If you have the project to create a marketplace or create a website like Fiverr, you have to learn from the success and the failure of Fiverr website. Nowdays, Fiverr is one of the most famous freelance marketplace platforms. It connects companies around the world with the best freelancers. Available in 7 languages, Fiverr offers over 500 digital services for all types of budgets, deadlines and industries. To be very simple: everything that can be done remotely (and legally) can be proposed in Fiverr.
To sum up, here is what a freelancer can do on Fiverr:
- Business: Data entry, research work, creating a presentation, formatting an Excel table, writing and sending emails…
- Digital marketing: Writing posts for social networks, emailing, SEO optimization, marketing research…
- Copywriting / Translation: Resume and cover letter, article summaries, press research, document translation…
- Design: Logo creation, flyer creation, infographics, photo retouching, banners for social networks, 2D or 3D plan…
- Programming: Create forms in PDF, convert documents, insert VBA on Excel, develop a blog in WordPress…
- Personal life: Write greeting cards, make a photo montage, draw a picture, get tips on how to improve your Linkedin profile …
Any job that only requires a computer and an internet connection is likely to be proposed. .
Fiverr, the reason of success
Fiverr was founded by two young entrepreneurs: Micha Kaufman and Shai Wininger. They had in mind that a classical 9 hours working day is not the only way to earn income. They wanted to create a platform linking, where people can sell their skills to the world from their homes.
As Kaufman once stated – “We’re seeing users buy houses, cars, and settling college loans with the money they’re making on Fiverr.” Fiver has been constantly evolving and today it offers many new features to its users. The marketplace is a rapidly growing community from freelancers and people looking to buy their services. Some of the sellers there who have gained authority make decent amounts of money each month from very simple services, like proofreading for example.
The website was launched in February 2010 and quickly became one of the top 100 sites in the US. In 2022, Fiverr reported $189.5 million of income, a 77% increase from the previous year. Since its creation, the platform connected more than 3.4 million buyers with freelancers in more than 160 countries and acquired a creative marketplace named “Working Not Working” . Now, it’s a public company valued at $7.5 billion.
Like Amazon, Etsy or Craigslist, the platform is really intuitive. It has several tools that make it easy to find a provider among the huge talent pool: personalized search filters, posting of offers, profile selections, etc. In addition, the support team is available 24/7 to answer your assistance needs. You can contact them by email or by ticket via the buyer help center. The speed of service was also a strong point for Fiverr. Most independent professionals offer delivery times of less than 48 hours. If you need a project done quickly, just contact an online freelancer immediately. More than that, the existence of Fiverr favors local collaborations. In fact, the platform offers a localization tool that allows you to hire nearby service providers which participate in the local economy. Of course, this does not prevent companies from soliciting independent professionals from all over the world.
The 4 secrets of Fiverr growth
Quite impressive! What’s even more interesting is that Fiverr was able to grow so much because of just four simple ideas. Sure, these seem obvious in hindsight, but they were pretty unique in 2010:
- 1- Service as product
A new approach to standardizing freelance services, including price, scope and duration of work. Clients immediately appreciated the fact that Fiverr made their lives easier.
- 2- Work comes to you
New concept of Standardization has enabled a shift to a model where work comes to freelancers, not the other way around. In other words, buyers can find what they need by exploring Fiverr’s vast catalog of talent using sophisticated filters.
- 3- No limitations in the type of service that can be offered on the platform
From logo design to e-book writing to recording your lines with Oprah voice’s – as long as the service is legal and can be delivered online, you’ll find it on Fiverr.
- 4- Simplicity
The simplicity of Fiverr was one of the reasons why they had fast growth. There are thousands of freelance sites out there, but on Fiverr everything is standardized and easy to use. This is one of the main competitive advantages that has taken the site to where it is now.
Fiverr: How it work ?
A service offered on Fiverr is called a Gig (Fiverr currently offers 1.7 million gigs in 120 categories). No matter who you are or where you are from, if you can do something well, you can create a gig on Fiverr and offer it to the world. Nevertheless, since Fiverr presents itself to companies as the best marketplace for freelance talent, it monitors Freelancer quality through a series of skills tests and background checks. Based on skill level and experience in the field, specific profiles are put forward to clients.
For the companies, they are required to register and post job requirements; Fiverr analyzes the requirements, shortlists the top-rated candidates, and matches them to the position. After that, clients receive freelance proposals and can schedule calls and sign contracts for the best fit. Fiverr promises a secure digital tool for sharing information with freelancers, which is kept only between the company and Freelancer.
The business model of Fiverr
Creating an account on Fiverr is free. The same goes for publishing an ad to hire freelancers. It is only when you buy a service that Fiverr takes a commission. The service seller sets the initial price for a service. Once payment is made, Fiverr charges 20% of the fee as a commission. For example, if a buyer purchases a video design service for $100 for a seller, then the seller will receive $80 and Fiverr will receive $20.
Regarding payment methods, Fiverr offers several choices: credit cards, PayPal, bank transfer… Payments are made in advance. However, the provider will not receive them until the work is validated by you. And if the result does not meet your expectations, you can cancel the order or ask the vendor to submit a new job. Notice that, prior to purchase, all buyers can see the seller’s service’s grade and know what to expect.
Fiverr statistics in 2024
Contemplating building a marketplace like Fiverr? Look no further than Fiverr’s own success story for valuable insights. As of Q3 2023, Fiverr boasts an impressive user base with over 4.2 million active buyers globally. This translates to a vast pool of potential clients for freelancers, making it an attractive platform for anyone with skills to sell.
But Fiverr’s appeal goes beyond just its user base. The platform offers a staggering diversity of services, with over 700 categories listed in 2024. This ensures businesses can find the specific talent they need, from graphic design and writing to video editing and social media marketing. While specific transaction volume data isn’t publicly available, Fiverr’s financial health paints a promising picture. Analysts predict the company will achieve its first-ever net profit of $1.1 million in 2024. This strong financial performance suggests a healthy and growing marketplace for both buyers and sellers.
However, Fiverr’s success doesn’t guarantee similar results for every new platform. Remember, Fiverr has established itself as a leader in the market. To effectively compete, you’ll need a well-defined niche that caters to a specific need or audience. Additionally, a focus on exceptional user experience and potentially a unique revenue model will be crucial to carve out your own space in this dynamic and competitive landscape.
Other websites like Fiverr
People per Hour is a website offering a large community of freelancers all ready to help in the accomplishment of tasks. To do so, the site offers you 4 different options: search for a simple service at a fixed price, post a service request yourself, contact freelancers you are interested in or launch a contest between several providers to get several proposals and retain only the best. You have a complete dashboard that allows you to easily manage your exchanges and payments with your different partners. People per Hour also uses a rating system that protects you from bad surprises.
Upwork is a freelance marketplace with millions of active profiles. You can easily find a freelancer by posting a job or browsing thousands of profiles. You can register on the platform and post your first job in less than 30 minutes. If you prefer to browse the platform’s highly detailed profiles, you’ll appreciate the myriad of filters available to refine your search. In one click, you can start a chat, schedule a video meeting, exchange files and even monitor work with work diaries.
Toptal presents itself as a global network of international experts. Of the approximately 100,000 people who apply to join Toptal as freelancers each year, only 3% are selected. And while Toptal has only five main categories of freelancers (i.e. designers, developers, financial experts, product managers and project managers), each category is subdivided. For example, if you click to see the skills directory, you’ll find over 200 types of developers in this category alone.
The selection process is rigorous. It has five steps, and can take up to five weeks. If a freelancer doesn’t pass the first round, they are eliminated. So you can be sure that you’ll find only the best.
Whenever you start working with a new freelancer, Toptal offers you a trial period of up to two weeks to see if it’s right for you. If the freelancer does not give you complete satisfaction, you will not have to pay anything and you can move on to the next freelancer.
With over 750,000 designers on DesignCrowd, you’re bound to find one that fits your style. To get started, you select a package based on the number of submissions you want, then post a brief for three to 10 days. DesignCrowd’s affordable pricing makes it perfect for small businesses with occasional design needs. In addition, there is a wide range of design types, from business cards to web design.
Fiverr has come a long way since its origins as an eclectic catalog of services that freelancers were willing to offer for $5. Now it’s 2023, and Fiverr has become one of the largest online service marketplaces in the world!