How to Make Extra Money on Fiverr

One of the most popular freelance marketplaces available right now is Fiverr. As this name implies, you can sell any number of gigs for $5 each. What you might not know, however, is that many freelancers are making thousands a month on this site. See how you can get much more than $5 per job, and how the most successful sellers make extra money.

What Can you Sell on Fiverr?

make extra money with Fiverr

See also: 8 Ways to Make Extra Money Selling Used Books

As this platform has grown since its humble beginnings in 2010, so has the number of type of projects that can be bought and sold. While some of the most common tasks involve those in the creative and business realms, there are also some out-there niches that can only be described as “unique.” The main categories of gigs sold on Fiverr are currently:

Graphics and Design

This includes logos, flyers and brochures, social media banners, t-shirts, Photoshop editing, vectors, infographics, and more.

Digital Marketing

Tasks include social media marketing, SEO web traffic, email, influencer marketing, SEM, web analytics, and domain research.

Writing and Translation

Transcription, translation, legal writing, blog posts, articles, research papers, proofreading, editing, and resumes are sold in this category.

Video and Animation

All kinds of video services, including spokesperson and testimonials clips, whiteboard animation, animated logos, music and lyric videos, and post-production editing can be found here.

Music and Audio

Sell your voice over work, mixing and editing, jingles, sound effects, voice artists, and music lessons in this category.

Programming and Tech

Tasks to make extra money include file conversion, website optimization, WordPress, web programming, QA, user tests, and IT support.

Advertising

Anything that sells is found here, from pet models to billboard design to radio spots!

Business

Many virtual assistants (VA’s) sell their services here. You can also find business coaching, career advice, and financial tips.

Fun and Lifestyle

This covers most everything else. The most popular services are pranks, games, greeting cards, viral videos, and anything spiritual in nature (astrology, tarot readings, or spells.)

As you can imagine, the most imaginative tasks can be found in the last category. For sale right now, you can find any number of pranks, for example, including fake personalized Harvard acceptance letters or custom videos of people being covered in baked beans. If there is a market for it (no matter how bizarre), there is probably someone selling it. And you can sell it, too.

According to the terms of service for Fiverr, they do have limits. Prohibited tasks include anything that might be deemed illegal in the place the task is being done, as well as where it is being delivered to. Anything deemed by the Fiverr team as fraud, copyright or trademark Infringement, adult oriented services, pornography, violence, reselling of regulated goods, or gigs that intend will also be removed. Fiverr won’t allow anyone to make extra money selling services that extend beyond 30 days of service duration. (You can’t sell a year’s worth of daily phone prank phone calls, for example.)

How Can You Get Started?

how to make extra money with Fiverr

See also: How to Make Extra Money as a Mystery Shopper

Signing up is easy and free. Use your email, Facebook, LinkedIn, or G+ account to get started. You just need to fill out a little bit of information, confirm your email address, and list your first gig! They walk you through the very simple process on the site. You can register here and make extra money right away!

How Much Can You Make?

Gigs start at just $5. You can not charge more than $5 for your initial gig. Once you have delivered promptly and have reached the next level of selling, however, you can start offering “upsells.” These can be more than $5. Common upsells include:

  • Additional rounds of edits (beyond the first reasonable round)
  • Extra fast delivery
  • A specific file format or delivery mode
  • A larger version of your original gig (more words, pages, minutes, or files)

These upsells can be priced at whatever reasonable amount you set. They do not have to be $5.

For example, a seller may offer 100 words of business copywriting for $5 (the initial gig.) There may be the option to add on 200 words for an additional $15, have the writing done within 24 hours for an additional $20, and get an extra round of edits for $10. That makes the total potential for the gig to be $50 after all the add-ons are included. Fiverr sellers may also include the option to include a tip in the final payment amount (usually a percentage of the gig cost.) Some Fiverr sellers can get up to $900 for a single project!

Payment is made by the buyer before the gig is done. Fiverr holds the funds until the gig is completed, then deposits it into the seller’s Fiverr account. Any disputes take place within the Fiverr dispute system.

You are limited to the number of open gigs you can have on the marketplace at a time, especially when starting out. As you make more sales, you can sell more and make extra money. New users are limited to just 7 gigs.

What Does It Cost?

Fiverr is free to join and use. For every gig you sell, however, Fiverr takes a 20% cut. You can not try to circumvent the process and connect with buyers outside of the Fiverr community, even after you’ve done business with them. To cut out Fiverr and try to skip out on fees may result in you losing your account permanently.

There are also costs involved with withdrawing money from your Fiverr account. To have your money sent to your PayPal, there is a 2% fee, not to exceed $1. You may also have your money sent directly to your bank account (direct deposit). This costs $1 per withdrawal. Finally, you may choose to have money put onto a Fiverr branded debit card. The cost per withdrawal is $1-3, depending on how quickly you need access to your money. These fees are expenses incurred by Fiverr and are actually cheaper than the fees you would pay if paying them yourself (Paypal fees, etc.)

Tips to Make Extra Money with Fiverr

use Fiverr to make extra money

Also see: The Best Ways to Make Extra Money Right Now

Considering that, after fees, you are getting just $4 for every $5 gig you sell on Fiverr, it may seem impossible to make it worth your time. In fact, many sellers find it discouraging that they have to sell so many $5 gigs at first to be able to charge any more. But there are ways to make it work, and many freelancers have done it well enough to replace their full-time income from regular jobs. Here are the best tips for doing just that:

1. Offer a gig that you can do once, then sell many times over

Have an ebook, template advice, or a file that you can slightly tweak to each new customer? The less you have to customize, the more you can rely on completed work to carry you through. Selling multiples of the same item (such as a video animation where you only have to change the name each time) is a surefire way to get a good return on your time investment.

2. Deliver on-time, or even early

Since Fiverr relies heavily on its feedback system to weed out the many non-performing sellers, it’s important that you stand out in the very large crowd early on. Finish a project when you say you can, communicate, and ask for great feedback. The best sellers have almost perfect reviews, and they are often rewarded with prime listings and features on the Fiverr site that get them more exposure.

3. Market

If you think that you can just put up your listing and wait for the buyers, you have a lot to learn. The most popular sellers make extra money by using social media and word of mouth to direct buyers to their Fiverr seller’s profile. Use keywords that people may be searching for to describe your gigs and share them on Twitter, Facebook, and google+. Let people in your real life know about it, too. Better exposure means more gig sales and the better opportunity to sell those more expensive gig extras!

Many people have had negative things to say about Fiverr. In a flooded marketplace, it can be hard to see how you can stand out among millions of projects. The global market can be difficult for sellers in the United States, as well, who may be competing with workers from other countries who can comfortably charge $5 and not require much more for extra gigs. But like anything else, you get what you pay for. Many of the complaints that buyers have about getting work done on Fiverr is that the quality can be lacking. If you can be a positive experience for them, they will come back to you, share their good experiences with others, and help you grow your business to thousands a month – or more!