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Fiverr Arbitrage

by czilbersher
24 replies
This morning, I've been meditating on ways to leverage Fiverr.com's business model in a way that makes $. There are those who would say that people in Western societies cannot make a living from selling Fiverr services; however, it seems like a boon for folks in the Philippines, Vietnam, India, etc. Others say that the purpose of Fiverr is not to make you $ but to introduce your services to a wider market with aspirations of upselling. In other words, reaching a larger market. Then there are those who say that it's a mecca for buying deeply discounted services, most of which seem to be SEO related.

My idea is to find complimentary services (e.g., someone who will write a 400-word article for $5 and someone else who will submit it to 500 directories for $5 and yet another who will Tweet your money page for $5. total: $15. Then you sell it as a single service: "I'll sell you an original 400 word article, then will submit it to 500 directories and will Tweet to my 900 friends...all for $40!" Not everyone on Fiverr is reliable but if you can develop a talent pool of people with top-ratings, you might be able to carve out a nice little arbitrage service where your 'value-add' is simply putting together these services into a single package and charging a price that's greater than the sum of its individual parts.

Food for thought?
#arbitrage #fiverr
  • Profile picture of the author impact-productions
    It's a good strategy, widely used on outsourcing sites in general, and I've always seen it referred to as 'outsourcing arbitrage'.

    The danger I can see is using Fiverr. You can't rely on using the same people over and over again for those services, or for the services to be completed quickly. You might be better off just coming up with your own set of workers using the regular outsourcing services.

    For instance, you could hire hourly paid workers at oDesk, who are just used as and when you have work for them. Because they're signed into a longer term contract, they have a motivated to do a good job. And, you can price up the workers from overseas so that the result costs a similar amount to what you'd pay on Fiverr.

    Thom
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    • Profile picture of the author czilbersher
      Originally Posted by impact-productions View Post

      It's a good strategy, widely used on outsourcing sites in general, and I've always seen it referred to as 'outsourcing arbitrage'.

      The danger I can see is using Fiverr. You can't rely on using the same people over and over again for those services, or for the services to be completed quickly. You might be better off just coming up with your own set of workers using the regular outsourcing services.

      For instance, you could hire hourly paid workers at oDesk, who are just used as and when you have work for them. Because they're signed into a longer term contract, they have a motivated to do a good job. And, you can price up the workers from overseas so that the result costs a similar amount to what you'd pay on Fiverr.

      Thom
      I understand what you're saying. That said, I'm trying to figure out whether Fiverr actually has a unique selling proposition that makes it better than other outsourcing solutions at all. I mean, the fact that everything MUST be $5 is a limiting factor; not a positive, desirable factor. It's gimmicky. But so too was this little thing called Twitter that limited every response to 160 characters. I still don't get it (or use it that much).

      Is Fiverr destined for the junk heap? There's very little of value that can or will be done for so little money (less than $4 after PayPal takes their cut.) And that's why you don't see (or trust) Fiverr services that require more than a few minutes of effort: "I'll call anyone you choose and yell at them in an Arnold Schwartzenneger accent!" Uh...okay.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brad Gosse
    I have been spending a ton of time on Fiverr lately and I can tell you this. More often than not I get my moneys worth or better.

    I have had press releases written, cartoons drawn, articles done (that pass EZA) and gotten as much as 1000 targeted visitors for $5 with one of my dudes on there.

    I love the gimmick. I also love putting tons of people to work for $50, going to bed and waking up with content.
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    • Profile picture of the author JustinDupre
      Originally Posted by Brad Gosse View Post

      I have been spending a ton of time on Fiverr lately and I can tell you this. More often than not I get my moneys worth or better.

      I have had press releases written, cartoons drawn, articles done (that pass EZA) and gotten as much as 1000 targeted visitors for $5 with one of my dudes on there.

      I love the gimmick. I also love putting tons of people to work for $50, going to bed and waking up with content.
      I agree with you 100%, Fiverr sure is a great source to get almost anything done for only $5.
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    • Profile picture of the author J Bold
      Originally Posted by Brad Gosse View Post

      I have been spending a ton of time on Fiverr lately and I can tell you this. More often than not I get my moneys worth or better.

      I have had press releases written, cartoons drawn, articles done (that pass EZA) and gotten as much as 1000 targeted visitors for $5 with one of my dudes on there.

      I love the gimmick. I also love putting tons of people to work for $50, going to bed and waking up with content.

      Care to share from which fiverr user you got those 1000 targeted visitors for only $5? And did they convert?
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      • Profile picture of the author Brad Gosse
        Originally Posted by redicelander View Post

        Care to share from which fiverr user you got those 1000 targeted visitors for only $5? And did they convert?
        Yes they converted

        No I don't want to share the source. I am sure you understand.
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        • Profile picture of the author J Bold
          Originally Posted by Brad Gosse View Post

          Yes they converted

          No I don't want to share the source. I am sure you understand.
          Of course I understand.

          Any tips on finding a great provider like you did on fiverr? Did you go through a ton of people before you found a provider as good as this?
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          • Profile picture of the author jeswarrior
            So you can't post projects on Fiverr? I was looking around and I couldn't find anything.
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            • Profile picture of the author VyctorB_10
              a bizz friend & i was laughing over coffee the other day about a thought of online dollar store... that would be ingenious, and almost zero overhead...

              but to me.. you shouldn't be looking to make money off fiverr, it's like a garage sell or $5 donation box or forgive the term next to online dollar store.

              since what u really making is not 5 but 4 trifling dollars. that's also hard to offshore or offsource right afterwards. I see fiverr as an online charity thrift store.

              You drive their for bargains and when all else fails drive traffic their for bulk bargains at a cheap discounted rate & price. & also find junk-treasure for ya!




              Would think to make a hot sale off it anyday tough, stick to the plan, utilize it for cheap route to success....




              hope that sticks,




              Good luck, ~





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              • Profile picture of the author Orator
                Originally Posted by Chris Kent View Post

                The first rule of Fiverr is....always ignore the feedback. It's the same to a lesser degree with many WSOs.

                People exaggerate and don't want to leave a negative review. So if you believe all the Fiverr feedback you will set yourself up for disappointment.
                I disagree, I've worked damned hard to build up my feedback on fiverr. Now are there some that are exaggerated? Of course, not like that ever happens on WF... oh yeah it does.

                Fiverr is great for cheap outsourcing, and if your clever it can be a great place to make some money. You just have to use your brain a little bit, and not listen to the people who say it's worthless.
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                • Profile picture of the author Ehanson
                  I've been experimenting with Fiverr lately and it has been alright for me. I put up products that don't sell as well as I thought or are something I've had for a while and I'm not sure what to do with. For me it's like a digital garage sale.

                  I wouldn't look at it as a constant money maker (especially for us in the US) though and I can see it getting overly saturated in the business category as there's a lot of talk on the forums about it here.
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  • Profile picture of the author united99
    I've done two projects with fiverr members.
    Both have been done reasonably quickly, one has been outstanding (getting extra youtube views), the other, the jury's still out.
    The OP has the right idea though. There are definitely possibilities to do outsourcing arbitrage. Indeed, its how I run a part of my buisness! :-)
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    • Profile picture of the author schabotte
      Nothing wrong with the business model concept. After all, that is really what all companies do... whether it be employees or outsources.

      The two things to be careful of when you outsource are quality of work vs client expectations and turnaround time vs client expectations.

      When you don't have much work coming in, it is harder to control these things.

      When enough work comes in, enough to keep outsourcers busy all day, you can keep them as regular outsource employees and deliver much more consistent results.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bruce NewMedia
    So far, I like Fiverr. It's limiting, but so what? I do think it has possibilities for arbitraging service work. The challenge with Fiverr would be the same with any freelance site: Managing the work orders for timeliness and quality.
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  • Profile picture of the author ArnelRicafranca
    I have recently checked out Fiverr. Although, $5 isn't much, it works well for people who live outside of the US (like the Philippines). Anyone here actually get consistent work using Fiverr?

    I can see it working as a way to funnel your customer to a more expensive service/product.
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    • Profile picture of the author tritrain
      Originally Posted by ArnelRicafranca View Post

      I have recently checked out Fiverr. Although, $5 isn't much, it works well for people who live outside of the US (like the Philippines). Anyone here actually get consistent work using Fiverr?

      I can see it working as a way to funnel your customer to a more expensive service/product.
      I did get consistent work when they first started Fiverr, with my original account there. I'm trying again, but the competition is pretty fierce for someone with no reviews yet.

      Have you considered creating a Filipino version of Fiverr?
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  • Profile picture of the author hireava

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    as a graphic designer, i highly detest the idea of someone else asking $5 to design a business card/logo/whatever else mainly because if all you're asking is $5, then that's the quality you're going to get, and you're not going to receive NEAR the level of design you could have had if you would have invested more money.
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  • Profile picture of the author seobro
    I have been using FIVerr services. Well, so far I am happy with what I see. True, there should be items that are more expensive. Yeah like a twenty even. However, what I see is a lot of people using FIVerr to get more exposure. They find new customers and make a name.
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  • Profile picture of the author brucephan
    Another channel for sellers and buyers with broader earning from loicu.com. A fixed price for all services, product
    They're offer a very similar services but different approaching. Seller get pay for $6.5 ~ $7.5 that offer an alternative market place for people.
    Someone need to have a better channel for western earners...
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  • Profile picture of the author donhx
    I gave a out several jobs to different people, but they tanked on me and did not complete the work. So, I still have $25 on file with Fiverr because they charge you to refund your money. I will probably use up those funds sometime, but it seems like a hassle. I didn't expect much for $5 per job, but I didn't expect people to take jobs and then not complete them at all.
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    • Profile picture of the author marciayudkin
      There's very little of value that can or will be done for so little money
      That's so not true. I have had terrific Kindle covers and infographics created on Fiverr.

      Look at the quality of this work. (I did the writing. The Fiverr designer did the design, with one minor revision.)

      Infographic: The Top 7 No-Hype Copywriting Techniques | Marcia Yudkin

      This was really worth $500. I paid $10 ($5 plus $5 tip).

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  • Profile picture of the author brentb
    I tried Fiverr just to see if I could make some money there. I did like $500 my first 30 days and only worked like 25 hours which is ok I guess. But I literally started getting swamped with orders and people looking for super fast turn around. I just didn't like it and I would have never been able to progress because I would be spending all my time hustling and never moving forward to build anything awesome. Making only ~$20 an hour id rather be at a stable job!!!! So it was a good experiment. I do buy graphic design gigs all the time on Fiverr though.
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  • Profile picture of the author mervp
    You can rely on Fiverr consistently for repeat arbitrage purposes, because fortunately for every gig that is good and useful, there are usually a number of copycats competing to have their gigs purchased as well. So if one seller quits or suspends work, you can quickly find a replacement.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fazal Mayar
    Why are you outsourcing on Fiverr? I am not saying it's a bad place but there are also some good ones in freelancing and webmasters forums that have good portfolio.
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