Listverse.com reviews and complaints
no reply to all of six submissions (ghosting of submissions)
Before I begin the details, I just want to let everyone know that I am fully aware of the chances of getting accepted are very slim, as they only publish 3-4 articles every day to their website.
As a freelance writer, I was very much interested in submitting to the listicle website Listverse.com in the hopes of getting my work published and earn money. On May 8 of this year, I submitted my very first article to them under the pseudonym Teddy Morrison. An automated reply was sent to my email, stating they have received the article. Then, I proceeded at sending more lists, on the dates of May 10, 15, 20, 21 and 22, where all of them sent automated replies of receiving the article.
It has been a month since the first submission, and despite the website's assurance of reviewing the material within 4 weeks, they haven't responded yet. I tried reaching out to them on three occasions via email to their founder Jamie Frater and editor Collin Jenkins, but no luck.
I feel so devastated of wasting so much time at creating this listicles. If the website has been so kind at replying not by automated reply of why my article could be rejected, I would accept. But no, that's not the case. In fact, looking every day at the uploads, I just notice that the authors on the site are all the same, meaning they are the only ones credited for work, which for me is an insult to writer diversity evident in your submissions.
I have escalated the complaint to the New Zealand organization Netsafe, and they have advised me to raise the issue to the NZ Commerce Commission, since the website is registered on New Zealand. Should Mr. Frater have the frankness to enlighten me on this issue, I would be very happy to rest my case then.
Country of complaint: Philippines
Website: listverse.com
never received payment
I had my article published by Listverse 3rd of April and was told it'd arrive in 30 days. Still haven't received it. I've emailed Jamie Frater multiple times and never heard back. I also emailed Colin - the junior editor - and the submissions email. I've sent about 8 emails and still no payment or response.
Do NOT waste your time writing for Listverse
Country of complaint: United States
Website: listverse.com
I am going through the same thing. I contacted Paypal to ask them my options and they recommended filing a complaint with IC3.gov. This site is completely shameful if this is how they do business. BEWARE
Hi Ceecee, I also have the same issue with LV. Did you receive payment for your work since?
I've been waiting for 30 days as well and have not received payment yet either. It's nearly 30 days. In fact it's 30 days on Friday. I've sent emails, but they still have yet to reply.
Stay away from this one
The site looks interesting and they even have an inviting "submit" and "write for us" button at the top of every page where the description offers $100.00 for submitted and accepted top ten lists of over 1, 000 words, with an emphasis on odd or unusual articles, as they say, if we like it, you get the money in your PayPal account! After researching the site and noticing the simple content (they have topic category buttons which only leads to the most recent submissions and don't have a title search, you have to search from Google - listverse top ten xxxxx), I felt my subject matter was cool, unique and well researched, so I decided to give it a try! Well after spending lots of time to compose my lists and submitting several to listverse, I've gotten no reply and no PayPal payment! So before taking the time to write for listverse, send them your subject title so that they can give you heads up, before any giving any effort working for them! Remember, the emphasis is on odd and unusual with a sense of humor. As with the previous comment, I agree that there seems to be no criterion for the listing order but only one's imagination and the possible approval as "likeable" by their editors!
Company Business Name: Listverse.com
Country of complaint: United States
Website: listverse.com
I submitted an article/list 1.5 years ago and never heard back. Personally, I wouldn't waste time on a site that can't even bother to acknowledge your submission. When I submitted it back then, they said they would send a response either way (accept or reject). Nothing!
I am not an author…but I have nowhere else to speak my peace…I used to enjoy reading listverse..now they have YouTube for every single article…not everyone wants YouTube…I am an artist and therefore I am very visually oriented…I always had a picture to look at while I reading the article…now all I see is a triangle and part of a picture☹️
The fact is you are not working for anyone, you are just submitting your lists to a website that caught you attention thinking i can do that, sounds easy, i've been paid before and i'm a good writer, will do my research on a topic, twist it up a little bit in my own way, make the title catchy and intro, post my referrences and this is a good way for me to earn some money. All i have to do stick to the plan and submit in volumes so if some articles get rejected, some will go through and that's how i'm going to get this money from the comfort of my ow home and i can do it where ever i go in the world.
But then you get anxious, time goes by, you keep writing and submitting your hard researched and written lists, nothing happens and when it does it's an email that your article has been rejected, then another one and another one, but you still keep writing and submitting and at one point you start looking online to find posts like this one to see if anyone ever got paid from this site. And what you discover is very dissapointing to the point that you give up, but you don't stop there you keep looking around to prove your point and then start discouriging others to stop writing as well, because if you failed as being a considered great writer, your grammar is good, you use tools like grammarly or other to assist you, submitted ton of quality, interesting, unique, and hilarious lists but maybe few got accepted and then you start believing that this site was a scam all along, fraud, but every now and then they pay up so that they can keep the site alive and continue doing what they been doing all along and that is ... have ton of people do a hard research ( remember they want you to find and write a list on a topic that's not on the internet "com'on ... think about it...everything is on the internet ... for god's sake, YOU ARE ON THE INTERNET :) ) ... so have a ton of people do research to exsaustion, go around the keywords and then write their 10 ideas to and give this website ON A PLATE, and they go about saying WE READ ALL SUBMISSIONS, and the owner tells you WE ACCEPT ONLY 3 A DAY ... so, with that many submitted daily, and as others are being lured in through different blogs, you tube channel on making money online etc, etc ... LISTVERSE generates quality researched content with references for their own tools later on. Bottom line, few get paid and their work published to keep the good researched authors motivated and to collect for LISTVERSE more researched and unique work...the rest as some of them writers had a research, found uniquness and posted their greatest idea, they fell short because of the grammar...bingo. LISTVERSE takes that great idea, content with the references and put aside for their own authors as they get preselected material with stolen great ideas for their ow benefit. $100 is a lure to still ideas, and all of you are submitting uniqueness on the internet with the references for further review, editing by their own authors that now thanks to you have a lot easier time on topics with ideas on what to write and publish for their own pocket ... just like amazon microworkers, but here quality writers, and not so good writers but with great ideas but poor grammar are suckered in. That's all i got to say ! Sorry for my english and grammar...hopefully you recognize my point on LISTVERSE.
Listverse published a list of mine about 50 days ago; they have not paid nor replied to my repeated emails asking simply when I can expect to be paid. Will update if I do get paid.
I have wrote several articles for Listverse over the past few years, and they have always paid. Sometimes the payment was quick, and at other times it was fairly slow. I am currently owed for five lists dating back to August 15. This is the longest I've ever gone without receiving payment. I have also attempted to contact Jamie or anyone else at Listverse, but I have yet to receive a reply. They have always been good for payment, but I'm starting to doubt them now. I'll update If I receive payment.
One month later, and I have still not received payment from Listverse. If you are planning on writing for them, I would stay away. Seems like they are not sending payments, they post less articles, and Jamie is even writing article himself at this point. Listverse is probably a good site to stay away from if you plan on making money as a writer. Jamie is engaging in fraud at this point by not paying writers, and I don't support any person, company, or website that deals in this way. Good luck to anyone hoping to receive payment!
I did receive payment for the 5 articles that were purchased. Payment took much longer than my last payments, but I'm glad to see they are still good for paying.
Wow, lots of unhappy campers chiming in. I know most people don't bother to comment on something like this unless they have an ax to grind, and I believe you all are legitimately ticked. On the other hand, I have to wonder how many writers have had positive experiences with Listverse but aren't commenting. Also I find it hard to believe they would continue to get 150 submissions a day if this were a scam site. Anyway, I've just started writing for LV and so far am pleasantly surprised at how easy they are to work with. Just sayin'.
Well, Let me just eat my words - I am no longer pleasantly surprised by how easy Listverse is to work with.
Hello Jamie,
I've tried to reach you by email but to no avail so thought I'd try this. I just wanted to remind you that I still have not received payment for "Weird and Wacky Libraries" which was published July 20, 2019. No legitimate business takes 4 months to pay their employees and frankly, after reading all the complaints about your site I'm not holding my breath, but I'm not one to give up easily. I work hard on my articles and cannot afford to give them away. I hope to resolve this soon.
Georgina (Geanie) Roake
So here's an update on my situation. On November 29 Listverse deposited $100.00 in my account For Weird and Wacky Libraries. Thank you Jamie. I only wish I could continue to write for you. I enjoyed creating lists and had lots of other ideas but it just doesn't seem like a good idea anymore. Best of luck with this. I'd love to see Listverse get solvent again and repair their reputation.
and fix their reputation.
My name is Joe Duncan and I came here to set the record straight about my experiences writing for Listverse for over two years. Listverse has been a Godsend for my income no matter what I was doing, they've contributed to my life in a great way over the years for articles/lists they've purchased, which have I think totaled over 100 lists now, and they're really a great company to work for. That said, the accusations people are making are, I think, out of frustration in the moment, so I figured that with my long tenure writing freelance for the company, I could give some insight. My Twitter is @JoeMDuncan and below is a link to my Listverse works which have been published thus far:
http://listverse.com/lvauthor/Joe%20Duncan/
1. Listverse have always paid me what they owe. No matter how much. They even paid me $1, 700 in lists when the lists were only accepted 14 days prior, even though Listverse's policy says that they will pay within 30 days, they still paid me two weeks early. This was December of 2018, for reference, in case you're considering writing for them, you'll know how recent this is. There was a point a year or a year and a half back where they got caught up and behind, but it doesn't happen anymore at all, whatsoever. They're on point 100%.
2. Listverse can sometimes be late; hey, it happens, if you write something, they accept it, and say they will pay you, they absolutely, positively, 100% WILL pay you--but they might be a few days or a week over the 30-day mark, which, if they're you're only source of income, I understand can be nerve-racking, but please take it from me, they're not going to stiff you on your cash...and it's extremely rare that they're late. They've got a long history of a couple years of paying me 100% of my money in a reasonable time frame. Basically, the time it will take to get your pay is, in my experience, flexible, but you'll ALWAYS get your pay, so rest assured.
3. If you think about it, they have to sift through and read I'm guessing 300 articles a day on some days, to find tree that they want. It's a lot of work if you do the math, and having to send three payments a day all the while reading all of the submissions AND do the editing, it's a lot of work, and I'd theorize that sometimes lists slip through the cracks, it happens when you publish their volume and deal with that many submissions--I've never had a problem that couldn't be resolved with a simple email to them letting them know what's happening. @Jamie Frater and Colin Jenkens have been extremely good at getting any issues handled promptly.
4. If you've been thinking about writing for Listverse, DEFINITELY give it a try if you have the time to spare. But realize, they receive A LOT of submissions, as do other sites, and you've got to have great, interesting work with high-quality topics to get their attention; writing is a competitive market, but give it your all, I did and have literally made thousands of dollars writing for them here and there when I needed extra money.
5. I understand your frustration if you submitted a list that didn't make the cut, but that's the nature of the freelance writing game--you take a gamble. I've worked for Listverse for a long time as my sole source of income, but I've developed a system for putting out quality material that they like that works for me--just because your work didn't work out, doesn't mean the company's a scam. They've been good to me, but keep your head on straight and be sensible with them and you'll get far. The key is to come up with clever, interesting lists that people want to read, but when you do, the rewards are pretty sweet. They just have standards which is what brings their readers such great content.
Overall, great company, they've been amazing, and I'm extremely happy for having written for them for a couple of years now, and will continue to.
Hope this helps,
Joe Duncan
Hi! I've been thinking a lot about writing for them, since at the moment I need some extra cash flow for an online business of mine. However, as you have read among these comments, I'm getting quite discouraged from all the hate Jamie Frater is taking. I'm aware that running a business model like the one Listverse runs is quite hard and can get slow and overwhelming sometimes. I hope this isn't too much to ask but, could you post a proof of payment from them? That would be very helpful to me and I'm sure it would be too for anyone else hesitant to write for Listverse.
Kind regards,
Abraham Rod
Update: Listverse has paid me in full what I'm owed at current. Hopefully in the future, they can get their payments in on time, rather than having payments 32 days overdue. They're a great site to write for with cool content, and I plan to continue to write for them daily. If you're thinking about writing for Listvwrse, be prepared for payments to sometimes be delayed, but they've always paid me every dollar owed...and have interesting material.
I'll give Listverse credit where credit is due; not all lists are worth publishing, and they've denied one of my lists, and were quick in getting back to me about it. That's the nature of the game. I've had dozens and dozens of lists published, so that's not why its a waste of time, they WILL publish quality lists if you write good stuff.
When it comes to payment, that's where I've run into trouble--they are 62 days overdue for one payment, and have a series of other payments that are late, 13 late payments in total, for published articles which were accepted as far back as August 21st, 2018 (currently October 22nd 2018). There are more articles that have been published and that are currently live and collecting ad revenue, but within the 30-day window when payment is promised that also have not been paid on, so at least 17 total unpaid articles, which is $1, 700 they owe me. I have emailed Jamie twice, and received not so much as a word about payment. I'm not holding my breath. It took me a lot of time to write those 17+ articles, time I'll never get back. DO NOT WRITE FOR OR EVEN READ LISTVERSE. This is a fraud, scam company.
Jamie, if you read this, perhaps LV is having financial problems itself, which I wholly understand, but at the very least you could send an email and let me know so I can at least formulate a forecast of what to expect in regards to payment. Otherwise, people are going to just think you're ripping them off, and as of now, you are. If payment isn't received, they'll be hearing from my lawyers.
Submitted 6 ell-researched and extremely varied lists, ranging from extremely popular pop-culture subjects to morbid historical facts, and more than a months later I receive rejections for all of them.
You can click any list on the site and it will have sourcing mistakes (half of them link to random lists on the site instead of relevant sources), spelling and grammar mistakes, as well as just being plain badly written.
In light of this, there is no reason ALL of my submissions should have been rejected in favor of these absolutely inferior pieces. It only confirms what others have said, that Listverse is failing. I'll have an eye out for any permutation of my submissions being re-purposed without compensation, however.
And don't even THINK about KnowledgeNuts, a pet project of Listverse. It's even more bizarre, hosting information that is provably false, badly written and just plain kooky. It's like Jamie Frater's mental breakdown started writing articles.
I also enjoy all the shills who say things like "every single article I've ever written has been accepted" or "I have [x] articles published". Statistically, that is impossible, as the flailings of Mr. Frater make clear.
There's a reason Listverse's founder doesn't use twitter anymore (at least under that name). You can find (alongside his goofy conspiracy and raving pro-Trump tweets) replies about stealing people's articles without compensation. What a tool.
Avoid like the plague and let it die.
I recently had two blogs published by Listverse (one was accepted on January 22 & the other on Feb 3), but haven't received payment for either. Can anyone out there who has been paid by Listverse tell me about how long the process took? The site says it pays within 14 days, so I wrote to inquire about my payment on February 8, 17 days after my first blog was accepted. I've written Listverse four times now but haven't gotten a reply.
I have been contributing to Listverse for several years, but no longer. Originally writers saw the $100 payment appear in their Paypal account the same day their article was accepted. In 2018, however, Listverse began sending messages stating your article had been accepted, but payment would arrive 14 days later.
Guess what? The payment never arrives, even after the list is published. Listverse has apparently gone broke, but Jamie Frater, the owner, doesn't want to admit it's dead. Instead, he keeps publishing articles and promising payment that never arrives, all the time hoping business will pick up before all the writers quit his site.
So in conclusion, at one time Listverse was a fun and profitable place to get published, it is now indeed a scam.