Fiver.com has been something of interest of mine. In part people are willing to do things for five bucks. Be it calling someone from a foreign country to wish someone a happy birthday, to writing as the below author of the bulk of the content for this post. There are a few things I will explore with Fiverr.com Two reasons why I have chosen to look at fiverr.com.
1. To explore how much you can expect from $5.
2. Some of the abuses that are in Fiverr.com. One of which is faking reviews, another is faking social media such as likes on FaceBook or Followers on Twitter.
Several of my colleagues will outsource some of their projects for just $5. Since I am short on posts and I have been meaning to contact people that work on Fiverr some day to explore what to expect out of a buck a friend of mine has been asking people to write some posts for me. This writer is helping him to populate a blog with content for it’s niche .
The provider of this review inside the industry was paid for. The option was provided for them to have their account linked to this review, especially since my friend likes the writer’s work. However due to the nature of their review they felt it would be best to remain anonymous. But they are offered to at any time post their link in here. After the post I have a few questions, which I get to open another project for and pay $5. So in short this post will cost a total of $10, which I think is a bargain since I have been short on time.
A review from an actual person that will do something for $5 bucks on Fiverr.com
The below content was a paid review of a Fiverr.com seller.
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On Oct. 19, 2010, I had turned on the television to watch Robin Meade and her newscast on HLN while my son got ready for school. There were all kinds of news happenings that day; but, one segment that’s done during her show is Clark Howard “Money Expert”. He caught my attention with the word “money”. He had talked about Fiverr and how people were creating all kinds of gigs to make a little bit of additional money. I thought, great, I can earn a little more in addition to my work on Freelancer and Elance.
I created my first gig “rewrite or edit “1” 600 word or less article or blog” for $5. I set my initial timeframe for delivery at 2 days. And, for the first month, I didn’t hear anything. That was fine because as soon as I created the gig, more work from Elance came in. I didn’t expect anything right off the back with Fiverr. I didn’t do much with it, as worked mainly with the other freelancing sites to earn money for the household. Still, when it took off… it really took off! It really just takes one client to set things ablaze.
Is It Really Worth The Hassle: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Of Fiverr
The Bad Of Fiverr.com
I’ve been using Fiverr.com for close to two years now and I’ve seen some good and bad things with it. And, that’s not to say that the bad stuff is all Fiverr’s fault; some of it is with the clients who come on board, needing something done. What’s some of the bad things I have experienced with Fiverr?
1 – (And most importantly) Fiverr claims you can make $5 for every gig ordered. The actuality is… you actually make a tad bit less than $4 for every gig. If you can earn $50 or more before you withdrawal the cash you earn, you’d be better off, as it is $1 to process the payment. Fiverr takes $1 for every gig ordered and then additional money to process the payment. It’s a bit unnerving but it’s their way of making money.
2 – (Another important bad point) Upon clients marking the order complete (or when it’s automatically done), Fiverr sets a countdown of 14 days before you can withdrawal the cash you earn to your PayPal account. Why do we have to wait two weeks for the money we earned?
3 – Sometimes the gigs take too long to get approved. I don’t know what it is (or if certain gigs get flagged for additional screening); but, I know that several of my gigs upon creation or updating have been on hold and not published for up to 24 hours. This can eat into the profits you’d like to make. This is especially true if the gig you’re updating is extremely popular.
4 – The time difference can sometimes be a factor when gigs are ordered. Many of my gigs will come in while I am sleeping, which means many of my clients are overseas from where I live. That’s why Fiverr stresses to think about the delivery date when designing a gig.
5 – Another bad aspect with Fiverr is a new change that recently went into effect. Buyers can now order more than one gig at a time in one lump gig. However, the timeframe for that buy is still the same. For example, on rewritten article 600 word or less to be done in 5 days or less is going to be done in five days or less. However, an article with 4,800 words might take me some additional time. However, Fiverr doesn’t recognize the additional orders and so the 4,800 words are due in 5 days or less. If you fail to deliver in that timeframe, buyers can cancel and leave negative feedback. Or, the system will automatically provide negative feedback.
6 – When it comes to feedback, some buyers are downright cunning in trying to get their work for free. I have personally experienced this problem – and Fiverr claims it cannot help. I had a buyer say that he could not use any of the work I did because it was horrible. Rather than have him leave me horrible feedback, which would significantly reduce my rating, I refunded the gig. Many providers feel that their feedback is held hostage and will promptly refund a gig if the buyer is unhappy.
However, when I went to copyscape the article a couple of days later just to see if he was using my article, I discovered about 75 percent of my article was being used… in addition to changes he made that was not in the original article he had given me. Fiverr said because I had refunded it, there was nothing they could do. And, they would not ban his account even though it was likely he was taking advantage of other professional writers.
After this happened and with no assurances this would not happen again, I almost closed down my account. However, after some kind words from a great client of mine from Fiverr… I chose to leave it up. And, that leads me to my good aspects of Fiverr.
The Good Of Fiverr.com
Believe it or not, there are some very good points of fiverr.com. And, while one point of it deals with money, it’s not all about it. What are some of the good aspects of doing business on fiverr.com?
1 – Money is certainly a great aspect of Fiverr.com. After all, if you’re good at your job (whatever it is you’re offering as service) and are quick at it, then you can certainly make a side living with it. With the help of Facebook, Twitter and other social media to spread the word, you can earn a good deal of change to pay for what you need or want.
2 – Another great aspect of Fiverr comes in the form of clients. Yes, you do have some sneaky, want something for free clients; but, you also have the clients who genuinely care about paying for the work. Many of my clients are repeaters. I would say about 35 percent of my clientele comes back to me time and again to rewrite or write something.
In fact, I have one client who told me that the only person he comes to for rewriting services is me. He doesn’t trust anyone else to rewrite the material, which is nice to hear…even if it’s not true. (I don’t know if it is or isn’t.) This particular client also pays me additional money to ensure that his articles are top notch, not just $5.
3 – The customer support aspect of Fiverr is also good. Despite the lack of help in the above scenario, the customer service has been extremely helpful in removing bad feedback when it was called for or when feedback was left when I was out of town and unable to shut down my gigs for a short while.
4 – Fiverr gives you the option to suspend a gig for however long you need it for. This is great if you find yourself overwhelmed with work and must avoid new orders coming in. With my most popular gig, I’ve had to suspend it 4 times in the last two months. I can wake up and have about three to eight new orders in one night.
5 – Fiverr also allows gig owners to update and change their gigs as well as add extras to the gig. If a buyer wants me to research additional information for the article or to ensure that the article is precise, he/she will purchase an extra on the gig.
It would seem that there is more bad things than there are good with Fiverr; but, if you can get past the part of waiting 14 days for your money and really getting paid less than $4 for every order, it really is a good deal… for buyers and providers (sellers). I do it, not just for the money, but the fact that I meet interesting people and learn about interesting topics. Really, Fiverr is just a side thing that took off and continues to do so. If my clients cannot find me on my main gig, they turn to one of the other eight that I have to contact me.
