What would make YOU stop using Fiverr?

[Guest marsch001]

I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I’m not at a point where I want to stop using Fiverr, because I do need the money and I enjoy it for the most part, but considering all the issues that people have been having, I was wondering where people draw the line. What would make you take that step and just stop?



And do you find that you’ve almost reached that line more than once, but stayed because you need the money?

[Guest mrspanda]

I’m slowly phasing myself out of Fiverr. It’s great passive income and all but I think I’m over it… I found another site where I’m making a lot more and I am not at the mercy of my buyers- and the customer support is a s***e chat away. Being treated that well and getting paid three times as much, I am going to go where the green grass grows.



I stay for my faithful buyers that feel like they don’t get my service from the other tarot readers.



—



PLEASE do NOT message me about the site- I’ve had about 20 people ask already- it’s against TOS to share these sites. I will ignore the message, sorry!

[ynneblack]

I’m new here, and I already had 2 issues (one with customer, one with support). I think I can really use some money and I do what I love, even through it’s damn underpriced, but… well, if someone bullied me/threatened me & gave me bad rating or cancelled, and Support would still be on his side, I would most likely leave.



I hate how Fiverr doesn’t give a *** about sellers. Seriously, it’s like buyers can do anything.

[Guest marsch001]

Reply to @ynneblack: Once you have gained some levels, you should hopefully be able to space out your gig so that you can charge more for the whole package.



And yes, buyers pretty much can. I like to think that support is on our sides too though, only it might take a while. I guess they figure that it’s more damning to lose a buyer (because that could cause a chain reaction because they complain etc etc) than to lose few sellers, because there are so many sellers and so many sellers selling the same things so in terms of gigs offered, they are pretty much covered.



I’m sorry you’ve had such bad experiences and so early into your working here.

[ghostblogger]

Companies compete for buyers, rarely do they compete for sellers.



“Egg or the chicken” which one came first.



Who came first, someone with a demand for a service, or someone with a service. Answer that question and you will understand how Fiverr works.

[jasveena]

Like mrspanda, I just feel that channeling my efforts to other sites is a fruitful attempt 😉

[jasveena]

Like mrspanda, I just feel that channeling my efforts to other sites is a fruitful attempt 😉

[babawhitesheep]

Perhaps when my current situation changes… yet then again, i’m not just in it for the money, it’s the fun part of doing business and interacting with buyers that makes me stay, so that probably wouldn’t make me leave completely.



I’m guessing if I no longer have the time to handle gigs, I don’t know when that would happen though… but I certainly am not the type to spend my time on the computer all day.

[artemist]

Fiverr has shown a remarkable lack of interest in making the site “fair” lately.



So far, I’m just a buyer with rough ideas on starting some gigs. But no way am I going to start selling gigs until Fiverr management shows they actually take steps to fairly resolve rampant unfairness in feedback and other issues. They seem perfectly content to ignore disputes even where one side is CLEARLY at fault, and this often means sellers lose money and status for not meekly going along with even outrageous requests/demands from buyers.



Of course, this is not ablanket indictment of Fiverr, or all sellers and all buyers. Just SOME are awful, which is why it is so puzzling that Fiverr won’t honestly handle the few bad ones.

[Guest marsch001]

Reply to @kjblynx: Do you think there’s a risk for them starting to charge more money?

[artemist]

kjblynx said: but one day they could start having other "fees" ...

 

As another major example of that, eBay started out being quite seller-friendly, but have gradually added multiple junk fees over the years. A large and growing percentage of eBay traffic is now virtual stores selling new retail goods instead of the original emphasis on collectables and one-of-a-kind items listed and sold by individuals.

[zeus777]

Overall my Fiverr experience has been good, but after I became a top rated seller, I have had some problems here and there.

When I try to ask the buyer to add the gig-extras or charge more than $5, many of them got upset, told me that I was being greedy, or they would try to get their stuff done for one gig.

When I charge multiple gigs or the gig extra, I’m not trying to be greedy, I charge that amount because I believe and I know my work is worth it.

Plus the fact that even though the buyer pays me $100, what I get is $80, I thought

I was over this a long time ago, but when a huge chunk is taken away from a big gig each time, it does make me think about how Fiverr works.



If I ever come across another site like Fiverr where they take away less than 20%

and where Customer Support is more fair, I might

move over to that site.



But for now, I haven’t come across such site yet, and after all I am getting

a nice amount of extra income here and most of the buyers are nice, so I guess

I’ll be around for a bit longer. 🙂

[Guest marsch001]

Reply to @kjblynx: A membership fee, even if for the good reason to prevent scammers, would probably only mean less sales in general for them - since every buyer would then also have to pay that membership fee (since everyone is a buyer and everyone is a seller, or could be, and everyone could be a scammer).



So you mean like transferring the money to paypal, they might start taking a cut on top of the 20%, and the cut paypal takes? Or you mean if they include other places you could withdraw to?



I hope that’s not the case, but I wouldn’t be overly surprised. I agree that 20% is steep.

[Guest marsch001]

Reply to @artemist: I hope it won’t come to that here! Part of what makes Fiverr great, or at least the forums!, is that it’s individuals who sell things. Everyone is pretty much in the same boat, and although some people might use it as a platform for a business and some more on the side as a hobby to make a little money, I dislike the idea that a company would come in and take over a section. I can easily see it happening with translations, where one gig could offer a buyer a translation of multiple languages, while individuals might only do two or three.

[Guest marsch001]

Reply to @zeus777: I think it’s often times the buyers who are greedy, wanting to get more for less, and trying to shame you into agreeing. Stand your ground!



I know what you mean about the 20% cut. I find it bothersome when I think about the fact that they take 20% out of every $5 I make, which is a small amount of money to begin with - but when I do get those larger orders, and I see that such a huge amount of actual money disappears, that drives it home even more and it’s disappointing.

[Guest mrspanda]

I had someone leave me negative feedback for delivering my order "late."



My delivery time is 4 days. I delivered in 2. The buyer refused to purchase ‘extra fast’ but left on my gig “need answer fast fast no money for extra sorry but please respond fast fast.” However, I delivered with 2 days to spare. He left me negative feedback saying I delivered my gig late- when I didn’t. Customer Support of course, told me to ‘work it out with the buyer.’ My buyer barely spoke English and was refusing to change the feedback.



I ended up doing a mutual cancellation to remove the negative.



Sorry. I don’t take kindly to being ‘bullied’ like this.

[keyboard0]

Well, they may stop if they didn’t get much customers for a while and didn’t make any income after setting some high expectation for themselves.

[keyboard0]

& Oh, those kind of buyers who will just make you hate the gig!

[keyboard0]

Reply to @mrspanda: Almost the same thing happened to me! We ended up making a mutual cancellation too.

[zeus777]

Reply to @mrspanda:

OMG, my jaw dropped when I read the “no money for extra sorry but please respond fast fast”…you got to be joking…how cheap, how rude, uuuuuuuunbelievable.

I guess this person was super desperate for your help, but still.

You just gotta hate it when stupid/bad things happen to nice people X(



Well, hopefully karma will take care of this person.

It must be pretty darn hot in Okinawa, drink a lot of ice-cold lemonade and

take care!!

[mirenbaines]

Reply to @artemist: I hear you on that, although I appreciate the eBay stores providing for better prices on certain things, the collectables or any type of item that isn’t tagged with a " Buy Now" feature are unfairly rigged from my observation. Schill buying and multiple account schemes messed up Ebay, you can hardly get a good deal because you get those L1, N2, and H**7 type of " handles", no doubt insuring their seemingly free bidding process gets them in the range of their intended profit wish. In many cases, I’ve seen them over-bid on many items, then you find the same product being re-listed… ( because old dude didn’t make a sale in the first place!)

[mirenbaines]

Yeah I had a buyer who wanted fast but not fast delivery rates. Its a gamble but if they are a potential return customer, the first comp just might entice them to order properly once they see the work they received. In the cases mentioned however, I think its just a sad case of buyer abuse and… well " ---- uckery "

[sliverfox]

I have had a few buyers pull a swiftie - but I’m soft and let it go on LOL not sure how t encourage the buyers to do the ‘right thing’. But it is also building up my portfolio nicely and I enjoy so much the people that I meet, So I feel that it is as much me not pushing to be paid the correct amount- just me being so happy and grateful to get the gigs when so many others could be instead. So, yeah, I love the concept of Fiverr 🙂

[Guest mrspanda]

Reply to @zeus777: I’m not surprised that this happened- because it happens quite often- I’m shocked that Customer Support did not take my side. I tried telling the buyer that extra fast requires an extra fast purchase- and I delivered in 2 days anyway! He had NO standing for the review! Yet, CS was telling me to ‘work it out’ with the buyer. I was so frustrated.



Oh we are getting hit with storms in Okinawa. Typhoons typhoons typhoons. Even my dog is getting antsy about it. 🙂 Thanks Zeus!

[Guest marsch001]

Reply to @mrspanda: I find it odd that CS didn’t take your side, when you clearly was in the right! I had people say “I need this within 24 hours” both before and after I added my express, and at first I just did as I was told, but now when people ask me how quickly I can have something back to them, I say “I can guarantee delivery within 24 hours when you buy the express extra” - sometimes they buy it, and sometimes they don’t, but I feel better because I know I’m in the right and will get them their order back as soon as I am able to.