How to protect yourself from "bad" Fiverr sellers & buy from the good ones

[sirtaco]

Hello there.

As a Cars salesperson (and a few weeks of telemarketing during last years’ summer vacation), my job was to sell people a product using, basically, my appearance and basic knowledge.

As I worked there, I realized an important lesson: People are easy to be scammed. My boss was selling people an over-priced car in minutes, just because they looked at his suit, and the fact that he owned a successful Car Dealership.



The purpose of this short article is to give you a new concept of purchasing.

Every day, dozens of more sellers joining Fiverr. They upload many Gigs and hope to be acknowledged.

The problem start with their sales rate and history: the “terrifying” 0% sign on their profile page.

Those sellers can be one of the bests of their field, but you won’t buy from them just because - NO ONE ELSE HAD BOUGHT THEM FIRST. Why? Because people want other people to make mistakes, and then “learn” from them.

But think about it - who is really making a mistake? You might be missing one of the most intelligent seller out there, just because no one else had tried him first. This, my friends, creates Monopoly. This is how people like my old boss sold cars with 35% more of their actual cost.



Of course, there are many bad people out there who wish to scam us and take away our money.

So how will we avoid them?

Its simple - We’ll just be suspicious 24/7. We will make sure that those people are:

1. Real.
   
2. Responsible.
   
3. Professional enough.
   
   
   
   I hope with all of my heart that this article changed, even a bit, your approach.
   
   
   
   Thank you for reading.
   

[darrendesign]

Thank you for such a great article.

[sirtaco]

No problem, happy to help 🙂

[fonthaunt]

In your recommendations you suggested “demand to see their last projects, their profile page, their LinkedIn account and even their Whatsapp, just to make sure”. Before anyone gets into trouble, it is against Fiverr ToS to do this as described. It is a violation to even request contact info (like Whatsapp or LinkedIn) and it’s an offense that can cause the user to be banned.



Seller profiles are wide open, of course, so no need to demand to see them. It is OK to ask for work samples and most sellers should have sample work displayed on their gig images/attachments. Some have portfolios on permitted sites like YouTube. Many sellers will not give away free work in the form of custom samples and some cannot show their last project due to buyers who want their purchase to remain private.



I totally understand your intention and it is good, and the general advice is helpful. I would suggest a read-through of the ToS and then a little editing so that no one gets into trouble with Fiverr. Thank you for the effort and it is appreciated!

[Guest customrapsongs]

The reason I won’t buy from them is that those sellers with 0% rating will not show up in search results at all. If I didn’t bookmark most of the gigs i actually use, I would have no way of finding them at all. Low ranking sellers are literally removed from search results. Also, if you do not know how to play the game and know how to adapt to the “fiverr work ethic” this could be a reason for not so good rating, and a potential “bad buyer” it is not always about the quality of the work, its the whole package, response rate, delivery time, proven track record. It is better to be safe then sorry. Why would i order from someone who has amazing work, but i see the last 2 orders of theirs were “canceled, seller failed to deliver on time” which causes them to have a low rating. Monopolies are good, if those running provide good service. There is no need for 10,000 people to be offering logos on fiverr, when maybe 30 have the market on lock… It makes things less cluttered and allows people to find who they need. You could take a risk and buy from an inexperienced fiverr seller, but at the end of the day, you want results right? Just because you want to be a seller on fiverr does not entitle you to any sales. The sellers who get the orders, actually deserve them, they have the ENTIRE package, THEY ARE GOLD.

[sirtaco]

customrapsongs, you are so right, and I will mention it in my next article.

[rodrigueskevin]

Reply to @customrapsongs:

Even top rated sellers had a 0% rating when they began. It creates an “unfair” situation for the new sellers if buyers will not buy from them. How are they supposed to improve their ratings?

If the problem is that buyers can only trust sellers with high ratings based on the impression that their work will be delivered, a suggestion to Fiverr would be something like a training course that a seller can undertake. This would provide the seller certification in his/her category and also have professional samples of his work authenticated by Fiverr.

This will at least give the genuine new sellers a chance to showcase that they are willing and able to do the work. And this should help buyers trust new sellers a lot more.

[Guest customrapsongs]

Reply to @rodrigueskevin: buyers could care less about helping sellers, only sellers are concerned about this issue. BUYER’s want one thing…the product or service they order. They are not scrimmaging all over fiverr trying to find out who has a low rating so they can order from them and help them out.

[Guest customrapsongs]

Reply to @sirtaco: cool, i actually brought work from a seller that had low ratings because i thought the work would be good. The work was actually terrible and i am unable to use it. The gig portfolio is THE ONLY way i realized that i can judge work, as this is ACTUAL work that is being delivered to other buyers, so i know exactly what i can expect. If this seller had previous work that could be displayed, i would have known to steer way clear of his gig.

[kashif786786]

Sheriff’s Note: Self-promotion removed. Do not hijack other threads with self-promotion.

[rodrigueskevin]

Reply to @customrapsongs: So you mean buyers should not buy from new sellers who have not had any ratings?

I don’t think so. In fact, I do know how new sellers feel being one myself so I have bought from a new seller myself. I did this by going through their profile, video and gig description and being satisfied with the value they were providing. And you know what, they did a pretty good job.

I hope there are others buyers who stand to give new sellers a chance and not let monopoly run the system.

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[manikmunna]

Reply to @fonthaunt: I agree with you. Thanks

[fonthaunt]

Reply to @sirtaco: Since you are still reading, apparently your reading is selective. Please edit your original tip post as recommended. The items that should be removed are those that encourage ToS violation and are marked with a strikethrough in your original post. Just click edit to remove them, and please read the ToS and the forum Do’s and Dont’s before passing along further tips. Thanks for the useful portion.

[sirtaco]

Hi, the tip for contacting sellers outside Fiverr has been removed, although I will definitely suggest that to the Fiverr’s staff.

[fonthaunt]

Reply to @sirtaco: That’s a fine idea. If you want to offer suggestions to Fiverr staff, you can place suggestions on the forum in the Suggestion Box category or you can submit a ticket from the Customer Support pages. Thanks for the edits.

[sirtaco]

Reply to @fonthaunt: No problem, thank you 🙂

[sirtaco]

@fonthaunt: I will write a detailed article in the Suggestions Section, hope to see your ideas & thoughts about it 🙂

[blrivers]

I wish I saw this before placing 3 gigs in a row with 3 different sellers and getting a really awful experience. This makes me want to only deal with recommended sellers. I am really thankful for your support team which went in and cancelled the gigs when the sellers declined but their work was nothing close to what I requested. I did have two awesome sellers who produced really high quality work that I was so please with. I have since referred 3 people to your site. I hope they have a better experience than me.

[sirtaco]

@blrivers : The support team are very helpul 🙂 Although some time they cancel orders when the seller is “in the middle” of working on them, which can be a little bit disappointing.

[sirtaco]

Another important tip: The seller’s response time to private messages is also something to take into consideration.

[emmybeks]

Every top rated seller started with a 0% rating. That he/she is new in fiverr doesn’t mean he/she is new in the business of what he/she is offering. I think the most important thing should be that buyers study the description and profile of the new seller. If you are convinced and satisfied, go ahead and place your order.
simple.

[sirtaco]

@emmybeks: U are absolutely right 🙂