What would you do for $5?
What would you pay someone $5 for?
I stumbled onto a website called fiverr.com which has kind of freaked me out. The concept is this: a person posts something they are willing to do for $5 (really$4 since fiverr takes a cut.) If someone is interested in the service, they pay through fiverr and the two people connect. People offer to draw pictures, provide voiceovers, create origami roses, tweet messages to their followers.
One of the services being offered was by a young woman with a screen name of Topsey23. Topsey’s service being offered on the site is titled:
I will call you and talk to you for ten minutes for $5.
Now, this service struck me for being both funny and sad. The thought that people out in this world are so lonely they will pay for a ten minute conversation is both surreal and heartbreaking. Topsey23 had just joined the site a few days earlier. Her avatar on the site is an inverted photo of herself. In the photo she appears young, with dyed orange hair, fair skin and a black t-shirt. She’s not looking into the camera and the angle gives one the impression that she might be lying in a tanning bed.
Underneath the title she elaborates on exactly what the offer is:
ill call you and talk to you about anything you want for five dollars or ill make a prank to your friends.. you let me know I’ll do ittt (:
Intrigued by this website, and Topsey’s service, I wanted to find out what her experience has been so far. I wanted to learn if she had received many calls and why had people called her. Before signing up, I messaged Topsey.
Hello -
I write a blog and would like to do this 10-minute conversation but want to take notes and use this for my blog post. Are you ok with that? I’ll link to you. Also - have you had many responses?
Topsey replied:
Yes, I’m okay with that. And no, I haven’t had many responses yet.
So I signed up and paid five dollars. The money would be held by fiverr until the transaction was completed. A short time later, through the message service, we agreed Topsey would call me around noon the next day, Friday, and I sent her my cell number. I wrote out the following questions:
Tell me what prompted you to offer to talk to a stranger for ten minutes?
I know you just started this a few days ago. What’s the response been?
What do people want to talk about?
Has anyone asked you to pull a prank?
What do you do when you aren’t talking to strangers thru fiverr?
In your avatar, it looks like you are in a tanning bed. What is the photo?
You have another post that says you will draw a picture for $5. Have you had responses to that?
So I sat by the phone for fifty-five minutes waiting for the call. Okay, I was actually doing some writing and paying some bills. Nothing happened. No call. I used fiverr’s message service and let Topsey know I had to run out but if she would give me a specific time the next day we could try it. She never responded. I guess she got cold feet.
So what is funnier and sadder than someone willing to pay for a conversation with a stranger? Someone who is willing to pay and is stood up!
By Sunday morning, fiverr sent me a message that read:
It seems the seller is late on delivery. You may now cancel your order.
So I did. I do find this whole concept strange and am thinking I may try another service. There are several which received positive reviews. The most popular service is from Kevinfar - “I will create 3 videos about a topic of your choice for $5,” or maybe I’ll go with Woofy31’s service “I will interpret 5 of your dreams for $5.” So what’s $5 worth to you?
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