When we left off in my last post, I was 45 days into my experiment. I was hopeful that a conversation would turn into a sale and asked you to keep your fingers crossed. Cliffhanger! It’s been pretty much two months to the day since my last blog update. Even then, I knew I’d follow up and share my progress with you all, success or failure, whatever that looked like.

There was a mid-point update on the socials about a month ago because I had to say something. Thanks to getting super busy, I just dropped off the planet as far as the blog was concerned. So, thanks for being patient. Here’s the down-low on what’s been happening in my last two months on Fiverr and how I became a Level One Seller.

 

Month Three on Fiverr as a Seller

 

That conversation turned into something alright! It had a snowball effect that led to nine orders (five of those were custom offers) and completed Gigs by the end of the month. And I loved it, seriously loved it. You know how much I love to make stuff and how I’d felt a little off about something for a while. While, this new challenge, with something different to do every time I pulled out my camera, was just what I needed. I am energised in my work both on and off Fiverr and loving it.

During the completion of the Gigs, I was grateful to receive nothing but Five Star reviews from those I worked with. It turns out many people are discovering Fiverr for the first time, too, so it helped to remind them to leave a review and that I was trying to build my profile on the App. I’ve since learned that when I select a portfolio image, it has to be approved by the Buyer to show up on my Gig. So I now directly ask them to support that, too; nothing too complicated, just a simple direction.

I mentioned in the previous post that I was planning to open up some Gigs that would be a little easier to work with International Buyers; photo editing and simple social media graphic design work. But to date, I haven’t needed to do that. Instead, I closed two of the additional Gigs I opened, and I’m now focusing my efforts on the three offerings, all in product photos.

 

Now, you’ll want to know about the money, right?

 

That was the original challenge, could I make money as a product photographer on Fiverr. I opened my first Gig on the 8th of July and now, in my third month as a Fiverr Seller, I earned $903.70 (USD). Then at the end of September, I cashed out $558 (AUD) to my bank account. These funds cleared after the 14 day wait period and after the currency conversion from USD, and Fiverr took its 20%. An additional amount is uncleared and will form part of next month’s payout. Not too shabby for a new seller offering bargain-basement prices.

 

 

 

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It happened! I’m a Level One Seller on Fiverr

 

Month four was this month, October, and on the 15th, I officially became a Level One Seller. I had met the requirements about ten days before that. As soon as I created a Seller profile on Fiverr, I installed the App to respond to messages or requests from Buyers quickly. The tracking there gives you a clear idea of how you’re travelling and how far you have left to go to your next level up. And I must admit, as a competitive person, I might be enjoying watching that status bar a little too much.

Other than competitiveness, why care about the seller level you’re on? For me, there are a few key reasons. Firstly, as you move through the ranks, it’s assumed that you’ll raise your prices. Win. Initially, I thought your percentage paid to Fiverr dropped, but this doesn’t seem to be the case. And secondly,  as your level increases, you’re acknowledged as more reliable to potential Buyers and Fiverr itself. Those are some decent hoops to jump through. But I understand what a risk it can be for a Buyer, especially associated with product photos, so I’m happy to do it. Like all things on Fiverr, getting to appear in front of thousands of potential customers with no upfront costs, I’ll keep jumping.

 

To get out of newbie jail (the new seller category, haha), you must do the following;

• Be an active seller for at least 60 days
• Complete at least 10 orders (all time)
• Earn $400 or more
• Maintain a 4.7-star rating over 60 days
• Deliver a 90% response rate score over 60 days
• Score a 90% order completion rate over 60 day
• Achieve a 90% on-time delivery score over 60 days
• Receive no warnings over 30 days

 

If you’re interested, you can read more about it on their website.

Though, for a minute there, it looked a little shaky. Thanks to current postal hold-ups leading to a cancelled Gig. You have to maintain a 90% or better completion rate to meet the levelling criteria, and with the bare minimum of jobs completed (10), I didn’t have room to spare for cancellations. But, we scraped through and made it. Phew! Being that close and almost losing it gave me a bit of an insight into how important it is always to be booking new work. You’re only as good as your last 30 days as far as Fiverr is concerned. Not sure how I feel about that, to be honest.

 

Month Four on Fiverr as a Seller

 

There was a time when I was doing a lot of message answering for no result.  Was my Fiverr career over after a single successful month? Impressions were starting to drop on my Gigs, and I began to feel a little concerned. Especially after one custom offer that I’d negotiated fell through, it was a monthly Gig for 20 images that would’ve been a great one to have in the bag. So far, that hasn’t worked out, but we’ll see how it goes. Frustrating, for sure, but soon the tide turned again.

This month has seen an increase in larger and bundle jobs which are still coming through the first Gig I ever set up. This Gig still leads the others in impressions, clicks and orders though most of the ordered are in some way customised. Which is a nice option to have, that’s for sure. October saw a couple of small Gigs complete early before a total of 7 Gigs got backlogged waiting on the post. One was pushed back to the end of November, waiting on the international post, but the rest had delivery dates from the 21st to the 27th of October.

 

Now, about that Fiverr money!

 

I’m happy to report that as of today (the 23rd of October), I’ve worked my way through the backlog and delivered them all. That home stretch effort will put me ahead of September for both money earned and Gigs completed. At the time of writing this post, I’ve booked $1,205 (USD) of work with one cancellation ($120). At this stage, I haven’t cashed out for October, but given the majority of work was done in the last week and won’t clear for another 14 days, I’m expecting to cash out is $480 AUD. Again, this is after currency conversion and Fiverr’s 20% fee. That will leave the bulk of the funds earned in October in my Fiverr account clearing.

 

 

Interested in working together? Find me on Fiverr here!

 

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