Five Ways Fiverr Lets Down Freelance Writers

Let me start by saying that, for the most part, I have had a pretty positive experience on Fiverr. I’ve made some good connections with repeat clients, I’ve built up my portfolio some, and I’ve only run into one problem while getting my money from them. However, after almost two years on the platform, I’ve learned quite a lot about not only Fiverr but freelance writing and editing in general. Mostly, I’ve learned what not do.

I’ve learned to not take on projects you’re not excited about, especially ones which flat out conflict with your values and interests. I’ve learned that however long you think it will take you to complete a project, you should multiply that number by at least 1.5 and use that as your timeline. I’ve learned that sometimes you just have to put your well-being before making money, especially if you’re stressed or are having health issues. Most importantly, though, I have learned that you should not price your freelance services too low, no matter what the client might try to convince you is the “right” or “fair” price. Trust your own research when it comes to pricing, not theirs.

The problem is that the experience writers–and other creative freelancers–have on Fiverr directly contradicts some of the most important lessons of freelancing, especially pricing. It’s just not built to accommodate career freelance writers, editors, artists, graphic designers, etc., if they want to be paid what’s considered fair in their respective industries.

In particular, there are five prominent ways in which Fiverr lets down freelance writers:

1. Fixed rates only. Freelance writers and editors both usually rate their services per word, per page, per hour. Fiverr has none of these options. Instead, you must somehow figure out a way to price your services using a fixed rate. The three package options can help to a degree by allowing you to have different prices based on word count or something similar, but there’s no way to work per hour or by the exact word or page count. You could end up writing 1,000 words for the same price as 100 if you can’t find the right way to group the packages.
2. Buyers expect scab wages. Not all buyers on Fiverr are like this. Most of my Fiverr customers have been fairly reasonable about following industry standards rather than “Fiverr standards”. Still, a good number of them expect you to work for what would be pennies compared to those offering their services on a platform other than Fiverr. They think that just because you’re getting work through Fiverr, you should work for significantly less than the average writer. I had an experience with this very recently. I had been ghostwriting for someone on Fiverr at a rate of $250 per book, which was then raised to $300 per book as it went from novelization of a screenplay to writing a novel based on an outline. When I had first agreed to this, I didn’t know what was considered fair pricing for ghostwriting in the writing/publishing industry. I eventually learned the truth while researching a post for this blog on ghostwriting. According to a guide from Writer’s Market, I should’ve been charging at least $25/hour. Huffington Post says that anyone charging under $15,000 per project for ghostwriting books is either really new and looking to build their portfolio or very low quality, even suspicious or a scam. This Fiverr buyer was only paying me at best one-tenth of what I should have been paid, and that isn’t including the work for supplemental research and revisions I put in. When I told him that he either had to accommodate a raise to the entry-level rate of $25/hour or we’d have to part ways, he essentially said we’d have to part ways and questioned this new rate for no reason other than the fact that my services are provided through Fiverr. This is someone who had been very happy with my work before, and yet he thought that I shouldn’t charge the industry standard solely because of the platform; my effort and skills meant nothing when it came to price. Perhaps if we had connected elsewhere he would have thought this rate was fair, or he might have just tried to force me into something much lower anyway. The difference is that on Fiverr, it’s more acceptable to expect unfairly low prices.
3. There’s a maximum amount for custom offers based on seller level. Services like writing, editing, graphic design, commissioned art, website design, etc. are high-paying for a reason. We are experts in highly-specialized fields that require a combination of education in that field and natural talent. Even the cheapest of fair rates aren’t going to be what the average person considers “cheap”, not even if they “just” freelance. That’s why it’s so easy for people in those fields to get ripped off when working through a platform like Fiverr. One of the biggest issues is that there is a maximum amount which you can charge for custom offers–which are much easier to work with than flat-out orders–based on your seller level. For new sellers and level one sellers, that maximum is $5,000. For level two and top sellers, it’s $10,000. If you charge the lowest of the acceptable rates in the writing/publishing industry, this might not be a problem. If you have any experience and self-worth, though, it’ll be a challenge to get your fair pay all in one order for anything longer than, say, articles or novellas.
4. The already-low rates get cut by 20%. Fiverr takes a 20% cut of every order as a fee for using their site. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem. After all, they have to make money somehow. However, the rates are low enough that 20% can feel like a sizeable slice, especially in comparison to places like Guru, which only takes about 8.95% as a transaction fee.
5. Harder to show your portfolio. Let’s face it, no one wants to hire a writer or editor if they don’t have a good sense of their work. The most highly-respected examples are usually those which have been published, and the best way to show them off is to provide a link to where they can be purchased or your own site. Fiverr, however, loves to flag any external link as a problem. There are options to show off your work if your freelance work is more visual, such as graphic design and painting. You can just upload an image to the related gig. For writers, though, it doesn’t work that way. You can upload a PDF of sample work and hope that the potential customers will have PDF readers available, but there are no options to upload a Word doc or anything like that. That means the portfolio options for writers and editors are limited. No portfolio, fewer jobs, less money.

Fiverr is not necessarily a bad site. You can optimize it by offering services you can do very quickly for low prices. For example, I’ve had a fair amount of success with my one-liner gig and writing/editing short online articles. Even beta reading and query writing has gone well for me on there.

However, it is a horrible place to offer larger freelance services. I do not recommend offering writing or editing services for anything larger than novellas on Fiverr. Instead, the best move you can make is to create your own website where you can have a portfolio and links to your work, post reviews from former clients, and set your own rates in any format that you like. WordPress and Blogger are probably the best places to consider if you’re new to website building and/or don’t have a lot of money to spend on it. Another safe move would be to consider places like Guru, iFreelance, Freelancer, and Reedsy (if you’re experienced enough). I haven’t tried out these sites fully yet so I cannot recommend one in particular, but they are consistently offered as good sites for writers, editors, and other freelancers to offer their services.

Have you had experience as a seller of freelance writing/editing services on Fiverr? Was it positive or negative? Do you think writers and editors should offer novel-sized services on there long-term? Or is it better as a gateway for making some contacts and potential client relationships? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!