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If you do a raffle, either do it or call it off
2 years ago
This is in response to a raffle I won on twitter almost 1 year ago on September 26th 2022. I got the first prize of four prizes. I contacted the artist and told him the character I wanted drawn and the picture idea. It was a raffle for them having reached 250 followers.
The artist replied with 'Got it, I'll be working on a sketch when I can'
A couple days after christmas (Dec 27th) I wished them a good holiday, and they replied the same.
On Jan 19th I asked about the raffle. I was told 'Yeah it still is, I just haven’t had the time to work on big projects. If you’d like, I can give a free lineless headshot as a substitute'
Didn't realize I didn't hit enter to my reply, so I replied on Feb 10th when I realized that. I told them sorry about the late reply, and I didn't mind the wait, I was just curious.
They replied 'No worries, it happens. But yeah just let me know what you think'
Around then twitter was having issued with sending messages between users. But I told them again I don't mind waiting for the raffle on Feb 20th.
On Feb 22nd, they messaged me for the first time. It was to ask me to sign up on Temu using their referral code. I don't trust Temu/Ali Express/Wish so I told him those sites freak me out/set me off because I don't trust them.
On May 21st I messaged them again telling them to be careful with Temu, since their parent company seemed to be getting into some trouble with their apps.
In June on the 12th I told them about the message changes happening soon on twitter, and they needed to follow back anyone they're in contact with or messages can't be sent.
On July 21st I asked again about the raffle, since it had been about 10 months since the raffle happened.
I was told 'I was going to postpone it since I’ve been busy but since things have been calm, I’ll get to get in a few weeks. Or after commissions'
I told them they should update everyone that won something in the raffle (Myself and 3 others)
They replied 'I didn't even know it was all the way back in September. Thanks for reminding me'
(During this gap they had finished commissions and trades they were working on)
On September 10th I messaged them again, asking to take them up on their 'I can give a free lineless headshot as a substitute' offer, since it's been almost a full year since the raffle.
They said 'Ye it is' and nothing else
I told them I'd like to go with that. They haven't said anything else. They have also opened up for commissions, and apparently filled their slots. Their bio on twitter now says 'Comms closed/Trades open'
Flat out contradicting what they had told me on July 21st about them working on it 'in a few weeks or after commissions'.
I honestly feel like the raffle was just a ploy to get more followers, as he doesn't seem to care enough to actually follow through on the raffle. I'd actually appreciate it more if I was just told 'Sorry, but I'm canceling the raffle'. I'd block him at that point, and tell friends about it, but at least it would be done at that point.
Do you guys feel the same about this? (About feeling like they used the raffle to boost how many followed they had? They went from barely 250 to 469 followers now)
I'm a very patient person. I've been lucky enough to win multiple raffles over the years. Many people I win raffles from I usually commission a few times afterwords because I appreciate their work a lot, or at the very least boost their signal in groups I'm in to get them more attention.
I just want people to be up front with me and not drag me around with vague answers of 'eventually'.
The artist replied with 'Got it, I'll be working on a sketch when I can'
A couple days after christmas (Dec 27th) I wished them a good holiday, and they replied the same.
On Jan 19th I asked about the raffle. I was told 'Yeah it still is, I just haven’t had the time to work on big projects. If you’d like, I can give a free lineless headshot as a substitute'
Didn't realize I didn't hit enter to my reply, so I replied on Feb 10th when I realized that. I told them sorry about the late reply, and I didn't mind the wait, I was just curious.
They replied 'No worries, it happens. But yeah just let me know what you think'
Around then twitter was having issued with sending messages between users. But I told them again I don't mind waiting for the raffle on Feb 20th.
On Feb 22nd, they messaged me for the first time. It was to ask me to sign up on Temu using their referral code. I don't trust Temu/Ali Express/Wish so I told him those sites freak me out/set me off because I don't trust them.
On May 21st I messaged them again telling them to be careful with Temu, since their parent company seemed to be getting into some trouble with their apps.
In June on the 12th I told them about the message changes happening soon on twitter, and they needed to follow back anyone they're in contact with or messages can't be sent.
On July 21st I asked again about the raffle, since it had been about 10 months since the raffle happened.
I was told 'I was going to postpone it since I’ve been busy but since things have been calm, I’ll get to get in a few weeks. Or after commissions'
I told them they should update everyone that won something in the raffle (Myself and 3 others)
They replied 'I didn't even know it was all the way back in September. Thanks for reminding me'
(During this gap they had finished commissions and trades they were working on)
On September 10th I messaged them again, asking to take them up on their 'I can give a free lineless headshot as a substitute' offer, since it's been almost a full year since the raffle.
They said 'Ye it is' and nothing else
I told them I'd like to go with that. They haven't said anything else. They have also opened up for commissions, and apparently filled their slots. Their bio on twitter now says 'Comms closed/Trades open'
Flat out contradicting what they had told me on July 21st about them working on it 'in a few weeks or after commissions'.
I honestly feel like the raffle was just a ploy to get more followers, as he doesn't seem to care enough to actually follow through on the raffle. I'd actually appreciate it more if I was just told 'Sorry, but I'm canceling the raffle'. I'd block him at that point, and tell friends about it, but at least it would be done at that point.
Do you guys feel the same about this? (About feeling like they used the raffle to boost how many followed they had? They went from barely 250 to 469 followers now)
I'm a very patient person. I've been lucky enough to win multiple raffles over the years. Many people I win raffles from I usually commission a few times afterwords because I appreciate their work a lot, or at the very least boost their signal in groups I'm in to get them more attention.
I just want people to be up front with me and not drag me around with vague answers of 'eventually'.
I understand being annoyed when thinking you'll get something and then its delayed/cancelled without clear resolution, but it seems like a lot to get so mad at someone fizzling out on something fun they offered to do for fun and for free...? I have been promised free work that still remains to be seen 6 years after the fact, but much of the time if they have other things they'll prioritize more then I just accept that 'oh well, they just dropped it' even when they have said "ah yeah I'll get to it..." etc etc.
Many artists are spotty, and will always need to functionally prioritize work that gives them income, so I understand the lack of direct communication being frustrating and it being very very likely they will never get to it, but this post feels like such a large reaction over free goodies. I'm not saying they aren't per-say in the wrong here because dropping things you promise isn't cool, but its like...if someone at a party offered to at some point in the future give me a free bag of chips, and then I messaged him about it and he keeps saying yeah he'll do it sometime but never does, it just feels kinda like a shrug and move on moment, not a keeping a dated timeline of events huge kind of moment, haha
But excuses were constantly made when asked about it.
And again, I've gotten many raffle prizes before, and this is someone who I actually liked one of the commission styles they do and was planning on commissioning them after the raffle (I've had people tell me I don't get the prize anymore since they 'worked slightly harder on a commission before') but if they can't do this, but are always trying to do trades...?
I've also had other people before I was getting a raffle prize from in the past that just straight up told me 'I'm canceling it because X'. Not 'Oh I forgot it was that long ago, I'll do it in a few weeks or after commissions or something' and never once try to contact me about it but to only contact me to use their referral code for Temu of all things.
Hell, I've commissioned people hundreds of times in total. I beyond appreciate what they do for me because there's a lot of stuff I couldn't have gotten done otherwise.
I just want people to actually have the backbone to tell people things as it is. 'No, I'm not going to do the raffle'. That ends the whole thing. Everyone goes on their own way.
Don't say 'I was gonna postpone it, but things have been calm so I'll get to it in a few weeks or after commissions'. They finished commissions, it's been two months, they then took more commissions/trades.
The temu thing is also quite strange...sounds like they aren't very enjoyable to talk or work with, sorry to hear. Hopefully they will learn their lesson moving forward with negative feedback, but most of the time people who don't respect others much don't learn to do so very easily, ouch.