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Buyer Beware, or at least be careful
6 years ago
In the past, I have purchased a few commissions and YCH's from artists that never completed the work and I have had friends or friends of friends experience this same problem. In many cases, there seems to be no recourse for buyers, especially if you use PayPal. Why? Most transactions are done as personal transfers, and PayPal offers no financial protection for the sender in this situation. I have had a few artists specifically ask for personal transfers and it is usually of that pool that I have had the most issues in the past.
You will notice I am not naming any names, and that is due to FA's policies because they would count it as name shaming. A policy I understand but find ridiculous that they allow for commission and the organization of purchase but offer little in review for the provider of a product. Which is what we are dealing with, those that purchase art are buying a product from those that supply and create our artwork for us. In this case, names are not required. Many who read this will have experienced the same as I and others, and for those that have not personally experienced it, you will know someone who has. You as a buyer have the right to financial protection for your purchase, but it is up to you to ensure you take the necessary steps to provide such protection for yourself. I will share what has worked for me in the past.
1. Do not use PayPal.me links - unless you have purchased from the artist before, and have never experienced issues in all your time with them, do not use PayPal.me links provided to you. These are counted as personal transactions, and not covered by PayPal's dispute methods.
2. Do not send money as a personal gift, use the buying Goods or Services option - Some artists will not be happy with this, they price their work at a specific amount, and when you buy a good or service via Paypal the fee is deducted from the seller, not the buyer. So if you are paying for a commission that is $40 the seller may only get 39.05 or whatever is left after PayPal takes its fee.
3. Carefully read the artists policies - One artist I dealt with would not return any money unless he/she hadn't returned even a sketch of your commission in five months. You may recognize this as well beyond the timeframe most financial institutions will handle disputes on a transaction. With artists that require payment upfront, it is important to make sure what their turn around time is. Intentional or not taking months to get back to you puts you at risk of never seeing your money again unless they decide to give it back. Avoid artists with refund terms that extend MONTHS out, this is for your protection. YOU are the buyer, YOU are paying for something, and YOUR rights should also matter.
4.Look at the artist's Activity - If you notice an artist doing tons of YCH's while also accepting tons of commissions without finishing previous ones consider this a big flashing red alert. Granted there are many artists that work in a backlog constantly and communicate with their customers but be wary because many will take months and may even decide months down the road not to finish or do your piece at all.
5.Read comments on posts, journals or even shouts on the user page - this can be difficult in some cases, an artist I had commissioned had taken 6 months to complete my piece, it was a YCH and I had noticed newer YCH's were being completed over mine. I did see comments from other customers that complained about waiting 7 months to a year and still having nothing. The problem with this was my comments and the comments of others got deleted minutes after they were posted. So it is possible but difficult.
Those are five things I take into consideration any time a purchase a new commission or YCH. Commissioning is a commercial activity, there is a transaction between two or more people of financial nature in return for a completed product. Yes, commissions can take time, and this is something every buyer should consider, but there is a reasonable turnaround and then there is not doing right by the customer. Artists have the right to go about their lives and use their talents and skills to earn an income and work within their method. However, you as the buyer also have the right to receive what you pay for, receive in a reasonable amount of time depending on the medium being used and beforehand discussions with the artist, and have financial security in your purchase. You MUST provide your own security by purchasing things the right way. If an artist asks you to use an alternate payment platform check and make sure that the platform provides YOU with a method of disputing payment if things get out of hand on your purchase. Yes, there are artists that get screwed over, which is just as bad as buyers getting screwed over. Sadly I have nothing to say to help artists, all the practices I take now are from me buying art and never getting it and seeing my money fly away forever.
Would be nice if FA just allowed us to review artists. Same for artists reviewing buyers.
You will notice I am not naming any names, and that is due to FA's policies because they would count it as name shaming. A policy I understand but find ridiculous that they allow for commission and the organization of purchase but offer little in review for the provider of a product. Which is what we are dealing with, those that purchase art are buying a product from those that supply and create our artwork for us. In this case, names are not required. Many who read this will have experienced the same as I and others, and for those that have not personally experienced it, you will know someone who has. You as a buyer have the right to financial protection for your purchase, but it is up to you to ensure you take the necessary steps to provide such protection for yourself. I will share what has worked for me in the past.
1. Do not use PayPal.me links - unless you have purchased from the artist before, and have never experienced issues in all your time with them, do not use PayPal.me links provided to you. These are counted as personal transactions, and not covered by PayPal's dispute methods.
2. Do not send money as a personal gift, use the buying Goods or Services option - Some artists will not be happy with this, they price their work at a specific amount, and when you buy a good or service via Paypal the fee is deducted from the seller, not the buyer. So if you are paying for a commission that is $40 the seller may only get 39.05 or whatever is left after PayPal takes its fee.
3. Carefully read the artists policies - One artist I dealt with would not return any money unless he/she hadn't returned even a sketch of your commission in five months. You may recognize this as well beyond the timeframe most financial institutions will handle disputes on a transaction. With artists that require payment upfront, it is important to make sure what their turn around time is. Intentional or not taking months to get back to you puts you at risk of never seeing your money again unless they decide to give it back. Avoid artists with refund terms that extend MONTHS out, this is for your protection. YOU are the buyer, YOU are paying for something, and YOUR rights should also matter.
4.Look at the artist's Activity - If you notice an artist doing tons of YCH's while also accepting tons of commissions without finishing previous ones consider this a big flashing red alert. Granted there are many artists that work in a backlog constantly and communicate with their customers but be wary because many will take months and may even decide months down the road not to finish or do your piece at all.
5.Read comments on posts, journals or even shouts on the user page - this can be difficult in some cases, an artist I had commissioned had taken 6 months to complete my piece, it was a YCH and I had noticed newer YCH's were being completed over mine. I did see comments from other customers that complained about waiting 7 months to a year and still having nothing. The problem with this was my comments and the comments of others got deleted minutes after they were posted. So it is possible but difficult.
Those are five things I take into consideration any time a purchase a new commission or YCH. Commissioning is a commercial activity, there is a transaction between two or more people of financial nature in return for a completed product. Yes, commissions can take time, and this is something every buyer should consider, but there is a reasonable turnaround and then there is not doing right by the customer. Artists have the right to go about their lives and use their talents and skills to earn an income and work within their method. However, you as the buyer also have the right to receive what you pay for, receive in a reasonable amount of time depending on the medium being used and beforehand discussions with the artist, and have financial security in your purchase. You MUST provide your own security by purchasing things the right way. If an artist asks you to use an alternate payment platform check and make sure that the platform provides YOU with a method of disputing payment if things get out of hand on your purchase. Yes, there are artists that get screwed over, which is just as bad as buyers getting screwed over. Sadly I have nothing to say to help artists, all the practices I take now are from me buying art and never getting it and seeing my money fly away forever.
Would be nice if FA just allowed us to review artists. Same for artists reviewing buyers.
