Fiverr has some amazing freelancers ready to work on your next big project – and a lot of opportunists. Vetting Fiverr sellers is a good idea if you want ensure you receive quality services that meet your specific needs and expectations.
⚡ No Time? Here’s the Quick Read ⚡
Like any marketplace, Fiverr has some amazing sellers. It has opportunistic sellers you should avoid:
While this seller is probably more naïve than anything else, their question demonstrates a common problem on the Fiverr marketplace. Sellers often overpromise what they can actually deliver. As a buyer, you need to be able to identify whether the sellers you are interested in are capable or simply out to make a quick buck.
This article covers 7 steps that you can follow to carry out your due diligence and find the perfect sellers for your next Fiverr job:
- Check Seller Reviews and Ratings: Start with examining the seller’s feedback and ratings on their gig page. Look for any patterns in the reviews, both positive and negative, to gauge their reliability and quality of work.
- Evaluate Seller Levels and Badges: Fiverr ranks sellers with levels and badges based on their performance, delivery time, customer satisfaction, and more. Higher levels like Top-Rated Seller indicate consistent high-quality work and reliability.
- Review Sellers’ Portfolios: Inspect their work samples to ensure their style and quality match your project requirements. This also helps to verify their claimed skills and experience.
- Assess Skills and Expertise: Check their skills tests, certifications, and overall expertise listed on their profile to ensure they align with your project needs.
- Analyze Pricing and Offers: Consider if the seller’s pricing aligns with your budget and project requirements. Be wary of prices that seem too low or require paying extra for essential services.
- Communication: Contact the seller to assess their communication skills and responsiveness. This step should not be skipped if you want a smooth project experience.
- Buy a Test Order: This may not be free, but placing a small order as a test is the best way to evaluate any seller’s ability to deliver before committing to a larger project.
If you want to outsource projects to sellers on Fiverr, this is the best way to do it. Below, I’ll go through each step in more details and cover some tricks that dishonest sellers use to attract buyers to their profile. This process can be time-consuming at first, but the more you do it, the quicker you’ll be able to see through little white lies on Fiverr profiles and gigs.
Why Listen To Me?
I’m a Top Rated and Pro-Verified seller who has been working on the platform for over 10 years. I’ve worked with thousands of buyers across even more gigs.
I’ve also purchased many freelance services on Fiverr for my other online side hustles. Being a very experienced seller does make it a lot easier to spot the bad ones, but even so, I can still make mistakes. Over time, I’ve tightened up my own vetting processes for choosing who I work with as a seller and a buyer.
Outside of actual work, I have built up relationships with sellers in the biggest Fiverr communities on the official Fiverr Forum and on the r/Fiverr subreddit. I’ve picked up some great tips for vetting Fiverr sellers (and buyers!) from there over the years.
These tips will help you to steer clear of bad sellers if you’re a buyer. And if you’re a seller? Consider this a guide on how to attract new buyers!
Feeling Lazy? Fiverr Pre-Vets Some Sellers for You with Fiverr Pro!
If you’re short on time and just want to pick a seller who is proven, then think about working with a vetted, Pro-Verified seller. All sellers in the Fiverr Pro marketplace have been vetted by Fiverr. These sellers have a Pro-Verified badge.
Outside of the Fiverr Pro marketplace, Fiverr has also started pre-vetting sellers in select sub-categories (currently, this is limited to just Data Science and Book writing). If you’re looking for a baseline high-quality freelancer, pre-vetted is a good start.
However, it’s still a good idea to vet these sellers to make sure that they’re a good fit for your project. Yes, Fiverr has checked them out, but your needs are not Fiverr’s. Carrying out your due diligence is the best way to work on Fiverr.
Bad sellers can still slip through the cracks, and other good sellers may not be a good fit for your project despite their skills.
So since it’s a good idea to vet sellers anyway….
How to Vet Fiverr Sellers, Step-by-Step
This guide does assume that you have already been through the process of searching and have a shortlist of potential pro and regular sellers ready to evaluate. If you haven’t already done that, go browse the listings! I recommend finding 5 sellers to assess, simply because any more is overwhelming, while fewer isn’t enough.
Still, this isn’t a firm guideline. Depending on how picky you are, you’ll be whittling down the list quite fast!
Check Seller Reviews and Ratings on Their Gig Page
This is a very basic check, which you may already have done to some extent. Fiverr uses a familiar 5 star rating system, where reviews are left after an order is completed.
The reason this check is so basic is because Fiverr has a feedback issue. Due to the way it has handled reviews and its algorithm for years, 5-star reviews are the standard, not a pinnacle of excellence.
(In fact, Fiverr is changing the way seller feedback works on Fiverr in a bid to tackle this problem in early 2024!)
What you’re really looking for is bad reviews (below 3 stars). As you go through them, ask yourself some questions:
- What does the buyer say?
- How does the seller respond?
- How old are the reviews?
- Are there any consistent themes?
- Is there a recent trend of poor performance?
Even the best sellers will have bad reviews. You’re checking to see whether the bad review is a reasonable one or a Yelp!-style assassination. You’re checking how the seller deals with adversity. Answering these questions will help you to assess a seller’s overall reputation and professionalism better.
Personally, I avoid sellers who have an exceptionally high amount of negative reviews. Sellers who have a recent poor trend may also not be ideal. It all really depends on how much risk you’re prepared to take on.
Check the Seller’s Levels and Badges
All sellers on Fiverr have a level, from New Seller (effectively Level 0) to Top-Rated Seller (TRS). These levels have been gamified to act more as a performance table. Sellers are judged on various performance statistics each month. If they fail to hit key metrics, they will be demoted. If they meet them, they will either maintain their existing level or go up to the next level.
(Note: Fiverr is currently running tests on its entire feedback system including levels – this information may not be 100% current. This article will be updated when Fiverr releases the final version of its new feedback system)
For example, if you see a seller with hundreds or thousands of reviews at Level 1, you can be sure their performance hasn’t met Fiverr’s standards recently. It could mean their latest work is poor (check the reviews!) or something less vital, like they respond to messages too slowly to get a good Inbox Response Rate score.
There are also badges. Pro Verified sellers will have a Pro badge: the very best Pro Verified sellers will also be at the Top-Rated level. With the introduction of the new feedback and ratings system, currently in testing, things are more fluid than in the past. Don’t dismiss an otherwise amazing-looking seller just because they don’t have the TRS badge – they may very well have just lost it or be about to become one! Whatever level a seller is doesn’t impact their actual skills and ability to get a job done.
Beyond that, Fiverr also has Fiverr Select and Fiverr’s Choice badges. These both mean that a seller (or rather, a gig) is performing well at the moment. That’s great news, but it can also mean that the seller may have lots of orders to fulfil. If you’re looking for a seller who gives you a lot of time and collaboration, a busy seller may not be the best pick.
These are small signals, but can be helpful if you’re particularly concerned finding a high-performing seller.
Check the Sellers’ Portfolio and Work Samples on Their Gig Page
Portfolios are a showcase of a seller’s best high-quality work. Sellers with high-quality services will have plenty of samples from previous work available, helping you to assess whether they are a good fit for your particular needs.
All sellers should have some samples visible – if they don’t, you should ask if they have any available. If a seller has no samples at all, it’s a sign that you should cross them off your list unless you’re willing to gamble on a test order.
Don’t Forget to Check for Plagiarism and AI!
Some sellers fill their portfolio and sample work with work that isn’t theirs. The result often looks impressive, but their delivery will be unlikely to meet your expectations. Stealing someone else’s work is a straight-up violation of Fiverr’s Terms of Service, so report the seller and move on.
On the other hand, Fiverr has made it clear that it is fine with sellers using AI without disclosing it, so it’s your responsibility to check and tell sellers you don’t want AI-generated work. While you’re here, you should bone up on Fiverr’s AI policy so you don’t run into any nasty surprises.
Check the Seller’s Skills and Expertise
This can be done by looking at their profile. This can be done quickly, since it’s not the most reliable test:
| Skill Tests | Sellers must pass multiple answer tests to get these. Not 100% reliable |
| Fiverr Learn Certification | Paid courses from Fiverr Learn with completion certification. More reliable than skill tests, but not an industry standard certification |
| External Certification | Academic degrees, online certification etc. Not 100% reliable outside of Fiverr Pro |
Why are these unreliable?
- Skills Tests are insanely easy to cheat, thanks to online answers
- Fiverr Learn has course completion certification after passing a quiz, but these quizzes are not industry standard
- External Certifications are not checked by Fiverr unless the seller is Pro Verified
So why bother? You’re looking for discrepancies.
Some sellers may have an Ivy League degree on their profile. Since this is not verified unless the seller is Pro Verified, you should check whether the rest of the seller’s profile matches with the general level of education you’d expect from a Harvard graduate.
If anything smells off here, you may be dealing with a dishonest seller. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work with them – they may be young, naïve, and misled by a “Fiverr guru” – but you should proceed with caution.
If they’re blatantly lying about this, what else might they lie about?
In the end, it’s your project at stake. Can it handle the risk of hiring “fake it until you make it” sellers who might never make it?
Check the Seller’s Pricing and General Offer
There are sellers for every budget, so stay in your lane while searching! What you’re looking for here is if the Fiverr seller is within the general price range of the service you’re looking for.
The base price may look good, but if a seller has locked everything you want behind paid extras, the base price isn’t helpful. So you really need to look at the gig in detail, including investigating the gig extras to tally up the approximate final price.
If you have a more custom order in mind, try to find out what a ballpark average is instead. Finally, take a moment to ask an important question: is your budget realistic?
Having champagne tastes on a beer budget invites problem sellers into your life. If you’re not sure what your budget should be, do a little research first.
Watch Out for “Bait and Switch” Tactics in the Inbox
While Fiverr does not allow bait and switch pricing, it happens. Bait and switch is a marketing strategy where a a service is advertised at an attractive price, only for the price to suddenly increase upon inquiry.
This typically happens in the Fiverr inbox when a buyer asks how much a service will be. Knowing the pricing and overall state of the market first allows you to detect this tactic a lot better.
A trustworthy seller who introduces a higher price to you will always explain why the pricing has increased and relate it to their displayed prices. They will also be able to advise what they can do within your budget, or provide a custom offer built around your budget and needs.
Beware sellers who switch up prices with no or poor explanation and who won’t negotiate their advertised pricing. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Contact the Seller to Check Their Communication
Communication is huge.
Fiverr has sellers from around the world, and their ability to speak English varies wildly. No matter what your project, you need to be able to communicate with the seller. You need to explain what you want, and you need to be able to communicate any issues you have.
Contacting the seller is a good last step since you should have some unanswered questions. Beyond their actual ability to communicate, you should also be looking at how sellers deal with any tricky questions you throw at them.
Some sellers will simply tell you that they can do something without ever really answering your specific question, even if you repeat the question. This can lead to orders where the seller can’t, in fact, do the job and takes forever and a day to admit it. That’s not fun, and it costs you time and money!
A World of Warning….
Artificial Communication is Increasing
In this age of Artificial Intelligence, many sellers who don’t speak English as their native language use tools like Google Translate and ChatGPT to communicate. While these tools can do a good job, they can still lose a lot of the original meaning that you or the seller wants to convey.
Small misunderstandings can lead to big problems, so you really need to decide how comfortable you are working with sellers where the language barrier exists. If you’ve ever wondered why so many sellers on have an oddly robotic writing style, then this is why.
Personally, I prefer to work with sellers who use their own words to communicate. I don’t really mind if they make spelling and grammatical mistakes (unless I’m hiring them to write for me!) – but I do want to make sure we understand each other.
Not All Sellers Assess Their Language Abilities Honestly
If a Fiverr seller claims to be fluent in English and only uses AI to communicate, it’s another indicator that a seller is not being transparent or honest, which is another bad sign for the success of your project.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t work with them: you will need to make the final judgment call based on your vetting. Personally, I don’t take the risk. I want to work with sellers who are honest, transparent, and communicate well.
The Best Vetting Method is Paid
The best way to get to know your seller is to work with them. No amount of vetting can replace experience. The good news is that you don’t have to spend a lot of money here. All you need to do is place a small test order. In my opinion, it’s the best way to find out if you’ve found The One™.
I like to think of it like taking a car for a test drive. Cars look wonderful in the showroom and may tick all the boxes on paper – but you need to drive a car to know if it’s for you.
Ideally, you should combine this vetting method with a small part of a bigger project so you can use the work provided. And, if you really can’t decide between two sellers, hire both for small test projects and see which one does the best work.
Ready, Set, Vet!
If you’re new to Fiverr, finding a seller for your project can feel overwhelming. There’s choices for every budget, and if you’re prepared to spend time searching, you’ll find some real diamonds in the rough of the marketplace. But finding those diamonds requires due diligence and risk management.
No matter if you’re looking for a world-class Pro or a brand-new seller with affordable rates, you need to vet all your candidates strategically. While Fiverr has plenty of in-built protections for clients, they can’t refund the time you lose if you make a bad choice.
So, if you’re looking to make Fiverr your platform for talent to help with your big project, spend time on vetting. It will pay off in the long run. And once you’ve found great sellers to meet your needs, you’re pretty much set.
