I Just Bought a Car With my Fiverr Earnings - Ask Me Anything

[brandontvedt]

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are all well, and doing brisk business here on Fiverr.

Just a few minutes ago, I made my 1,000th sale and thought I might celebrate with an Ask Me Anything thread, which has surprisingly not yet been done here as far as I can tell.

I’ve dealt with crazy buyers, bought a few things myself, been scammed once, had my levels revoked by Customer Service, earned them back, experienced bugs, video-fied my gigs successfully without losing rank, tested gigs with bonuses versus those without, ran a bunch of empirical tests related to gig efficiency, successfully doubled and then tripled my average sale price, launched the career of another successful seller, and a bunch of other stuff.

Even managed to make a few sales here and there in between all the craziness, believe it or not!

Anyone have any questions? Ask me anything.

[brandontvedt]

@kjblynx



Thank you!



And I’ll answer anyways - it’s a lynx, right? Or is that a puma? I can’t quite tell from these bushes. :ar!

[cheezees]

Congrats Brandon! =D> :D/ Now get back to writing funny, punny mini scenes!

[nicred]

Congrats!!! What an achievement.

How and why were your levels revoked? What should other sellers do to avoid that situation?



What kind of car did you get? :(|)



Nic

[brandontvedt]

@nicred



Thank you! Answers to your 2 questions:



1 - I lost my levels because of some text I used to have in my profile.



I had a disagreement in interpretation with CS regarding a particular line of the ToS, and I wanted something phrased in a very particular way (which had been very, very good for business) in my profile.



They reset it a few times, which irked me, and when I replaced the text I apparently did so with copy that was evidently too similar. After a couple exchanges they eventually pulled my levels along with the profile text.



I don’t want to get too specific as the same flaw still exists in the ToS to this day, haha.



2 - Regarding the car, I converted my lease and bought a 2012 Civic Hybrid.



Restrain yourselves, ladies.

[chamin88]

congradz…

I 'm a stranger here and willing to know how can i increase my sales. I’m really disappointed that any of my gigs still not shown in the recomended list while some of other strangers gigs are showing in recommended list. Could you please give me advise.

[jtengle]

Wow, a Civic Hybrid is a nice choice. So my only question is… can I have it?

[businessp4u]

Congrats!

[viser1000]

Hah! That’s awesome, congratulations!

[hunterfox93]

Hello that is lovely…how can i promote my gig…am new here

[nicred]

Reply to @brandontvedt: Thanks for the reply! nice choice in vehicle, you’re going to have to beat them off with a stick 😉

[brandontvedt]

@madmoo



My surname is totally weird, I’m Scandanavian ethnically, and it shows, haha.



You pronounce it ‘Twait’, in one syllable, like slurring ‘to’ and ‘wait’ together.



I estimate I’ve spent about 4% of my life spelling it to telemarketers, you are correct (all the letters rhyme too, which makes it even more fun!)



@chamin88



Hi Chamin. You’re actually doing pretty well for someone who has only been here a month - many people don’t get hardly any sales in that time, and you have several.



As far as getting on to the recommended list, your gigs have to be either very popular (yours aren’t old enough), unique (while you do good work, there are lots of photo editor gigs here), or something like that. If you hang in there, in a few months you will probably get featured eventually.



Be careful though, it can be a mixed blessing - last time I got featured in a promo I had no time for anything but Fiverr for several days cause of the tidal waves of orders.



@jtengle



I thought I told you ladies to restrain yourselves - keep your hands off me and my car please! :))



@hunterfox93



Well, the profile picture you are using isn’t you, I’d change that. I’d also update the thumbnails/images for your gigs. In my opinion, they do not look appealing and will have a hard time standing out in the big list of gigs. Consider adding some videos.



I’d also consider polishing up your gig descriptions, they are short and leave you vulnerable to complaints in many ways from customers with unclear directions, etc.

[hudsonmediaroom]

Finally! Someone who might be able to help me. I am unable to reach Level 1 because of a warning I received when I first started. It was an honest mistake. I posted my problem in this forum but no responses here: http://forum.fiverr.com/discussion/24826/warning-set-my-level-1-promotion-back-by-unknown-period#Item_1



How long does it take for Fiverr to reevaluate a promotion to Level 1 if I received a warning? Is it two weeks after my 30 days, 30 days on top of the 30 days, 3 months…how long? (this is considering all other requirements are being fulfilled, like over 10 sales and excellent rating).



Ok. Hope to hear from you 🙂



…and Congratulations!

---

[brandontvedt]

@hudsonmediaroom



Sorry to hear you are having problems 😦



I have actually heard a few different things about this. For me personally, I lost my level 2 and was demoted to level 1, so it’s a bit different than your circumstance, but it took me about a month to earn level 2 back. Measured from the incident date, if I recall correctly.



I have read in several threads though that if you mess up as a newbie, it can require manual intervention from customer service to get you ‘back on track’, so to speak. So while it -is- an automated system, you totally can get classified as a ‘problem’ or whatever, and not get things at the same rate.



You have close to 100 total sales, with 100% positive feedback, so it sounds like this has indeed happened to you.



What I would do is wait the full (second period) of 30 days, and then open up another ticket. Point out you have a -ton- of sales (enough for lvl 2 really), and perfect feedback, and you just made the 1 mistake etc. Hopefully you’ll get a rep that will listen.

[amberdwallace88]

What a great forum! THank you for sharing. I am a new seller on Fiverr and taking all the helpful tips I can get! Thank you for sharing! Have a wonderful day!

[brandontvedt]

@amberdwallace88



Welcome to Fiverr, and congrats on your first couple of sales!



Do you have a webcam? You might have some good luck recording short testimonials for businesses - those can be pretty popular gigs, maybe you could do well with one.



If you do, consider investing in a green screen and teaching yourself the basics of video and audio editing also. You can use free programs like Audacity for Audio work and Windows Movie Maker for the visual stuff.



You can even make yourself a green screen for $50 or so, no need to really invest in expensive equipment when you’re just getting started.



Hope this helps give you an idea or two $-)

[hudsonmediaroom]

Speak of the devil!!! I just got Level 1. Sweet!!!

Now, the things I have to do to maintain and get to Level 2… 8]

[brandontvedt]

@hudsonmediaroom



If you got the promotion to level 1, you’re back on track as far as the automated system goes, I believe.



Now just maintain your sales level, avoid negatives, and wait -another- 30 days (from today, lol), and you should make level 2!



Congrats, go put up some extras.

[traxie2001]

What are some issues you’ve had with buyers? What percentage were you able to resolve without getting a negative?

[brandontvedt]

@traxie2001



I’m sure I’m biased, but I believe each and every time I’ve had an issue with a buyer it’s basically been their fault, haha.



They do things like change the instructions at the last minute (or after delivery), or refuse to upgrade to the recommended extras they should have and then get upset when they don’t get them for free, etc.



That said, I’ve only had maybe ~6 or 7 total ‘disputes’ here.



2 of them are still on my account - that guy was a total jerk, and one of only two times I felt I’ve been ‘scammed’ here. It was from early on in my Fiverr career, and I decided I was going to keep the guy’s money even if I kept the negative feedback too. Fiver CS actually removed his negative 5+ times before they gave up - he kept putting it back, heh.



The 3rd was from a disabled client of mine who meant to leave a positive review. I understand computer operation for him is super hard, so I just suck that one up. I know some people look at the negative reviews, so frankly I’m kind of pleased to have a happy one in mine, lol 🙂



3 were removed by Fiverr CS (though I had to fight for this each time, pretty hard).



The last just happened last week, and is the first ever cancellation I offered someone to remove a negative, and the second of the two times I have felt ‘scammed’. Guy literally purchased a $5 basic gig, no extras, and the -entire- substance of his complaint was that he didn’t get the services listed as extras. -And- Fiverr CS refused to remove it, claiming it was somehow ‘relevant’.



So for the most part it has been smooth sailing with those few exceptions.



I credit this to having pretty clear gig descriptions and requests to contact me prior to order, etc.

[celinedesigns]

How the heck do you buy a car like that for $5000-6000??

[brandontvedt]

@celinedesigns



Well, I’ve earned more than that despite having just broken 1k sales. Pretty early on in my career here I caught on to the power of multiples, rush extras, and the like, and I got pretty in-depth regarding my own analytics and optimum selling points.



My ‘average sale’ even on my cheapest gig is now ~$15, and has been for a while, and I’ve got a few that I often sell $25 or $50 worth of service on.



I believe the ‘number of sales’ here accounts for sales of multiples, but not those of extras - and I am a seller whose structure heavily revolves around extras and upselling. If every $5 of business I had incremented my ‘number of sales’ counter…I’d have a lot more.



I’ve also had level 2 status for 95%+ of the time I’ve been on the platform. I got here early enough where 1 & 2 were almost instant, then I lost my level 2 for a single month. Point being I have had pretty good selling tools for the vast majority of my time here.



Lastly, I was already partially into my lease. I didn’t buy it outright, or at a dealership. I just converted my lease. But it sounded cooler to say ‘I bought a car’. I claim artistic license - I am a writer, after all! 😛

[jenny_fiver]

Reply to @brandontvedt: Hello Please What do I do ?



I just got a warning from fiverr and really Don’t get what i actually Did



here is their message to me :



You may not offer or accept services that potentially violate third parties’ terms of service.

Note: These warnings may affect your eligibility for Levels, other features, and your account status.

Thanks,

The Fiverr Team

[brandontvedt]

@jenny_fiver



Wellllllllll…firstly, you’re not Rita Andrade I’m guessing, particularly since you say your name is Jenny, heh.



So I’d ditch the profile photo that’s of a famous supermodel from the cover of GQ to start. @-)



Next, I believe they probably have an issue with your gigs where you claim you will post positive reviews.



This is actually an illegal practice in many countries. It is called ‘astroturfing’, and violates consumer protection laws.



You cannot sell ‘positive’ reviews, you can only sell ‘honest’ ones.



99.9% sure that’s probably what earned you the warning heh.



Oh, and if you do happen to be Rita Andrade and you’re just secretly masquerading as this ‘Jenny’ person - call me. I’ll let you touch my new Honda Civic. =))

[kimbupamu]

Congrats on your success here on Fiverr! I want a car of my own too~ Hehe



I would also like to ask for some tips in making more from my gigs, if that’s okay. I mainly do design stuff with cute themes. I’ve been here for at least 6 months and I only got 30 sales so far. I know a lot of sellers offer the same or similar services as I do but it would really help if you can take a look and see what I can do to improve my profile and maybe attract more customers. I can’t do video because I am very very shy on camera and I don’t speak really well (although I think I write well hehe)



Also one thing is that so far, most of the customers I have had are repeat buyers, and when I often do unlimited revisions for them because I do not want to sound too greedy and make them feel like we didn’t have a connection. Ahah I hope I’m making sense.



Thanks a lot and congratulations again!