BE CAREFUL with article writing gigs! [ARCHIVED]

[logicalpizza]

Basically I ordered article gigs from 7 different sellers and 3 of them sent me back a copy-pasted article with encoded characters.

“Encoded” means that certain English letters are changed to lookalike letters from other alphabets, e.g. Cyrillic. If you try to paste parts of the article into Google, you’ll get zero results. The article will also pass Copyscape.

However, if you simply type (rather than paste) a phrase from the article into Google, you’ll immediately find that the whole article has been plagiarised from some big website.

I know this issue has been raised before, but it’s been a while and this time this is not about “10 articles for $5” gigs, this time it’s about gigs that offer to write a single 500+ word article for $5 - a much more legit-looking offer.

Always check the articles you receive. Another way is to paste the article text into Notepad++ and change the encoding to ANSI: most words will be garbled up.

In particular be careful with sellers whose main gig photo is some stock photo of a smiling woman who is obviously not them.

Important note: only some sellers are frauds; there are plenty of honest sellers who really do supply original and quality articles for $5.

[dominuszagg]

Oh no… That sucks for you! But, thanks for warning us, I’ll be more alert.

[emmaki]

Stop saying that $5 is a reasonable price for a 500 word article, it isn’t, and that’s exactly why you’re getting scammed.

[emmaki]

Only asking for samples of WRITING is inviting scammers in through the back door. I don’t offer samples: you either like my writing from what you read in the gig descriptions and comms, or you don’t. I’m not going to write a personalized “sample”! Go play someone else’s fiddle.

I appreciate it’s different for other forms of work, but that’s what a portfolio is for.

[Guest eberhartm]

I have been reading many of your comments as of late and frankly speaking, you are 100% right most of the times. Why would I offer a potential buyer a free sample? It’s either take it or leave it.

[samuraichick]

FIve dollars is really much to low for an article. I don’t think buyers appreciate the amount of mental energy and real time that can go into five hundred words. Writing is an art and it is not issued on command not even for professional writers. I am just trying this site out and I have been very fortunate to find customers who are willing to pay me reasonably for my time but in the long run, this really many not be the place for me.

I understand the model and you can develop Fiverr into a great brokering platform but the discounts seem to tempting for buyers who come to the site with a specific mindset. The second major issue is the 20% fee that Fiverr gives itself. It’s unreasonably high, this is the source of my biggest pause. Fiverr may have to go kick rocks ultimately. People who really can write will just take their business elsewhere and the scammers can be free to run rampant.

[fastcopywriter]

I agree, but some writers are very fast, very passionate, and very eager to make money. I’m a copywriter, I tried article writing for a bit but it was taking me 30 minutes. I was getting awesome reviews, but 30 minutes for $5 isn’t worth my time, those are Walmart wages!

[ditsoppc]

I actually have/had an article writing Gig but I’ve realised that it isn’t viable for me to do it so I’m stopped it. TBH I only had 2 orders from it as I’m new and have no sales. (Unlike some sellers I haven’t bought fake sales/reviews)

The amount of time it takes to genuinely research a topic and write an article is way too much for $5. I offered 350 words for $5 and sold 1 then did an special order for 3 articles at 500 words and charged $20 from which I’ll get $16 I believe. (About £10.45)

He immediately came back and asked for 4 more but I’ve had to say no as the hourly rate I was working for was ridiculous.

I’ve looked at a lot of the writers with hundreds of sales and if you look at the negative reviews they nearly all have some which say the writing was poorly spun rubbish or put through Google translate or similar. So it’s clear to me that many of the writers are not really writing an article properly, but I now realise why that is.

All credit to anyone who can write articles for a living.

[staramjs]

good article not easy to writting $5 too low obviously.

[kristiane]

I agree that 5$ is too low for a high-quality article. I spends more than an hour just to finish one informative, original and quality articles for my buyers. The lowest that I charge is 300 words per gig for very easy topics. Indeed writing is really both passion and art. We uses huge amount of brain energy for every article that we write.

[emmaki]

Push your up and your word counts after you’ve got enough good reviews. I can get $75 for 400 words at the moment. More elsewhere. But I can write fast, and I’ve also done plenty of research over hundreds of niche areas in the past decade. $5 really isn’t worth it, but you gotta start somewhere. Most my articles take about 15-20 minutes to write with minimal research–and research is another gig extra. But I did start off a couple of years ago on Fiverr with, I think, 300 words for $5.

This is for completely original content, though.

[misscrystal]

Do you get a lot of the $5 for 10 words sales?

[emmaki]

A fair few. I get a little frisson of excitement whenever I see one–is it a normal buyer who just wants a catchy new slogan, or some pointless idiot who is going to waste my time forever because they can’t be bothered to read up on what they’re buying?

It’s like Russian roulette! Funny thing is, my other gigs are a lot less draconian. I had to implement this with my most successful gig, simply because I was getting an overload of orders. Hence jacking up the price and lowering the word count, as well as deadline extensions everywhere–it was getting very stressful!

[Guest rajat11]

Not every seller doing this
As a buyer you have to be bit careful

[fastcopywriter]

A friend of mine is a former copywriter and now a full-time mom, she’s happy making $5 per article, it takes her 30 minutes to write them. She says it gives her something to do during the day. So you see? There are some great people writing great articles for $5.

With that said, if your seller has a gig extra, such as a tip or something that allows him to make more money, order it. More Money = Happy Seller = Better Work.

[misscrystal]

Yes I can relate.
Soon it could be 1 word for $5.

[logicalpizza]

Hi everyone and thanks for the replies.

This thread has taken on an interesting angle since I made the original post. In any case, it was not my intention to turn this into a “what’s an article worth” discussion.

It was meant purely as a warning to people who may be purchasing writing gigs.

@emmaki: I never made any claims that $5 dollars is a fair price for 500 words. If I thought it was, I’d be writing them myself.

I edit ALL articles I receive to fit my style and ideas, so I don’t mind getting a slightly sub-par piece of content at a cheap price as long as it gives me something to work with. It simply takes much more time for me to write something from a blank slate.

The problem is not the price of the articles. My idea of “fair” may completely different from somebody else’s idea of “fair”. And that’s why we we have this marketplace.

The point is, the sellers I was referring to are frauds because their gigs are deceptive and misleading. I’d have no issue with them if their gig said, “I’m going to copy an article from the web and encode it”.

I have actually received quality work from other sellers for $5. It’s up to them if they are willing to sell that work for $5 and it’s perfectly fine if other sellers charge $75 for 400 words. It’s just even at that price I doubt you’d be able to get into my head and write an article that fit my style 100%, so I’d have to rewrite it anyway.

[muhyy2015]

$5 is quite small but nevertheless you shouldn’t scam your buyer if your not comfortable with the price!

[muhyy2015]

That’s not done anywhere… Do you ever wondered is the buyer is going to return to you?

[Guest wowyou]

Quite honestly, you get what you pay for. My rates would be considered high but I also write high quality content from scratch! I’ve seen people offering 1,000 word articles for $5. I guarantee you, that article will be plagiarized garbage.

I’ve only recently heard about the practice of encoding and spinning.It looks like many of these so called “writers” on Fiverr engage in these practices. Amazingly, many of them also have high ratings. I guess people have low standards? I’m baffled.

[mrslim]

Sorry about that. $5 is quite small for a quality article. If you want good quality, you have to pay good money for it A buyer wanted me to write 1,000 words article for $5, that’s “slave job”. Although i don’t have a choice as I’m new and need good reviews.

[Guest moonranger]

I tried writing 500 word, $5 articles as an exercise. Not for the money, just to see if I could write a decent piece about anything at all in a short time. I didn’t do it for long, there are more lucrative ways to beat myself up.

[Guest wowyou]

I understand where your friend is coming from because I felt the same way when I started on here in the summer. I’m also a stay at home mom and I was looking for things to do. After a few projects though, I quickly started to feel like I was a professional charity.

One of my first clients was a reseller of my work and I just felt like, if people are going to resell my work, I should be paid a fair price for it. I now charge $5 for 50 words, which I still think is a major bargain. 🙂

[fastcopywriter]

99% of the time, writers are writing for $0. Think of writers who write articles for publications, then send them to the magazines. They only make money if they get published.

Or think of those who write guest blogs, who write for The Huffington Post, they don’t make a dime, they only get publicity that might help them make money later.

And let’s not forget when writers create articles or stories as portfolio samples, to get accepted into college or a writing program, they don’t make money there. So frankly, getting paid $5 for your writing is a big deal.

[Guest wowyou]

I guess we disagree. I came from the corporate world and commanded a substantial salary as a writer and managing editor, so I think my perspective is just different. I never worked for pennies and frankly I’m glad I don’t have to.

I sympathize with those working for free or fees below their worth. They are not slaves and should not have to work like they are. Just my view.