FVRR

in 2018 and 2019 repeat buyers made up 57% of company revenue.

Good evening, arnie.

I posted the following on the FVRR board and got no responses (but that board is fairly quiet). So, since this thread has gotten into repeat business for Fiverr, it seems on-topic to post it here; hope the board managers agree.

On Sept 3 on the FVRR board, spekulatius wrote: “The problem with UPWK and FVRR business model is that it’s easy to negotiate a repeat engagement privately and cut the middleman UOWK(sic) / FVRR out.”.

I looked through all the posts subsequent to that on the FVRR board and didn’t find any responses to the above. So, i’ll ask it again.

I’m a retired consulting software engineer and before I retired, I spent a career of 32 years working about half through traditional engineering services agencies (the so-called “temp agencies” or “job shops”) and half for clients I developed on my own. Working with agencies was usually difficult because they were all primed to assume I’d try to cut them out, and didn’t know how to deal with a professional who wouldn’t do that as a matter of professional ethics. So I do know that a large number of workers in the contracting or consulting business, those who were between “real” jobs, were primed to cut out the middleman as quickly and completely as possible.

It seems like with companies like FVRR (or UPWK), where a contractor normally wouldn’t build a personal relationship with the agency account reps, as spekulatius wrote it would be easy to just cut out the middleman for follow-on gigs. In addition, FVRR/UPWK contractors are far more likely to be “between-real-jobs” and less likely to be true professionals in the contracting or consulting business, thus much less constrained by professional ethics.

How do FVRR/UPWK combat this?

Eric

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Hi Eric, Sellers ensure payment certainty and their reviews system makes it easier for them to find new clients.

Buyers benefit from Fiverr’s refund guarantee if they are displeased with the service or a late delivery.

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On Sept 3 on the FVRR board, spekulatius wrote: “The problem with UPWK and FVRR business model is that it’s easy to negotiate a repeat engagement privately and cut the middleman UOWK(sic) / FVRR out.”.

FWIW I read your post on the Fvrr board and it raised obvious concerns but I do not consider myself qualified to respond.

However I have noted that this issue has been discussed in several articles posted SA and one by Evergreen investing. While I haven’t systematically filed the references my general takeaway is that Fvrr is actively working to make their services attractive for repetitive transactors.Evergreen reports on the growth of active buyers and greater spend per buyer and the organic growth of spending by prior year cohorts.They also mention in passing that Fvrr offers 400 different services and that they are expanding their offerings, as well as their reach , now being represented in 160 countries.

While these facts do not address the question directly they imply, to me that the middleman issue is being finessed, Of course it needs to be watched.

cheers

arnie

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That is the best answer for the issue discussed