Freelancing and Fiverr are almost considered substitutes for each other. Fiverr has been there for freelancing activities for over a decade and has been considered as Freelancers’ heaven by all means. Despite the site’s authenticity and a mammoth repute in the freelancing world, this question has never lost its relevance: Is Fiverr legit? Or is Fiverr safe? There are various sides to such questions that need to address.
In this article, you will know everything you need to be clear to answer whether it is legit or safe for sellers and buyers
What is Fiverr?
Fiverr is one of the pioneers to provide its platform for getting work done online.
It has been considering as a site that connects sellers with buyers so that they can benefit from each other.
In the late 1990s, the demand for getting things done using the power of the internet arose.
Many freelancing sites were establish to address this dire need of connecting online workers with the clients.
Sites like Guru and Odesk (currently Upwork) were the outcome of this demand for outsourcing the pieces of work.
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These freelancing platforms were also doing great to cater to this widespread demand.
Fiverr came into being in 2010 just to lead the charts of freelancing sites.
Its new idea of “five-dollar services” rang the bell for many clients and sellers.
The idea of this company was different than its peers in other ways too.
Contrary to the norms of other freelancing sites that required clients to describe their needs and required sellers to apply for the jobs, Fiverr worked in a different way.
It encouraged sellers to describe what they could do best and asked employers to search for what they needed.
The site went on to become the largest freelance marketplace that offered a variety of services, including graphic designing, logo design, SEO, and every other virtual service.
Legal sides of Fiverr
Fiverr has been properly registered in the US Security and Exchange Commission website with the name of Fiverr International Ltd.
Its addresses of the registered offices and mailing address have also been mention of this authentic and legal website.
This increases the credibility of any company.
We can be sure that it is not a company that made overnight to steal people’s money and disappear for no reason.
The main highlights of the most important information that adds credibility to this site have reproduce below.
- Legal Name: Fiverr International Ltd
- Country of Origin: Israel
- Founders: Micha Kaufman and Shai Wininger
- Launched in: Feb 1, 2010
- URL: Fiverr.com
- Headquarter: Tel Aviv, Israel
- Business Address: 8 ELIEZER KAPLAN STREET, TEL AVIV L3 6473409
- Mailing Address: 8 ELIEZER KAPLAN STREET, TEL AVIV
- Business Phone Number: 972 (72) 228-0910
- Stock Exchange Name: FVRR
As you can see, all of this information gives huge confidence that Fiverr is a legit company.
The company has known as FVRR (A ticker symbol) on the New York Stock Exchange.
The value of its stock keeps getting up and down just like other good companies, but it has been bought and trusted by millions of stock shareholders.
As of June 1, 2020, the FVRR stock exchange price of a share is $68.57.
It has a huge lead as compared to its competitor (Upwork), which has a share price of $11.84.
In addition to that, the company has audited by independent auditors who have no direct relationship with the company.
These kinds of auditing activities are perform by legit companies only.
Trusting Fiverr with your Personal Information
As Fiverr, it is a website that requires to provide your personal information like your name, address, government-issued ID card, and banking information, etc.
Also, every seller and buyer need to know whether they can trust the site with their personal information or not.
As this is the sensitive information that most people can be wary of to be shared by third parties, it is of utmost importance to address this matter in this article.
If you are thinking about why any company would share your personal information with third parties,
Then you must know that information is to the third-party companies who use your information for various purposes like advertising, etc.
To address this issue, Fiverr clearly mentions on its website that they will never share your personal information with third parties so that your valuable information remains safe.
It is important to note here that if Fiverr had been mishandling its users’ personal information.
Also, it would have been highlighted by now many times.
So, you can be sure to provide your information to Fiverr as it will be secure with this responsible platform.
Trusting Fiverr with your Accounts Information
As the site involves financial transactions between buyers and sellers, it is inevitable for clients and sellers to share their financial information for the smooth transfer of money.
The common question circulating regarding whether one should share his or her credit card information with this site is quite valid.
Credit card information and banking information is a sensitive detail that nobody would be willing to share with untrusted sources.
With Fiverr, you can trust sharing your credit card and banking information.
Payment methods at Fiverr
This may be the most important information to many sellers and clients because this involves handling of real funds.
This is a step where most people would rethink this question, is Fiverr legit?
Fiverr uses the following methods to accept and transfer money.
This includes the deduction of charges that are 5% for the buyers and 20% for the sellers.
The payment methods accepted at this platform include the following:
- Credit/Debit Card
- Bank Transfers
- Direct Deposit
- PayPal
- Payoneer
- Fiverr Revenue Card
- Apple Pay (For iOS users. Restricted to certain countries)
- Google Pay (For android users. Restricted to certain countries)
- iDEAL (Restricted to The Netherlands only)
The Physical Presence of Fiverr
Seeing is believing as the cliché goes.
Most of the online businesses are to be hanging in the air.
It is an instinct that until we do not see things with our eyes, we remain doubtful about their reality and authenticity.
Fiverr seems to have addressed this issue too.
It has 6 physical offices in different parts of the world.
The locations with addresses of Fiverr offices are below.
Fiverr’s Israel Office:
- This is the headquarters of Fiverr. The address of this office is below.
- Address: Tel Aviv. 8 Eliezer Kaplan Street, Tel Aviv.
Fiverr’s USA Offices:
- Fiverr has three offices in the USA. The address of the New York office has is below.
- Address: New York. 401 Broadway, New York, NY
- The other two offices are in Chicago and Miami.
Fiverr’s Germany Office
- Fiverr has also established its office in the heart of Berlin. The address of this office is below.
- Address: Berlin. Torstraße 166, 10115 Berlin, Germany
In addition to the offices mentioned above, Fiverr has also been in News to open offices in London (United Kingdom) and Kyiv (Ukraine).
So, is Fiverr legit?
It is clear that apart from the online presence, the company has managed to maintain its physical presence too.
Any company of fraudulent or illegal objectives will never open its offices in different parts of the world.
If we compare Fiverr’s physical presence with that of Upwork, we will find a huge difference.
Upwork has three physical offices in a single country (USA) including its headquarter in Santa Clara and other offices in San Francisco and Chicago.
Is Fiverr legit for freelancers?
Yes. Fiverr is legit for freelancers.
The number speaks volumes for itself.
There are around a million sellers with active gigs on Fiverr.
Most of these sellers make enormous amounts of money through this platform.
We should probably investigate what is there for sellers on this platform.
The following list of benefits that a seller can grab at this site is below.
Too many benefits drive the idea of its legitimacy towards a convincing side.
If there were a chance of getting no as an answer to the question of “is Fiverr legit for sellers?”, there would not have been this many legit sellers on this platform.
1. Millions of jobs
It has been millions of online jobs have been processed through Fiverr every year.
People get their work done by freelancers, most of which start regularly working as a normal job for the long term.
Had this platform been a nightmare, the number of jobs would surely have reduced up till now.
You can find thousands of orders for services like logo design and website graphics on this platform.
2. Smooth payments
Fiverr is known to be a freelancing site that has smooth payment policies.
Although it has certain issues of client refunds, it still offers a smooth transaction of payments that are declared clear by this platform.
An illegitimate firm always makes room for delayed payments with lengthier processing times.
Is Fiverr legit to pay millions of dollars to the freelancers?
Of course, it is.
Otherwise, it would not have been establishing its offices in responsible countries like the USA.
3. Multiple payment options
As we mentioned earlier in this article, it offers multiple payment methods to freelancers.
The methods like PayPal and direct bank deposits are the methods that are usually adopted by legit businesses.
4. Fiverr affiliate programs
Most of the genuine sites and businesses that have an objective to grow, usually offer their long-term strategies.
This site’s affiliate program is a hint to their long-term plan.
RELATED: FIVERR AFFILIATE PROGRAM REVIEW: HOW DOES IT WORK?
They want to be there in the market and keep serving clients and freelancers so that their business grows manifolds.
5. Remarkable history
Fiverr has been known to have an impeccable history since its inception.
The company has been growing year by year to dominate the online freelance marketplace.
Had it been involved in illegal matters; it would certainly have faced challenges in growth.
6. Authentic buyers
It is one of the many online sites that have a tremendously great number of authentic buyers.
The clients have a history of spending millions of dollars in payments to sellers.
Still, the question of “is Fiverr legit” arises?
This tremendous history of transactions is itself sufficient proof of its legitimacy.
7. Clients’ feedback
This site has a system of checking out clients’ feedback that is provided by the sellers who have worked for them.
Only a seller who has been hired by those clients can leave feedback for the client.
Sellers can read out those feedback before starting to work with any client.
This inches Fiverr further towards being legit.
8. Freelancers’ profile reviews
Similarly, clients also have the option of checking out sellers’ feedback to have an idea of the sellers’ history and the opinions of others for working with them.
Only the legit business is involved in such activities.
There are negligible fake reviews on this platform.
9. Negligible scams
Working online and being hit by a scam go hand in hand.
Although the possibility to be scammed and exploited is always on such a site, we can still depend on their fair system of being protected while making deals.
10. Decent support
It has decent support for sellers and buyers.
If there is any kind of an issue that is related to a seller or a buyer, you need to knock the doors of its support, and a proper help would solve your query.
You must have got an idea for the answer to “is Fiverr legit for freelancers?”.
Apart from these benefits mentioned above, sellers can take better advantages and higher rates by going for the service called “Fiverr Pro”.
Is Fiverr legit for buyers?
Fiverr is more focused on buyers’ protection.
It goes the extra mile to protect the rights of buyers.
So much so, that it even discriminates with sellers to become pro-buyers.
As per the question of is Fiverr legit for buyers, the answer is a big yes.
Buyers seem to be very much satisfied with its extra protection.
The base of over 5 million buyers cannot be wrong.
If they all are present out there on this platform, the iota of doubt regarding its legitimacy becomes negligible.
This platform is a sigh of relief for buyers.
Especially for the ones who had to hire an expensive workforce to do petty tasks.
If a buyer from the USA must hire a data entry operator at minimum wages of $2,000, he or she can get the same job done through this site at as low as $500.
The following points go in favor of buyers and hence answer our question of “is Fiverr legit?” in the affirmative.
These points prove Fiverr to be a legit source of hiring for buyers.
1. Extensive workforce
This site is full of workforce ranging from small tasks to complex and technical services.
Being a buyer on this platform will give you access to a variety of workforce who will be willing to do the work on your terms.
2. Little to larger work contracts
You can get the tasks of any nature and length done from this site.
Whether you have to get a file corrected or you want your reports published on a monthly basis, you will have a seller at your service.
3. Pay only for the work done
The buyers don’t have to pay the resources a fixed monthly, weekly, or daily wage as opposed to the traditional jobs.
Here at this site, you would just need to pay for the tasks that you had awarded.
This is an extra benefit of getting things done from sellers.
4. Extremely competitive rates
As a buyer, you are free from the local rules of minimum wages to be offered to your employees.
You don’t have to worry about government regulations, consumer courts, and other legal matters, etc.
Also, don’t have to worry about the inflation rates to pay the higher salary.
And you will find talented sellers from the poorer countries who will be happy to work on your desired rates.
5. No office expenses
Unlike traditional jobs, getting things done from this platform will get you free from the headaches like arranging a workspace, workstation, and other utensils for your employee.
You just have to give the task to the seller, and that will be it.
You don’t have to worry about all the other necessities that a regular employee needs.
6. Change employees anytime
Changing a regular employee is a hard decision in general hiring.
There are so many processes and people involved in such decisions that make it a lengthier process.
Here, you are free from such formalities.
If you are happy with a seller that you had hired.
You keep working with him until he stops delivering quality.
The moment you find a better option, you will be free to change your employee.
7. Benefit of refunds
This site also gives buyers an option to get their money refunded if, at any stage, they feel that they have deceived.
Fiverr gets your money back from the seller so that you can get the same task done from any other seller.
This is an option that is rarely available in traditional jobs.
8. Early deliveries of the tasks
Gigs on this site offer the delivery speed-up options too.
This service is known as “Express delivery”.
Although you will be charged a bit extra for this service, you still have that option at this site.
9. No benefits or Provident Funds
You also don’t have to worry about employee benefits like medical coverage of the staff and their family.
As said earlier, you just need to pay for what you do, and you are good to go.
This site saves you a lot of money and hassle of employee benefits.
10. No other miscellaneous charges
You will be free from other charges like office tours, commuting, mobile phones, and other employee expenses that you need to cover in traditional jobs.
So, is Fiverr legit for buyers? Yes!
It is greatly beneficial for online buyers.
If you are getting free form so much hassle and a lengthier process just by hiring a seller online, then this platform should surely be in your preferred list.
The main problem that buyers and sellers may be concerned about can include a few elements that are below.
You may be wary of the basic question “is Fiverr legit?” after reading these points, but this question will address at the end of this segment.
The dark sides of Fiverr:
No matter how brilliant this platform is, it is still not free from dark sides.
Some of the negative sides of Fiverr are below.
You need to be careful about these points while dealing with this platform.
1. Too much focused on buyer protection.
This policy of extra buyers’ protection comes in a way to be biased towards freelancers.
A full refund even after 100% order delivery threatens the existence of sellers at this platform.
2. Unreliable freelancers and clients
You are at no guarantee whether a freelancer will keep working with you for as long as you want.
If he or she gets a better job, a job switch will be certain at any point, leaving you in limbo to find another right seller for your tasks.
3. The issue of fake reviews
Despite the site’s tough policies, some sellers still manage to get fake reviews on their profiles.
Sellers hire one another and swap payments just to get good reviews.
4. The issue of drop servicing
Some sellers get the order from Fiverr and award the project to another freelancing site like Upwork or Freelancer to get the job done.
They pocket the margins because of posting the project on lower rates on other sites.
This, in turn, compromises the quality of the task.
5. The issue of profile swaps
A buyer-focused problem.
A single profile at this site may manage by a group of people working for one another by swapping tasks.
So, you cannot be sure whether your task has done by the person you talked to.
6. The issue of selling profiles
Profiles also sold on the same platform.
If an established seller decides to leave the platform for any reason, he or she may sell out the profile along with reviews.
This also jeopardizes the authenticity of the profile and its reviews.
7. Hefty project fees for freelancers
Another problem concerning sellers is regarding the hefty project fees that it imposes on sellers.
It charges a cruel 20% of the project fee to sellers on every project.
This can also relate to the quality as they will not be making any good money.
8. New freelancers find a hard time to build their profiles
Newcomers find it hard to build their profiles as the orders are mainly to established freelancers.
9. Account shutdowns
Fiverr is strict enough to close the accounts for violations of its policy.
So, both the buyers and sellers always need to be cautious about such extreme steps.
10. Agencies at Fiverr
Some profiles have been run and managed by agencies on this platform.
They take projects and award these to their employees.
Such activities also hinder the consistency of the quality because no single person is doing the job every time.
Many agencies are working full time on this site that mostly offers services like logo design and website SEO, etc.
11. Buyer monopoly and blackmailing
As Fiverr is more protective towards buyers, they tend to create a monopoly at this platform and sometimes blackmail freelancers too.
Some clients ask freelancers to do work free of cost for them; otherwise, they threaten to give negative reviews on freelancers’ profiles.
Summary
We have tried to cover up all the positive and negative sides of Fiverr.
So, is Fiverr legit after all these highs and lows?
Despite its glitches, still, Fiverr remains the top freelance marketplace in the digital globe.
We may only hope that things get improved with the passage of time, but for the moment, we can only say, “If you wish for the rain, you got to handle the mud”.
Fiverr obviously has too many positive sides that outperform its dark aspects.
Fiverr FAQs:
Here we have covered the most common questions regarding Fiverr.
Please read the answers next to the questions for more clarity.
Are Fiverr reviews real?
Yes. The reviews about Fiverr are mostly real.
The question of authenticity regarding a site’s reviews arises when the site has predominantly good reviews only.
Fiverr reviews are a mix of good and bad reviews.
We have also discussed the broader aspects of Fiverr’s negative sides in this article.
While most of the Fiverr reviews are real and genuine, it can safely conclude that we can trust the reviews about Fiverr.
Are Fiverr gig reviews real?
Another similar question that has been widely about Fiverr is about the authenticity of Fiverr gig reviews.
As Fiverr takes extra care regarding its reviews to be genuine, we can safely trust their reviews policy.
However, it is also possible to get a fake review on the profile as we discussed earlier in this article.
Is Fiverr safe for sellers?
Fiverr is ideal for sellers as many buyer protection policies safeguard the interests and rights of buyers.
The full refund policy is the right example in this regard.
How to cancel an order on Fiverr?
As a buyer, you can always contact Fiverr customer support anytime to cancel the order.
You may have to submit the reasons to cancel the order, and they will do it for you.
Is Fiverr real?
In the world of freelancing, Fiverr is the name of authenticity and genuineness.
So, yes! Fiverr is real as its customer base is increasing day by day.
What is Fiverr good for?
Fiverr has evolved into a platform that offers any kind of virtual service.
But it is currently best for services like graphic designing, including logo design and website-related tasks.
Fiverr has a special section for a logo design that may interest buyers.
How to find legit sellers on Fiverr?
Always go for the seller profile view, including portfolios and reviews.
You will have a sense of profile genuineness yourself.
Moreover, you must communicate with the seller so that you are sure about his or her expertise.
How to find legit buyers on Fiverr?
A legit buyer will have a history of smooth payments and good reviews.
A fake buyer will always ask you for free work in the name of samples and may threaten to leave negative reviews on your profile in case of non-compliance.
A fake buyer may also ask you to deposit some kind of advance payment.
You are advised to avoid such buyers and report them to the platform.
Can we deal outside Fiverr?
Fiverr discourages dealing outside of its platform.
Bypassing Fiverr for direct work to avoid Fiverr payments may result in the cancellation of accounts both for buyers and sellers.
For example, some buyers may award a logo design order to a freelancer and ask to work directly for future logo design tasks.
This is strictly forbidden to this platform.
Is Fiverr safe to use?
Being one of the top 2000 websites in the world and having a history of over a successful decade, Fiverr is surely safe to use for freelancers and buyers.
So, is Fiverr safe? Yes, it is.
