Is Fiverr a scam? Let me set the record straight from the get-go. The answer to that is a definite no.
Can Fiverr be trusted? Yes – for the most part. Their rating system, however, is a different topic.
The amount of value you can get out of Fiverr compared to prices you’ll pay is astounding. The ease of use is also impressive.
There is however, a big issue with the Fiverr rating system that genuinely damages the user experience. Before we go into this, let me explain how I am even qualified to talk about this topic.
I have been active on Fiverr since 2017. As a seller, I have close to 800 orders under my belt and generated close to $55.000 in sales with gigs as marketing video services and eCommerce consulting. I also was a guest speaker on selling on Amazon at an event organized by Fiverr in 2019.
As a buyer, I am nearing the 500 orders mark. I often hire people on Fiverr to fix WordPress bugs on this website, or even attorneys to help with the registration of a trademark.
Have you noticed that almost every seller has great reviews? This would make you think that every experience you’d have on Fiver would be magnificent, right?
This is very often not the case. There’s a few reasons for that. Let’s look into it.
1. It’s hard to offend someone you’ve just had a conversation with.
Only two out of three of buyers leave a review. Opposed to a platform like Amazon, purchases come with a certain level of personal communication. This creates a higher barrier to leave a negative review to someone. Even if the experience was terrible. This however, is basic human behavior, and not Fiverr’s fault.
2. Review legitimacy. Can Fiverr reviews be fake?
Fake reviews on Fiverr are very easy to get by. There are very little security measures in place to prevent fraudulent reviews. I have been part of Fiverr communities where I witnessed sellers give reviews to each other, using the same browser not the same computer on the same network. To put things in perspective, you’d never be able to pull this off on a platform Amazon for example.
I find it hard to imagine that Fiverr is not aware of this fraud or does not have the means to stop them. A simple algorithm checking IP addresses between buyers and sellers would be pretty easy to implement for a massive corporation like Fiverr.
The third reason is a bit more hard to discover.
3. The dirty secret behind why almost every seller has + 4.9/5 stars
Unhappy buyers always get a refund.
This sounds good in theory. In reality however, it creates a marketplace that is not representative of reality. There is no accountability for providers that offer substandard quality. This is what often happens:
1. Buyer places order on a 5 star gig
2. Seller delivers poor quality work
3. Buyer complains to seller
4. Seller immediately counters with: ‘No problem; I will cancel the order and you will get a refund.’
5. Buyer gladly accepts as that means he will have wasted his time, but at least he will receive his money back. And here lies the big issue.
With the buyer accepting the cancellation, he revokes his right to leave a review.
The seller knows this, and is more than happy to sacrifice the completion of an order now and then to save his or her 5 star rating. See an example below:
How the broken Fiverr review system should be fixed
To any potential Fiverr rep that might read this: it is not hard to fix this loophole. A refund for a bad quality delivery should not revoke the right to leave a review. The review can show that the buyer has been refunded, but the buyer should still have a voice and be able to inform future potential customers.
Personally, I get more annoyed by wasting 3 days on a bad delivery than by losing $25 to a bad seller.
It’s of course a possibility that Fiverr is aware of this structural shortcoming. They might not want to fix it as it seems now that almost every gig on their platform is highly rated. They could argue that this improves the perceived value of Fiverr.com. Not saying this is a fact, but it’s a possibility.
I think that those days are over.
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