BaronVonClop

Unfortunately, at least in my experience, this is never the case. Out of all the art I've commissioned, the only four times I have been burned by the artist simply not completing the work has been "emergency commissions", while all ~30 of my "normal" commissions have been completed without hassle. At this point, I never buy emergency commissions. Sorry to hear this happened, OP!

That's... a bit quick to jump to conclusions. They could be at work, in bed, or just hanging out with friends and not reading messages for a few hours. This definitely sounds like paranoia is getting to you. Just as an example, me going to work, then running errands after I get off the clock has kept me away from responding to messages for 12, sometimes 13 hours. I don't mean to ignore or frustrate anyone, it's just how my schedule can be sometimes. Just relax, give it a few days, and if you still don't have a response give them another gentle poke.

Strange all around. I feel like something is missing here. There's no other context in the images, so it seems a little out of nowhere when on March 21st you suddenly ask if there is a "dick edit". Given the artist is clearly Russian and has a less than great grasp of English , I can't help but feel there may have been something lost in translation here. I can see where "I didn't ask for it, and do not post them, but also send it to me in higher quality" is very confusing to someone who doesn't understand the nuance and emotions behind your writing. Hell, I speak English as my first language and even I'd be confused by that; why do you want a high quality version of an image you want to be completely forgotten? Overall, while I'd be miffed if someone took my female character and made a different version of the art with a penis attached, I think this could have ended much better if you had approached it differently. Immediately being aggressive and making demands like telling them that they will enforce your wishes on the other YCH participant... doesn't come across well to me. I mean, after all, the other participant in the YCH did bid on a sketch where the character receiving has a penis, and I'd bet that is probably why the "dick edit" exists. One for you, one for the other bidder, made both versions to satisfy both. Not excusing the artist here at all, they absolutely should have asked first, but more just thinking that this could have been handled better by both sides here.

I commissioned an artist back in July 2019 for an image of my fursona. I explicitly inform the artist the point of the commission was for artwork to display on the character's F-List profile. Artist said no problem, will be done in two weeks. Long story short, four months late, the art finally comes in. However, artist admits to me he did mine out of order because I gave an ultimatum and signaled I would be submitting a PayPal dispute. In order to not disrupt their queue and upset other commissioners, I am asked to not post it in public until they catch up on their queue. I agree, as I assume it would only be a week or two of a delay. It has now been another ~4 months. Said artist has never uploaded anything new to FA since and has effectively disappeared. No signs of life on any social media, dead silence in Discord servers. They have never completed the other owed art. I'm a little torn on what to do here, or what would be morally right: On one hand, I agreed I wouldn't post it until their queue was complete, and I don't want to upset other commissioners and make the artist's life harder. Basically, I'd like to avoid any drama. On the other hand, I now have a useless piece of art as I can't show it to anyone, and it's also complete so I can't get a refund. I don't feel it's fair to expect me to just never post it, especially because it was commissioned specifically to be shown to others. Just wondering what people's thoughts are on this. Don't really know what to do here.

As far as I understand, once you've closed a dispute for a transaction, that's it: the dispute process is complete and it cannot be reopened. You should never close PayPal disputes untill you either have the art or your money (or the rare occasion when PayPal closes it for you in the artist's favor, of course). You can try calling them, worst that will happen is they say no, but I don't believe they'll open a second dispute for you. Again, though, lose nothing by asking and giving it a shot. This certainly sounds like it's worthy of a beware, though! An artist that has already been hired and paid stating that they will be intentionally lowering the quality of a customer's commissions as a punishment for perceived drama is absurd, especially when they won't be offering a refund for the difference in the lower tier of work.

Absolutely not. They get nothing until they've paid in full. There's virtually zero chance you'll ever see that money if you deliver the art before they pay. If it is getting to the point that they are stressing you out over something that is their problem to deal with, I'd just refund the money and cancel the commission.

Good lord. That is by far one of the most infuriating series of messages I have ever read. The fact that they were able to keep making excuse after excuse for something as simple as copy/pasting a tracking number is incredibly suspect. Beware well warranted.

Have you communicated to them that shipping was $14, and you're expecting payment from them now? I'm really not seeing in your post where this has happened. From reading your post, it sounds like they agreed to pay shipping, but then you picked it up specifically to avoid shipping fees so they probably think they're off the hook or have misunderstood. If you haven't actually said "hey, could you please reimburse me for the $14 shipping charge", I can see where they may be confused and a gentle nudge would be appropriate. At least to find out if they intend to actually pay or not.

It's entirely possible that they just got distracted by something and left the message hanging. I'm sure it wasn't meant to be rude, probably just simply forgot. I've done that many times. When I'm juggling multiple conversations or doing something else while chatting, sometimes I just lose track and accidentally stop responding. I'd leave it be until they open up for commissions in the future. When they do, message them and ask if they are still interested in the idea you discussed previously.

That's good to hear! Just be careful that they don't delay you into going over the 180 day mark, as then you lose PayPal protection.

This is 100% the reason I avoid PWYW commissions or streams. I don't like the onus of a fair price being on me when it's the artist that has to make the decision whether or not the price is within their range. I'm always worried that I will offer too low and the artist gets offended or thinks I'm lowballing (much like what happened to the OP). Strongly prefer there just simply being a price sheet and then paying that plus a tip if relevant. Most situations I've seen in the furry community with "pay what you want" is really just "commissions, except you're socially obligated to tip or you're seen as cheap". I've seen "PWYW (minimum of $X)" where X is just their normal flat color commission price multiple times, and at that point I don't feel like that's actually PWYW; it's just a more socially accepted way of saying "tips expected". As mentioned, the artist of course isn't wrong for turning you down as nobody should is required to accept commissions, but this has always been my main concern with PWYW stuff.

Have you tried asking them for a refund since their May, 2018 messages? Of course they should have delivered or at least been in contact since then, but they seemed open to giving a refund so it doesn't hurt to ask.

I'd be a bit upset as the commissioner if I wasn't told in advance. I understand that artists maintain the copyright of their art and can do what they please, but it would still be my character and my design being sold for a profit by someone else without my knowledge or consent. If I were told in advance, I'd have no problem with it. But at the same time, I probably wouldn't commission that person to begin with if I knew that was on the table.

To me, it would depend on what the reward is. I know artists tend to have wildly different ideas of what rewards are. If it is something tiny like a $5 Telegram sticker or a rough sketch, I'd add a clause to my Patreon page which states rewards that go unclaimed for that month (or maybe make it two, just for leniency's sake) are forfeit. Make a post informing your current patreons of the change, explain why, and probably even send the particular individual that isn't responding a direct e-mail to them personally warning them that next month this policy comes into effect and to please respond. If it is something major like a $50+ full commission with limited slots (which I've seen many artists do as well), I'd probably just boot them from the supporters and let someone else take up the spot who is willing to respond to my messages. This is probably the easiest solution that would result in the least (potential, down the line) drama.

Net neutrality has been repealed in the US, but I'm not aware of any US states blanket banning any social media websites. That would be huge news, and a quick Google search shows that while places like Russia and Iran are banning Telegram, I can't find any info that places in the US have. Even if they did, the artist could still use their mobile data connection to access it, and if all else failed, a VPN. Simply put, I don't believe for a moment that their claim is true and even if it was, they have other options if they were truly concerned about it. Regardless, the fact that they are online and your messages show that they were read proves their claim is not true. They clearly have access to Telegram in *some* fashion. Personally, if I were in your shoes, I'd challenge their claim that their ISP has blanket banned Telegram, and point out that they are reading my messages so they obviously have access to the service. Request an update. If they dont have one or refuse to respond, escalate to an ultimatum. And, if that too passes with no answer (I'd say about a week), ask for a refund. And if all else fails, a PayPal claim (assuming you used PP, of course).

Ah, okay, being too-low-for-print-quality-but-still-viewable makes sense. I've still never encountered it, but that reasoning is certainly sound. Thanks for that; not being a graphic artist, I would have never considered that as an issue. Like almost everything else in their terms, it isn't defined and is left vague so I have no idea. It's entirely possible I'm just being jumpy.

I'm definitely apparently in the minority there, then. As mentioned above, I've literally never heard of this and I have commissioned a fair number of artists. But fair enough, it's just my inexperience showing I suppose! I have no issue with a blacklist, I apologize if that's how my post came across. If someone is being a jerk, then the artist is well within their right to refuse working with them. Zero problems there. My own ToS includes a "being too much of a jerk" clause as well, but it includes a full refund and the right to repost the piece as a YCH with their character rewritten. My concern was more with the fact that they could not only at any time declare "blacklist!" but also then keep as much money as they want (at least, in theory, because in practice I doubt that would hold up to a PayPal claim). I was looking at it from more of a "am I being scammed" point of view, I guess. That's basically my concern as well. The lack of public queue, the lack of due dates, and the idea of charging people to get a due date... on their own without the others, I could overlook (mostly, no public queue is a pretty big issue), but when they are all combined, I'm weary because that just screams "hey, you're never getting this before the PayPal claim window closes, if ever". Regardless, thanks for the help. I'm glad I asked because I would have apparently made myself an ass in at least two places if I didn't, so appreciated.

Awesome, thanks for the quick response! I'm honestly surprised to hear that! I've commissioned in the range of 30 artists and I've never encountered even one that gives two quality versions, let alone barring me from showing anyone the good quality version (with the exception of in person, I guess? Only "uploading" is banned). Two versions with the same resolution, but one has a watermark for public upload, sure, understandable. Maybe I just commission lax people, but I was baffled when reading that, and even more confused now that I'm hearing it's fairly common! But fair enough; if this is common outside of my circle, I won't push it. Yeah, now that I'm reading it back I realize I worded that poorly. I know that when commissioning things the copyright remains in the hands of the artist, no concern there. My confusion was more that every other time I've seen the partial refund clause, it has included the bit about the commissioner being allowed to use the unfinished art. But fair enough, your explanation is solid. Regardless, that all makes perfect sense to me. Against the logical side of me, I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt and will wait another week to see if there's any progress, then probably follow your advice and just file the claim and write out the beware if nothing comes up. Thank you for the honest advice!

Hello all. Currently dealing with a problem artist (who will remain anonymous in this post, of course) who is taking an excessive amount of time. They're now threatening to invoke their ToS and force me to take a partial refund in response to a polite request to have the work completed prior to the PayPal claim window ending. Sure enough, I checked their ToS and found some staggering things that are big red flags to me, but I'm unsure if they are really as big of a deal as I'm reading them as, or if I'm overreacting and most other artists think these clauses are fair. The artist did not notify commissioners of their ToS existing prior to payment, nor did they require us to acknowledge it prior to commissioning, so I'm only now noticing these practices. I'm no lawyer, but as far as I understand it that alone makes it unenforceable, but regardless I'd like second opinions. In particular, their ToS states: They may take as long as they want on any commission due to medical issues. There is no due date or time frame for any piece of art. You can pay an additional fee for a due date, but it must be mutually agreed upon and they might not even accept at all. The fee is not listed. They do not have a public queue, and they do not do commissions in the order they take them. There is no way to know how many other people are waiting for art, where you are, or even a rough idea of how long the wait is. The commissioner is not allowed to post or share the art anywhere. Instead, there is a separate, watermarked, low resolution version and you, the commissioner, may only upload that, no exceptions. The completed, full-res piece is for "personal use only" and may not be uploaded anywhere. These are already a bit strange to me... but then the refund section begins to really worry me as a commissioner. 10% "processing fee" for all refunds. They just keep a flat 10% for no reason. This is digital art, by the by, so there's no materials to buy. I totally understand deposits on fursuits or physical art. Refunds take four weeks to "process". Partial refunds for partially completed art. Fair enough, even though the percentages aren't listed so they can make up anything they want. However, you aren't allowed to keep or use the partially completed art you've just purchased. If the commissioner is paying for it, isn't it theirs? Otherwise what am I being charged for? You can be "blacklisted" at any time for a variety of vague reasons including "being rude" or "being disrespectful". At that point, the artist is allowed to select how much to give as a partial refund, even though they are the one choosing to give the refund. Furthermore, would these issues be appropriate to mention in a Beware about a transaction, or would it be considered off-topic? I feel that this is rather important for people to be warned about, because had I been aware of these clauses in the ToS it would have stopped me in my tracks from commissioning said artist. Instead, the artist does not mention a ToS or require acknowledging it prior to payment, and has only brought it up now that they want to try and get me to accept a partial refund. I appreciate any thoughts and comments!