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.

Miscellaneous: Fun with Fiverr

Not long ago I discovered an interesting little site called Fiverr. What's the idea? Create a marketplace for just about anything. The only condition is that every transaction has to be valued at five dollars. It seems like a great idea to me. There are plenty of things I'd happily do for five dollars. I already have seven or eight gigs posted. One of the most popular so far has been my offer to tell people with a tattoo in Japanese (or considering one) whether the design they have used (or will use) really says in Japanese what they think it does: believe me, I've seen some unfortunate mistakes.

People are offering all kinds of services, some of them seem to me to be worth far more than $5. Some are just plain silly, but some are eminently practical.

Martin, for example, will send three real cards (that is, paper and ink cards, not e-cards) for you anywhere in North America for only $5. He puts them in the envelopes, attaches (and pays for) the stamps, and sends your greetings on their way, so you don't have to. Brilliant. Just one of hundreds of useful things you can get done for a simple fiver. Martin's gig is here.