Jump to content

Update: Office in London announced! | Fiverr goes local - Fiverr launched a country-specific platform in Germany this week


miiila

Recommended Posts

Fiverr launches in Germany

by Ecommerce News.

Fiverr.com has launched in Germany. The online marketplace for creative and digital services now has a localized website with country-specific functions for Germans. This launch marks the first European branch of the Israeli tech company.

Fiverr is an online marketplace where people can buy or offer thousands of small services. In eight different categories, such as ‘Graphics & Design’ and ‘Music & Audio’, you can find tasks like “I will design a flat minimalist logo in 24 hours” or “I will record an American male voice-over”. Initially, all tasks were priced 5 dollars, hence the name Fiverr, but now you can find tasks with all kind of prices on the website.

Already 130,000 users in Germany

And now Fiverr has launched in Germany, where it already has 130,000 users. In this European country, the company’s focus will primarily be on small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups. Fiverr starts with a five-person team, but by early 2019, the team is expected to grow to ten employees, Onlinehändler-News writes.

‘German freelancers are in huge demand’

This website also knows that Fiverr already tried and failed to launch a dedicated services marketplace in Germany in 2011. “Especially Germany, with its strong economy and the many SMEs, is a highly attractive market for us”, CEO Micha Kaufman says. “But German freelancers are in greater demand than ever. Our surveys shows that ‘made in Germany’ is a clear seal of quality for services internationally.”

https://ecommercenews.eu/fiverr-launches-in-germany/ (Nov 30, 2018)

The original article seems to be this one (but is in German language, so I quoted the above one).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Makes sense, I suppose.
Not so much for me personally, as most of my clients typically need my services because they do not speak German, but generally, dedicated platforms where people from x can hire people from x, and only people from x, and have only people from x reply to their BRs, might be in demand.
At least, from some forum posts that we see here, some people might prefer local platforms.


Kaufman will seine Plattform aber gar nicht mit Upwork vergleichen. Dort würden Freiberufler für Aufträge bieten, bei Fiverr stellten sie dagegen ihr Portfolio und ihren Preis ein. „Sie präsentieren ihr Talent“, sagt Kaufman. Es sei kein Wettrennen zum niedrigsten Preis, sondern zur höchsten Qualität.
(https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/mittelstand/familienunternehmer/micha-kaufman-israelischer-seriengruender-bringt-seine-umstrittene-freiberufler-plattform-nach-deutschland/23690676.html?ticket=ST-13443352-WAy0heUACCt44wxgHdSB-ap3

Translation: Kaufman doesn’t want to compare his platform with Upwork, though. There, freelancers are bidding for orders, whereas at Fiverr, they set up their portfolio and their price. “They present their talent,” says Kaufman. According to him, it is not a race to the lowest price but to the highest quality.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, it should be interesting to see how it goes, especially since the articles say they tried in 2011 already and it didn’t work out, so they must have the data to think it will work now, or other and perhaps better ideas to make it work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is interesting. Fiverr used to have a Spanish site but they disbanded it and told all sellers with Spanish gigs to change the text to English. As best I recall, sellers who didn’t go with English had their gigs removed after a while. Fiverr seems to make these kinds of decisions with haste. I wonder how it will go with the new German one. I actually thought that most Germans do speak both German and English but that is only based on people I have known on and offline.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is interesting. Fiverr used to have a Spanish site but they disbanded it and told all sellers with Spanish gigs to change the text to English. As best I recall, sellers who didn’t go with English had their gigs removed after a while. Fiverr seems to make these kinds of decisions with haste. I wonder how it will go with the new German one. I actually thought that most Germans do speak both German and English but that is only based on people I have known on and offline.

I’d say it would be pretty hard to find Germans who don’t speak English at all, how well they speak it, is another question, of course.

Some older people perhaps and those who went to school in East Germany, where and when they learned Russian at school rather than English, may speak next to none, but you shouldn’t have any trouble finding someone who could help out in English with any problem that may arise when you travel in Germany and don’t know any German other than 'Hallo" (impersonal you, I know you know more than that :)).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’d say it would be pretty hard to find Germans who don’t speak English at all, how well they speak it, is another question, of course.

Some older people perhaps and those who went to school in East Germany, where and when they learned Russian at school rather than English, may speak next to none, but you shouldn’t have any trouble finding someone who could help out in English with any problem that may arise when you travel in Germany and don’t know any German other than 'Hallo" (impersonal you, I know you know more than that :)).

So I wonder why Germany was chosen?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fiverr launches in Germany

by Ecommerce News.

Fiverr.com has launched in Germany. The online marketplace for creative and digital services now has a localized website with country-specific functions for Germans. This launch marks the first European branch of the Israeli tech company.

Fiverr is an online marketplace where people can buy or offer thousands of small services. In eight different categories, such as ‘Graphics & Design’ and ‘Music & Audio’, you can find tasks like “I will design a flat minimalist logo in 24 hours” or “I will record an American male voice-over”. Initially, all tasks were priced 5 dollars, hence the name Fiverr, but now you can find tasks with all kind of prices on the website.

Already 130,000 users in Germany

And now Fiverr has launched in Germany, where it already has 130,000 users. In this European country, the company’s focus will primarily be on small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups. Fiverr starts with a five-person team, but by early 2019, the team is expected to grow to ten employees, Onlinehändler-News writes.

‘German freelancers are in huge demand’

This website also knows that Fiverr already tried and failed to launch a dedicated services marketplace in Germany in 2011. “Especially Germany, with its strong economy and the many SMEs, is a highly attractive market for us”, CEO Micha Kaufman says. “But German freelancers are in greater demand than ever. Our surveys shows that ‘made in Germany’ is a clear seal of quality for services internationally.”

https://ecommercenews.eu/fiverr-launches-in-germany/ (Nov 30, 2018)

The original article seems to be this one (but is in German language, so I quoted the above one).

This is probably because of how the German marketplace has evolved… The major driving force for the German economy is not the big industries and international companies… It is, in fact, the

small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups.

And the needs of the German market seems very compatible with the services that Fiverr offers:

Fiverr is an online marketplace where people can buy or offer thousands of small services. In eight different categories, such as ‘Graphics & Design’ and ‘Music & Audio’, you can find tasks like “I will design a flat minimalist logo in 24 hours” or “I will record an American male voice-over”.

In this European country, the company’s focus will primarily be on small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups.

This might be the main reason why Fiverr decided to give Germany a try.

In addition to the above reason, of course, this ⬇️ is also probably true (except for the “lots” part 😜 ).

they do have lots of disposable income.

As @miiila already said: It would be hard to find Germans who speak no English at all.

However, if given a chance between their own language and another language, they would obviously choose German. The comfort (and joy) of being able to communicate in one’s native language (on an online platform like Fiverr) is like no other 😜

But, yeah, I don’t think easing language and time-zone related difficulties were one of the main driving forces for deciding to launch a Germany specific website. I think it was a more business-oriented decision.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I wouldn’t say “they” have lots of disposable income, like everywhere else, there are some people who have lots of disposable income and many who don’t, living in Germany is expensive, which many people forget in their equations and when looking at lists of average income, etc.

However, people who do start up or maintain a small or medium business obviously do have some disposable income, or need to invest anyhow if they want to get their business off the ground, of course.
I guess it’s a mix of several factors why they chose Germany to start with, maybe one of the reasons is even that most Germans do speak English, which may be counterintuitive on the surface but not so much if one thinks it through, and there may also be additional reasons to do with the staff, who knows.

I don’t think only language and disposable income can be the only reasons, either way, if that was it, a Chinese language and Spanish language platform probably still would make more sense.

Maybe it’s about the size, too, perhaps it’s not too small and not too big a market for another trial run, or many German users were asking for it, I don’t know.

In any case, I’m curious to see how it will go. Up to now, I’ve read several articles about it but can’t actually “get there” nor see any “country-specific tools” in my account or anything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is interesting because I have regular waves of German clients from time to time. I always wonder why they come in groups, like 3-4 in a row. I hope the new customers will speak English, because my German is limited to großes Bier bitte

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is interesting because I have regular waves of German clients from time to time. I always wonder why they come in groups, like 3-4 in a row. I hope the new customers will speak English, because my German is limited to großes Bier bitte

Well, that’s useful if you visit Germany. I’m pretty sure you won’t find many people who’d not understand that in English, but it’s always good to be able to impress the locals with a carefully curated travel essentials vocabulary. 😉

The group thing does happen to me too, not with Germans, I guess it depends on where in the world Fiverr thinks it’s a good idea to show your gig in a spot high enough for people to see it. Or someone recommended you in their circle? Who knows, Fiverr, the one remaining mystery in the universe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, that’s useful if you visit Germany. I’m pretty sure you won’t find many people who’d not understand that in English, but it’s always good to be able to impress the locals with a carefully curated travel essentials vocabulary. 😉

The group thing does happen to me too, not with Germans, I guess it depends on where in the world Fiverr thinks it’s a good idea to show your gig in a spot high enough for people to see it. Or someone recommended you in their circle? Who knows, Fiverr, the one remaining mystery in the universe.

Well, I live in Poland and I have a German surname and I tried to learn your language several times but unfortunately failed. To difficult, especially the grammar. But this is good for you, because of people like me, you have more clients 😉

Or someone recommended you in their circle?

Maybe, or some kind of targeted (location) advertisements on Facebook or Google. Yea, mystery 😉

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I live in Poland and I have a German surname and I tried to learn your language several times but unfortunately failed. To difficult, especially the grammar. But this is good for you, because of people like me, you have more clients 😉

Or someone recommended you in their circle?

Maybe, or some kind of targeted (location) advertisements on Facebook or Google. Yea, mystery 😉

Exactly, German grammar is awesomely intricate and complicated. Google translate also works much better for German > English than English > German. :slight_smile:

But don’t worry, good grammar matters for many things but chances are nobody will criticize you in case your grammar is a bit off when ordering beer.

Yes, that’s a good guess too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Update:

This is what my login page now looks like (after Windows had kicked me out during its update 👀 ).

Fiverr_in_Germany.thumb.png.63958b3d0fdeb42fd995050da07b7df6.png

It says “Fiverr in Germany, Soon new payment methods, features & local events”.

Hoping not only for new payment methods but also for direct bank withdrawal like only US sellers enjoy presently, less fees wouldn’t hurt. 😉

I also tweeted Fiverr’s Country Manager Germany to suggest Germany-specific tips by experts regarding finances, taxes, health insurance, etc. - Fiverr has quite a bit of content for US users on such topics but those often don’t apply to other countries.
The reply said thanks for the suggestion and that they are indeed working on German content, so I’m quite curious to see how it all will pan out.
It’s still not so easy to find someone who is knowledgeable about the Gig Economy, freelance platforms and such, even among financial authority, health insurance, accountant people you need to deal with as a freelancer, and there certainly are topics the German Fiverr users, both sellers and buyers, could benefit from and would highly welcome, and a smaller, local, German language forum or subforum might prove quite useful.

Anyway, very curious to see how the local German platform will come along/look like and if other Euopean branches will be launched as well if it turns out a success.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Simply cant wait for it. I think the reason of another try is the “mighty market”, prob. the strongest in the World.

It is very interesting for several kinds of Gigs.

Are there further Information available? Like “when it starts” or more importent - is it just a translation or would I be able to offer Gigs only for a choosen country? In this example Germany

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Simply cant wait for it. I think the reason of another try is the “mighty market”, prob. the strongest in the World.

It is very interesting for several kinds of Gigs.

Are there further Information available? Like “when it starts” or more importent - is it just a translation or would I be able to offer Gigs only for a choosen country? In this example Germany

No definitive starting date yet as far as I’m aware of.

It sounds as if it’s really a local version of Fiverr, for German-speaking users and/or users who live in Germany. German interface, German content, local payment methods …

Link to comment
Share on other sites

“They” is certainly not true, as I already said in a longer post above. There are lots of Germans who don’t have any disposable income. Many, however, have, and that factor is certainly one of the factors, probably the most important one. Amazon Germany, for instance, is Amazon’s second important marketplace currently.

But overgeneralizing is never a good idea, never mind regarding which country, it blurs people’s view of other countries and people and leads to prejudice, and in some cases, hard wake-up calls.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know, that some customers of mine would like to talk in their natural language. Thats one reason why they have choosen me. But I think this is not only regarding to germans. If a customer is asking a Freelancer of the same County, they will talk in “their” language. Futhermore, most germans use english. However, this cant be the point.

The disposable income is not a realistic thought behind that at all.

I rly think that it is according to the amount of users from Germany (buyer or seller) and of course - as mentioned above - the most stable market. Maybe its a first save Pilot for fiverr before expanding in further countries.

I am rly Looking forward as this will give me a Lot of opportunities.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know, that some customers of mine would like to talk in their natural language. Thats one reason why they have choosen me. But I think this is not only regarding to germans. If a customer is asking a Freelancer of the same County, they will talk in “their” language. Futhermore, most germans use english. However, this cant be the point.

The disposable income is not a realistic thought behind that at all.

I rly think that it is according to the amount of users from Germany (buyer or seller) and of course - as mentioned above - the most stable market. Maybe its a first save Pilot for fiverr before expanding in further countries.

I am rly Looking forward as this will give me a Lot of opportunities.

Maybe its a first save Pilot for fiverr before expanding in further countries.

That’s what the articles said, and what makes sense too. If it succeeds, they’d have a good reason to add more local platforms. Cheers!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...