Fiverr

What: Fiverr is a site that allows you to write, edit, design logos, do voice-over work, provide digital marketing, animation, or — just about anything. The jobs are limited only by your own imagination

Expected pay: variable

Husl$core: $$$

Commissions & Fees: 20% 

Where: Nationwide

Requirements: Be over the age of 13; have an email address and a computer

Review: Fiverr is a freelance marketplace that allows you to advertise pretty much any legal service for a fee. There are web designers; graphic designers; actors; animators and editors — not to mention kids willing to endorse your product or make silly videos — for a small fee.  For workers, the challenge  is that the site started out with the concept that any job would be done for $5. And most gigs are still listed at $5 to $10, so if what you’re selling is going to take more than a half-hour of your time, you’re working for peanuts. Worse, the site takes 20% of what you make and charges a fee to transfer your pay to your PayPal account or bank. This money transfer fee ranges from $1 to $3. 

That said, there is plenty of work to be found and, if you frame your offer right, you could make a decent living. For instance, one voice-over artist offers 100 words for $10. But, if you want worldwide rights to that recording, it will be another $40. And if you want her to say more words, you must buy multiple “gigs” to accommodate the number of words you want. You’ve got 500 words? That’s 5 gigs at $10 each. If you want to make decent money with this site, that’s the sort of strategy that works. Fiverr is not a bad place to try out your own business, adds Cecily Jamila, who launched her website consulting business — WordPress Queen — by offering to answer Word Press questions for $5 on Fiverr.

Be aware, however, that jobs that do not require English language skills are often picked up by workers in third-world countries, who don’t mind spending hours to get $5 US dollars. Don’t get in a bidding war, unless you put no value on your time.

Notably, many of the general job sites, such as Remote and Upwork, have shortcomings of their own. But, if you have a specific interest or skill, you can find great opportunities in almost every job category. If you contemplate what you’re good at, you may find the best opportunities by looking at niche sites that focus on one specific type of work.  

What their workers say: 

“You have to really figure out what you are going to do for $5. And realize that you are really not getting $5. You get $3 something after their commission. If you can do it quickly, it really does add up. But you have to have a strategy. It’s a good place to get started, but when you have a regular clientele, you’re better off going out on your own where you can get to keep 100% of what you earn.”     –interview with Cecily Jamila, WordPress Queen

These reviews from SiteJabber are edited solely for space and grammar.

For 2018 they’ve started a new MONTHLY REVIEW of your account activity and they check everything from sales, response time, reviews, income etc. So if you’re not making up to the standard they set in sales your account would be automatically demoted and subsequently have to remove any gigs to fit into the new lower category. I’ve been Level 2 since maybe 2 months after joining (cant get to Top Seller because that too is controlled manually by Fiverr and they “know” who they want and don’t) and have well over 200 FIVE STAR reviews. During the last month I received 2 negative reviews not because of poor service but because both customers requested an addition which I couldn’t physically perform. So because of something as simple as this they also downgrade your account. So if you have a perfect record or if you’re late with replying to messages, cancel gigs or just don’t make enough you can go right back to the beginning as a “NEW SELLER”. I asked them directly about this and they’ve indicated that’s just how the system is and basically it’s up to you to maintain it. Oh and it’s basically quite OK for you or your competitors to order gigs and leave negative reviews to get them downgraded too. I’m sure this new monthly review was just a way for them to push sellers to make more money so FIVERR in turn would have a higher profit… however they failed to realize SIMPLE LOGIC… that if they keep demoting sellers (1) the same sellers would get less sales at a lower level than before and with less gigs, and (2) sellers would seek alternate freelancer site. PeoplePerHour for instance has a similar rating program BUT they DON’T downgrade sellers and they DON’T reduce your number of hourlies (gigs). 

“At first I thought Fiverr was a great way to earn extra cash, until I started realizing the many frustrations that come from being a freelancer on Fiverr. First, they take 20% of all your proceeds (which is a lot considering the low prices sellers make). I understand that they need to make money but then they take 20% of your hard earned tips! I have received hundreds of dollars of tips and instead of getting to keep 100%, they take credit for sellers going above and beyond! Next, they charge money for you to just withdraw your earnings. If you try to inquire about anything, their customer support is a joke and they never adequately resolve any issue you bring to them. Second, if you are on vacation (and in some cases do not even have internet access), sellers can still contact you if they are past clients and if you don’t respond then your response time gets lowered and buyers are less likely to choose your services. Third, and most frustrating, Fiverr can delete your gigs for absolutely no reason without even discussing it with you first. I had a gig up for 1 whole year, received a fair amount of work and a large amount of money from it (which also means Fiverr received a good amount of money as well), had all 5 star reviews, and Fiverr removed the gig without any warning and just said it was a violation. There are 150 other gigs just like mine but somehow they aren’t violations. There is no trust with Fiverr and I don’t believe they have seller’s interests at heart. They favor the buyer over the seller and treat their sellers like garbage. They don’t try to keep their sellers happy and I guarantee they have lost a lot of good sellers because of it. I am a level two seller with all 5 star review who generates a good amount of revenue for Fiverr and they are going to lose my business because I’m absolutely fed up.

I was with Fiverr since the very beginning (where it was still cool) until my account was disabled for no reason a couple of weeks ago. Sellers beware, your account is at risk at any time, the support does not give a sh** about you and since this “company” sits somewhere in Israel it’s nearly impossible to take legal action (not that it would be worth the hassle anyway). To make things even better, all funds on your (for no reason) disabled account are frozen for 90 days and I highly doubt I will see any of that money ever again, even if the 90 days have passed. DO NOT SELL here. You can’t make decent profits anyway, because Fiverr is swamped with sellers from 3rd world countries who can throw parties for their whole village once they earn five bucks (four after 20% fees). If you are in a Western country, you do not want to compete against them. Trust me. You’re better off working minimum wage for McDonalds. At least they don’t take 20% fees out of your minimum wage, like Fiverr does.

After working for 6 months they just disabled my account for good. Just that simple. They asked me to contact them after 90 days to “inquire” for my earned money…after wasting hundreds of hours to get some decent reviews and earn buyers trust they threw me out all over a silly issue. They have zero respect for the sellers and their customer support are just bots they never give you a straight answer or accept excuses.. Good customers, bad company.

Try Fiverr