A recent article on The Guardian on July 4, 2014 is explaining to students how to start an online business in freelancing. It lists the importance of making contacts, time management, and handling client expectations. But what do you do when those expectations are automatically changed overnight and without previous notice and lacking your prior consent?
The Fiverr Blog is lighting up this week of July 4, 2014 regarding the new Advanced Rating System that was implemented by the Fiverr administration on June 15, 2014. In the past, freelancing sellers were rated by their clients with a simple “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” rating system. The new ARS uses a 5-Star method over three different categories, including “Seller Response Time”, “Service as Expected”, and “Buy Again or Recommend”.
As a result, the Fiverr blogosphere is abuzz with complaints, rants, and even threats of leaving the website altogether. Many of the longtime Top Sellers are leading the charge, asking for a boycott of the site until the original ratings system is reinstated.
Where is all of this angst coming from? Many of the freelancing professionals on Fiverr have spent years building up a high rating under the old system and selling to clients from all over the world . On June 15, however, all sellers, old and new, started with a perfect 5-Star Rating.
Many of the leading sellers have taken down their gigs so that they can reword and redefine their products and services in order to adapt to the new ARS system. Their “gigs” were written specifically with the old ratings system in mind. Overnight, many have been forced to rethink their entire business strategy.
It may be too early to tell how successful the new ARS system will be in the long run, but the initial reaction is less than impressive.
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