3 Reasons Not To Use Fiverr
For most creatives, such as writers, photographers, creative strategists, or even designers, a constant problem is the way in which other people believe that the work they do is easy. However, as my last blog post might show, this really isn’t the case. While this is true for the fields I listed above, I’m going to focus on design for this post since that’s what I’m familiar with.
While design is in fact creative and many designers enjoy the work they do, it’s in no way easy. What many people might not understand is, the design process often involves extensive sketching, research and ideation. Proper design is also built upon strong fundamentals. The work can actually be rather meticulous. Unfortunately, as I said… there are people out there who still don’t believe that.
Enter Fiverr. Fiverr is a site where, for the low low price of $5, you can buy a logo (or other design service, but let’s stick to logos for now). In theory, this is great for consumers, but in all honesty, this is terrible for designers. The people behind this site are the latest in the wave of those who inherently misunderstand the design industry.
To be blunt, if you’re a designer and you’re using Fiverr to get clients, you need to get off the site. Aside from the fact that Fiverr is holding you back from learning to attract real clients and to generate leads, there are many reasons why it’s terrible for you as a designer. Here are 3 of the most pressing issues in my mind:
1 — Fiverr Devalues the Design Industry
This is probably the number one thing that angers most designers about Fiverr. Simply put, Fiverr is horrible for the industry. Why you might ask? Logos shouldn’t be sold for $5. This is beyond way too low. A logo shouldn’t be as cheap as a sandwich.
Many designers in the world make literally 200x the amount of money for a logo. Yes, that’s an accurate number. Think of the biggest logos you see in the world. I guarantee most of them were, at minimum, worth 20,000x more. While I’m not saying you’re at the point in your career to charge $100,000 or even $1,000 for a logo, as a designer, you should realize that what you do is worth so much more than $5.
Aaron Draplin, a well known designer often claims that you should help people and maybe, on occasion, do a logo for the price of a burrito, or even for free. And yes, while I actually stand behind that notion, I still think that you need to respect your craft. Design is an important part of the world and the work you do actually matters. Have pride in what you do, and let people know that your work is worth something. If you’re helping someone, that’s a different story. But don’t sell yourself short.
2 — Your “Competition” Won’t Do Fair Work
There’s an old saying which I’m sure many of you have heard by now (especially if you’ve read some of my older articles pre-Medium because I definitely threw it around there):
“You get what you pay for.”
This is 100% the case for the clients on Fiverr, and it’s something that will certainly frustrate you if you try to do business there. But what exactly do I mean?
Well, let’s start with this fantastic article I came across while doing a bit of research on this subject. Feel free to skim or even read it, it’s a great read.
To summarize, however, the author of this article, Sacha Greif, pays a few designers on Fiverr to make logos for a fictional company he made, “SkyStats.”
What did Sacha get in return? Five logos made from stock logo imagery. Essentially, each person he paid gave him a logo they bought or even downloaded for free.
As a designer, my guess is that you’d try to make logos the real way. But when everyone else is essentially cheating, why even bother? You might as well sell stock logos too, right? But at that point are you even a designer?
3 — Fiverr Doesn’t Respect Creatives
Check out this Fiverr ad:
I’m sure if you’ve done even a bit of research on this site, you’ve seen this image. It’s everywhere.
But it’s painful to read. “Why Pay $100 For A Logo?” $100, is actually incredibly cheap for a logo. In Fiverr’s world, designers should be paid incredibly low wages for hours of work (unless they’re just selling stock logos, right?).
But it actually gets better, trust me. You see… when you make $5 on the site, Fiverr actually takes $1 out of that. A full 20%. So really, you’re actually only getting $4. Maybe the site should be called Fourverr?
Fiverr seems to think that the amount of work you put in isn’t worth fair compensation. If you try to charge a reasonable amount of money like $200 for a logo (which is still pretty cheap in all honesty) you’re ripping people off. Fiverr believes your job doesn’t matter. It does. Don’t support a company that profits off of telling you that what you do isn’t worth anything.
Final Thoughts
A lot of work goes into design. Whether you’re laying out a brochure, designing a website or making a logo… when done right, a ton of effort goes into everything involved. However, sites like Fiverr throw all of this out the window.
Really, please don’t use Fiverr if you’re a designer. I’m not saying this because I dislike the site or because I’m a part of the “design-world-echo-chamber” (although I do and I am). Between the fact that it devalues the design industry, people on the site cheat, and the company itself has no respect for design at all, I’m saying it because it’s what’s best for you. It’s as simple as that.
It’s much more rewarding to do things the right way. Find clients through your network, through cold calling, through referrals, through inbound marketing. You’ll learn real business skills and you’ll feel better about the work you do as a whole. Trust me.
Until next time!
— — —
My twitter is here.
And my website can be found here.
