[identity profile] mellehz.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] artistsbeware2_archive
Hate to have to do this but I've just had an unpleasant encounter with a customer on FA. It's not a big loss, but it's still a loss, and I am quite annoyed.



Customer advertised on the FA forums, wanting to commission someone for a ref sheet of their character. I PM'ed them and they were interested in commissioning me.

Our first exchange.

As you can see, I very clearly stated this would be my first muscle picture, and they agreed to it.

I began sketching, and showed the WIP so they could request any changes. This was all moved to email.

Does he state anywhere that he was not happy with how I did the muscles? No.

I assumed things were ok so far, and went to work on his changes. A bit later, he emailed me back, wanting to pull out of the commission.

We agreed that he would pay me for the sketch I've done, after I cleaned it up. It is my standard rate for a sketch; $3 USD.

I worked on finishing the sketch and sent it to them, as you can see above. 6 days then went by with no word and no payment. I emailed again, inquiring after the payment, and then:

Apparently I shouldn't have taken the commission cause I wasn't good with muscles, even though he agreed to it in the first place. He also only payed me $1.50 USD for the sketch, despite agreeing to pay $3 USD.

Paypal receipt showing his rude 'it's better than nothing' message.

Now, I know $3 isn't a lot, but as many of you know, EVERY single cent counts, especially if you're unemployed like I am. I worked a good hour on his sketch, made it VERY clear in the beginning that I was NOT experienced with muscles but I would try, and he agreed to it.



I've learnt my lesson and now have a 'Terms and Conditions' page I will now show my future clients.

Date: 2009-02-21 04:52 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kerstin-orion.livejournal.com
While I do believe it is within his rights that he decided not to continue with the commission (you did say, because you've never done muscles, not to send any money until he'd seen a sketch), I approved this because he ended up paying you half the agreed-upon amount for the cleaned-up and fixed sketch.

Date: 2009-02-21 05:11 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zyleeth.livejournal.com
Everything else aside, I just think its the tackiest thing in the world to send a rude message through Paypal.
(deleted comment)

Date: 2009-02-26 07:02 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] juno-king.livejournal.com
I wish i had a monocle

Date: 2009-02-21 05:31 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mialattia.livejournal.com
Definitely charge prior to doing art in the future. That way, if he'd still decided he didn't want you to finish it, you could have refunded him the proper amount and kept the $3.

Refusing to pay you for your work and time is a complete fucking insult, no matter what they think of how you handled the muscles. It is NOT up to them to decide how much they pay you.

Date: 2009-02-21 06:08 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] patchesfox.livejournal.com
That's just silly....you showed him the work and he seemed happy enough with it right until he got an offer by someone else to do it for free then all of a sudden he's not so happy.

Hmm lets see, agreed to pay you $3 for the cleaned up sketch, went through all the corrections with you....I can't see any excuse not to pay you. I can't help but wonder: is it really that hard for him to pay you $3 considering he had enough money to commission you anyways?

Date: 2009-02-21 06:34 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jakejynx.livejournal.com
That is really terrible. $3 for what you did is cheap to begin with, but to not even be willing to pay THAT? What a jerk.

Date: 2009-02-21 07:02 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] x-thor.livejournal.com
This guy sounds.. absolutely ridiculous. How rude to sent that 1.50.. It's like he's saying that drawing is only worth half of what you usually charge. I also agree that it isn't up to him how much money he owes. :S


Sorry you had such an unfortunate experience, though you do sound very pleasant to commission and you were willing to work with something you hadn't done before.. Props for trying, I think you did a fine job.. Don't let this guy bring you down about that.

Image 2

Date: 2009-02-21 07:05 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] snobahr.livejournal.com
"...not happy with how I did the muscles?" Uhm, yes. Point 3: "Not enough muscles and the gut is two small..."

It's not a big clue, but it is an indicator of dissatisfaction.

And stiffing you a buck fifty for work already done, that's just fucked.

Re: Image 2

Date: 2009-02-21 08:48 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] snobahr.livejournal.com
Oh, he was definitely an asshat, no argument.

Date: 2009-02-21 07:37 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] findmealone.livejournal.com
That is disgusting. He seems pretty young, but that's no excuse.

Date: 2009-02-21 02:54 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] haricotvert.livejournal.com
he did have the right to pull out of the commission (the immature part of me is giggling at the wording), but he didn't have the right to deem how much your work is worth. if the sketch was $3, then pay $3. a buck-fifty is a slap in the face.

and i always have my clients pay upfront before any work is done. i do leave the option of pay-after-the-sketch only if a client seems leery about that. most of my clients are other artists or have done these before, so they don't have a problem with paying first. then it's easier to refund them the proper amount than have them not pay you enough.

Date: 2009-02-25 10:13 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namitheuntamed.livejournal.com
The fact that he won't pay a measly $3, especially when he AGREED to pay the $3 previously, pretty much makes him a jerk, yeah.

Sirrinose here

Date: 2009-02-26 07:04 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] juno-king.livejournal.com
Am i an asshat: yes. (very mature by the way)

Though i could have Handled it different i'm not going to apologize because i was not happy with the finished product. Which i see was not posted on here. If you want the rest of the 3 bucks i can send it to you still if you want. hell, I'll pay you half the original price really.

Re: Sirrinose here

Date: 2009-02-27 05:42 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] juno-king.livejournal.com
No need for apologies. I deserved it. I was kind of annoyed myself at the time and went about the complete wrong way.

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