harperjohn

I think my biggest struggle is the new rating system is vague in it's determination of my success and despite having a lot of success on this platform, the recent drop in my business since the new rating system came out is making me overthink everything. I do a lot of the things being suggested in this thread, I have literally never gotten a bad public review, and somehow I just can't make as much money as I did before the rating system changed. So two really tough orders in one week and a noticeable drop in orders coming during that same time has feeling like I've hit a wall.

Thanks for the reply. I understand all of this. My dilemma is I am aware that multiple revisions can negatively impact my success score. I am aware that Fiver has stated "revisions alone will not affect your score, but they are part of many determining factors." The issue is Fiverr, as far as I'm aware, has not clarified specifically what that means. What are the other factors and what percentage do revisions contribute to it? I am not able to gage if one order has four revision requests, will Fiverr determine this as bad? I also have been charging for additional revisions and do communicate that clearly to customers both before the order is placed and if/when additional services are needed.

I have been a successful seller on this platform for about two years, and recent changes to the Seller rating system have left me unsure how to deal with somewhat difficult orders/buyers. Despite me almost always having great feedback from buyers, two recent buyers in particular seem to have come at the same time. I am truly worried that something like this will affect my Seller score and success on this platform, despite two years of 99% 5-star ratings. For the first order, the buyer has now made 4 revision requests and he is using revisions as a way to figure out what he actually wants in his final product. The buyer I am communicating with is not the only person giving feedback on my deliveries. His friend is also giving feedback, despite me having no way to communicate directly with the friend. Often these revision requests are complete changes in what the buyer asked for. The buyer requested specific details to be mentioned in his song, and now on the fourth revision request he is asking me to remove some of the original requests. All of that to say, I simply have no control over how many times this buyer can ask for a revision. As it stands, I am waiting for the Buyer to hopefully approve my now 4th delivery. I am scared if I deny a revision request, I will suffer a poor rating. Similarly, the second buyer was using revision requests as a way to figure out what he wanted from me. Despite me making efforts to fully understand the request, the buyer has been particularly difficult to satisfy. He gave me a reference recording of his own vocals and told me because he didn’t like how his vocals sounded, he wanted me to record the same lyrics. The dilemma stems from the fact that he also wanted me to record the vocals to sound like his. I struggled to find a common ground, because it was not clear how I was supposed to improve upon his recording and sound like his recording at the same time. I somehow have managed to get the two pickiest buyers I've ever had in the same week, and it is worrying me. For fear that this buyer would continue to make revision requests and negatively impact my Seller score, I asked the buyer to cancel the order. For both of these orders, I have little confidence in the buyer’s ability to communicate properly. What I am unsure about his how to handle these situations? Will my Seller score be negatively impacted for requesting buyers to cancel orders like these? Will my Seller score be negatively impacted when buyers make so many revision requests?I I've averaged a 5-star rating on this platform, getting 191 5-star ratings and three 4-star ratings (that only came when the seller rules changed), so should I have to worry that two untimely bad buyers will have a big impact on my success score? Please please please help me understand how I can navigate situations like these. I have been slowly improving my performance on the platform, but for the duration of these two orders, my performance numbers have started to go down. I try so hard to do this the right way. And all it takes is two buyers to make me feel like my livelihood will be at risk. I don't know if I'm over stressing. I've submitted a Support ticket about this but I have no idea what the reply will be. Any advice would be very much appreciated.

does anyone know if proper grammar has any effect on how Fiverr determines a Seller's communication skills? I feel I'm a good communicator but Fiverr has determined I have room for improvement. the only thing I've considered is that I don't always do things like capitalize the first letter of a sentence or I use some slang, as I typically keep things casual with buyers. i should note that the slang part only applies when I'm aware the buyer communicates in a similar way. i guess what I'm asking is does Fiverr want me to answer every message like an email? as in greeting, full sentences, traditional paragraph structure, sign off. I am aware that AI is determining some of our metrics so I wonder if this is somehow a factor. The new level system has me overthinking things 🙃

Fiverr should determine gig value by simple metrics. - reply time - public rating - conversion rate - delivery time - gig profile It's unfortunate that this model was not deemed sufficient by Fiverr. The negative side to a company going public is investors suddenly become the main focus. So the people at Fiverr have to establish continued growth in order to establish their value. And that means if the growth metrics aren't being hit, then the people at Fiverr have to establish to investors that they are making substantial changes to account for this. I think this is the root of the sudden level system change. It sounds fancy to investors and makes them feel like Fiverr is working hard to meet their goals. Too bad it is having the exact opposite effect. If it ain't broke don't fix it

What I find particularly frustrating is a lot of my revision requests are due to buyers not really knowing what they want until they get the first delivery. I do all I can to ask for specific details, but sometimes revisions are just part of the process. I mean they exist so we can make buyers happy. So I struggle to understand why they are viewed as a bad thing. It just isn't fair that Buyers seemingly have all the leverage. I mean aren't we supposed to be the professionals? Not the other way around? I understand the whole "revisions are only part of the determination and will not solely influence your score" but come on that is still having an impact on the overall score. I spent 18 months working as hard as I could to get to Top Seller. But ever since private reviews became a thing, my monthly income from this platform has continued to dwindle. Now I'm a Level 1 Seller and have seen my score go from 6 to 5 in just a week. I have no idea how. I'm still getting good feedback on orders. Not to mention people who are making more money on the platform can actually afford to cough up some extra money to promote their gigs over mine. So with all that I just feel hopeless. Another sad sign that this platform is far from a meritocracy. I was even starting to consider quitting my day job and going full time free lance, bc last Fall the money was flowing in and I saw no reasons to not believe my gig would continue to grow. Thanks goodness I didn't. Now I have to hope some algorithm I don't understand will help me out in ways I don't know how to achieve. Truly bummed out by all of this. I thought I had finally found a way to making a living doing what I love. Now I feel that slowly slipping away.

You can add me to the list of people who received a tip but the buyer somehow determined it was 4/5 star value for the money. this buyer placed a second order bc she loved the first order, tipped 25% of the cost of the second order, and didn't leave any feedback on how I can improve. She also left me two very kind and detailed public reviews. The second public review specifically praised my communication but I got 4/5 stars for communication privately. And so somehow Fiverr will determine that as a strike against the quality of my work, and my profile rating will suffer. I had never gotten less than 5 stars before this level change, and I've now gotten three 4.3 or 4.5 star ratings in three days. I say 4.3 or 4.5 bc the desktop shows my average based on three reviews is 4.5 and my phone app shows that same average to somehow be 4.3. Even something as simple as a literal average has managed to come off as vague and unclear. Now I find myself wondering if I should work with a potential repeat buyer, who A. is really pleased with my work and B. is giving me ratings that negatively impact my business. Make it make sense Fiverr, please.

Anyone who makes and sells art knows that some buyers will almost certainly undervalue the work. Simply put, people don't understand what it takes. Not only all of the time committed, but the money invested back into the art. My home studio is thousands of dollars and of course I factor that into my price point. But a buyer may never even consider that, much less have the knowledge necessary to understand the process. I mean if they understood what it took, then they would just do it themselves right? For a lot of buyers, this is there first time even thinking about a budget and what that constitutes. So why should they get to determine the monetary value of what they already agreed to pay for? That is determined at the point of sale. It feels as if we are being treated as a product and not a service provider. I'm truly shocked at the lapse in judgement. A platform that's entire purpose is freelance doesn't understand the life of a freelancer. Ask anyone outside this platform that sells art. Everyone knows what it feels like to be dm'd by a potential customer who wants great work for a low price, because they simply have never considered it before.

I have 180 reviews on Fiverr and up until the rule changes I had never gotten less than 5 stars. Now in just 48 hours I've already gotten two 4 star ratings, in part due to the new "value" metric. I was eligible to be a TRS and have been for 3 months. I was a Level 2 Seller for almost 1 year, and now suddenly I'm a Level 1 Seller again. The sudden 4 star ratings are really discouraging. One of the two 4 star buyers loved my work and made a new order the same day. Now I'm worried about getting another 4 star rating because someone who seemingly is totally happy with the first order ended up giving a review that wasn't reflective of that. I also have no idea how to improve on communication. I am polite, I over communicate to buyers, and I remind buyers almost constantly to please contact me any time with any questions. I also embrace any/all revision requests and have many times done twice the amount of work to assure buyers are satisfied. Buyers also don't understand the time and effort needed to give them what they want, so I struggle to understand how they can determine if the final product is worth the price. I wish I could ask buyers how I could improve, but I worry that Fiverr will determine that I may be pressuring buyers to give better ratings. This is all very disappointing. I feel I've done everything right for almost 2 years and this has absolutely blindsided me.

I have 180 reviews on Fiverr and up until the rule changes I had never gotten less than 5 stars. Now in just 48 hours I've already gotten two 4 star ratings, in part due to the new "value" metric. I was eligible to be a TRS and have been for 3 months. I was a Level 2 Seller for almost 1 year, and now suddenly I'm a Level 1 Seller again. The sudden 4 star ratings are really discouraging. One of the two 4 star buyers loved my work and made a new order the same day. Now I'm worried about getting another 4 star rating because someone who seemingly is totally happy with the first order ended up giving a review that wasn't reflective of that. I also have no idea how to improve on communication. I am polite, I over communicate to buyers, and I remind buyers almost constantly to please contact me any time with any questions. I also embrace any/all revision requests and have many times done twice the amount of work to assure buyers are satisfied. Buyers also don't understand the time and effort needed to give them what they want, so I struggle to understand how they can determine if the final product is worth the price. I wish I could ask buyers how I could improve, but I worry that Fiverr will determine that I may be pressuring buyers to give better ratings. This is all very disappointing. I feel I've done everything right for almost 2 years and this has absolutely blindsided me.