“How I got screwed out of $44 in sales on Fiverr”
Nov 12
This seller — who shall remain nameless because we don’t have permission to publish his name — brings a problem with Fiverr to our attention. We’ll call him Pickle.
Pickle points out that Fiverr’s instant refund policy (which seems to have been implemented in the last couple of months) is hurting sellers. Specifically, it cost him $44 because he sells physical goods which must be shipped.
The refund policy goes like this: If a gig is marked Completed and the buyer isn’t happy and contacts Fiverr Support, his payment is refunded and any negative feedback he may have left is removed. It’s as if the gig never existed.
The seller in question here, Pickle, was selling rare earth magnets. A buyer orders the gig 12 times. This amounts to more magnets than Pickle has on hand, so he asks the buyer to wait a few days. Pickle reasons that the gig is posted with a 5 day completion time so this shouldn’t be a problem.
But the buyer is upset and sends a message every day wanting to know where his magnets are. The buyer wants to cancel the gig but Pickle has purchased the magnets and has them ready to go, so he ships.
The buyer then files a PayPal chargeback. Fiverr Support obliges the buyer by refunding his money.
So the buyer has his money and the magnets. Pickle has nada. Pickle asks Fiverr Support why the refund and they reply, “There’s nothing we can do.”
Here’s a wild idea: How about checking with the seller to see if he’s shipped before yanking $44 back out of his account?
You can expect to see a lot more fraud on Fiverr as word of the instant refund policy spreads. Someone will order your ebook or stock photos or cookie recipe, then ask for a refund. Free stuff! Seems like everybody wants free stuff these days.
“Pickle” needs to find out what his options are to keep this from happening again. A good place to start might be 50 Sites Like Fiverr (Product Creation Academy Collection)
I lost 250$ like this due to Fiverr’s insanely unprofessional prejudice towards helping buyers and screwing sellers. I contacted Fiverr support and got the middle finger from the support team just like Pickle and I decided not to fret over it, created a fake profile right next day and I am out robbing other sellers daily. Don’t judge me. If you push people hard enough, then insanity is just like gravity, all it needs is a push. I bet others are following suit too and they should be!
Its time Fiverr took their real target audience seriously! Unlike other market places, its the sellers that drive the market here. Its high time Fiverr took their interests seriously.