When I first came across Fiverr I was absolutely, 100% thrilled. It’s an incredible resource for anyone looking to have small, relatively simple tasks done. You know, the kind of tasks that pile up when you’re trying to grow a website.
But, there’s a catch. While the Fiverr website can be a great resource, many of the gigs are nothing but scams. In this post, I’ll share my tips and experience for how to avoid Fiverr scams and use the site as a tool to grow your online business.
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3 Tips for How To Use Fiverr Effectively
I’ve been using Fiverr for over a year, and have spent upwards of $5,000 on various gigs using their system. So, I’d say I’m a pretty heavy user, and have tried gigs across a range of categories, from content production to marketing and everything in between.
Along the way, I’ve learned a few tricks of the trade that I can share with you. If you follow these rules, you’ll be much more likely to have a good experience.
- Always contact the seller before ordering. Most sellers have highly polished profile pages and gig order pages, with details of their services listed clearly…and often exaggerated. The easiest way to filter down spam providers is to message the seller with a question before ordering the gig. You’ll see how fast they respond, whether they’re eager to provide more information, and you’ll be able to get a good sense of whether or not you’d like to do business with them.
- Test with small gigs first. Fiverr works through a series of $5 gigs, but as sellers get more customers and positive reviews they’re able to offer more expensive variants as upgrades to the original gig. Many sellers use these upgrades as a space to offer deals to their users (like buy 2 get 1 free, etc). While this can be tempting, I’ve learned to NEVER buy an upgraded gig until I’ve tried out the seller once, and was happy with the result.
- Ignore 5 star reviews. Unfortunately, one of the worst parts of Fiverr is the review system. Many sellers game the system by privately offering bonuses to users who give them 5 star reviews. So, read the comments that have 3 and 4 star reviews to get a better sense of what the gig is really like. This is also why I test the seller first…you’ll soon see whether they offer some sort of freebie in exchange for a good review.
3 Rules for Avoiding Fiverr Scams
To avoid Fiverr scams, all you need to do is follow the simple screening process I outlined above, along with a little common sense.
- If it sounds to good to be true… Many of the dodgier Fiverr gigs make absolutely amazing promises. Well, we all know what they say about things that sound too good to be true. Do you really think you can get 15,000 targeted visitors to your website for just $5? (hint: it’ll be bot traffic). What about 100 “high quality” backlinks? (hint: you’ll probably be Google-penalized). Don’t fall for the obvious traps.
- Demand good English. Many of the scam providers are easy to spot because their English is less than perfect. While I don’t mean to take a crack at foreign workers, the truth is that there are tons of scammers from poor developing countries, and few golden eggs.
- Look for consistency in user profiles. Finally, you should always look for consistent information between a seller’s profile, gig details, and private messages (another reason to email them first…). Because competition is so steep among sellers, many will say anything to get your business. So double check about what you’re actually getting first, and try to vet the gig for gaping errors.
Is Fiverr A Scam?
No. At the end of the day I don’t think Fiverr is a scam. There are literally thousands of honest providers using the system as a way to promote their freelance services or personal businesses. I’ve personally used the service with lots of success, and have had a number of high quality articles written, images and infographics developed, videos recorded, and social media content published.
There are, however, a ton of Fiverr scam gigs, and the website could definitely do a better job of monitoring who signs up and provides services. So, while I highly recommend you try out their system and see what random tasks you need done, I just urge you to remember that almost every category has good gigs and bad.
If you use the tips provided in this post, you’ll easily weed out the scam providers, and be able to focus on the good, helping you to focus on building your website business the right way.
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