After 5 years my Fiverr account got blocked too. My experience with Fiverr and advice for others.

So 7 days ago I got banned. I can't log in and I have almost $2k locked in my account. I used to sell social media services on Fiverr and since 2013 I accrued over $400k in earnings doing honest work and delivering superior services with proof and results.

One of the reasons I managed to make so much were the repeat customers willing to pay extra for superior services. My situation is ironic because some of my competitors who actually offer scam promotions (marketing is full of scams) are still on Fiverr. I can handle competition so don't get me wrong, I have no hard feelings against anyone right now but Fiverr and how they handled my ban. It took A LOT of time, hard work, and nerve to build what I had going but it all disappeared just like that, without warning or notice. If you go have a look at Fiverr's forum you will see that I'm not the only one. Anyway...here is my story.

Fiverr has changed a lot in the last 9 months. In spite of these changes, for me it was mostly business as usual until very recently. So when I heard horror stories from people who got banned without reason I always thought hmm impossible, they must be lying, they must be omitting something, they must have done something against ToS they didn't know about etc. Yet here I am, banned without reason. It feels like they just wanted to get rid of me because I have been there for too long.

I know Fiverr's ToS almost by heart and trust me when I say I never broke any rule. My activity there consisted mainly of serving repeat customers with whom I had big projects on an ongoing basis and few new sales that would roll in now and then. I received my first account warning because of an issue with a repeat customer that neither of us complained about. He has been buying from me for ages, so when he renewed his monthly SMM package I delivered with approval. We had been doing this for over a year, but this time Fiverr sent an account warning for not attaching proof. They said they found out after a routine check. I reached out to customer support to explain, they couldn't care less about what I had to say or about the fact that the buyer was a repeat customer and we had been following such arrangement for over a year. A couple of weeks later I got banned for trying to trick the system. Make of it what you want, no other explanation was provided. I reached out again several times the only reply I got was "You are banned from Fiverr, we cannot explain why for privacy reasons, we wish you good luck!". Zero support whatsoever, like you are talking to a bot that couldn't care less about throwing you in the street.

If you are working on Fiverr now, this will happen to you too. I know how it feels when you have momentum, are getting sales, feedbacks, and a Fiverr representative is patting you on the back. I had one too, he just went MIA and stopped answering my Skype messages after my ban. Beware that this is all an illusion, you are just a pawn in Fiverr's grand scheme of things. They squeeze value out of you, then when they need fresh 'content' 'new sellers' you will get kicked out for whatever reason. Yes, whatever reason. Don't believe me? I wil elaborate. Let's say today Fiverr's Editors decided you have been there for too long and you need to go or make space for new sellers. They will just go through your orders, in bad faith, looking for anything that is a rule break or could be interpreted as a rule break. Go through your orders yourself and you will find something wrong or missing. Now you have momentum and everything seems fine, so if I tell you that thing will get you banned you will think 'oh come on' but that thing does get you banned on Fiverr once you become a target. This happens regardless of how good you are, how committed you are, how much you care about customer support, Fiverr will find a reason to ban you.

From here things get worse, because as a normal human you will try to reach out to clarify and there you will get the most humiliating treatment any human being can get. To justify their position, they will answer back with a condescending self righteous attitude. No matter how kindly you ask for an actual explanation, they will throw a copypasta at you and if you ask one more time they will threaten to block your emails for spam (which implies you will never see your money again). You will experience first hand what it means to be bullied into submission. To accept their decision as well deserved and to be grateful for the opportunity to work there. As if you owe them something and Fiverr did not make money from your work, probably even more than you did. All this virtue signalling when they kick you happens while actually bad and scamming sellers are still there selling.

Fortunately I'm a good saver so I'm not out in the street right now, but I'm having a very hard time because I went from working 24/7 to being unemployed. If you are a successful seller on Fiverr, the first thing I want to tell you is congratulations. I know exactly how hard it is to build something on Fiverr, how tough it is to outsmart your competition and to survive from abusive buyers. My second advice is think for yourself, think "what if", and prepare yourself. Do not get fooled by the money you make there in 1-2 years to drop out of college because of your "Fiverr business". I did this mistake myself and I totally regret it now. Another mistake I did was not to use any other competing platforms because I was used to Fiverr's format. Throw yourself out there on Upwork, and if you are really used to Fiverr's format build profiles in alternatives like Fivesquid or Fivebucks (this is really new, but a lot of Fiverr supersellers are migrating there). Build connections outside of Fiverr, stay active on forums, create a website, build your own brand. Do not rely on your Fiverr profile and portfolio, those are just an illusion that can and will be taken from you sooner or later. Once Fiverr bans you, you cannot even log in your old account to trace project data. Unless you saved stuff, you lose 70% of your working history. And Fiverr doesn't care, all they have for you after the breaking point is 'Good luck!'.

 

It appears based on your post that some of your competitors/customers decided to get you out. If enough complaints are received and often enough, this can lead to a ban. Arbitrary to be sure, but this seems to be the case. I hope that somehow you can resolve this. Good luck to you in any event.

 

I have suffered and survived a lot of attacks from competitors on Fiverr. Having been a user there for years though, I don't think it is possible to get someone banned through mass reports. The only plausible explanation I can think of, and I have thought of this hard, is that they needed to make space for new sellers. So when your account reaches a certain age, if you have been active enough throughout that time, you are highly likely to get banned for some reason.

I have definitively given up on Fiverr, especially after the treatment I received when I asked for an explanation.

 

This does not seem like a good business plan. Older established sellers would be their bedrock. It may not be a pleasant concept but it may be that you made some enemies, and they somehow were able to convince management that you had to go. Along with that you may have had one too many infractions. At the very least you ought to be somehow granted access to your $2K.

 

Perhaps, it's a mistake. Hope that you situation will be solve and you can return to your activity.

 

Wow.. It's a kind of horror story, never thought that something like that can happen. Is there any way to contact them and prove that you're a fair provider and return your account or money?

 

It's an interesting read. I am still not convinced that Fiverr can ban someone without a reason.

Mistakes do happen. But usually the mistakes are acknowledged and the accounts are restored.

A ban doesn't happen because a pissed off rep decided to ban an account on a whim. It starts with reports of suspicious activity (of any kind) then the case gets escalated to the Trust and Safety department where the team decides whether or not an account should get banned. It's a lengthy process and the ban is usually 100% accurate. Is it possible that they made a mistake in your case? It's possible. But the fact that they went on to permanently ban your account cutting off any communication with you tells me a different story.

I am not trying to be rude or insensitive. I am just sharing what seems to make more sense to me after reading your post.

 

Same story here..di you edit your sales thread before get banned..?

Also they become more greedy with fee while purchasing service.. Move along, they not worth anymore

 

I see many stories about fiverr bans? Did you try to contact them ?

 

Sorry to hear your story, but that is the main reason I tell everyone, "Do not dependent on any platform "
Nor fivert, Facebook, or whatever. Make your own website and pull your clients from those platforms as soon as possible.

 

I take full responsibility for what I have written. I never once broke their terms of service. The main 4 reasons that get people banned recently are:

1. Asking buyer to change the review (I did not do it)
2. Providing services that do not respect the ToS of other websites (I did not do it)
3. Abusing the delivery form (I did not do it, but this is the only reason quoted in the account warnings I got and I explained details in the original post)
4. Asking for payments outside of Fiverr (I did not do it)

I was a legitimate marketer, providing a legitimate service, competing with all sorts of misleading services. I got banned. I asked for an explanation two times. The first time I was told "we cannot share the exact reason for privacy concerns". The second time I was told if you keep spamming us we will block your email and you won't be able to contact us, which means not be able to withdraw my frozen funds there. Communication from customer support was humiliating & arrogant. I literally begged them to unsuspend my account, explained how fiverr is my only source of income.

They made it clear they don't want me there so I will never go back to Fiverr unless they contact me first after an internal review and admit they were wrong. I've moved on and am currently working with a new crypto version of Fiverr which is much more efficient in many ways.

Fiverr never had any competition so they always treated sellers irresponsibly and ban them for subjective reasons. To current sellers I say, be careful do not rely only Fiverr. Make sure to join some competitors as well and offer your services in as many plaforms as possible. The more platforms there are the more empowered we are as freelancers and the better websites like Fiverr will treat us.

 

So did you withdraw your money at least? Or they banned you and your money are stuck there?

 

I have to wait another 60 days before I'm able to withdraw, they told me to contact them in 90 days from the moment I was banned.

 

It sounds awful. I hope you manage to get your money back. Could your account be hacked and funds stolen?

 

Great service... It seems to me that they're going to repeat it again and again..

 

I believe you may have been banned for something out of your control and perhaps quite trivial. However, to assume Fiverr banned you to make room for new accounts is comical. A user who can actually get other users to buy is exactly what a company needs if their entire business model depends on user to user sales. You are tricking yourself in to believe something absurd. Most likely you had complaints (legit or not legit) or you didn't follow the TOS as closely as you think you did.

Lol @ banning you to make room for the new guy who may or may not ever sell a service............................................

 

I believe that you have been wronged. I hope you get your money and can renew your success elsewhere in the future.

 

How does 'making space for new sellers' benefit them? Established sellers probably sell better which results in higher fees to them. Unless their fees is lower as a seller gets more established?

 

I hope they give you interest on your earnings! Personally I wouldn't touch Fiverr with a barge pole! From what I have read in other places, they are getting extremely greedy and more corrupt by the day.

 

It is very bad to hear that. I know some big sellers on Fiver like Crorkservice that have been blocked after many years and huge profits. I not understand if you have many positive feedbacks and don't broke rules why block you.