"Fiverr: Not exactly top notch freelancers here" Quote from Otis Jiry on FaceBook

[earlhallvo]

This is a quote from Otis Jiry on one of my FaceBook posts. Otis boasts about his podcast, audiobook deals, and how he came up from nothing to be a successful voiceover. He is very adamant about how freelancers that do work on Fiverr must be unprofessional.

This fiverr debate has gone on for years now. Many in the voiceover community have stated that…

people are keeping negative lists of freelancers that work on fiverr (never seen that list)
freelancers on fiverr are beginners (but so many people on fiverr make 6 figures)
freelancers on fiverr dont do good work (ever checked for freelancers on google and seen the same)
you will not be respected if you do work on fiverr
All of this is complete nonsense. It’s like every other place you could find a freelancer is an answer.

Let’s be honest. You can come across a lot of freelancers on fiverr that will not be able to do the work you request. This is either because they may not have the skill, they may have bitten off more that they can chew, or the buyer made a bad selection to try and get off cheap.

Fiverr along with other freelance sites get a bad rap because of the price wars that go on. Freelancers bid against each other based on price (I NEVER do that and dont suggest it) and that can cause its own issues.

Sure we have people in each market that attempt to use price alone as a way to get business. They will do an enormous amount of work for $5. The truth is…

That is their right. Freelance sites are a market place and we all compete the best way we can. If the only thing you have to offer is your work based on the lowest possible price, then that is a hard thing to sustain. Especially if what you do takes a lot of ‘actual’ work.

My main issue with all of this is this. Calling every person on any platform unprofessional is simply crazy. There are tons of great freelancers on Fiverr (along with a few that can make a bad name for the whole site).

What is simple frustrating…

Many people complaining about fiverr or making fun of it, have never even used, seen, or done work on fiverr.

[Guest]

This is a quote from Otis Jiry on one of my FaceBook posts. Otis boasts about his podcast, audiobook deals, and how he came up from nothing to be a successful voiceover. He is very adamant about how freelancers that do work on Fiverr must be unprofessional.

This fiverr debate has gone on for years now. Many in the voiceover community have stated that…

people are keeping negative lists of freelancers that work on fiverr (never seen that list)

freelancers on fiverr are beginners (but so many people on fiverr make 6 figures)

freelancers on fiverr dont do good work (ever checked for freelancers on google and seen the same)

you will not be respected if you do work on fiverr

All of this is complete nonsense. It’s like every other place you could find a freelancer is an answer.

Let’s be honest. You can come across a lot of freelancers on fiverr that will not be able to do the work you request. This is either because they may not have the skill, they may have bitten off more that they can chew, or the buyer made a bad selection to try and get off cheap.

Fiverr along with other freelance sites get a bad rap because of the price wars that go on. Freelancers bid against each other based on price (I NEVER do that and dont suggest it) and that can cause its own issues.

Sure we have people in each market that attempt to use price alone as a way to get business. They will do an enormous amount of work for $5. The truth is…

That is their right. Freelance sites are a market place and we all compete the best way we can. If the only thing you have to offer is your work based on the lowest possible price, then that is a hard thing to sustain. Especially if what you do takes a lot of ‘actual’ work.

My main issue with all of this is this. Calling every person on any platform unprofessional is simply crazy. There are tons of great freelancers on Fiverr (along with a few that can make a bad name for the whole site).

What is simple frustrating…

Many people complaining about fiverr or making fun of it, have never even used, seen, or done work on fiverr.

Edited - thank you for changing the title! 🙂

[earlhallvo]

Edited - thank you for changing the title! 🙂

LOL The first line of this says who said it as a quote.

[earlhallvo]

Edited - thank you for changing the title! 🙂

Yeah…thought it best LOL thanks

[eoinfinnegan]

Breaking News - Guy says his competitors are not as good as him.
Also - a scientific research study out of Harvard, today confirmed that water is indeed wet.

Sports - the local sports team just won/lost against their big rivals with a last minute goal/touchdown/home run

[earlhallvo]

Breaking News - Guy says his competitors are not as good as him.

Also - a scientific research study out of Harvard, today confirmed that water is indeed wet.

Sports - the local sports team just won/lost against their big rivals with a last minute goal/touchdown/home run

😂

[lamonthenley1]

Maybe Otis needs to look back on the steps he took in order to become a successful voiceover and remind himself that everyone has to start somewhere. I agree that this platform doesn’t always provide a buyer with the best quality service but to make a blanketed statement that we are all unprofessional is simply ignorant, in my opinion. I take a little offense to it because, I admit that I am not a “professional” voiceover artist but I am a professional in how conduct myself here, trying to acquire buyers and the work that I put out.

I am very new to this whole voiceover world and when I made the decision to give it a try, I found Fiverr to be the best platform to get my feet wet. It took me over 3 months after joining to actually put up my first Gig, trying to learn as much as I could about voiceover, making a demo, and Fiverr itself. I still have so much to learn but I am comfortable with the knowledge that I do possess to provide my buyers with quality work that they have been very pleased with so far.

Just because many of the people here aren’t commanding the salaries that “professional” voiceover artists are doesn’t mean that we don’t take pride in our work. Yeah, some of the work done here, including mine, aren’t done in a studio, aren’t done with thousand dollar mics and the overall quality doesn’t equal that of a true studio recording but I still conduct myself and present my service in a professional manner.

I

[misscrystal]

Breaking News - Guy says his competitors are not as good as him.

Also - a scientific research study out of Harvard, today confirmed that water is indeed wet.

Sports - the local sports team just won/lost against their big rivals with a last minute goal/touchdown/home run

Breaking News - Guy says his competitors are not as good as him.

This is indeed someone slamming his competition. It happens a lot, in various disguises.

I admit as I read the OP’s post I wondered why it’s even worth mentioning.

[nikavoice]

Maybe Otis needs to look back on the steps he took in order to become a successful voiceover and remind himself that everyone has to start somewhere. I agree that this platform doesn’t always provide a buyer with the best quality service but to make a blanketed statement that we are all unprofessional is simply ignorant, in my opinion. I take a little offense to it because, I admit that I am not a “professional” voiceover artist but I am a professional in how conduct myself here, trying to acquire buyers and the work that I put out.

I am very new to this whole voiceover world and when I made the decision to give it a try, I found Fiverr to be the best platform to get my feet wet. It took me over 3 months after joining to actually put up my first Gig, trying to learn as much as I could about voiceover, making a demo, and Fiverr itself. I still have so much to learn but I am comfortable with the knowledge that I do possess to provide my buyers with quality work that they have been very pleased with so far.

Just because many of the people here aren’t commanding the salaries that “professional” voiceover artists are doesn’t mean that we don’t take pride in our work. Yeah, some of the work done here, including mine, aren’t done in a studio, aren’t done with thousand dollar mics and the overall quality doesn’t equal that of a true studio recording but I still conduct myself and present my service in a professional manner.

I

I am very new to this whole voiceover world and when I made the decision to give it a try, I found Fiverr to be the best platform to get my feet wet. It took me over 3 months after joining to actually put up my first Gig, trying to learn as much as I could about voiceover, making a demo, and Fiverr itself. I still have so much to learn but I am comfortable with the knowledge that I do possess to provide my buyers with quality work that they have been very pleased with so far.

I haven’t seen you around in a long time. Now, I know why you’ve been busy getting your feet 💦

I wish you all the best in your VO journey. Fiverr is a good platform to build your portfolio and then you can build your website (create your brand) either way you’ll learn something new every day… Enjoy the ride! 😎

There are tons of blogs/articles about how VO artists on Fiverr are a joke and that they are making the industry look bad. :roll_eyes: However, that didn’t stop me from joining and creating another stream of income. What I do is my beeswax and I couldn’t care less what others think.

"Different strokes for different folks"

[indieoven]

That´s like saying everyone who lives on Haiti is poor or everyone living in Qatar is rich. Why does it has to be black and white - and dramatic?

[eoinfinnegan]

That´s like saying everyone who lives on Haiti is poor or everyone living in Qatar is rich. Why does it has to be black and white - and dramatic?

Because extreme and dramatic sells and gets attention.

Saying something like:

“Fiverr? Yeah, I heard of it. I heard some people had bad experiences there but to be fair, they were expecting a voiceover to do a full book for $5 which is the type of request I wouldn’t even bother responding to so who knows. I guess there must be a mix of quality just like everywhere else.”

isn’t going to get much attention or protect his own interests.

[newsmike]

This is a quote from Otis Jiry on one of my FaceBook posts. Otis boasts about his podcast, audiobook deals, and how he came up from nothing to be a successful voiceover. He is very adamant about how freelancers that do work on Fiverr must be unprofessional.

This fiverr debate has gone on for years now. Many in the voiceover community have stated that…

people are keeping negative lists of freelancers that work on fiverr (never seen that list)

freelancers on fiverr are beginners (but so many people on fiverr make 6 figures)

freelancers on fiverr dont do good work (ever checked for freelancers on google and seen the same)

you will not be respected if you do work on fiverr

All of this is complete nonsense. It’s like every other place you could find a freelancer is an answer.

Let’s be honest. You can come across a lot of freelancers on fiverr that will not be able to do the work you request. This is either because they may not have the skill, they may have bitten off more that they can chew, or the buyer made a bad selection to try and get off cheap.

Fiverr along with other freelance sites get a bad rap because of the price wars that go on. Freelancers bid against each other based on price (I NEVER do that and dont suggest it) and that can cause its own issues.

Sure we have people in each market that attempt to use price alone as a way to get business. They will do an enormous amount of work for $5. The truth is…

That is their right. Freelance sites are a market place and we all compete the best way we can. If the only thing you have to offer is your work based on the lowest possible price, then that is a hard thing to sustain. Especially if what you do takes a lot of ‘actual’ work.

My main issue with all of this is this. Calling every person on any platform unprofessional is simply crazy. There are tons of great freelancers on Fiverr (along with a few that can make a bad name for the whole site).

What is simple frustrating…

Many people complaining about fiverr or making fun of it, have never even used, seen, or done work on fiverr.

Many people complaining about fiverr or making fun of it, have never even used, seen, or done work on fiverr.

I’ve never heard of him. Couple of points though.

Fiverr is like the New York City Yellow Pages. In it you will find the best heart surgeon in the world, right alongside the worst hack doctor ever. That is true for each category. You have to be willing to, and smart enough to be able to tell the difference by researching your choices.

[cyaxrex]

I must say that Fiverr does have a bit of a reputation problem. This year I took the dive into working some of the time in a fancy new coworking space and so far these are the pros and cons:

Pros:

• Having a coworking space to fall back on during disaster events like Internet outages has improved my personal business continuity tenfold
• Meeting and working with other freelancers semi-regularly is the best thing anyone can ever do from a marketing standpoint
• Offline connection with other freelancers can help you up your professional game in the same way that trading a horse in for a Ferrari can
• Having a physical office and/or place where you can say you work is awesome (and also stops people presuming that you are a drug dealer and/or vampire)

Cons:

• Freelancers are massively superficial people who are always waging an ego cold war among themselves
• The majority of freelancers (from my experience) consider Fiverr a bit of a joke (or at least that’s what they say)
• As soon as you rock up with your Microsoft Surface RT and someone sees you login to Fiverr, everyone in the immediate vicinity will decide not to be your friend

So yes, Fiverr does have a bad rep among a lot of so-called professional freelancers. As for why this is, it’s really down to psychology.

First, there is the $5 myth. A lot of people still seem to think that all new sellers on Fiverr have to offer something for $5. - This and that if new sellers start out at higher price points, they won’t stand a chance because of all the $5 competition. Needless to say, this simply isn’t true. In fact, I would strongly advise anyone (myself included if I could go back in time) to start out on Fiverr at higher base prices rather than lower ones.

The second myth is that only losers buy on Fiverr and that as such, Fiverr only caters for ‘freelancers’ who can get away with selling the likes of knock-off logos etc. Needless to say, this isn’t true. The problem as I see it is that freelancers who have established themselves elsewhere, simply can’t shake this ‘cheap and nasty’ Fiverr image. They simply won’t, therefore, take the plunge and actually see what Fiverr is about for themselves. - Basically out of principle.

As for how/if Fiverr will ever be able to shake this cheap and nasty image, this is another topic for debate altogether.

My perspective is that flashy New York subway signs, online ads, and online marketing altogether, will never entice many freelancers to Fiverr who have already established themselves elsewhere. The power of ego and the need for business continuity and personal brand consistency is simply too great to allow for even experimenting.

How Fiverr (in my opinion) could/will eventually shake existing stigma, is when more people who build out their business predominantly on Fiverr start dispelling such stigma on Fiverrs behalf.

Of course, there is the stolen logo, ripped off video hive, and scammy writer and web design etc bunch, who Fiverr seems to attract. In my opinion, Fiverr should, therefore, get rid of most of the insane quality control measures which they keep experimenting with, and just remove gigs which don’t make X amount of sales or which get low ratings over an initial 60-day period after signing up.

I have a seller in one of my categories who is the epitome of everything people think is wrong with Fiverr. They offer writing but can’t write and have a star rating of 4.6 after joining Fiverr earlier this year.

In my view, people like this should be told: “Ok, in 60-days you’ve made a bit of a mess here. We’re, therefore, closing this down for now. Do feel free, though, to get your act together and try again in 3-months time.”

So yes, there is an argument to be made that ‘there are not exactly top notch freelancers here.’ At the same time, though, freelancers themselves are rather egomaniacal creatures who it is pointless even debating with. - (He says looking nevrously over his shoulder and backing out of the ego den 🙂 )

[uxreview]

I must say that Fiverr does have a bit of a reputation problem. This year I took the dive into working some of the time in a fancy new coworking space and so far these are the pros and cons:

Pros:

• Having a coworking space to fall back on during disaster events like Internet outages has improved my personal business continuity tenfold
• Meeting and working with other freelancers semi-regularly is the best thing anyone can ever do from a marketing standpoint
• Offline connection with other freelancers can help you up your professional game in the same way that trading a horse in for a Ferrari can
• Having a physical office and/or place where you can say you work is awesome (and also stops people presuming that you are a drug dealer and/or vampire)

Cons:

• Freelancers are massively superficial people who are always waging an ego cold war among themselves
• The majority of freelancers (from my experience) consider Fiverr a bit of a joke (or at least that’s what they say)
• As soon as you rock up with your Microsoft Surface RT and someone sees you login to Fiverr, everyone in the immediate vicinity will decide not to be your friend

So yes, Fiverr does have a bad rep among a lot of so-called professional freelancers. As for why this is, it’s really down to psychology.

First, there is the $5 myth. A lot of people still seem to think that all new sellers on Fiverr have to offer something for $5. - This and that if new sellers start out at higher price points, they won’t stand a chance because of all the $5 competition. Needless to say, this simply isn’t true. In fact, I would strongly advise anyone (myself included if I could go back in time) to start out on Fiverr at higher base prices rather than lower ones.

The second myth is that only losers buy on Fiverr and that as such, Fiverr only caters for ‘freelancers’ who can get away with selling the likes of knock-off logos etc. Needless to say, this isn’t true. The problem as I see it is that freelancers who have established themselves elsewhere, simply can’t shake this ‘cheap and nasty’ Fiverr image. They simply won’t, therefore, take the plunge and actually see what Fiverr is about for themselves. - Basically out of principle.

As for how/if Fiverr will ever be able to shake this cheap and nasty image, this is another topic for debate altogether.

My perspective is that flashy New York subway signs, online ads, and online marketing altogether, will never entice many freelancers to Fiverr who have already established themselves elsewhere. The power of ego and the need for business continuity and personal brand consistency is simply too great to allow for even experimenting.

How Fiverr (in my opinion) could/will eventually shake existing stigma, is when more people who build out their business predominantly on Fiverr start dispelling such stigma on Fiverrs behalf.

Of course, there is the stolen logo, ripped off video hive, and scammy writer and web design etc bunch, who Fiverr seems to attract. In my opinion, Fiverr should, therefore, get rid of most of the insane quality control measures which they keep experimenting with, and just remove gigs which don’t make X amount of sales or which get low ratings over an initial 60-day period after signing up.

I have a seller in one of my categories who is the epitome of everything people think is wrong with Fiverr. They offer writing but can’t write and have a star rating of 4.6 after joining Fiverr earlier this year.

In my view, people like this should be told: “Ok, in 60-days you’ve made a bit of a mess here. We’re, therefore, closing this down for now. Do feel free, though, to get your act together and try again in 3-months time.”

So yes, there is an argument to be made that ‘there are not exactly top notch freelancers here.’ At the same time, though, freelancers themselves are rather egomaniacal creatures who it is pointless even debating with. - (He says looking nevrously over his shoulder and backing out of the ego den 🙂 )

remove gigs which don’t make X amount of sales or which get low ratings over an initial 60-day period after signing up.

Personally I wouldn’t be against a free trial based business model. Once you sign up you have 30 days to build up your business.

• During the first 30 days you get to use the platform for free.
• After that you will be charged X amount per month and a smaller % on each delivered order.
• They can even offer premium features such as custom portfolio for a small fee. I’d pay for it.

I know if Fiverr would introduce monthly charge a lot of people would flip out, but here’s why I would support it

• Fiverr would instantly get rid of hundreds of low-quality gigs that haven’t made any sales. Who would want to pay for their account if they aren’t making any sales?
• You would get more sellers who are actually willing to invest in their business. If you have to pay for using Fiverr then you would either work your @ss off to make sales or leave.
• What if someone abuses the trial by creating a new account every 30 days? Well, how successful will they be if they need to reset their reviews and reputation every 30 days?

30 days should be enough, but they can start with 60 days if they want to. If you don’t make a single sale in 60 days then most likely you’re not cut out for this or you should pay to keep your account active. Why do we have to carry sellers who are sitting around doing nothing or offering low-quality service? 😛

I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I think creating a Fiverr account should be an investment not a random thought.

[juanwriter]

If Fiverr has such “bad reputation”… how is that almost all sellers Gigs are between 4.8 and 5.0 rating? How I can see so many 1k+ reviews Gigs with 5.0 rating?

The numbers speak for themselves. Quite frankly, it is just impossible to get so many top ratings without pleasing so many buyers. I think some freelancers see this platform as a serious competitor. And I know very well what I say, because I come from the offline freelancing world (which, by the way, I still keep).

I think the problem comes from the name, fiverr, $5 is just nothing, really. How someone can work for such so low price? And that creates serious concerns among potential buyers. I have to go to almost 1/10 of my standards rates to be here, really. But I think this is the future, and this market will improve over time regarding revenues and reputation. It is a bet, really, from a professional point of view. The question is, what’s the goal of Fiverr? Being an amateur, cheap platform, or a professional one?

[juanwriter]

remove gigs which don’t make X amount of sales or which get low ratings over an initial 60-day period after signing up.

Personally I wouldn’t be against a free trial based business model. Once you sign up you have 30 days to build up your business.

• During the first 30 days you get to use the platform for free.
• After that you will be charged X amount per month and a smaller % on each delivered order.
• They can even offer premium features such as custom portfolio for a small fee. I’d pay for it.

I know if Fiverr would introduce monthly charge a lot of people would flip out, but here’s why I would support it

• Fiverr would instantly get rid of hundreds of low-quality gigs that haven’t made any sales. Who would want to pay for their account if they aren’t making any sales?
• You would get more sellers who are actually willing to invest in their business. If you have to pay for using Fiverr then you would either work your @ss off to make sales or leave.
• What if someone abuses the trial by creating a new account every 30 days? Well, how successful will they be if they need to reset their reviews and reputation every 30 days?

30 days should be enough, but they can start with 60 days if they want to. If you don’t make a single sale in 60 days then most likely you’re not cut out for this or you should pay to keep your account active. Why do we have to carry sellers who are sitting around doing nothing or offering low-quality service? 😛

I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I think creating a Fiverr account should be an investment not a random thought.

Personally I wouldn’t be against a free trial based business model. Once you sign up you have 30 days to build up your business.

I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I think creating a Fiverr account should be an investment not a random thought.

I like your point of view, that will give more professionalism to the platform, though I understand some people will be against it of course. But yes, I prefer a less % per sale and a fixed monthly fee. But alas… I think we can’t choose 🙂 it’s a decision that Fiverr team will take based on maths/stats, not opinions (and I think all their decisions are based on that btw)

[thecreativeguys]

Fiverr started out as a joke - mind me saying that, it’s true.

Fiverr switched their moto with the release of Fiverr V2, way back when.

Since then, Fiverr has been gradually implementing new ways on how to obtain a better overall marketing image. They’ve done a huge amount of work on this front and have succeeded.

I remember having to sell 10 times $5 gigs at one point for a $50 order. That wasn’t the path to success. Fiverr saw this and quickly turned the marketplace into a professional platform allowing us to charge what we want to charge. In turn, buyers started paying these fair numbers and because of that, it has sustained Fiverr and myself as a freelancer. I now take on jobs worth hundreds of dollars just because fiverr became a professional marketplace which attract professional individuals looking for professional talent.

There’s still a lot of work to be done, but look at where Fiverr was and where we are today!

[misscrystal]

I must say that Fiverr does have a bit of a reputation problem. This year I took the dive into working some of the time in a fancy new coworking space and so far these are the pros and cons:

Pros:

• Having a coworking space to fall back on during disaster events like Internet outages has improved my personal business continuity tenfold
• Meeting and working with other freelancers semi-regularly is the best thing anyone can ever do from a marketing standpoint
• Offline connection with other freelancers can help you up your professional game in the same way that trading a horse in for a Ferrari can
• Having a physical office and/or place where you can say you work is awesome (and also stops people presuming that you are a drug dealer and/or vampire)

Cons:

• Freelancers are massively superficial people who are always waging an ego cold war among themselves
• The majority of freelancers (from my experience) consider Fiverr a bit of a joke (or at least that’s what they say)
• As soon as you rock up with your Microsoft Surface RT and someone sees you login to Fiverr, everyone in the immediate vicinity will decide not to be your friend

So yes, Fiverr does have a bad rep among a lot of so-called professional freelancers. As for why this is, it’s really down to psychology.

First, there is the $5 myth. A lot of people still seem to think that all new sellers on Fiverr have to offer something for $5. - This and that if new sellers start out at higher price points, they won’t stand a chance because of all the $5 competition. Needless to say, this simply isn’t true. In fact, I would strongly advise anyone (myself included if I could go back in time) to start out on Fiverr at higher base prices rather than lower ones.

The second myth is that only losers buy on Fiverr and that as such, Fiverr only caters for ‘freelancers’ who can get away with selling the likes of knock-off logos etc. Needless to say, this isn’t true. The problem as I see it is that freelancers who have established themselves elsewhere, simply can’t shake this ‘cheap and nasty’ Fiverr image. They simply won’t, therefore, take the plunge and actually see what Fiverr is about for themselves. - Basically out of principle.

As for how/if Fiverr will ever be able to shake this cheap and nasty image, this is another topic for debate altogether.

My perspective is that flashy New York subway signs, online ads, and online marketing altogether, will never entice many freelancers to Fiverr who have already established themselves elsewhere. The power of ego and the need for business continuity and personal brand consistency is simply too great to allow for even experimenting.

How Fiverr (in my opinion) could/will eventually shake existing stigma, is when more people who build out their business predominantly on Fiverr start dispelling such stigma on Fiverrs behalf.

Of course, there is the stolen logo, ripped off video hive, and scammy writer and web design etc bunch, who Fiverr seems to attract. In my opinion, Fiverr should, therefore, get rid of most of the insane quality control measures which they keep experimenting with, and just remove gigs which don’t make X amount of sales or which get low ratings over an initial 60-day period after signing up.

I have a seller in one of my categories who is the epitome of everything people think is wrong with Fiverr. They offer writing but can’t write and have a star rating of 4.6 after joining Fiverr earlier this year.

In my view, people like this should be told: “Ok, in 60-days you’ve made a bit of a mess here. We’re, therefore, closing this down for now. Do feel free, though, to get your act together and try again in 3-months time.”

So yes, there is an argument to be made that ‘there are not exactly top notch freelancers here.’ At the same time, though, freelancers themselves are rather egomaniacal creatures who it is pointless even debating with. - (He says looking nevrously over his shoulder and backing out of the ego den 🙂 )

The majority of freelancers (from my experience) consider Fiverr a bit of a joke (or at least that’s what they say)

As soon as you rock up with your Microsoft Surface RT and someone sees you login to Fiverr, everyone in the immediate vicinity will decide not to be your friend

[cyaxrex]

remove gigs which don’t make X amount of sales or which get low ratings over an initial 60-day period after signing up.

Personally I wouldn’t be against a free trial based business model. Once you sign up you have 30 days to build up your business.

• During the first 30 days you get to use the platform for free.
• After that you will be charged X amount per month and a smaller % on each delivered order.
• They can even offer premium features such as custom portfolio for a small fee. I’d pay for it.

I know if Fiverr would introduce monthly charge a lot of people would flip out, but here’s why I would support it

• Fiverr would instantly get rid of hundreds of low-quality gigs that haven’t made any sales. Who would want to pay for their account if they aren’t making any sales?
• You would get more sellers who are actually willing to invest in their business. If you have to pay for using Fiverr then you would either work your @ss off to make sales or leave.
• What if someone abuses the trial by creating a new account every 30 days? Well, how successful will they be if they need to reset their reviews and reputation every 30 days?

30 days should be enough, but they can start with 60 days if they want to. If you don’t make a single sale in 60 days then most likely you’re not cut out for this or you should pay to keep your account active. Why do we have to carry sellers who are sitting around doing nothing or offering low-quality service? 😛

I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I think creating a Fiverr account should be an investment not a random thought.

I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I think creating a Fiverr account should be an investment not a random thought.

No… Just, no…

I can see where you are coming from but it wouldn’t work and I would be out of the door faster than a lighting bolt. I kind do already pay another site but only to promote myself when I want to when sales are low. Even there, though, I wouldn’t pay just to be a member.

You’ve got the swarms of people reselling services and copyright infringed media who already see honest actual sellers have to compete harder. I wouldn’t be able to pay a monthly fee out of principle unless there were strict safeguards against who would be allowed to pay to play and who wouldn’t.

Then there is the business continuity issue. Since Fiverr likes to play Russian Roulette with the search from time to time, I would see it as a anti-investment to build a business on Fiverr given that things like search visibility are not guaranteed.

If you sell services at $100’s per order, yes, this could work. Smaller sellers, though, would be basically being put on a hamster wheel. Also, the new wave of freelance platforms seems to be going in the opposite direction so I’m nit even going to worry about this.

[uxreview]

I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I think creating a Fiverr account should be an investment not a random thought.

No… Just, no…

I can see where you are coming from but it wouldn’t work and I would be out of the door faster than a lighting bolt. I kind do already pay another site but only to promote myself when I want to when sales are low. Even there, though, I wouldn’t pay just to be a member.

You’ve got the swarms of people reselling services and copyright infringed media who already see honest actual sellers have to compete harder. I wouldn’t be able to pay a monthly fee out of principle unless there were strict safeguards against who would be allowed to pay to play and who wouldn’t.

Then there is the business continuity issue. Since Fiverr likes to play Russian Roulette with the search from time to time, I would see it as a anti-investment to build a business on Fiverr given that things like search visibility are not guaranteed.

If you sell services at $100’s per order, yes, this could work. Smaller sellers, though, would be basically being put on a hamster wheel. Also, the new wave of freelance platforms seems to be going in the opposite direction so I’m nit even going to worry about this.

I get it. It wouldn’t be a perfect solution and I’m sure there’s a reason why Fiverr hasn’t done it by now.

It’s just that since I’m also a buyer I’m getting tired of filtering through gigs where the sellers just set up their gig thinking “Let’s give it a try, what’s the worst that can happen”. Sellers like these will lower the Fiverr’s reputation and use up the resources that decent sellers pay for.

[misscrystal]

I get it. It wouldn’t be a perfect solution and I’m sure there’s a reason why Fiverr hasn’t done it by now.

It’s just that since I’m also a buyer I’m getting tired of filtering through gigs where the sellers just set up their gig thinking “Let’s give it a try, what’s the worst that can happen”. Sellers like these will lower the Fiverr’s reputation and use up the resources that decent sellers pay for.

I’m also a buyer I’m getting tired of filtering through gigs where the sellers just set up their gig thinking “Let’s give it a try, what’s the worst that can happen”.

What is the answer for this? I had a difficult time too looking for more experienced sellers in the search results.

[uxreview]

I’m also a buyer I’m getting tired of filtering through gigs where the sellers just set up their gig thinking “Let’s give it a try, what’s the worst that can happen”.

What is the answer for this? I had a difficult time too looking for more experienced sellers in the search results.

I mostly hire people from 6 categories and right now I have 2 people for each category. It took me months to find the right people.

If one of them is on vacation I can still manage, but if both of them are unavailable then I’m screwed 😃

I hate looking for new sellers.

I guess the answer is once you find good ones, keep them happy so they won’t leave 😛

[uk1000]

I get it. It wouldn’t be a perfect solution and I’m sure there’s a reason why Fiverr hasn’t done it by now.

It’s just that since I’m also a buyer I’m getting tired of filtering through gigs where the sellers just set up their gig thinking “Let’s give it a try, what’s the worst that can happen”. Sellers like these will lower the Fiverr’s reputation and use up the resources that decent sellers pay for.

…where the sellers just set up their gig thinking “Let’s give it a try, what’s the worst that can happen”.

What they could have is an option where a seller could set up a new gig with a different status. Like a trial status where the seller could gain experience in doing that gig but the gig would be cheaper than normal (or maybe free of charge for the first few purchases?) and maybe reviews wouldn’t get shown in that status. ie. it’s just to give the seller the experience for that gig (and with the buyer getting a cheaper/free price) so that if and when the gig goes into the normal status after a few sales the seller will have the experience and should (but may not always) be able to give a better quality result because of that experience.

So the gigs in the trial status could be kept separate from the other gigs. It would also help people try out new gigs that they aren’t sure how good they’d be at, but they might actually be good at them.

[prroducer99plus]

remove gigs which don’t make X amount of sales or which get low ratings over an initial 60-day period after signing up.

Personally I wouldn’t be against a free trial based business model. Once you sign up you have 30 days to build up your business.

• During the first 30 days you get to use the platform for free.
• After that you will be charged X amount per month and a smaller % on each delivered order.
• They can even offer premium features such as custom portfolio for a small fee. I’d pay for it.

I know if Fiverr would introduce monthly charge a lot of people would flip out, but here’s why I would support it

• Fiverr would instantly get rid of hundreds of low-quality gigs that haven’t made any sales. Who would want to pay for their account if they aren’t making any sales?
• You would get more sellers who are actually willing to invest in their business. If you have to pay for using Fiverr then you would either work your @ss off to make sales or leave.
• What if someone abuses the trial by creating a new account every 30 days? Well, how successful will they be if they need to reset their reviews and reputation every 30 days?

30 days should be enough, but they can start with 60 days if they want to. If you don’t make a single sale in 60 days then most likely you’re not cut out for this or you should pay to keep your account active. Why do we have to carry sellers who are sitting around doing nothing or offering low-quality service? 😛

I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I think creating a Fiverr account should be an investment not a random thought.

monthly charge

This idea is a bad idea at this particular juncture for many reasons.

1. The rating system, cancellation system, revision system, and support system is way too flawed to justify it. These changes would have to be made before they even think about a potential fee.
2. The platform is called FIVERR. The implication is that most gigs or most basic packages will be $5. Then there’s Fiverr’s 20% (if they still choose to implement it). Then whatever withdrawal method you choose to take has its own fees. Depending on how many sales you make; any fee over $8 could put you in the red. Thus defeating the purpose of being on Fiverr in the first place (situationally).
3. The processing fee buyers pay is meant to cover the digital expense of all transactions. Shifting that burden to sellers creates an even more demoralizing situation; a lot sellers already feel they pay for the mistakes of not only Fiverr, but buyers.
4. A monthly payment would essentially turn Fiverr into an advertisement/marketing service. If not that, than a website domain. The closest it comes to fitting the criteria for either is advertising. This would leave a lot feeling even more slighted if they don’t get sales, don’t show up on the front page, don’t get impressions etc. Then there’s even more a PR nightmare.

I think Fiverr has a good thing going the way they run currently. I think they need to improve upon it and tweak it. Not wholesale change it.

[sue_mcl]

This is a quote from Otis Jiry on one of my FaceBook posts. Otis boasts about his podcast, audiobook deals, and how he came up from nothing to be a successful voiceover. He is very adamant about how freelancers that do work on Fiverr must be unprofessional.

This fiverr debate has gone on for years now. Many in the voiceover community have stated that…

people are keeping negative lists of freelancers that work on fiverr (never seen that list)

freelancers on fiverr are beginners (but so many people on fiverr make 6 figures)

freelancers on fiverr dont do good work (ever checked for freelancers on google and seen the same)

you will not be respected if you do work on fiverr

All of this is complete nonsense. It’s like every other place you could find a freelancer is an answer.

Let’s be honest. You can come across a lot of freelancers on fiverr that will not be able to do the work you request. This is either because they may not have the skill, they may have bitten off more that they can chew, or the buyer made a bad selection to try and get off cheap.

Fiverr along with other freelance sites get a bad rap because of the price wars that go on. Freelancers bid against each other based on price (I NEVER do that and dont suggest it) and that can cause its own issues.

Sure we have people in each market that attempt to use price alone as a way to get business. They will do an enormous amount of work for $5. The truth is…

That is their right. Freelance sites are a market place and we all compete the best way we can. If the only thing you have to offer is your work based on the lowest possible price, then that is a hard thing to sustain. Especially if what you do takes a lot of ‘actual’ work.

My main issue with all of this is this. Calling every person on any platform unprofessional is simply crazy. There are tons of great freelancers on Fiverr (along with a few that can make a bad name for the whole site).

What is simple frustrating…

Many people complaining about fiverr or making fun of it, have never even used, seen, or done work on fiverr.

He is very adamant about how freelancers that do work on Fiverr must be unprofessional.

Seeing comments like these (about voiceover) was something that put me off joining fiverr as a VO artist in the first place. I am SOOOOO glad I did it regardless, thankful that I didn’t care too much about what others in the industry thought of my choice probably helped. Plus I hate auditioning for every single job - that gets really demoralising.

I have also seen posts on a huge FB page here in Australia (80k business women) not just tear down fiverr but shame people that have used fiverr, which is crazy (it is especially the creatives that shame the most). I’ve seen people comment that if you freelance on fiverr, you’re not a “real” freelancer as well. Maybe its envy, maybe ignorance, but I am sure glad I offer my services on fiverr.

Sure there are some freelancers here that call themselves professional and are FAR from it, but there are also a huge amount of amazing freelancers here as well, so blanket statements are useless. I like @newsmike’s analogy of the phone book best.