Revising Fiverr Levels: A Few Suggestions

[acossidente]

While I usually care little for badges and other shiny things that a site might attach to my picture, it recently came to my attention that Fiverr Levels could use a few modifications.

Here’s how the system currently works:

• Level 0: Yay, you created your account! There’s a good chance you landed here after reading one of the many “how to make money on the internet” guides and will be gone within the next 72 hours. So… you know, good luck?

• Level 1: Aight, Aight! We get you! It seems like you actually joined to stay. Well… shit!
  “Bob, we should probably acknowledge the fact that this guy has been around for a while and managed not to f** up completely!”
  “Yeah, Frank! Just… give him a level one badge, he’ll be happy!”

• Level 2:You work for us now. Your time belongs to us. Your car, family, friends, and pets are now ours! Thank you for your cooperation!

• Top Rated Seller: Hmm! That soul looks particularly tasty! Can I have it?

Before continuing, I deem spending a few words to comment the above descriptions necessary:

• I am completely okay with the way Level 0 and 1 work. I believe it is correct, both towards other sellers and buyers, to mark people who just started out and might not be totally familiar with the platform yet.

• Since I know many of you will think that, I’d like to state just how uninterested I am with the whole Top Rated Seller status. I personally believe having such people around is a cool thing, but neither this nor any other of my posts are made in an effort to acquire notoriety.

Now that the disclaimer is done, let us move on.

As you probably understood, the transition from level 1 to level 2 is where I believe the main problem with the system resides. In order to achieve level 2, sellers currently have to complete at least 50 individual orders within 2 months, while maintaining a rating of 4.5 stars or higher. Try focusing your attention on the within two months part, we’ll get back to it later.

At an average price of 5 USD per order and considering a fixed 20% on each transaction going to Fiverr, a level 2 seller must have been able to generate revenues for at least 250 USD within 60 days. (Fiverr getting roughly 50 USD out of the whole thing).

Let’s calculate the time such an endeavor would take: 8 hours a day; 5 days a week; 8 weeks: 320 hours / 50 = an average of 6.4 hours per assignment. For the sake of this calculation, we hypothesized that all orders were processed as soon as they are placed, sellers always had a steady flow of orders, and no delays happen. Breaks and potty runs also do not exist in this world.

Now: we all understand how Fiverr was at first created for the short and inexpensive gig and how 50 of these could be easily taken care of in 320 hours. There is a but, though!
As more and more customers request larger projects, which naturally take up more time, effort, and resources, many sellers find themselves stuck only because they were unable to complete a high enough number of tasks within the allotted time.

Personally, I’ve been on Fiverr since the beginning of September. I eventually got my level one badge in mid October. Not considering the first - say - two or three days, I completed more than 45 different orders, selling at an average of roughly 30 USD. Obviously, some of them were quicker and costed less; others required more time and forced me to increase the final price.

In Conclusion / TL;DR
Levels aren’t simply a shiny badge, they actually contribute to whether a potential customer will visit your gig or look elsewhere. Additionally, they unlock useful features that can make a seller’s life easier.

In the interests of both Fiverr as a company and of all sellers who elected to use this platform for more than the occasional 5 minutes job; I believe that levels should take the actual amount of revenue someone has generated into account, rather than the number of completed orders.

[manto2112]

I agree, for some sellers it is really hard to complete 50 orders in two months. For example, I have a client that always buy 4 - 5 services in one large order with a custom price. At the beginning I tried to convince her to separate the orders but she prefers large orders so that is how we are working.
This means I’m “losing orders” (in numbers) because instead of 1 I could have 4 or 5 but every client is different and I won’t say no to a large custom offer.

[acossidente]

I agree, for some sellers it is really hard to complete 50 orders in two months. For example, I have a client that always buy 4 - 5 services in one large order with a custom price. At the beginning I tried to convince her to separate the orders but she prefers large orders so that is how we are working.

This means I’m “losing orders” (in numbers) because instead of 1 I could have 4 or 5 but every client is different and I won’t say no to a large custom offer.

Yep… pretty much what I meant!

Most of my services start at either 5 or 10 USD and still require a good amount of time to be finished.

If someone comes to me with a larger project, I’m definitely not going to tell them “yeah, let’s split it into 5 different orders 'cause Fiverr wants me to get to a specific quota”. It would simply sound unprofessional, that’s all.

[mjakkerman]

I follow your reasoning, though I’d suggest that there need to be reviews from at least a certain amount of buyers.

[blaisefaint]

Dear Accossidente:

In the spirit of your thread, my contribution is that these must be 50 individual orders.

So, for example, when my Buyer bought 9 gig multiples, that counted as one individual order.

In your particular case, the solution should be fairly simple.

Step 1) You probably have an SEO optimized blog for sending Buyers to your Fiverr profile. If you don’t, you have the resources to make one.
Step 2) Offer a book on Fiverr. Delivery time: moments. Flog the Fiverr out of this book on your blog, on Twitter, on Facebook, on Chum Hum.
Step 3) When you reach Level 2, pay me 50% of your gross proceeds forevermore in gratitude for this awesome idea!

Good luck,
Blaise

[miiila]

I think revenue definitely should play a role there, and not only there.

If for example a seller translates or writes 2 or even only 1 book/s in 1 month, that might be the only order/s they can do and might still make more revenue than someone who does, say, 60 x 5$, or 120 x 5 $ gigs or… you get me, in 1 month. But the ones who can do a great amount of orders by number will have on average 2 deliveries/day, for the 60 gigs example, and a much quicker turnaround, lower delivery time in their gig, a lot more reviews, eventual bad reviews don´t count as much etc. so that´s a big advantage already…and according to what one reads that is factored in in gig ranking.

So I hope that the amount of the revenue is being considered there as well, not only the number of delivered orders, and if not, it should be.

[landongrace]

When some of us started, (2014) we could only offer $5.00 gigs until we reached level 2. I provided close to 100 orders in my first 60 days. This fueled my account with reviews and sales which really gave my account momentum. My space was crowded. There were 750 providers in my space on Fiverr that started before me.

I see alot of people that make the mistake in the beginning of pricing themselves too high and really squeezing their launch. If they even launch at all.

[misscrystal]

While I usually care little for badges and other shiny things that a site might attach to my picture, it recently came to my attention that Fiverr Levels could use a few modifications.

Here’s how the system currently works:

• Level 0: Yay, you created your account! There’s a good chance you landed here after reading one of the many “how to make money on the internet” guides and will be gone within the next 72 hours. So… you know, good luck?

• Level 1: Aight, Aight! We get you! It seems like you actually joined to stay. Well… shit!

  “Bob, we should probably acknowledge the fact that this guy has been around for a while and managed not to f** up completely!”

  “Yeah, Frank! Just… give him a level one badge, he’ll be happy!”

• Level 2:You work for us now. Your time belongs to us. Your car, family, friends, and pets are now ours! Thank you for your cooperation!

• Top Rated Seller: Hmm! That soul looks particularly tasty! Can I have it?

Before continuing, I deem spending a few words to comment the above descriptions necessary:

• I am completely okay with the way Level 0 and 1 work. I believe it is correct, both towards other sellers and buyers, to mark people who just started out and might not be totally familiar with the platform yet.

• Since I know many of you will think that, I’d like to state just how uninterested I am with the whole Top Rated Seller status. I personally believe having such people around is a cool thing, but neither this nor any other of my posts are made in an effort to acquire notoriety.

Now that the disclaimer is done, let us move on.

As you probably understood, the transition from level 1 to level 2 is where I believe the main problem with the system resides. In order to achieve level 2, sellers currently have to complete at least 50 individual orders within 2 months, while maintaining a rating of 4.5 stars or higher. Try focusing your attention on the within two months part, we’ll get back to it later.

At an average price of 5 USD per order and considering a fixed 20% on each transaction going to Fiverr, a level 2 seller must have been able to generate revenues for at least 250 USD within 60 days. (Fiverr getting roughly 50 USD out of the whole thing).

Let’s calculate the time such an endeavor would take: 8 hours a day; 5 days a week; 8 weeks: 320 hours / 50 = an average of 6.4 hours per assignment. For the sake of this calculation, we hypothesized that all orders were processed as soon as they are placed, sellers always had a steady flow of orders, and no delays happen. Breaks and potty runs also do not exist in this world.

Now: we all understand how Fiverr was at first created for the short and inexpensive gig and how 50 of these could be easily taken care of in 320 hours. There is a but, though!

As more and more customers request larger projects, which naturally take up more time, effort, and resources, many sellers find themselves stuck only because they were unable to complete a high enough number of tasks within the allotted time.

Personally, I’ve been on Fiverr since the beginning of September. I eventually got my level one badge in mid October. Not considering the first - say - two or three days, I completed more than 45 different orders, selling at an average of roughly 30 USD. Obviously, some of them were quicker and costed less; others required more time and forced me to increase the final price.

In Conclusion / TL;DR

Levels aren’t simply a shiny badge, they actually contribute to whether a potential customer will visit your gig or look elsewhere. Additionally, they unlock useful features that can make a seller’s life easier.

In the interests of both Fiverr as a company and of all sellers who elected to use this platform for more than the occasional 5 minutes job; I believe that levels should take the actual amount of revenue someone has generated into account, rather than the number of completed orders.

having such people around is a cool thin

Whew, for a second I was afraid that top rated sellers weren’t ok with you!

[miiila]

When some of us started, (2014) we could only offer $5.00 gigs until we reached level 2. I provided close to 100 orders in my first 60 days. This fueled my account with reviews and sales which really gave my account momentum. My space was crowded. There were 750 providers in my space on Fiverr that started before me.

I see alot of people that make the mistake in the beginning of pricing themselves too high and really squeezing their launch. If they even launch at all.

Well, I took all the 5$ orders I could get and possibly do within the timeframe asked, and got to level 1 and then 2 in the minimum time, but since I also took/got some projects which kept me busy every day for 2 weeks, it didn´t mean just no break but little sleep too. And don´t get sick while you’re at it… I´m still for revenue counting too not just number of gigs, even if I passed.

That´s interesting, landongrace, were there fewer people with big projects back then or did everyone just split everything up into 5$ chunks?

I don´t think I price myself too high if I don´t translate a whole book for 5$. 😉

The last sentence is just a joke, obviously, I hope, but you think generally people just did more for 5$ then than now (leaving things like inflation apart, if anyone wants to add, so it won´t go off-topic too far)?

[misscrystal]

Well, I took all the 5$ orders I could get and possibly do within the timeframe asked, and got to level 1 and then 2 in the minimum time, but since I also took/got some projects which kept me busy every day for 2 weeks, it didn´t mean just no break but little sleep too. And don´t get sick while you’re at it… I´m still for revenue counting too not just number of gigs, even if I passed.

That´s interesting, landongrace, were there fewer people with big projects back then or did everyone just split everything up into 5$ chunks?

I don´t think I price myself too high if I don´t translate a whole book for 5$. 😉

The last sentence is just a joke, obviously, I hope, but you think generally people just did more for 5$ then than now (leaving things like inflation apart, if anyone wants to add, so it won´t go off-topic too far)?

I started four years ago and did all $5 orders for a couple of years. We did not have extras back then.

[miiila]

I started four years ago and did all $5 orders for a couple of years. We did not have extras back then.

Yes, I´ve read that extras weren´t available and in the beginning only 5$ gigs generally were possible, though the only 5$ gigs until level 2 that landon mentioned was new to me, but since it´s not fixed in any way what you (have to) offer, it could as well be so that ‘back then’ for example translators did less words for 5$ than today, because today there is more competition, I’m only here since October, so I don´t know.

[acossidente]

I think most of you guys are missing the point here: I am not lamenting the lack of orders. I do this both on and off of Fiverr, the occasional 3/4 larger projects (plus direct assignments from other clients) give me plenty to do already.

What I meant was that Fiverr should probably rethink its own system. As some of you mentioned, larger orders weren’t a thing back in the day; you were sort of forced to do multiple smaller ones. Things have changed, though…

As for those who said we should aim for more 5 USD gigs, I’d invite you to check out my answer to that guy who complained about being charged 40 bucks for a logo. I am a professional, just like many others on this site. Why should underselling one’s products and skills be the only way to progress? Seems rather counter-productive to me!

[acossidente]

having such people around is a cool thin

Whew, for a second I was afraid that top rated sellers weren’t ok with you!

Guessing that would have still been a valid opinion, as long as I expressed and explained it objectively 😜

[misscrystal]

I think most of you guys are missing the point here: I am not lamenting the lack of orders. I do this both on and off of Fiverr, the occasional 3/4 larger projects (plus direct assignments from other clients) give me plenty to do already.

What I meant was that Fiverr should probably rethink its own system. As some of you mentioned, larger orders weren’t a thing back in the day; you were sort of forced to do multiple smaller ones. Things have changed, though…

As for those who said we should aim for more 5 USD gigs, I’d invite you to check out my answer to that guy who complained about being charged 40 bucks for a logo. I am a professional, just like many others on this site. Why should underselling one’s products and skills be the only way to progress? Seems rather counter-productive to me!

Why should underselling one’s products and skills be the only way to progress?

Because for newcomers it is very competitive and they need some reviews to get bigger orders.

[landongrace]

Well, I took all the 5$ orders I could get and possibly do within the timeframe asked, and got to level 1 and then 2 in the minimum time, but since I also took/got some projects which kept me busy every day for 2 weeks, it didn´t mean just no break but little sleep too. And don´t get sick while you’re at it… I´m still for revenue counting too not just number of gigs, even if I passed.

That´s interesting, landongrace, were there fewer people with big projects back then or did everyone just split everything up into 5$ chunks?

I don´t think I price myself too high if I don´t translate a whole book for 5$. 😉

The last sentence is just a joke, obviously, I hope, but you think generally people just did more for 5$ then than now (leaving things like inflation apart, if anyone wants to add, so it won´t go off-topic too far)?

@misscrystal is right. New people can’t image what it was like. I remember when gig extras were introduced. There was a work around with the multiple gig order, but that was real limited until you reached level one or maybe level 2.

@miiila

If I remember right, back in the day, if some one ordered 10 - $5 gigs and they cancelled, or gave you a “Thumbs down” it counted as 10 bad orders. So I was hesitant to take that route. I would literally break their job into individual deliveries. For instance, if the job was 400 words, I set the first gig up for 100 words and delivered the first part, got a review and then started a new order for the next 100 words. etc.

[miiila]

I see, thanks, and I can imagine that working for a 400 word job…not so much if you get a 50K words job though, I had to break one up in 2 orders because I couldn´t quote the whole price as level 0 seller, but the buyer would rather have had it all in one and thankfully my level and price limit was high enough I could quote him the whole sum and didn´t have to split the order for his next order, I can´t imagine he´d have been overjoyed if he´d have had to split 50K words up into 5$ gigs… 👀 I don´t know, maybe buyers with such projects just did go to level 2 sellers right away then probably.

[acossidente]

Why should underselling one’s products and skills be the only way to progress?

Because for newcomers it is very competitive and they need some reviews to get bigger orders.

Still… Monetary gain really isn’t a problem… A 2000 words gig quoted at 5 USD takes the same amount of time one at 40/50 USD would!

[landongrace]

I think most of you guys are missing the point here: I am not lamenting the lack of orders. I do this both on and off of Fiverr, the occasional 3/4 larger projects (plus direct assignments from other clients) give me plenty to do already.

What I meant was that Fiverr should probably rethink its own system. As some of you mentioned, larger orders weren’t a thing back in the day; you were sort of forced to do multiple smaller ones. Things have changed, though…

As for those who said we should aim for more 5 USD gigs, I’d invite you to check out my answer to that guy who complained about being charged 40 bucks for a logo. I am a professional, just like many others on this site. Why should underselling one’s products and skills be the only way to progress? Seems rather counter-productive to me!

When any business has a grand opening they flood it with discounts and freebies to create a faster launch.

This was my method when I started. Can I quote myself from a couple of years ago?

When picking a gig, pick something that will be a frequent $25.00 sale with gig extras. You should be able to see what is already selling on Fiverr. When you start, offer that future $25.00 package for $5.00 for the first 100 delivery on a single gig. This will kick start your gig. After people see your product and service, you will be able to then move the prices to $25.00. this is a major time investment, but it is the major factor that got me off the ground. It is difficult to wrap your head around giving away $20.00 per gig for 100 gigs. That’s $2000? But after 18 months, it only amounts to a 5% discount for me overall. You need to invest in your new business. I didn’t have money to invest, but I had time.

After the process I eventually reached over 60k in sales and became a TRS. If I had never got off the ground like many on Fiverr I would have not made any money at all.

I get a badge for quoting myself? That is just not right.🙂

[lisabaarns]

I see, thanks, and I can imagine that working for a 400 word job…not so much if you get a 50K words job though, I had to break one up in 2 orders because I couldn´t quote the whole price as level 0 seller, but the buyer would rather have had it all in one and thankfully my level and price limit was high enough I could quote him the whole sum and didn´t have to split the order for his next order, I can´t imagine he´d have been overjoyed if he´d have had to split 50K words up into 5$ gigs… 👀 I don´t know, maybe buyers with such projects just did go to level 2 sellers right away then probably.

I could quote him the whole sum and didn´t have to split the order for his next order, I can´t imagine he´d have been overjoyed if he´d have had to split 50K words up into 5$ gigs…

BTW - I’ve had some large orders and because the buyer wanted me to do them, they were fine if we did multiple orders IF I sent them the custom orders.

I told them to paste in the same script every time, so in other words I made it easy to break it all up.

Larger orders have potential for cancellation after you’ve done days of work. While I understand the buyers may not want to place lots of orders, I’ve had no issues with it after I made it easy with the custom orders. YMMV.

Not sure it would work for everybody, but certainly worth a discussion for repeat clients. They know you, they like you, most will do a little more IF we make it easy.

We also get some protection in case they decide to cancel after we deliver… In my case they are accepting before I do the next phase. I feel far better about it than having an all or nothing at the end.

If I’m missing something they want, I can adjust and give them more value along the way, with less rework after the fact.

[landongrace]

I could quote him the whole sum and didn´t have to split the order for his next order, I can´t imagine he´d have been overjoyed if he´d have had to split 50K words up into 5$ gigs…

BTW - I’ve had some large orders and because the buyer wanted me to do them, they were fine if we did multiple orders IF I sent them the custom orders.

I told them to paste in the same script every time, so in other words I made it easy to break it all up.

Larger orders have potential for cancellation after you’ve done days of work. While I understand the buyers may not want to place lots of orders, I’ve had no issues with it after I made it easy with the custom orders. YMMV.

Not sure it would work for everybody, but certainly worth a discussion for repeat clients. They know you, they like you, most will do a little more IF we make it easy.

We also get some protection in case they decide to cancel after we deliver… In my case they are accepting before I do the next phase. I feel far better about it than having an all or nothing at the end.

If I’m missing something they want, I can adjust and give them more value along the way, with less rework after the fact.

Totally makes sense. I have a hard time with new customer and large orders. I would much rather do part of the job and make sure we are on the same page before we order $300 worth of stuff. I offer a 100% guarantee and breaking it up for those first time buyers will make sense to them if you explain it well.

I had a first time buyer during the first week of a new gig. He needed 50 orders processed. That had potential to hose my new gig. I setup 1 order, then 5 orders, then 10 order. I explained the process and the fact that we would still be able to deliver all of them in 3-4 days. Just let them know you are wanting to make sure you are providing exactly what they need. “Let’s do 1 order and after the review, we can start a new order.” It worked well.

Like @lisabaarns said, it gives you an opportunity to tweak what they need as you go with less revisions.

[blaisefaint]

When any business has a grand opening they flood it with discounts and freebies to create a faster launch.

This was my method when I started. Can I quote myself from a couple of years ago?

When picking a gig, pick something that will be a frequent $25.00 sale with gig extras. You should be able to see what is already selling on Fiverr. When you start, offer that future $25.00 package for $5.00 for the first 100 delivery on a single gig. This will kick start your gig. After people see your product and service, you will be able to then move the prices to $25.00. this is a major time investment, but it is the major factor that got me off the ground. It is difficult to wrap your head around giving away $20.00 per gig for 100 gigs. That’s $2000? But after 18 months, it only amounts to a 5% discount for me overall. You need to invest in your new business. I didn’t have money to invest, but I had time.

After the process I eventually reached over 60k in sales and became a TRS. If I had never got off the ground like many on Fiverr I would have not made any money at all.

I get a badge for quoting myself? That is just not right.🙂

I get a badge for quoting myself? That is just not right.

[landongrace]

I get a badge for quoting myself? That is just not right.

landon grace Badge ver 001.png1024×1024 324 KB

That is awesome! I feel the love!

[lisabaarns]

When any business has a grand opening they flood it with discounts and freebies to create a faster launch.

This was my method when I started. Can I quote myself from a couple of years ago?

When picking a gig, pick something that will be a frequent $25.00 sale with gig extras. You should be able to see what is already selling on Fiverr. When you start, offer that future $25.00 package for $5.00 for the first 100 delivery on a single gig. This will kick start your gig. After people see your product and service, you will be able to then move the prices to $25.00. this is a major time investment, but it is the major factor that got me off the ground. It is difficult to wrap your head around giving away $20.00 per gig for 100 gigs. That’s $2000? But after 18 months, it only amounts to a 5% discount for me overall. You need to invest in your new business. I didn’t have money to invest, but I had time.

After the process I eventually reached over 60k in sales and became a TRS. If I had never got off the ground like many on Fiverr I would have not made any money at all.

I get a badge for quoting myself? That is just not right.🙂

After the process I eventually reached over 60k in sales and became a TRS. If I had never got off the ground like many on Fiverr I would have not made any money at all.

Right on! I did something similar. At first I was far cheaper, gave away some extras for the first 100 orders.

Now I’m not even close to you (only 1,500 gigs so far) but I’m not the cheap choice, but I’m an excellent value and have the social proof (enough sales) to be a safe choice.

I also had enough experience in my category long before Fiverr, so I had additional demos/proof that I was worth the additional investment.

If more people understood your mindset, more would succeed on Fiverr AND in business in general. The startup phase (6-12 months AT LEAST) is lots of work with far less return, sometimes a fraction of the value.

If you get enough momentum, THEN you can earn decent money, because you have the social trust.

Hats off to you! You’re inspiring!

[landongrace]

After the process I eventually reached over 60k in sales and became a TRS. If I had never got off the ground like many on Fiverr I would have not made any money at all.

Right on! I did something similar. At first I was far cheaper, gave away some extras for the first 100 orders.

Now I’m not even close to you (only 1,500 gigs so far) but I’m not the cheap choice, but I’m an excellent value and have the social proof (enough sales) to be a safe choice.

I also had enough experience in my category long before Fiverr, so I had additional demos/proof that I was worth the additional investment.

If more people understood your mindset, more would succeed on Fiverr AND in business in general. The startup phase (6-12 months AT LEAST) is lots of work with far less return, sometimes a fraction of the value.

If you get enough momentum, THEN you can earn decent money, because you have the social trust.

Hats off to you! You’re inspiring!

Hats off to you also.

[mjakkerman]

One thing that came to my mind. Look at my reviews. The system for leveling appears to be/was a bit buggy. In my advantage. I started Fiverr in early 2014, did some work over the course of a year. Exactly 49 gigs and ended as a level one.

I took a break for one year or so, and the first order after my break made my a level 2 seller. Now, I have done 40 orders since last June and I am still a level 2 seller. 🙂

So maybe it works a bit more like you suggest, except that you still need the fifty orders.