Why you shouldn’t hire freelancers on Fiverr?

Fiverr is a leading freelance marketplace where you can hire freelancers from very cheap price to “Pro-Verified” high pricing for your projects. It can be very helpful if you need someone who can do your work at extremely low prices and are fine with having limited to zero control on the process but for someone who is serious about their video, hiring freelancers from Fiverr can be a really bad idea.

Let’s be honest. I am not anti-fiverr. I love the flexibility that Fiverr (or many similar freelance platforms) has brought in for people with limited budgets and have been one of the most important earning sources for many freelancers out there. But I don’t believe people who value creative work and understand the importance of collaboration and brand go to freelance platforms anyways.

Communication:

Fiverr allows only textual communication through chats. While most of the time you can simply give references and make a freelancer understand what you need, you can’t be really sure that the freelancer understands your references and shares your vision. You can’t connect in a real time manner to share ideas and strategies to give your vision the best shape possible.

I edit videos for many clients remotely. For the convenience of my clients, I even get them on Zoom calls and show them my editing live so that they can work with me real time. Sharing a common vision of a project is very important to achieve the best output for a video editing project.

Collaboration:

How do you usually collaborate on a creative project? You speak to your collaborator about a vision, there is a sharing of ideas and suggestions — an order taker can not enrich your process like a good collaborator. Platforms like Fiverr are good if you need an order taker and you know what you really want. But do you go to a doctor to tell him what to do? Do you go to a car mechanic to tell him what to do? It’s the job of a service provider to give you expert advice and opinion to make the work better than you could do on your own. That is where the Fiverr collaboration process can really affect the output.

I usually brainstorm with a lot of filmmakers, and agencies before we even get to the work. I get to know what the creators do and even many times is an active part of the pre-production process so that I can help them to make the best version of their vision.

Flexibility:

Fiverr is a service business but in a productized manner. That’s why you only choose a freelancer and package that fits your needs. But most of the time you really don’t know what it’s like until you make the purchase and the work starts. Again, the timeline, and the deliverable format can’t be changed as you wish or after you’ve made the purchase. I myself have bad experience with freelancer platforms where a few information is kept hidden to make people buy and then revealed later.

When I edit videos for my clients, I provide them with complete flexibility because things are in my control. That can be in terms of delivery timeline or revision. My goal is to build long-term relationships and not short term money.

Privacy:

For sensitive brand projects, privacy is a huge concern. Is your data safe? Will the person share them with anyone else? Will the information and brand secrets stay confidential? While many platforms have terms that allow them and their freelance partners to share information in an unprotected way. I make sure every communication, exchange of information is well protected in terms of technology and legal way so that your information and data stays protected. That’s why brands like BMW, Indian Oil, Paytm, Hyperconnect trust to work with me on their projects.

So, that was my view of why hiring a freelancer on freelance platforms like Fiverr is not a good idea for a project. But it’s your own call what do you want, how much are you willing to spend, and what kind of relationship you’re looking for.

About Me: I’m Shushrut and I’m a freelance video editor and filmmaker. I work with brands, agencies, creators helping them with video content creation. If you want a reliable video partner, mail me at directorshushrut@gmail.com.