this may be why I don't receive that many requests. However, for the work I give the client, I know I am underpriced compared to Sensitivity Readers outside of Fiverr (about 3x less for what I provide). In the year since becoming a Sensitivity Reader, I've received nine orders and one order for being a Beta Reader (with the Beta Reading being the cheapest order). Each month, I had to wait until my "review" date to show that I had achieved whatever milestone I was trying to achieve to move to Level One (because even when you achieve the milestone, i.e., you get ten sales, or you earn whatever amount of money you need to earn to move to the next level, it doesn't show until after your review date). I achieved my Level One Seller status toward the latter part of July 2023, however, I did not see the status reflected on my account until August 15th (one day after my normal monthly review date of Aug 14th). During the year of selling my gigs, I received a total of $1657 (after all fees were deducted). Dividing that by 12 months gives me a total of making $138/month. That may seem small for most, and you certainly can't make a full-time job with this amount of money. However, I'm only looking to make about $500/month to help with expenses as I have other income. $500/month would pay for my business expenses and provide me with about an extra $250-$300/month in profit (after all federal and state tax considerations). I've found I get about ONE sale/month (again, I believe this is due to my prices being on the higher end of the Fiverr price spectrum for my gig, but again, my prices are very low compared to Sensitivity readers outside of Fiverr and I know I'm worth it!). Plus, the emotional strain of this gig is priceless but I love helping others to improve our world. My reviews prove this point. I've never taken advantage of the offers suggested by Fiverr (i.e., to pay to have my gigs "pushed up to the top," or to have my money sent to me early). I'm already paying 20% of my earnings on each sale and to me, that's enough. But I believe we all have to do what we think is best for our business. I wrote this article to give folks who are wondering what the path may be to becoming a Level One Seller and to provide encouragement. I enjoy doing Sensitivity Readings because I know it will make a difference in the world. At least I hope it does if the writers take my suggestions. That to me is worth more than money (although I also want to earn more). I believe I can earn more once I add more gigs, but I don't want to overwhelm myself either. I have a better handle on how Fiverr works (especially features such as messaging, extensions, reviews, customer support, etc). Those are all learning curves and I'm still learning - never stop learning or staying up to date on Fiverr Forums (they're great). I don't know how long I might stay on Fiverr since I'm a writer myself and have a few projects going on that are very time-consuming. I also know that I could make much more for the work I do by going private. I do like that I don't have to search for clients by using Fiverr but again, I'm not trying to become a millionaire on here (although I've heard you can!); I'm just trying to have a decent wage for the work I do. I hope this gives another seller out there some inspiration and some encouragement. If your gigs aren't making what you want, go back to the drawing board and either revise them or exchange them for new gigs. I whole-heartedly believe you can make a living wage on here but you have to commit to changing hats once in a while and/or changing your prices until people trust you enough to pay you more. If anyone has any questions for me on my journey or my gig (remember, I'll be changing that to more than one in the future), I would be happy to answer. I wish you all continued success! Angela

CONGRATULATIONS!

I am a Seller and I'm also a Buyer (but I'm a Seller more than I am a Buyer). As a Seller, I've always received a tip for my work (of which I am grateful). However, as a recent Buyer, I was given the opportunity to provide my Seller with a tip. Naturally, I applaud being able to give a good Seller a tip when they have done good work. But when I went to give the tip, I was sent back a message that I had to pay extra money to send the tip because it was for Fiverr's administrative costs to give the tip to the Seller. If this is the case, then why is the Seller also charged? I'm really confused as to how this fee can be charged on both ends. Can anyone provide an explanation? Ty. Happy Selling and Buying! Angela

Wow, you can be a critique partner on Fiverr too? That's awesome. (OR, are you saying you're a Critique partner off of the platform)? Lol

Gotcha! No worries; totally understand.

Sorry guys, please skip the "WIP or published works question." I'm not trying to have anyone violate any Fiverr rules by posting something that could directly/indirectly take people off of the platform!!

Hello Everyone! I started on Fiverr on July 1, 2022 so my 1-year Fiverr anniversary is almost here. My goal was to become a Level One Seller within one year (while earning at least a decent amount of supplemental income so that I could work on my dream at the same time). I just accepted my 10th client (the last requirement I had to fulfill to become a Level One Seller). Thankfully, I will achieve this goal once my current order has been completed. Although it's been a long road, I'm proud of what I've accomplished (since I only concentrated on ONE gig for most of the time I've been on the platform). I made three other gigs but removed them within a few months of starting because (a) I reviewed my stats and noticed that my main gig was the one people gravitated to the most, (b) I realized it my main gig was the one I enjoyed the most because I believed in my ability to help Buyers AND their customers the most, and (c) I wanted to continue to create the best quality product I could create (and that took more time to achieve). I wish I could say I earned a boatload of money (I didn't) but I DID earn a very decent amount of supplemental income (while still helping others AND having the time and energy to work on MY dream: writing my first novel). THIS was MY goal; it may not be YOUR goal. I want to tell every new Fiverr Seller that you CAN use this platform to achieve what YOU want to achieve! If you want super sales, create more gigs and make sure that your performance matches your prices (which also matches your marketing strategies). If you want supplemental income only (because you're doing more outside things, such as having an outside job or working an outside career), then figure out the amount of time you can reasonably commit to becoming the BEST representative of the gig/s you have created. If you're not getting clients and/or receiving non-stellar reviews, you MUST review YOUR skills to ensure you are at the skill level you need to be to entice new clients while performing well. In addition, you MUST review your gig stats at least once/month to see where YOUR possible clients are gravitating to and adjust your gigs accordingly. NO ONE can do this but YOU! But there are many in the forum that can help you as well. Learn from their experiences and ask for suggestions! Make YOUR plan successful by deciding on YOUR goals (NOT someone else's), making a plan, and committing to YOUR plan. I PROMISE, you WILL be successful! Good luck! YOU CAN DO IT!!

I forgot to add in my response that Fiverr has also stated that the Buyer has to meet certain criteria when posting a review regarding a cancellation. Hopefully, this will also keep frivolous reviews from being posted.

Hello Everyone! Just wanted to see how many Beta/Sensitivity/ARC readers, ghost writers, book cover/trailer designers, and/or any other person working within the Writing/Translation, etc. groups are also writers/authors of their own works? I'm an aspiring Historical Fiction author. My main subgenres will include Mystery and Romance. I would love to connect with other aspiring and/or experienced authors, book cover/trailer designers, etc. to encourage and support each other! Let me know if (a) you're an aspiring or experienced author, (b) your genre/subgenre, (c) your WIP and/or one of your most recently published works, and (d) if you're already published, if you chose to be self-published, traditionally-published or hybrid-published (and why)! Happy Writing and Reading!

From what I'm understanding, once a Buyer leaves a review, a Seller WOULD be able to respond to the review. A Seller is just not able to INITIATE a review when it comes to a cancellation. I hope I am clear on this point. If not, moderators please help me to understand!! Thx!

Well, thank you! I'm really trying! Angela

Oh Lord....I'm SO CLOSE to becoming a Level One Seller (but it's been elusive). I know it's not, but sure seems that way! I've been on Fiverr since July 1, 2022. I've worked very hard on the orders I've received (as we all do, I imagine) and I'm NOT upset about hard work! Lately, I've just been a bit discouraged. So I'm coming to those who have been there for some advice! Ok, here's the situation: currently, I have 7 orders completed and I'm working on my 8th (due early February). I've attained every other criteria to become a Level One Seller (EXCEPT for the #10 order completion requirement). I have two questions: QUESTION #1: How have you guys dealt with this issue? I don't want to feel discouraged but just trying to get to Level One seems like a HUGE and overwhelming challenge. I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong as far as being seen in the Fiverr algorithm or with Buyers being interested. I've revised my gigs several times (based on tips from you guys) and I've had more Buyers (but never more than #2/month and since most Buyers are only gravitating towards one of my gigs, I recently put the others on "pause" to tweak them a little more; I had three in total). Right now, I only have the one showing. One tweak I'm thinking of doing to my current gig would be to add the type of clients I've helped (to help Buyers know the level of work I can do). The problem with this tweak is that the project I worked on hasn't been published yet (I do Sensitivity and Beta Readings) BUT the clients are well-established (New York Times bestsellers, Amazon best sellers, State Poetry Laureates, etc., and/or received other high accolades in the writing industry). I'm still trying to figure out HOW to do this tweak. QUESTION #2: Has anyone ever considered branching out on your own (and if so, HOW did you decide, WHAT time frame do you suggest to do so, and DO you do Fiverr AND your independent business at the same time)? Now, I want to be clear: I truly appreciate Fiverr for being a platform where I can gain exposure to more potential clients than I could ever have gained on my own. But it does seems challenging to attain the New Seller Level status (where I feel I would get better exposure). In addition, the 20% fee Fiverr takes from every package can be substantial (ESPECIALLY, when my two upper level packages aren't exactly cheap and, that fee doesn't stop for several levels, correct)? I'm just wondering if anyone else has any tips on trying to decide whether to devote more time on the platform if you aren't progressing to new levels within a certain period or to branch out and be totally independent (but stay on the platform as you build). I have done research into my field and find that most independent Sensitivity Readers earn three times (or more) of the amount I make on Fiverr (but they are finding their own clients via social media and other marketing strategies, neither of which I'm great at since I don't have a large social media following nor am I experienced at marketing my skills yet). In addition, I'm currently writing my first novel so my time is honestly, a bit limited. So, as you can see, this makes this a difficult topic to maneuver. Any SERIOUS comments and/or suggestions are welcome! Happy Selling! Angela

Thanks for sharing this info! The Subscription option showed up on my gig the other day. The info provided stated that there would be a way to add in discounts once I chose the subscription option. I chose (a) 3 months with a 5% discount, and (b) 6 months with a 10% discount. However, I perform Sensitivity/Beta/ARC Readings and I'm not sure how the subscription option would work with those gig choices? Normally, someone will get a reading done and then the gig is over. I really just wanted to be able to offer my returning clients a discount if they wanted to do more edits. I'm not really sure how the Subscription service would work for this type of gig when it's usually a "one and done" type of deal (but if anyone has any info, please let me know how you use this option for your Sensitivity/Beta/ARC gigs). The only thing I can really think of is if a client had a few books that they wanted a reading for (but most of the time, they're only writing one book at a time). Thanks in advance, Angela

You might be able to see the answer to your question in the Fiverr Experience Forum. I think there was a discussion there (or the Fiverr Seller Tips). How long have you been back on the site? If you're not receiving orders, were you receiving orders before? If so, maybe you have to review your gig now and "adjust". In any case, if you're an experienced Seller and you were getting orders before with decent reviews (and no TOS violations), it probably won't take you too long to get back into the "groove" of things. Much success! Angela

This is a great question and to be honest, if you don't ask yourself if you would buy from yourself, then you shouldn't expect anyone else to buy from you! I'm new to Fiverr and even I have had to sit down and say "Hey ma'am, are you actually doing the things you need to achieve what you want?" If you're not sure, what do you do? Well, I reached out to more experienced folks on this platform AND outside this platform who have actually been doing what I've started doing for a WHILE. Not days or months, but YEARS. I'm sorry but I was a "professional" in my "former" career and guess what? It took YEARS to get to that "professional" level. I learned it from the ground up and I'm glad I did because the people who took short cuts didn't last very long. I'm an "apprentice" now and that's fine; I won't be there for long if I continue to monitor myself and understand that this is a learning process AND a work process that takes TIME. Do I hope to learn quickly? Of course. Would I rather learn it the right way? Absolutely. Because when it comes down to it, I want to eventually become the master teacher for myself. Yup... that's the goal. Much success to everyone (especially, anyone new to the platform). My advice? Learn from the RIGHT people, work smarter (not harder), and be PATIENT. We'll get there. Happy Writing! Angela

Thanks guys!!!! I appreciate the encouragement. Much success to ALL of us!

Hi Everyone: I am so blessed! I finished my second order on Aug 3rd and today, the Buyer gave me a 5-star review AND a tip worth 100% of my rate (and it was my Premium package)!!! I was actually VERY surprised. I mean, I try to take my time to do the work right but STILL..... THAT big of a tip?? Shoot, I was just hoping to get another 5-star review! Now.... if I could just get more people to place an order!! I'll be working on THAT this weekend. But, I digress. I just wanted to share the good news and hope we all continue to have the success we deserve! Angela (aka, The Omnilegent Angel)

Hi Vickieito: Thanks again for all the info; it's very helpful. I got a chance to look at your gig and I was surprised to see that you also offer a Scorecard; I thought it was a very "novel" idea when I first did it (since I hadn't seen or heard of anyone else doing them before I started) but I guess great minds think alike! LOL. Personally, I think they're great to use with any type of Beta/Sensitivity Reading and offer it as a standard part of my services. They can be a lot of work but I consider them less work than line edits.. Plus, I get to pinpoint more categories than I could in a regular Reader Report for the client. I finished my second gig (on time) so I'm happy. Now.... time to catch up on my blog, redo my gig cards, and start a new gig! I'll be busy but HAPPY! Thanks again, Angela

Hi Vickieito: Oh my goodness, you are awesome!! I appreciate you SO MUCH for looking over my gig when you could have been making money. THANK YOU! I will return the favor one day I promise! You're such a wealth of knowledge!! lol. Yes, I actually started following smashradio yesterday; I now follow 4 people. For now, that's enough; I don't like to have too many cooks in the kitchen, ok? Plus, I like to be an "engaged" follower and you can't do that when you're following too many folks. Ok, so I am blown away by all of your great suggestions. I don't want to throw more on your plate than you can handle, but maybe you should set up a "job coaching" gig? lol. Think about that ma'am! Alright, back to the task at hand: 1. I have NO clue about some of the things you mentioned (i.e., Buyer Briefs; Flickr, or Live Gallery). Of course I'm willing to learn (once I figure out WHERE the heck to learn them from AND from whom!). I'm assuming I can learn about Buyer Briefs here on Fiverr; the others, I don't have a clue and there's nothing worse than learning from people who don't know what the heck they're talking about. Ouch!! 2. I got a request from a Buyer (once) via the Buyer Request tool (but it was for something I had NO clue about so I denied that one). I actually look at this at least 1-2 times/day everyday but I never see anything listed? I don't know if: (a) I don't have it set to notify me, (b) I'm not getting them because I only have two types of gigs up, or (c) it's broken. I've read a few posts that talked about it being down? I just don't know. Whenever I check it, it only shows that I can do up to 10 responses. I've only seen requests up there ONCE and they were all for things I didn't feel qualified to perform. 3. Once I get finished with this order, I'm DEFINITELY going to put your suggestions into action. You have a lot (which is good) so it might take me a few days. i want to know what I'm changing and change it all at once because everytime I have made a change to my gig, it seems to go through a whole "re-generation" process and I get placed somewhere on the last few pages of the actual gig. I really like the Extras you suggested; I'll pick the best two for me since I think right now, I can only add in two "self-made" extras. The problem here is the pricing. As a new seller, I can only go up to $20 for my pricing. As you know, reading a book (and even just doing in-line comments/reactions) can be time consuming. I don't want to ever be late on ANY project but to price some extras at $20 would probably keep me from offering more of my time to even do other projects. Once I get to a Level One Seller, I'll be able to offer more services at a rate that would help reduce this conflict. 4. I definitely want to offer In-line editing (as I see a lot of Readers offering this service and I've always believed that by not offering this service, I'm losing out on Buyers who want it all). Right now, I'm learning the process since I've edited manuscripts before but not in the way I believe an author of a book would need. And because I'm NOT the kind of person to offer something I'm not good at (or even worse, have no clue about), I just think it would create a bad reputation which is something I really won't allow! I've been looking at Reedsy to learn about the process so I'm confident I'll be able to offer it soon. I definitely think offering other types of editing (i.e., developmental editing, etc.) would help show Buyers I have more services to offer (and become more of a "one-stop" shop). I've tried watching YouTube videos on certain editorial processes but there's SO MANY differing opinions on how to do editing that it gets to be confusing. I'm also looking at Skillshare and Udemy to see if they may have any courses specific to this skillset (but to me, it's almost like a secret society or something)! lol. If you have any suggestions on where to learn some of the more common skills used by all Readers (Beta, Sensitivity, Alpha, Gamma, and/or ARC), PLEASE pass let me know! 5. Ok. so the other issue that I forgot to ask about concerns pricing. I don't want to price myself out of the market once I add in more specialized services (like line editing, developmental editing, etc.) but in my opinion, there doesn't seems to be any "rhyme or reason" as to how to convey to Buyers that you're willing to work at a reasonable rate (when they clearly see you have the skills to earn more than most people on Fiverr are charging). I even think my gigs are being passed over because they just DON'T believe I would do the amount of work I stated I would do for the price I'm charging!! But I will, I will!!! LOL. Idk; pricing is such a delicate tight rope. lol 6. Ok, I HAD to bring this one up: HOW in the world did you do 87 orders in a month??? Did you hire help or not sleep or what?? I'm so afraid this might happen to me one day so you HAVE to tell me how you handled that one! I probably would have had a heart attack!! Wow!! 7. Finally, I guess as a new seller, I just don't feel as confidence as I want to feel. I know confidence comes in time by actually doing the work but it's still hard. I was a professional in a certain field for more than 25 years and could do that work with my eyes closed! But, I digress. Although I'm pretty much using the same skills, I know it's "a new day and a new adventure" which is why I'm SO appreciative of the information I get from this forum (and ESPECIALLY from people like you, smashradio, bigspaniard, and williambryan392). Sorry this was long and I have to get back to work to finish this second order ON TIME. You TRULY, TRULY have been a HUGE help to me and if no one ever tells you so, I want you to know that YOU... ARE... SPECIAL....AND.....YOU....ARE....SO APPRECIATED!!! I wish you all the success you can handle!! Angela

Hi there! Thanks for responding. I will definitely check out your article and yes....Vickietto is great; she gives great advice (and so do YOU)! Thanks again!!

Hello Everyone: I'm trying to get some advice on what I can do to improve my gig. Currently, I have two gigs up (but I'm thinking of removing my Resume service gig because it's just not getting ANY Clicks or Orders); I think my efforts may be better utilized on the gig that IS getting a few Clicks and Orders. I constantly receive Impressions on both gigs but a very miniscule amount of Clicks and Orders. I received two orders on my Beta/Sensitivity Reading gig (the one I'm keeping) but I haven't received any new orders since starting the second order and it's almost finished. I received a 5 star rating on the first order. I was VERY happy because I put a LOT of work into it and I want to do the same for every order! My goal is to keep at least one order in my queue at all times (so that I can have something "in the works"). During my first week on Fiverr (July 1st-8th of this year), I received a bad response rate. This was caused by using the Fiverr phone app only (and not being notified that I had a message for TWO days). I found this out because one day, I signed into Fiverr from my laptop to see if there was something I could do to improve my gig when I noticed I had a red circle by the Message tab. The message had NEVER shown up on the Fiverr phone app!! I reached out to Fiverr Support for assistance (but I never received a response). Eventually, I got on the Forum (plus watched a few Youtube videos) and everyone kept advising to reinstall the app (which I did). I guess the problem is fixed because I starting seeing messages (but I STILL check my phone AND my computer almost every hour now because I'm so paranoid about missing a message)! As you can probably realize, it's been a HUGE battle to improve my response rate (EVEN THOUGH I respond to EVERY message as soon as I get on). Luckily, my response rate HAS improved (from 2 days to 11 hours) after answering a couple of messages (the only way I can seem to improve my rate). I know it could be a huge red flag so I really need to start getting more messages from potential Buyers just to improve my rate. However, that's an issue right now since I'm not receiving messages. Even the spammers have stopped spamming me in order for me to answer THEIR questions to improve my rate!! LOL While I wait for my response rate to improve, I've tried reviewing my gig to see if there are other things I could improve on to increase my Click and Order rates. I'm putting a link to my gig below and would really appreciate it if you guys could review it and send me any tips on how to improve. https://www.fiverr.com/share/EX7A7y I will be adding a new gig for writing blog posts after I finish this second order (since I've heard you should try to put up as many gigs as you're allowed). I do feel there's a "fine line" between getting enough orders yet not getting overwhelmed at the same time. For now, I just want to work on improving this gig so that the next one I decide to add has all of the "essentials" it needs to succeed. **PS - I originally had a video up with the gig but decided to "tweak" it; when I took it down, I actually got MORE impressions, clicks and orders. Go figure.* Thanks in advance for ANY advice! Angela

Oh wow, this is GREAT info guys! Thanks so much for sharing.

Hi Vickieito: Well, I enjoy reading both of YOUR posts and now, I finally figured out how to follow BOTH of you (you're the only two people I'm following right now; I don't like to just follow people without a purpose, you know?). Plus, I've been reading your messages since I started. Ok, so just to follow up on something bigspaniard said: I guess I'm not understanding when you would know that a Fiverr client has found you outside of the platform? Besides them stating that they saw you on Fiverr or sending you a message to your Fiverr Inbox, how would you know this info? I'm asking because I did promote myself recently on my Facebook and Twitter pages but I'm also in the process of setting up a website to try to obtain my own clients as well. Thanks for any help! Sorry about all the questions. Angela

Awesome, and THANK YOU! I'll go to my inbox name to follow you! And you are your name; embrace it for YOU!