Fiverr’s Levelling System: Rewarding Hard Work and Dedication

The Fiverr forums are constantly full of people wondering when they will gain Level 1 or when how to become a Fiverr Top Rated Seller. The Fiverr level system was created in January 2012. It offered a way to reward the hard working individuals who offered good customer service, had a good stream of orders and constantly good feedback. While Levels 1 and 2 are pretty much computer generated, Top Rated Sellers are chosen by the Fiverr customer service.

How Do I Get Level 1 on Fiverr?

Level 1 status is granted almost automatically as long as you meet certain criteria:

·         You’re a member for 30 days

·         You complete 10 orders

·         Keep high ratings and a proven track record

Be patient for this upgrade to come through. While it is done automatically, there will be a time delay in the promotion – technology isn’t perfect!

What Do I Get as a Level 1 Seller on Fiverr?

When you’re promoted to Level 1, you gain benefits to make it easier to sell. These include:

·         The ability to accept multiple orders (not always that great from experience!)

·         The ability to add gig extras for up to an additional $20

How Do I Get Level 2 on Fiverr?

Level 2 status is granted automatically when you meet another set of criteria:

·         You’ve completed 50 orders over two months

·         Maintain excellent ratings

·         Have a proven track record

Please note that you may lose your Level 2 if you stop completing 50 orders over a two month period. While I was on maternity leave I lost my level 2 because I stopped working on the site. I soon gained it back when I returned though – remember that its automatic by a computer.

What Do I Get as a Level 2 Seller on Fiverr?

You gain more of the benefits that you gained as a Level  1 seller. You get extra gig extras and can charge up to $40 for them.

How Do I Get Top Rated Seller Status on Fiverr?

This is the hardest to gain. Fiverr editors pick those who have earned Top Rated Seller status. This involves:

·         Maintaining excellent quality

·         Constantly delivering orders on time

·         Maintaining great communication with buyers

·         Being polite, friendly and helpful

·         Having very few cancellations

·         And much more!

The Fiverr staff aren’t completely open about how to get to this level. I’ve never asked (maybe I should) about whether I could be considered for it but, to be honest, Fiverr is a part-time gig and I’m happy where I am at the moment. The rates on the site are highly discounted to anywhere else that I charge!

What Do I Get as a Top Rated Seller on Fiverr?

You get more of the same as Levels 1 and 2, although you can charge up to $100 for your extras and gain up to five of them. You also get high-priority support.

Good luck at increasing your status on Fiverr. Something that I do request though, please don’t constantly ask on the forums when you will get Level 1/Level2/TRS. The members don’t know; the only people who can tell you is Customer Support, so go straight to them. If you have a problem, such as losing your level, talk to Fiverr Customer Support about it.

Fiverr.com Review: Is Fiverr.com a Scam?

Fiverr.com is a website for those who have something that they want to offer for $5. I have been a seller on the site for about a year now and it has worked out beneficial – financially and to gain clients. However, it is not without its faults. There are a number of people looking for a Fiverr review to find out whether it is a scam or not. It definitely is not a scam but it is not the best way to make a lot of money online.

What Is Fiverr.com?

Fiverr.com is a small website that gives sellers a chance to offer their talents for $5. Sellers create “gigs” in a variety of categories, including video making, writing and entertainment. There are thousands of people selling their talents and thousands of people buying gigs every day for various reasons.

The website is free to register on, free to use and the gigs are free to put up. Sellers gain $4 per gig as $1 is taken by Fiverr.com as a commission. On top of that, there is up to $1 gained when withdrawals are made to a PayPal account. Sellers must have a PayPal account to be able to withdraw the money that they earn, otherwise they need to use the money towards buying gigs on the site.

The Benefits of Fiverr

Fiverr.com does offer a number of benefits for sellers. The first is the chance to offer small gigs to people all over the world. This is a great way for sellers to become noticed and the chance to build up a rapport with buyers. I have a number of repeat customers coming back for more and many of my new buyers are referrals from previous ones.

I originally joined Fiverr as a way to build up reviews from customers. These reviews can be placed on my website to help encourage people to order my services for more at a later date. The buildup of reviews also helps buyers on the Fiverr site determine whether my skills are something that they would be willing to pay for.

The website gives many people a chance to set up their own business and start selling their skills. There are very few risks involved since sellers do not need to pay anything upfront so there is nothing to lose. Sellers also have a chance to sell anything that they want, as long as the gigs meet the terms of service.

Sellers set their delivery time based on how long they expect it to take them to complete orders. There are some sellers who offer “express gigs”, which are gigs that are completed in 24 hours or less. Sellers must finish the gig within the time otherwise the buyers have the option to cancel and this will negatively affect a seller’s rating. It is up to the seller to think about constraints to their delivery time. It is important to consider time off during the week, time zones and anything else that may affect a delay in delivery.

Fiverr.com introduced levels in January 2012. Sellers are now able to reach Level 1, Level 2 or Top Rated Seller status. There are some conditions that the site has not released but promotion to the levels depends on the number of gigs ordered each month, the number of cancellations made and the feedback from buyers. Top Rated Sellers are chosen by the Fiverr.com staff. Sellers can be promoted or demoted at any time for any reason, which means that there is an incentive to always offer high quality work, deliver on time and avoid too many cancellations.

The introduction of levels also created the ability to add gig extras to gigs. Sellers can choose whether or not to add extras to their gigs and will decide on the amount that they charge for these extras - $5, $10 or $20. This has benefitted a number of sellers who want to offer more but the $5 just isn’t worth the time. The sellers can also add extra days to a delivery time when the gig extra orders are placed.

The Drawbacks of Fiverr

However, there are some downsides and some of these have made me contemplate leaving the website in recent months. The main one has been the introduction of the levels. While they offer incentives for sellers to work harder, sellers can be demoted or refused a promotion due to the number of cancellations. This includes any cancellations made by the buyer, even though that may be due to buyer error, and mutual cancellations due to sellers not having the information required to complete a gig.

There is very little protection for sellers when it comes to having to cancel. Unlike with private clients, once a buyer purchases a gig and inputs the details, the clock starts ticking down. The seller cannot agree or request changes before the clock starts ticking. This has led to me having to make a number of cancellations in recent months as buyers have not read instructions before ordering gigs. This is something that a number of sellers have complained about and the staff at Fiverr.com HQ have still not done anything to fix the issue.

I have often asked about where the protection for sellers is in regards to losing a level due to having to cancel when it is the buyer’s fault. Currently, all I have been told is that the number of completed gigs with good feedback will outweigh the cancelled gigs. This does not solve the issue of buyers not reading instructions, not including the relevant information or causing other problems when ordering gigs.

The introduction of levels also brought the ability for buyers to order in bulk. This is an excellent option for buyers but there is a flaw for sellers. The main issue is that buy ordering in bulk, the time for delivery does not increase. Buyers are able to purchase up to eight gigs at once but the seller still needs to complete all eight in the same time. For some gigs, this is fine but for others it is a nightmare. I’ve found that it is near impossible to complete multiple orders within the same time as single orders, especially if I have a lot of buyers ordering on the same day. Because of this, I have had to place a note on my gigs for buyers to contact me first otherwise orders will be cancelled; unfortunately, that does not guarantee that buyers will follow these instructions and it has led to a number of cancellations in recent months.

The pay for jobs is relatively low. Buyers pay $5 for a gig but sellers receive $4. The $1 commission on gigs is fair since the site is free; however, many sellers agree that the commission should drop when bulk orders are made. A buyer can order eight gigs at once and will be charged $40 (8x$5) however, the seller will only receive $32 (8x$4) since $1 per order is taken off. There is no benefit of bulk orders for the seller apart from getting more work.

On top of that commission, Fiverr.com take off some money when making withdrawals to PayPal. The maximum they take is $1 and they claim that it is due to PayPal fees. However, I work through a number of different companies who all pay via PayPal and none of the others have to take this $1 for PayPal fees.

All sellers have to have a PayPal account to be able to make withdrawals. PayPal is an excellent service but is not available for all countries. There are a number of sellers who find that they can only use their earnings on other gigs and there have been many who have requested that Fiverr.com introduce another method of withdrawing money.

Another problem is the server that Fiverr.com is on. The server is very slow – and I know that it is not due to my internet connection as other websites upload perfectly fine. In the past year or so that I have been on the website, there have been at least three instances when the server has crashed. This leads to questions over when I will be able to log back in and deliver a gig, especially if I have one with a few hours left.

Fiverr.com support is hit and miss when it comes to quality. There are some members of the team that are perfect; they will answer questions in a timely manner and solve problems quickly so that I can get back on with work. However, there are other members who have often ignored an email and just sent it back so that it is always waiting for me to update.

The terms of service are also a problem. After the update of the levels, the terms of service were changed to include mentions of the levels. However, it was soon pointed out by myself that the terms of service were incorrect and Fiverr.com were not upholding them. Since then, there have been changes but the date that they were updated was not changed. Luckily, I have kept all correspondence with Fiverr.com support so if there are ever any issues with this change and it not being updated correctly, I do have proof.

Fiverr.com does offer a way for people to start making money online quickly but there are some drawbacks. Fiverr.com is not a scam and does pay out but making money is not everything. It can be extremely stressful when buyers do not read instructions and it means cancelling orders – that is my main issue and something that I hope the site will change very soon.

Why Should You Hire a Content Writer?

Ever wondered whether you need to hire a content writer? Whether you want articles, blog posts or content for a website, you may find that there are benefits to hiring someone else to do it. On Fiverr.com, I offer up to 400 words for $5 to help and there are many other content writers. Here are just some of the reasons to hire someone to do your content.

Experience in Online Writing

Most writers will already have experience in writing for the internet. They know about the topics that sell, how to write different pieces on the same niche and the importance of using keywords. They will be able to offer some advice on inserting the keywords and could do keyword research to save you the time.

This experience is invaluable. It will help you rank highly quicker than if you wrote everything yourself. It will help your content standout from the rest. You will become the go-to person, whether you write blog posts, articles or need sales copy for your website.

Experience in Writing in General

Writers already know how to use words and write for other people. They have likely written thousands of pieces in the past for other people to use and read. While you may be a native speaker, you aren’t necessarily a writer. Writers will avoid grammatical problems, make sure sentences and paragraphs make sense and proofread until all spelling errors are missing.

People want to read content that flows and has no errors. They will stay on the page for longer, which reduces your bounce rate and helps your rank highly.

Spend Time on Other Areas

Writing content takes time. You need to research the subject, plan the piece and then write it. After that, there is the editing and proofreading and then posting it up on your blog or website. It takes up so much that time you will have less time to spend in other areas. By hiring someone to do the writing, you will open up more time to spend on other areas of your business. This could be to promote the business through other online marketing, spend more time focusing on customer service or create new products to sell.

A writer is paid for everything that is involved with working on projects, including the research and proofreading. Some will also be willing to do the keyword research for you, which is important to rank on search engines. Just think of the amount of work you can do without having to write your own content and posts.

Have Regular Content Posted

Google likes fresh pieces, which means updating your website or blog on a regular basis. Not only does writing one piece of content take time, writing numerous pieces on a regular basis will lead you to not having enough time to run your business. It is possible to hire a writer – or numerous writers – to make sure you have fresh content regularly to post.

Don’t let your business suffer because you want to save money. By spending money on your content, you could increase the profit that you make. You spend less time on your content and more time on other, often more important, areas of your business.

If you are on the lookout for a writer, please check out my Fiverr gigs. I offer up to 400words per article, blog post or content for $5.

Buyers and Negative Feedback: Think About Your Actions

Part of the Fiverr system is to allow buyers to leave their sellers feedback. This can either be positive or negative left through a thumbs up or thumbs down with a short message to explain a reason. Leaving feedback can help and hinder a seller's rater, while doing virtually nothing to a buyer's. It leads me to writing and asking Fiverr buyers to really think about their negative feedback and whether it is needed.

Think About the Work the Seller Has Done

Before clicking that thumbs down, think about the hard work that the seller has done. If it didn't meet your exact expectations, check over your instructions and decide whether you were clear enough in the first place. Next, talk to the seller to see if they will improve the work; some will do it for free while others will ask for an extra payment because it does take more time, especially graphics works.

After redoing the work you may still not be happy, but does that definitely mean that you have to leave the thumbs up? There is the option to reject the order and cancel it to get your money back. However, cancellations do harm the seller's eligibility for levels so consider whether cancelling is necessary. Maybe you can leave the payment for the seller and just walk away without leaving feedback and tell the seller that you are still not entirely happy but want to pay for the time it has taken to do the work.

I recently received my first legitimate negative for work that was completed almost three weeks ago. The buyer wasn't happy because I didn't go into specific detail when I clearly stated to him that specific detail was impossible. The eBook in question was about business finance. After creating it, the buyer stated that he wanted more information about the Spanish information. He included a link but it was all in Spanish. When he finally sent the English link, there was nothing to help with his eBook but the only links that could have possibly been helpful were all in Spanish. I don't understand Spanish but the buyer expected me to use Google Translate on the off-chance that a whole website would have information to help. Sorry but not worth the time or the hassle!

I had to question whether this was a legitimate reason to leave two lots of feedback - the order was placed in two parts. I thought of it from a buyer's point of view and decided that personally I wouldn't have bothered leaving feedback. I'm not going to ruin a seller's reputation when she had tried to do the work and got stuck due to finding no websites in English. I may have translated the websites myself and sent the relevant bits of information in a word document, but wouldn't have bothered with feedback.

Is It Really the Seller's Fault?

The next question to ask is whether the seller is really at fault. There have been times that I've had negative feedback only to have to talk to Fiverr Customer Support to get it removed because it wasn't a fault of mine. Why should a buyer's mistake lead to a seller's reputation being damaged? For example, maybe you didn't read the gig description completely before ordering or you can only afford the basic gig and not the extras.

Before leaving the feedback, ask yourself whether the seller has filled the gig description and done the best quality work. If the answers are yes but you are still unhappy, you need to determine whether that is really the seller's fault or you forgot to add something or was unwilling to pay the extra. Remember that if you are not happy, you can reject the order and get your money back!

Threatening is NOT Okay!

Please, do not threaten a seller with negative feedback. While there are some bad apples, sellers will try everything possible to make you happy but, at the end of the day, it is a business. Sellers need to think about whether something is worth their time for $5 - well, $4 since Fiverr takes $1 commission. Buyers should consider the amount of hours sellers have to put in to do the work and then make changes.

Threatening because a seller is refusing to do anymore revisions without extra payment is not okay. If you are not happy, request a cancellation and move on. But before you request that cancellation, think about the hard work the seller has already put in. Many want to make a full-time living on Fiverr and you taking up all their time with endless revision requests and then cancelling stops that from happening.

When you do cancel, don't use the work. You didn't pay so the copyright hasn't passed to you. The seller owns the work and can use it however he or she wishes. When a buyer has decided to cancel on me, I put the work onto one of my blogs as soon as I get that request and will demand you take yours down if you decide to use it later.

Threatening isn't worth it. It leads to sellers resenting you so they will want to do your work even less. It could lead to them deciding to cancel the job or contact Customer Support to inform them of a threatening buyer. Try to work things out with your seller and come to a compromise.

So, When Is Negative Feedback Justified?

There are times that leaving negative feedback is justified. One of those is if the seller has scammed you out of money. This happens very rarely; to be honest, you can request a cancellation or contact Customer Support so it isn't really necessary.

The only time I would consider it is if I wanted to warn others about a bad seller. $5 works out to be £3 something, which isn't a lot and is worth it to make sure others are aware of a bad apple among the field of sellers.

Another reason would be if a seller delivers late. After 48 hours after the expected delivery date, you have the right to force a cancellation. This will lead to an automatic negative mark against the seller for late delivery. If you leave the order open, the seller can still send you the work and then you can always leave a negative comment about it being late (however, again, contact the seller before doing this and question whether a thumbs down is really necessary).

In the end, I will always think about the work a buyer has done and whether the thumbs down is necessary. You could always leave a thumbs up and a slight negative comment or just not leave feedback at all. Maybe you could go with the old saying from Bambi: If you can't say nothing nice, don't say anything at all...

What Is Fiverr?

Fiverr is a online marketplace for people to buy and sell things for as little as $5 and has the tag line "Things People Will Do for $5". There are a range of gigs, from graphic design to writing and website development to getting help with starting your family tree.

I've been selling on Fiverr for almost two years now, after finding out about it in May 2011. It doesn't offer me a full-time income but I don't treat it as a full-time gig. I offer writing services, including blog posts, articles, sales copy and creative writing. I also offer rewriting and proofreading gigs. Please check out my range of gigs here:

http://fiverr.com/aingham69

This blog is going to cover a range of topics around the Fiverr marketplace, including various gigs that are purchased, my samples for people looking to buy from me through Fiverr and a link to my gigs - that are exclusive to the marketplace.

If you would like to get involved, please sign up at www.Fiverr.com (no affiliate link). You can buy or sell. Please read the terms of service before you start and understand a little more about the proceedings for buying and selling various services.