Anyone who follows me knows that I don’t like Fiverr and Upwork.
Still, I’m not completely stubborn. Even though I advocate for ditching freelancing platforms, I like to check in on them from time to time, just to see if anything’s changed.
Fiverr 2025 Winter Release – LOL
Today, I saw that Fiverr is behaving completely in character, announcing this in its Winter Release 2025.
First of all, I find it extremely difficult to believe the single most requested feature by Fiverr sellers is a collaboration tool.
I can think of several suggestions that would immediately improve that platform, and I’m sure that 90% of my fellow freelancers would back me up.
But then, if they ever were released, they’d 100% be deployed to Seller Plus subscribers only. The ability to force prospective clients to contact you before ordering, for example. That’s really the most requested feature by Fiverr freelancers.
They did eventually develop that feature, by the way. But you have to pay extra to switch it on. Because of course you do.
What Does This Tell Us About Fiverr?
Anyway, never mind how crap Fiverr is. This release reminded me of something that I know, but I don’t think many of my current clients and prospective customers do.
Let’s take this claim at face value and assume most freelancers want this feature.
Why is that?
What does this tell us about Fiverr?
These freelancing platforms are bursting at the seams with outsourcers. And that’s why Fiverr is dropping this suite of collaborative tools.
What is Outsourcing on Fiverr?
What do I mean by that? Well, put simply, the client pays someone to do the work, but they’re passing it to another freelancer.
Let me give you an example.
Imagine you need to find someone to write casino or poker content, so you spend some time browsing the big platforms like Upwork and Fiverr. You see plenty of cheap writers, but none grab your attention.
However, you stumble across my LinkedIn profile and think “wow, this guy is an experienced iGaming writer with well over a decade of gambling industry experience – he’s the one for me”.
We agree to a rate, based on my portfolio and career history. However, behind the scenes, I’m secretly passing your tasks to a guy in the Philippines. He’s only been a gambling writer for less than 12 months and he doesn’t offer anything like the same level of experience or skill.
What’s more, I’m paying him one-third of the rate we agreed, giving you his work and pocketing the difference.
Now, I’m obviously not doing that – it’s just an illustration of how it works. But I can assure you that quite a lot of freelance writers certainly are outsourcing your tasks.
Fiverr promotes this behaviour, too, because it receives a 20% commission on all sales. By encouraging freelancers to outsource, it’s double bubble for the money grabbers – once for the initial sale, then again for the outsourcing.
No Value for Money with Fiverr Writers
Let me be very clear – I’m not making any judgement on freelancers who choose to do this. We all have bills to pay and I genuinely respect the hustle.
Full disclosure: I have even tried this myself in the past, which is why I know so much about it. I eventually decided that it wasn’t for me. It’s a lot of effort to manage a team, and it feels deceptive.
I spent a lot of time and effort developing a pool of trusted writers that I felt were good at their jobs. Despite their ability, I would still edit their output up to my own high standards before submitting to the client.
Does every outsourcing writer do that? Who knows? It’s a gamble.
Even if they do, the client still isn’t getting what they paid for. They would have every right to feel cheated if they found out.
Posing as an Individual Writer
I have, from time to time, been known to outsource the odd task here and there. The unpredictable nature of being a freelance iGaming writer means that, like the proverbial buses, too many orders often turn up at once.
Instead of upsetting a regular customer, I’ll call upon a trusted writer that I’ve worked with before and edit their work.
It’s rare for me to do that, nowadays, but I won’t pretend it’s never happened. It’ll probably happen again.
I think all freelancers have done it at some point, and that’s not what I’m talking about in this post. I’m referring to those who are essentially running an agency, but pretending to be an individual freelancer.
Do Clients Care if You’re Outsourcing?
This is a great question that seems to split the freelance writing community.
Many of us feel as though it’s “cheating” the client. And I think a lot of customers would likely feel the same way.
However, there are definitely clients out there that don’t care.
Ultimately, they’re paying the freelancer a fee to take care of a problem. If the task is to create gambling content, and they are happy to pay an iGaming writer a fixed rate to do exactly that, why does it matter who wrote it?
Was the task completed on time? Did the copy hit the brief? Is the client happy? If all of these boxes are checked, then who really cares?
It’s a fair point.
Still, I wanted to scribble something down about this topic. To the many Fiverr buyers who don’t realise this is going on, now you know.
And, if you need an iGaming writer that won’t outsource your work to someone else for less than half the price you paid, please contact me and let’s have a chat.