There are many bad reviews of Fiverr, saying that it’s riddled with worthless gigs. These reviews might have you asking, “Is Fiverr legit?”
I can’t deny that there are unreasonable gigs on Fiverr, but that’s only because of buyers with a cheap $5 mindset.
If you’re interested in using Fiverr as a buyer or seller, I can tell you that Fiverr is a great place to get projects done (I also love Upwork and Flexjobs and use all three).
But before you use Fiverr or any platform, you should keep in mind a couple of things to protect yourself from scammers.
Let’s get to it!
Is Fiverr Legit?
Yes, Fiverr is a trustworthy freelancing platform for buyers and sellers.
The only reason why Fiverr gets a bad rap is because of human error.
The concept itself should work if people work efficiently with it.
Fiverr is essentially the middleman between the buyer and the seller and protects transactions between the two.
It’s natural that a platform like this has scammers, but you can take precautions to avoid them.
Many people have been successful on Fiverr since it launched in 2010.
It currently has 2.1 million active buyers and 830,000 sellers across 160 countries all over the globe.
Knowing these statistics, you can rest assured that Fiverr is legitimate.
It’s only a few rotten eggs that tarnish its name.
Millions of trusting buyers spend millions on freelancers’ services, and freelancers are spending their precious time working on the platform.
Fiverr is an excellent platform if you know how to use it.
Related Reading: Fiverr Affiliate Program – Click Here To Learn Everything About It.
My Review of Fiverr
I have used Fiverr for multiple projects including simple logo design, SEO, video creation, ebooks, and more.
I used Fiverr 7 years ago when gigs were only $5.
This is well before Fiverr became a publicly-traded company.
So is Fiverr legit?
You better believe it.
As long as you abide by Fiverr’s Terms of Service and the tips I tell you below, you should be fine.
How safe is Fiverr?
Fiverr is very safe as long as the transactions between the buyer and seller are done within the platform.
Fiverr is designed to hold the buyer’s payments and the seller’s work to protect both sides.
You never have to worry about losing all your hard-earned money to Fiverr or to anyone else because transactions are secure and encrypted.
The platform must comply with the highest security standards as a Level 1 PCI-DSS service provider because a lot of money is involved.
So is Fiverr legit in terms of safety? Yep.
Is your personal data safe on Fiverr?
All your personal details that you submit to Fiverr are secure and encrypted.
You can rest assured that all your information is protected according to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the most airtight privacy and security law in the world.
Because Fiverr complies with this law, you’re allowed to access and delete all your personal information of your own choosing.
They can’t use your data or give it to anyone else.
So yes, your personal data is secure with Fiverr, and you don’t have to worry about fraud or theft.
Sidenote: I will answer all of your questions over on YouTube. Just choose a video, watch it completely, and ask away in the comments. It's like free consulting. See you there!
Can you get scammed on Fiverr?
Like with everything else on the internet, you can only get scammed if you give scammers the chance to do so.
Fiverr is not exempt from people who want to take advantage of others.
But don’t fret! I’m going to give you the best tips to avoid scams and boost your security on Fiverr.
Read on.
Tips To Avoid Getting Scammed On Fiverr
The primary reason buyers and sellers get scammed on Fiverr is that they don’t pay attention to red flags.
They blindly trust others, expecting to be treated honestly and fairly. It’s the sad truth that some people really are out to get you.
There are those who prey on the gullible, so don’t let yourself fall into that population.
Here are some tips to help you avoid those pesky scammers, identify red flags, and expose dishonest buyers and sellers.
Tips For Buyers
1. Don’t deal outside Fiverr under any circumstances.
Some shady sellers will ask you to deal outside of the platform to avoid paying Fiverr’s commission.
It’s clearly stated on Fiverr’s guidelines that the company does not safeguard any payments outside of the platform.
I highly suggest that you never deal outside of the platform, especially if you’re working with a seller you’ve never worked with before.
If anyone asks you to deal outside of Fiverr, it’s most likely a scam so consider it a red flag.
2. Review orders within three days of delivery.
If you’re not vigilant about responding to a seller’s messages after placing an order, the seller might try to trick you by delivering your order without actually finishing it.
After three days, your order will be automatically marked complete; hence the seller can receive the payment.
Fortunately, Fiverr gives buyers a grace period of 13 days after the order has been marked as completed.
During this period, Fiverr customer support can cancel the order for you.
Of course, you’ll have to contact customer service, which will be a hassle.
You have to send in a request for cancellation because the delivered order wasn’t as promised in the gig listings.
To avoid this inconvenience, review your orders within three days of delivery and check their quality and completeness.
During this period, your payment is still secured by Fiverr.
So is Fiverr legit?
Yep, just make sure you’re on your game.
3. Be thorough about finding a seller.
To get your money’s worth, make sure you check out a seller thoroughly.
Look at their reviews and how they present themselves in their profiles.
I also wouldn’t touch worthless gigs with a 10-foot pole.
I know that no one can organically deliver unlimited website traffic, YouTube views, subs, etc. In general, don’t pay anyone for something shady.
Invest in real content because there’s plenty of talented content creators on Fiverr.
Related Reading: Is Upwork a Legit Platform? – Read The Full Post Here.
Tips For Sellers
1. Don’t deal outside of Fiverr under any circumstances.
Like I said above, for buyers, sellers should also never deal outside of the platform.
It’s dangerous for buyers to do so because they might lose money.
It’s even more hazardous for sellers because they run the risk of losing their accounts.
Sure, a buyer’s account can be terminated if they violate Fiverr’s terms of services, but they can simply make a new one in minutes.
Sellers have to build up their profiles with good reviews and gigs to rank up.
You wouldn’t want all that hard work to go to waste. Opening a new account as a seller means starting from scratch.
If you’re a freelancer on Fiverr, never make transactions out of the platform, especially if it’s with a client you’ve never worked with before.
2. Be transparent and honest with your gigs.
As a seller, you have to be upfront and honest about the services that you’re offering.
Describe your skills in detail and optimize your profile for ideal clients.
Being honest about what you have to provide will help you, especially when it comes to custom orders.
If a client ever expects something beyond your skill description, you can contact Fiverr’s customer support team to still get payment on the order.
It’s unreasonable for someone to demand something outside of your skillset.
Is Fiverr legit?
For sure.
Just be clear and transparent and you’ll have a good experience on the platform.
Can Fiverr orders get canceled?
Yes, you can cancel orders on Fiverr as a buyer or seller as long as you have a valid reason.
For example, you can cancel an order because the service delivered wasn’t as described.
You can also cancel an order if a client is demanding more work beyond your service description.
The easiest way to cancel an order is to have both the buyer and seller approve it.
Both have to visit the resolution center from the order page and submit a request for order cancellation.
If one of the two parties doesn’t agree to cancel, the one who wants to do so will have to contact Fiverr’s customer support team and give them a valid reason.
If the request is reasonable, the team will review the situation and manually cancel the order.
I want to stress that Fiverr gives higher priority to the buyer, so keep that in mind.
Types of Gigs You Should Avoid On Fiverr
Like I mentioned above, there are some gigs that you should steer clear of because you’ll likely waste your money.
These gigs might also have a negative impact on your online hustle.
Be mindful of what you pay for on the internet. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
1. Off-page SEO
You’re probably familiar with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and that its two most critical factors are on-page and off-page SEO.
You can get high-quality On-page SEO content on Fiverr, no problem.
Skilled folks offer keyword research and technical SEO services for excellent prices.
If you see sellers offering off-page SEO, that’s a red flag. Trust me; these “services” will hurt your website ranking in the long run.
The backlinks that will be delivered to you will most likely be spammy, which Google can detect easily.
I recommend that you work on organic traffic instead of these shortcuts because they’re going to impact your online reputation eventually negatively.
2. Traffic and YouTube Views
The only way you can drive long-lasting, legitimate traffic to your site is by regularly putting out high-quality content.
Many people get impatient and use Fiverr services to buy fake traffic.
This kind of traffic doesn’t really do anything.
Sure, your numbers go up for a while, but it’s not real. Fake traffic tools likely drive the numbers that you see on your page views and analytics.
These tools send bot traffic to your site or channel, meaning no actual people are viewing your content.
If you see a seller claiming that they can generate real traffic for you real fast, that’s a scam.
So is Fiverr legit?
For sure.
But sketchy jobs are not.
Don’t do them or ask for them.
3. Shoutouts and Promotions
There’s no point in getting a shoutout or promotion from an account with very low engagements.
You might see some of these gigs advertising that they have millions of followers, but if you check out their accounts, their posts get minimal likes and comments.
It’s unlikely for you to find someone on Fiverr with real engagement on their account willing to promote you, but it is possible.
Think about it.
Why would, say, a famous influencer be on Fiverr asking for money in exchange for shoutouts?
Unless the asking price is high, there’s no point in them doing that.
Again, it’s going to be up to you to do thorough research on sellers before ordering.
There you have it; these are the services that you should avoid on Fiverr.
In time, you’ll be discerning enough to notice something fishy simply by reading gig titles.
Are all Fiverr reviews genuine?
Only buyers and sellers involved in projects can leave reviews on Fiverr, so most of them are real.
However, there can be some fake positive reviews on new seller accounts.
How did they get these reviews so early on?
They typically order it from someone or create accounts as a buyer for the sole purpose of leaving 5-star reviews.
Naturally, seeing some 5-star reviews could gain others’ trust.
So how do you weed out the bad sellers from the honest ones? Read on to find out.
How To Find Legitimate Honest Sellers On Fiverr
Of course, you only want to work with honest sellers, so how do you find them? Here are my tips:
- Always read their reviews. Look at what past buyers say about their work. I recommend not hiring sellers with less than four stars.
- Be thorough about reading the gig description and offer projects within the seller’s skillset. Don’t expect them to go above and beyond the services that they offer.
- Read the FAQ section if some parts of the gig descriptions need clarification.
I put reading reviews first because it’s the most vital.
Before you make your way to a seller’s description and FAQ sections, always see what other buyers are saying first.
Before you order projects, I recommend that you contact the seller first.
This is the time to negotiate and explain what exactly you need to get done and how they can deliver the best service possible.
Lastly, check the seller’s joining date and see if it matches up to their reviews. If it’s a new account and they have tons of glowing reviews, that’s sketchy.
How can you tell fake reviews from real ones?
Let’s say a seller joined Fiverr in May 2021, but they have more than 50 reviews from the same month, then it’s highly likely that those reviews are fake.
A good rating on Fiverr takes some time to build. It may take months, even years.
Over time, a seller can earn level one, two, or a top-rated badge based on their excellent performance.
Sellers would have to provide customer satisfaction and deliver high-quality work to maintain their strong ratings. If a seller is highly rated, then you can relax and assume that their services are legit.
Related Reading: How to make an Extra 1000 a month – Click Here To Learn More.
Final Thoughts
Fiverr has been generating a lot of buzz since it was first launched.
The platform is not immune to negative reviews because there are some bad aspects to it.
There’s some scamming on Fiverr, and some freelancers complain about the commission they have to pay the platform.
Despite all that flak, Fiverr remains to be an excellent source for buyers and sellers alike.
Buyers can buy quality content at affordable prices, and sellers can earn a steady income through freelancing.
Like I said at the beginning of this post, Fiverr helped me finance my first blog.
Fiverr is definitely a viable source of income if you exert enough effort.
Sure, there are some things about Fiverr that I don’t like, particularly buyers who want to pay chump change for quality work.
Then again, it’s up to you as a seller to assess whether or not a project is worth your time.
Fiverr is a fantastic platform, but some shady people have yet again somewhat ruined a good thing for the rest of us. No platform is without its flaws anyway.
If you follow all the tips I laid out above; you’ll have no trouble finding decent people to work with on Fiverr.
As long as you can identify red flags, you’re pretty much safe from scammers on the platform.
I hope you found this guide useful, and I wish you luck on the wonderful freelancing platform that is Fiverr.
Related Reading: How To Make 200 Dollars In One Day – Check Out The Ways Here.
