Fiverr’s Buyer Requests feature, where people could ask for specific work, is no longer available. Instead, Fiverr now uses a new system that aims to better match the needs of people looking for services with those who offer them. This change is designed to help users find the right match more efficiently.
⚡ The Quick Read ⚡
Fiverr’s Buyer Requests, a platform feature enabling buyers to post specific job requests for freelancers to bid on, has been phased out. In its place, Fiverr has introduced a new matchmaking system called Brief and Match. It is also in the process of introducing Fiverr Neo, an AI matchmaking assistant. Both of these new systems aim to create more meaningful connections between buyers and sellers.
Buyer Requests Has Been Discontinued
Fiverr Buyer Requests was a basic freelance connection system in which buyers could describe their request and post it. Eligible sellers in relevant categories would see available requests and then send their offers. On October 20, 2022, the platform’s bidding feature was shut down. It was replaced by a new feature, called Brief and Match.
The Buyer Request feature was primarily used by new freelancers who wanted to make money on Fiverr. New sellers often find Fiverr tough to get started on, which made Buyer Requests a great way for freelancers to increase chances of getting a job by directly reaching out to clients.
However, the opportunities were rarely high quality. Some unscrupulous buyers used the feature to overwhelm new sellers with impossible demands for rock-bottom prices in exchange for a great review. Many times, that promise was not honored.
Why Did Fiverr Get Rid of Buyer Requests?
A picture tells a thousand words. Pretend you are a freelancer, eager to get your first job on Fiverr. You open the goldmine that you’ve (somehow) recognized Buyer Requests as. Do you notice something in the following image?
Inevitably, buyers who wanted 20 articles of 2,000 words each written for $100 ($80 after Fiverr fees) would attract sellers, primarily those with no ability to do the job. The mismatch of expectations led to more problems than it was worth, with poor user experiences all round and plenty of headaches for Fiverr’s customer support team.
Fiverr Buyer Requests Was Not That Great
Let’s be honest.
Established sellers rarely looked at Fiverr Buyers Requests because it was full of wild lowball requests and outright scams. Serious buyers were more likely to contact Fiverr sellers through the inbox, instead. For new sellers eager to get the ball rolling on their Fiverr career, it was a minefield. It was more of a matching service for sadistic buyers and masochist sellers.
A modern-day slave marketplace – only the slave was a willing participant, hoping to make this unpleasant interlude a stepping stone to success.
And then there were the scammers.
A modern-day slave marketplace – only the slave was a willing participant, hoping to make this unpleasant interlude a stepping stone to success.
And then there were the scammers.
So far as bids went, the lowest bidder would typically win in a match that saw deluded cost-efficiency marry desperate sellers. Or clueless buyers unwittingly hiring shady sellers at prices that were simply too good to be true – even on Fiverr’s low-cost platform.
Of course, for new sellers prepared to sift through the trash, there were occasional good offers. But by and large, buyer request was a bad experience for everyone who used it.
So, on October 22, 2022, Fiver Buyer Requests was dumped with a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it notification celebrating its new all-singing, all-dancing replacement feature: Brief and Match.
Is Fiverr Buyer Requests Missed?
That very much depends on who you ask. Getting rid of Fiverr Buyer Requests certainly made it more difficult for new sellers to find freelance work on the platform, and it still has enough of a presence on Google that people think it still exists.
But it’s dead, Jim.
Brief & Match is a different beast. Buyers write briefs (essentially buyer requests), and Fiverr does some magical matchmaking with sellers in the background. If a seller matches the service requested, they get a notification in their inbox.
So far, so good.
It’s not very good. (But that’s a story for another day).
For sellers who are lucky enough for the light of Fiverr’s matchmaking system to shine on them, they will enjoy lots of briefs from buyers.
If my notifications are anything to go by, it’s best just to ignore them. It’s essentially Fiverr Buyer Requests in your notification box, which is a lot harder to ignore than when they’re hidden away on its own page.
I personally hate being distracted from work by a buzzing notification to inform me I have a Match – or 10, all which are requesting things that I do not do.
Turns out if you write video scripts, Fiverr matches you with people who want their video edited. 🤦♀️
And if you don’t get these notifications? All you can do is keep improving your gig and trying to match it to what Brief and Match wants.
If it’s any comfort, at least you’re not getting spammed with work you can’t do. #winning
Neo Might be Better than Fiverr Buyer Requests
On August 1, 2023, the Fiverr platform went through a radical overhaul. One of the stars of the relaunch was Fiverr Neo. I’m still on the wait list for this, but it’s essentially Brief and Match, now with the added gloss of AI.
UPDATE: Like many other people, I was given access to Neo in mid-January. Unfortunately, that access only lasted for two weeks before it was taken away. I had been planning to write a review on how slow and buggy Fiverr Neo felt, but without access, I cannot. Hopefully, Neo is being improved as I write!
Does this mean Brief and Match will be on the chopping block next? That remains to be seen. I don’t think it will. Fiverr is increasingly splitting up its marketplace into “Professional” and “Not Professional.” Or, it has a vetted catalog of sellers in Fiverr Pro. Sellers who aren’t in Pro are not vetted.
I believe that Brief and Match was Fiverr Neo’s first attempt. Either the company realized Brief and Match was inadequate, or they decided to start working on Fiverr Neo long before Fiverr Buyer Requests was canned. They are both based on AI, but Fiverr Neo is clearly positioned as The Next Big Thing, whereas Brief and Match was dropped on the marketplace as soon as Fiverr Buyer Requests were done.
It’s likely that Brief and Match was training the AI that runs Neo, and that due to the expense of running a more sophisticate AI, Fiverr will reserve it for its Fiverr Pro marketplace only. Brief and Match should remain to serve the rest of the marketplace.
Fiverr Buyer Requests Left with “Old” Fiverr
Fiverr has been trying to shake off its former “cheap and cheerful” image for years now. In many ways, Buyer Request was a symbol of the old Fiverr marketplace. It was a haven for scams, frauds, and charlatans – but also a vital resource for new sellers.
It’s likely that Fiverr Buyer Requests was retired simply because it was too challenging – and expensive – to manage. The feature itself was cheap, but not the problems it spawned. Unfortunately, like so many things on Fiverr, a useful feature was ruined by the worst the freelance has to offer.
Whatever you might think of Brief and Match or Fiverr Neo, these two features arguably give Fiverr a lot more quality control when it comes to buyers. Now, new sellers are more dependant than ever before on Fiverr’s algorithms.
What do you think? Do you miss Buyer Requests because it was a lifeline for new sellers to get started? Is Brief and Match just Buyer Requests with lipstick on? Will Fiverr Neo really be any better? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
