Fiverr Forum

Response rate needs to go

#1

Just wanted to take a moment to express my opinion of the response rate metric on fiverr. I’m a level one seller and trying to shoot for level 2 in the next months or so, I’ve been an active seller for more than 7 months now; specializing in technical support and Linux system administration gigs.

I think the response rate metric has got to go! Anyone who has spent more than a week on fiverr knows that you don’t always get quality leads and like any business not everyone is even worth the time to talk to.

It should be the buyers discretion whether or not, we respond to an inquiry. Some people are just not worth the time. For example I offer an email server setup for small business and personal use – I make mention that the services I offer is no good for bulk email, email marketing, or spamming as this kind of use is either going to get the sender IP blocked rending the setup useless, or is just straight up illegal since no one wants to bother reading into spam laws (such as making sure people are opt-in before emailing them, a physical address is located at the bottom of the email, so on) since I don’t offer legal services and the gig description clearly states this type of thing is not within my scope of support, I feel that these inquires should just be ignored and a seller should not be penalized for choosing who they speak with.

Another example are these buyers that message you asking for 100 things for $5, if on the first message from a prospect it’s crystal clear that their expectations are so unrealistic for a $5 budget, why even waste time explaining? Doing so normally results in these poor quality leads just becoming rude or asking for even more. Sellers are here to make money and should not have to be forced to waste time with complete nonsense like this.

Anybody that offers professional services as a freelancer starts to gain the ability to scope out a good lead and can normally detect a bad one from a mile away just by reading that first message from a prospect, so with that insight it really needs to be the sellers decision who they engage with on the platform and if they don’t feel like dealing with an obvious poor quality prospects, that want to enlist them for illegal services, are just to lazy to read your gig offerings, or have the audacity to ask for a full day of work for $5 they deserve to be ignored and I really don’t feel the seller should be subjected to a negative score.

#2

Pet-peeve~ It truly sucks when messages arrive when I’m :sleeping:. Especially a spam message urgh! This is what makes me go grrr thus ruining my response rate. I mean… I’m not a walking :zombie:, sometimes I feel like it tho. However, I’m human… I need time to rest, eat, shop, workout, and rejuvenate. My :iphone: is not glued to my :peach:.

#3

That wouldn’t make a very welcoming marketplace for buyers.

#4

I think it should stay. You can’t just be ignoring messages if you are a professional businessperson. No matter who or what circumstances, communication is important for good customer service. By way, what is the real way Fiverr measures this? If any one knows for sure let us know.

#5

When I was selling Mercedes, we called that “plateglassing.” It means deciding whether someone could afford a MB without even walking outside to meet them. Bad method. Most people who buy new Benzes don’t look like they can. Gotta pitch 'em all.

#6

I’m more concerned about a better market place for the freelancer.

#7

its not judging a book by its cover it judging by how they conduct themselves during first contact. But yes you are right you can’t always judge a book by its cover

#8

Yes! that’s another thing too, if they are going to force us to talk to everyone they should at least take time zones into consideration, since it is an international marketplace, I do get those 2-3am messages a few times a month. I know the profiles show each users location and time but unfortunately some buyers don’t notice. Since you can’t turn on vacation mode with active jobs, they could at least implement some kind of time restrictions so the sellers can set specific times they don’t want to be disturbed.

#9

I really don’t see the harm in fiverr tracking the response time so prospects can see them but not have it effect the buyers overall scoring. In the short time I’ve been on this site, it seems about 1 out of 7 buyers are great to work for and will give repeat business, they also don’t mind paying hourly rates. These are the ones that keep me coming back to fiverr. They are easy to communicate with, provide clear directives, tip well, and don’t re-open a gig after its closed due to a matter completely unrelated to the original offering (which is a huge Pet-peeve of mine) I was hoping after another year or two I would build up a list of these all-star buyers and work with them only taking on new buyers as I see necessary; this strategy seems like a win-win, I’d remain profitable and fiverr would have reoccurring profits from me. One of the best things of being a freelancer is having the freedom to pick and choose the project and clients you work with.

#10

This I can agree and relate to 100% - couldn’t have put it better myself. :slight_smile:

#11

I agree, kind of. It would simply be rude not to send anything, though.

I just wish we could block people who waste time. I had someone message me a few days ago who could not say anything other that ‘I need content for my website.’ They were dumbfounded by the fact that I couldn’t agree to work on a project without knowing what kind of content they needed. In this case, I actually decided to be nice and listed all the basic information they would need to give a seller in a message to start the order process. Then I told them (politely) to go ride an emu into the sunset and never look back.

Now they are back and going full blown crazy listing pages of fragmented copy and pasted garbage as their brief and arguing with me because I won’t agree to take on the project.

I’ll pay you $10!

No - That doesn’t even cover the cost of the amount of my life you have already wasted. Be gone with you…

#12

Yea when the buyer can’t even provide a simple directive or adequately answer basic questions, I just shoot them an offer asking for an astronomical amount of money and they normally go away. Unless its a basic offering I rarely take on any special orders for $5-$10 - unless its a gig I offer for that amount, but once they start asking for things outside the scope of my gig, I explain that I consider it a project and advise I charge $25 an hour for such things. When they want to wine about that, I explain that I live in the states and recommend they find a seller in a third world country. A serious buyer that wants a long term working partnership with a professional will always go for hourly rates; its really the only way you can make any money on this platform.

#13

https://sellers.fiverr.com/en/article/everything-you-need-to-know-about-response-time-rate