Waiting for Payments

[Shirohibiki]

Okay, so I'm a little nervous to post this as I'm not sure if it's the correct section or even something I should ask, I'm just a tad... Confused/curious is all.

So, uhm, I run a (really bad) art shop, and before, I was just having people pay me after I'd finished their commission. I ran into a problem with having to hound people down for that, though, so I changed it. This brings me to my point...

I've been waiting for someone for a little while now; I completed their piece, but have gotten no word from them whether it be VM or PM. I'm not trying to jump to any conclusions of course, as I do know life gets in the way of things, but I was just curious...

If things like this happen, where an artist or shopowner or whoever, doesn't get their payment, what do we do? Do we... Report them? Do we give them a negative rating? Do we just give up and pack our bags and go home?

I'm sorry, I'm still new to like, selling stuff... I don't even know how to deal with not receiving real-life commission money ><;

EDIT: As a sidenote, in no way do I want to be malicious. I just don't know how to deal with these things, as I said.

 

[J087]

Pay 50% of the price in advance and collect the rest on delivery, with the risk that no one comes to pick it up? That's usually the deal with any sort of custom-made product. If it's a common product (online store wise) it can always be sold to someone else if it doesn't get paid for and thus not delivered.

 

[sn0wxyuki]

This is the reason why a lot signature creator in the forum always ask to receive payment first, either half or full cause most of them face the same problem: Not receiving pay after job complete. You can try VM/PM the person again and check if they did online afterwards but don't bother to reply you, then is your choice to give them the wifi rating or let it go and take it as a small lesson (I'm sorry for this happen).

 

[Party Poison]

Aw Shiro, I'm sorry this is happening. ; ^ ; Honestly though, like most people said I'd start asking for payment first or at least half because most people who are serious buyers of art will not mind paying you up front at all. If ac bells become to much of a hassle, TBT payments can always be the next option since they are easy for artist to collect as payment and can be easily converted to bells from the multiple TBT buyers (plus they are easy for refunds if needed).

I agree though, there should be some rules regarding art sales/trades. Just like how auction was a bit wishy washy at first, art sales should have their own application in the rules in regards to feedback and ratings without any repercussions towards the artist if they provide proper guidelines.​

 

[BungoTheElf]

Maybe send them a vm or pm saying that you'll give them a neg wi-if rating if they don't pay soon enough? 0: how many days since the art was finished? If they don't respond and they've been online a few times I'd give them a neg :B

And maybe you should take payment ahead of time now? O: you do always end up getting all your art slots done anyways

 

[Fuzzbyroo]

Have they been online or posted anything recently? Like lynn105 said, just give them a warning through a pm/vm. Say that if they don't pay by a certain date, you'll give them a negative rating. If there are any misunderstandings, there is a way to remove the negative Wi-Fi rating but otherwise they deserve it! It is THEIR responsibility to pay you ASAP! They should be following you up, not the other way around. But has harsh as it seems (since I'm not usually negative), they kinda deserve the negative rating because it will show people that they fail to make the effort of following you up about payment and leaves you thinking that they are trying to get away with free art (which may not the case but I would think so if they can't make the effort of letting you know).

Sorry that was long lol. But that's what I think anyway XD Everyone else above me is right too.

 

[Kaiaa]

Most artists ask for payment up from before delivery, I would start asking for people to do that. Also, you cannot use the wifi rating for art commissions. If you did not wifi with them or do an auction with them, you cannot leave a negative/positive/neutral rating for them. If you PM me the persons name I will send them a PM myself if you wish

 

[Shirohibiki]

Pay 50% of the price in advance and collect the rest on delivery, with the risk that no one comes to pick it up? That's usually the deal with any sort of custom-made product. If it's a common product (online store wise) it can always be sold to someone else if it doesn't get paid for and thus not delivered.

Yeah, I know people usually do that with IRL commissions, I just didn't know if it was WORTH it to do it with bells. :s (Sort of like how I didn't do it with my most recent IRL commission and now the person isn't paying me HAHA)

This is the reason why a lot signature creator in the forum always ask to receive payment first, either half or full cause most of them face the same problem: Not receiving pay after job complete. You can try VM/PM the person again and check if they did online afterwards but don't bother to reply you, then is your choice to give them the wifi rating or let it go and take it as a small lesson (I'm sorry for this happen).

Oh no no it's okay I'm not really that upset, I was just a little stressed about how to deal with it is all! ;v; I changed it to people having to pay up front. I did PM them like... A day or two ago? Maybe? And they've been online, yes. As Kaiaa said however, I obviously can't do a rating which I figured.

Aw Shiro, I'm sorry this is happening. ; ^ ; Honestly though, like most people said I'd start asking for payment first or at least half because most people who are serious buyers of art will not mind paying you up front at all. If ac bells become to much of a hassle, TBT payments can always be the next option since they are easy for artist to collect as payment and can be easily converted to bells from the multiple TBT buyers (plus they are easy for refunds if needed).

I agree though, there should be some rules regarding art sales/trades. Just like how auction was a bit wishy washy at first, art sales should have their own application in the rules in regards to feedback and ratings without any repercussions towards the artist if they provide proper guidelines.​

It's okay, it's okay! And yeah, bells are kind of a huge hassle, especially if I cut it to half then it's just like even more trouble and ugh. It wasn't that much though and I'm not mad or anything, maybe a little sad if they didn't like it, but that's okay! I was just fuzzy on the details. But thank you ;v;

Maybe send them a vm or pm saying that you'll give them a neg wi-if rating if they don't pay soon enough? 0: how many days since the art was finished? If they don't respond and they've been online a few times I'd give them a neg :B

And maybe you should take payment ahead of time now? O: you do always end up getting all your art slots done anyways

I did change the rules, yeah, but I can't 'threaten' them as Kaiaa said, and I wouldn't want to. I don't want to be mean. ):

Have they been online or posted anything recently? Like lynn105 said, just give them a warning through a pm/vm. Say that if they don't pay by a certain date, you'll give them a negative rating. If there are any misunderstandings, there is a way to remove the negative Wi-Fi rating but otherwise they deserve it! It is THEIR responsibility to pay you ASAP! They should be following you up, not the other way around. But has harsh as it seems (since I'm not usually negative), they kinda deserve the negative rating because it will show people that they fail to make the effort of following you up about payment and leaves you thinking that they are trying to get away with free art (which may not the case but I would think so if they can't make the effort of letting you know).

Sorry that was long lol. But that's what I think anyway XD Everyone else above me is right too.

Ahh well as Kaiaa said that's not appropriate to do but I understand the advice to do so. u0u I'm actually more upset about the other person skimping me out of real money than I am about a few bells, but that's obvious haha. I don't think they're necessarily doing it on purpose, maybe... I think? I don't know. I just wasn't sure how to handle this since I'm not familiar with all da rulez :c

Most artists ask for payment up from before delivery, I would start asking for people to do that. Also, you cannot use the wifi rating for art commissions. If you did not wifi with them or do an auction with them, you cannot leave a negative/positive/neutral rating for them. If you PM me the persons name I will send them a PM myself if you wish

Thank you! I'm glad you cleared that up for me. <3 We can still give them a rating when they pay, right? Cause we're wifing at that point? Or wait, unless that's not right either... Oh dear.

 

[U s a g i]

What I usually do if I want payment last, is send them a watermarked version and get their 'OK', have them send payment, and then I send over the piece without the watermark. c:

I'm so sorry this is happening to you though, that's not cool at all. TT__TT

 

[Shirohibiki]

What I usually do if I want payment last, is send them a watermarked version and get their 'OK', have them send payment, and then I send over the piece without the watermark. c:

I'm so sorry this is happening to you though, that's not cool at all. TT__TT

I notice people talking about watermarking a lot but I don't uh. Actually know what it means omfg. Like I sorta do but I thought it was supposed to be something you can't remove from the image? I usually just put my signature at the top and that's that. So would this be different? Would I be putting it in the middle of the pic or something? X:

 

[U s a g i]

I notice people talking about watermarking a lot but I don't uh. Actually know what it means omfg. Like I sorta do but I thought it was supposed to be something you can't remove from the image? I usually just put my signature at the top and that's that. So would this be different? Would I be putting it in the middle of the pic or something? X:

Oh, well you pretty much got it right. What I do is make a separate layer and write my name pretty big over the middle of the image, or in one case over the entire image (I set the layer to screen or overlay though so the art could still be seen)~
I also save two versions of the file, one with my name across the middle of the pic (the watermarked version) and one like you usually do, with your signature at the top.

 

[Hana-Nezumi]

I notice people talking about watermarking a lot but I don't uh. Actually know what it means omfg. Like I sorta do but I thought it was supposed to be something you can't remove from the image? I usually just put my signature at the top and that's that. So would this be different? Would I be putting it in the middle of the pic or something? X:

Yeah, basically, it's slapping some text across the image so that it's unremovable and distracting, but making it semi-transparent so that they can still get an idea of what the picture looks like.

Personally, I would ask for FULL payment in advance before even starting on the picture. Even if it's just in-game currency you're asking for, the work that it's costing YOU is still real-life time and effort put into the art so I think it should be taken just as seriously as a real-life transaction. But I'd say definitely at LEAST do the 50 percent thing from now on. Especially since on this site, a good number of members are just kids and might not fully understand the responsibility it entails to pay someone to draw something for them.

 

[pengutango]

I notice people talking about watermarking a lot but I don't uh. Actually know what it means omfg. Like I sorta do but I thought it was supposed to be something you can't remove from the image? I usually just put my signature at the top and that's that. So would this be different? Would I be putting it in the middle of the pic or something? X:

Yep, exactly. For all my sig requests, I put text on a separate layer and just lower the opacity so it's a lil more subtle. Depending on the colors used, I will also mess with the layer effects as well. I used to put it in the center, but now I put it all over it.

Once they approve the mockup, I will send over the finished version (after making any necessary changes, if needed) with no watermark. I always require payment upfront for my requests since I am using my time to make these banners, so if I don't get payment by the time I get to them, I skip over them and work on the next person in line that's paid me in full.

If it's been a while... like over a week, I will contact them to see if they're even still interested because I don't want them taking up a slot if they have no intention of paying me.

 

[Flop]

When I had my Shop in the Markekplace, I would ask people up refrain from paying in advance, because it was very annoying when people were like, "I paid where's my stuff omg whine whine whine!" I also decided to leave it up to the buyer to ask for their order after a decent time so I wouldn't have to track them down.

 

[Shirohibiki]

Oooh, okay, thank you guys! Perhaps I'll start doing watermarks if I have any more issues, though so far everyone's been good except just the one XD;; But thank you all so much for the advice, I REALLY appreciate it!!

And yeah, Flop, that IS what I did at first but I tend to try to do all of them in a night or two, so if the person's on the list it's most likely getting done. :C And then when I had to hound people I got stressed out bkdljgsdfa
Like originally I said not to pay me because I thought I'd be slow with my depression, but apparently I've been okay at keeping the fire lit under my ass. Nobody's bugged me yet and I apologize when I can't stream, so eh. :c I guess we'll see what the future holds!