Fiverr
Is This Your Business?Author: Kalicia Bateman
Fiverr is a global online marketplace offering tasks and services beginning at a cost of $5 per job performed, which is where it gets its name. The site is primarily used by freelancers who use Fiverr to offer services to customers worldwide.
Fiverr facilitates the exchange of “gigs” or micro-jobs for buyers and sellers online via its search engine platform. Potential buyers can search for many kinds of freelancers on the Fiverr marketplace, including resume writers, graphic artists and designers, and translators. Gigs can be professional services such as graphic design, brand logo design, and market research, but can also include things like personal greetings, sketching works, business cards, personalized gifts, and other services .
Fiverr enables so-called registered ‘micro-entrepreneurs’ in more than 200 countries to use the website to monetize their skills, talents and resources for as little as $5 per gig, though freelancers can offer additional upgrades to their service or sell a project in multiples to bring in more money.
Top Ranked Companies
The Good
- Multiple Designers
- Search Filters
- Emphasis on Reviews
- No Signup Fee
Multiple Designers
Fiverr gives companies looking for help in all areas of design the ability to access multiple designers who have experience in graphic design, online marketing, social media, blog content, writing and translation, Wordpress, video and animation, music and audio, programming and tech, advertising and more.
Access to a professional designer starts at only $5. That price simply cannot be beat. The cost can be higher based on the level of quality and the kind of package a customer wants to pay to hire a freelancer.
Designers might offer additional services such as banner ads, digital marketing, and video editing that can help a client find several brand solutions in one place through a freelancer. There are no strings attached like are often found at a graphic design agency, such as monthly package plan payments for long-term design help.
Search Filters
Customers have the option to search for specific designers based on their needs. They can find sellers by using the following filters:
- Language spoken
- Designer level (based on amount of work done via Fiverr)
- Package type
- Design style
- Personal delivery time
- Logo specialty
Emphasis on Reviews
Each designer offers a short overview of what kind of service they offer so it is easy to browse many designers at once as a customer finds a designer who can do the creative work that they need. Once a customer narrows down their selection they can read each individual designers bio and bid information on their personal page.
Each designer also has a section for user reviews, an aspect we appreciate as a review company. From here, you can assess the positive and negative reviews of a specific designer to see if you want to work with them. Knowing you can leave a review and influence other customers with your rating gives some power to the client to hold the designer accountable for their quality of work.
No Signup Fee
Fiverr is free to search. Fiverr demands no charge or signup fee to access the designer pages, and all additional prices are listed clearly on each designer page so customers can see how much they will be charged by each designer they are interested in.
Fiverr accepts debit and credit card purchases, as well as PayPal, Apple Pay, and iDEAL. However, note that all payment options incur service fees. Users pay $2 on orders up to $40 and 5% on orders above that.
A refund on a cancelled order will reimburse all costs, including paid service fees.
The Bad
- Limited Designer Vetting
- Variable Standards and Communication
- Negative Reviews
Limited Designer Vetting
Anyone can set up a Fiverr account, meaning not all creative work is guaranteed to be professional quality. Customers are working with freelance designers of all skill levels. For that reason, logo seekers need to spend time conducting extensive research on who they are choosing to work with before entering a designer contract.
Small business owners in particular may use Fiverr when they don't have the resources to make their own professional logo, but they may get poor quality designs due to the lack of a vetting process on Fiverr. Again, potential users should carefully research a freelancer's design services as illustrated by their portfolio and reviews.
Variable Standards and Communication
Once customers choose a good designer, they work directly with the designer.
Each designer sets their own job requirements in terms of turnaround time and feature options, like how many free revisions or logo concepts are offered. Because of the high level of variability, it is difficult for customers to find consistent information.
Not all designers are based locally. It is an international company, so there can be a communication gap between designer and users.
Negative Reviews
Because Fiverr is typically used as a budget alternative to local, accredited professionals, many customers report dissatisfaction. Customers can leave negative or positive reviews of their experience with a particular designer on Fiverr's site; be sure to read those before committing to a designer.
Some people have complained that the Fiverr marketplace is saturated with low quality freelance services and that some sellers are able to create logos for a low price that can't be matched because freelancing isn't their primary source of income. Critics claim that the Fiverr platform is negatively impacting professional designers who can't afford to sell their logo design services at such low prices. These negative reviews note that making money on Fiverr can be difficult and degrading.
While finding a graphic designer willing to work for less money may be ideal for a client with a small budget, this does raise ethical concerns about the low prices Fiverr offers through its freelancers.
The Bottom Line
As an online marketplace that matches users with designers, Fiverr provides customers with a vast selection of service providers to choose from. Fiverr puts a lot of control into the hands of the customer and give them access to multiple designers, which is an option that companies in the design industry that hire their own in-house designers can't offer.
However, this vast directory is not regulated and anyone can offer creative design services claiming they are a professional. Without a structured way to control the designer experience, some customers may find that top-notch logo designs are hit and miss.
In regards to being freelance platforms, Fiverr is similar to crowdsourcing logo design companies like DesignCrowd. But where they differ is that with Fiverr, you need to choose and commit to one freelancer at the get-go rather than running a design contest and choosing your winner once you see what your options are.
For some logo design and graphic design jobs, or if a customer is willing to really spend the time to research the specific designer they are looking to hire, Fiverr is a great option. For full service designs and major business identification needs, a customer may want to go with a company with more long-term, consistent design experience rather than an online marketplace.
With all of that said, we recommend weighing the pros and cons of hiring a freelancer before choosing this route over a design agency or crowdsourced contest.
