Miscellaneous: Fiverr Continues to Grow

Earlier this year, I discovered Fiverr, an interesting Web site that allows people to post "gigs." These are small jobs that people offer to do for five dollars. That's the gimmick; every job has to be offered for a fiver. I've been watching the site develop. I thought it a great idea from the outset. Evidently, I'm not alone. The site has continued to grow, and there are now too many gigs to count, but at least the Fiverr administrators have added new categories that make it easier to find what you're looking for--or maybe what you didn't know you were looking for. Some of what's on offer is pointless, some is whimsical good  fun, some is more serious. What continues to astound me is that a lot of what people offer for a mere five dollars is clearly a stunningly good value.

To take just one example, Silverz (her screen name) will take any photo you send her and remove the background for you for five dollars (click here). I've been using Photoshop since version 2.0. This is something I could do myself, but it's tedious work, time-consuming, and easy to botch. If you don't know how to do it, your only option is to go to a printer or similar store where they'll charge you a hefty hourly fee to do this sort of thing. Look at the detail in the hair here (photo above). Five dollars? Next-day delivery? Really? Brilliant! I'm very glad to see the Fiverr marketplace thriving.