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[Services] Fiverr

Megann

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Not sure if this is the right forum for this or if there already is a thread about this, but I just came across this website called fiverr.com and I could not find a thread about it here on this forum.

After some digging I realize it's been around for several years, but I had never heard of it before. I checked out the site and it seems that many of the services offered by its users, including writing services and illustration services, are worth a lot more than their asking price. People there are offering work for 5 Euro (it automatically goes to a local version of the site when I visit it) that would take them at least several hours to complete and I noticed quite a few artists from India, Vietnam and Indonesia, for whom this is doubtlessly more value than it would be for someone living in Europe, but still.

We condemn the clothing industry for the exploitation of its workers oversees. Is this not simply another form of exploitation? Should these services and the art work commissioned not be priced for the actual value offered? Then again how would you go about setting prices fairly? I am not sure it would be even possible.
 

Earthling

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I stumbled on Fiverr when I was making my website and thought about getting a custom banner. I felt very uncomfortable, for the reasons you bring up, and didn't purchase anything.

Did I withhold income from someone who really needs it? Should I perhaps have purchased and overpaid (if that's even possible)? I don't know. These things aren't simplistic. :(
 

Maryn

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I've heard of people who hired work through Fiverr and were satisfied making private arrangements to pay what they believe it was worth. The one I'm thinking of was cover art for a self-published novella, and the author paid the artist an extra eighty dollars and still considered it a bargain. I don't know if that violates the terms of service, so I'll just stop there.
 

AW Admin

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I'm moving this to Bewares.

Hang on to the side rails please.
 

James D. Macdonald

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This has been discussed in Roundtable, a few years back, when it came out that some authors were buying dozens, if not hundreds, of favorable reviews on Amazon over at Fiverr. (This violates Amazon's terms of service, among other things, but it still happened, and, for all I know, is still happening.)
 

Megann

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It's pretty scary if people buy their reviews over a site like Fiverr. The way it is set-up I can see that happening. It's almost like such a system invites abuse.
 

ctripp

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Yep, you can buy reviews, testimonials, Illustration, ghost writing, editing, it's a one stop shop for self publishing... and usually it shows!!!

Elance was another of these kinds of places, with a bit of a difference. A self pub Writer could set up an account and post a job, say a 32 page pic book, and receive bids. Mostly the jobs would be awarded to the lowest bid, most of those coming from places like India (groups of Illustrators in an office space, on computers using PS, doing copy/pasting, using bucket fill colour) It commonly is run like a factory assembly line, to make the bid of say $200 to $300 US for 14 spreads, 2 singles and a cover financially feasible.

To answer the question, yes, it's exploitation. Big business does it all the time, justifying it as giving work to these poor people, where otherwise they would starve in the streets, it helps them sleep at night I suppose. But the bottom line is it's just dirt cheap compared to labour and safety laws in developed Countries:(

For the writers, who don't consider Illustration in a pic book important anyway, it's cheap, done fast and they own all the rights to it!
(cranky about fiverr much... who, me?:)
 

NateSean

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My one major grievance with Fiverr (aside from the fact that I can't do my tarot readings with Fiverr anymore) is that people add a lot of extra charges to some of their projects.

In my mind it's like this: The website says Fiverr. Not 5$ and a thousand dollars worth of hidden charges. Someone mentioned sweatshops earlier, except that no one is feeding their family with a Fiverr project and if they are, call CPS. If you need more money for your skill, don't offer to do it for five dollars, plain and simple.
 

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The art you get from fiverr is worth about 5 bucks, maybe less. Also, not all the stuff you see being offered is really 5bucks. Lots of gigs are like, I'll draw you a sketch for $5, if you want it turned into a proper illustration it will cost you $100
 

Once!

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Hmmm. It depends. A lot of the gigs on fiverr are ... shall we say? ... a little dodgy. You get what you pay for, which could be someone working for sweatshop wages in a country with lower standards of living and/or something of dubious quality. Or the gig might cost more than a fiverr by the time that you have added in the extras that you really need. Or it might be a dubious fake review sort of deal.

But there can also be a case for fiverr being worthwhile if the people providing the gig have knowledge and experience that you don't. A graphics design studio can produce a reasonable quality cover in a matter of minutes, especially if you supply a cover image and all the text to go with it. It won't be as good as a properly designed cover, but it would be better than an amateur could produce on their own.

I am a firm believer than an expert can do something in seconds which a novice would take hours to do, and not do so well.

Fiverr, when used right, can be useful.
 

akaria

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I've used a handful of book promoters on Fiverr. They've produced minimal results and aren't worth the five dollars.
 
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Thedrellum

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I am a firm believer than an expert can do something in seconds which a novice would take hours to do, and not do so well.

But this is why you are paying them more than five dollars. You're not actually paying for time, you're paying for the experience and expertise.
 

zmethos

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In at least a couple of the sessions at Writer's Digest Conference I heard Fiverr mentioned as a place to get business cards and covers, both from attendees and panelists (and I found myself shaking my head and thinking No! Don't tell them that! just as a gut reaction)... Yet did not see any examples of Fiverr work for either so can't speak to the quality.
 

Alessandra Kelley

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But there can also be a case for fiverr being worthwhile if the people providing the gig have knowledge and experience that you don't. A graphics design studio can produce a reasonable quality cover in a matter of minutes, especially if you supply a cover image and all the text to go with it. It won't be as good as a properly designed cover, but it would be better than an amateur could produce on their own.

I am a firm believer than an expert can do something in seconds which a novice would take hours to do, and not do so well.

Fiverr, when used right, can be useful.

This is terrible advice. It relies entirely on winning the random-stranger-on-the-internet-is-actually-Michelangelo lottery.

And even if one were to somehow luck into a Michelangelo instead of one of the vast crowds of novices and amateurs who swamp the Internet, the process is far more complex and time-consuming than described here.

It would be impossible to get an expert to design a good, personalized cover for $5.

Anyone who says otherwise is either ignorant or dishonest.
 

K. Q. Watson

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Slightly related, Mike J just started a new series where he uses 5 people on Fivver to do things for him.
https://www.youtube.com/user/MikeJtvmusic/video

There's only 2 episodes so far, and the first one, "Shameless Self Promo" yielded, IMO horrible results. They just say "MikeJTVMusic". None of them say if it's a Twitter name, or a Youtube channel, or a band, or an album, or a Tumblr, or a Twitch channel or a Tinder account! Maybe he overlooked that in the brief he gave them, but it stuck out to me.
 
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frimble3

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And for a fiver, they're not going to bother going back and forth, asking questions for clarification, are they? (If they even thought considered it: "Here, random stranger, this is what you asked for, take it and give me my money!")
 

Megann

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Slightly related, Mike J just started a new series where he uses 5 people on Fivver to do things for him.
https://www.youtube.com/user/MikeJtvmusic/video

There's only 2 episodes so far, and the first one, "Shameless Self Promo" yielded, IMO horrible results. They just say "MikeJTVMusic". None of them say if it's a Twitter name, or a Youtube channel, or a band, or an album, or a Tumblr, or a Twitch channel or a Tinder account! Maybe he overlooked that in the brief he gave them, but it stuck out to me.

I must say that it is where I first found out about Fiverr. I usually like Mike J's videos, but this series puzzles me.
 

ctripp

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I am a firm believer than an expert can do something in seconds which a novice would take hours to do

Of course, that's why an Electrician can install a plug in minutes... but he's going to charge you for the full hour and guarantee the wiring is done right and works!
"Expert" is the key word in that sentence and that expertise is what you pay for, not just the time it takes to complete a task.

Helix, I am not going to look up "4er", I'm already cranky enough about "5er":)