Fiverr.com – The Things People Do For $5

This is perhaps one of the most awesome crowdsourcing sites I have had the privilege of coming across. Fiverr.com is basically a community platform where anyone can announce to the world what ‘jobs’ or small task they are willing to do. The catch? The maximum you can charge for completing a task or job is $5,00.

The services currently listed on Fiverr.com range from the generation of simple copy such as “Writing jokes for a speech” or “Writing a catchy new tagline for a business” to services that can veer towards the bizarre such as “A personalized fan sign” or “a famous song containing your name in the lyrics”. The idea is that once you have listed the service you are willing to provide for $5,00 anyone can then ‘order’ the service from you - Fiverr.com is supported by Pay-Pay who handle all monetary transactions, very neat if you ask me although you are required to pay for the job in advance. Another very nice little addition to the service is the inclusion of feedback from other buyers on the service offered as well as the option to contact the seller directly.

Fiverr.com also works the other way around - If you are seeking a specific service, you may “suggest a gig” to the existing community. All you have to do is submit a gig (a job request) and it will appear almost immediately. That’s right, if you would like someone to airbrush a picture of you without your shirt on, you can do it for $5.00! Fiverr.com is also nicely set up with Facebook Connect which makes it very easy to get started.

Fiverr.com is a brilliant and also entertaining idea - It might be a little misleading for the person providing a service (the site takes $1,00 so you only get $4,00 for the job) and as a buyer you don't necessarily have assurance that your task will be completed to your standards. Having said that its only really $5,00 and if the job is not done well its not a big train smash… from ‘sellers’ side there has never been an easier way to make $5,00 than singing Happy Birthday to someone Marilyn Monroe style.