About my friend

[katchansan.livejournal.com]

 This isn't about commissions but it's mostly a question anyway.

 

My friend, we'll call her person A, had an art trade with someone on Gaiaonline, whom we'll call Person B.

 Well, Person B says they've been waiting for Person A's half the the trade since January. They've complained that they dropped comissions to finish their half for Person A.  Now, I can understand being annoyed waiting. I'm involved with an art trade myself, since Febuary, and haven't seen anything for it..Though in the person's defense, I haven't started my half either. I figure waiting is part of the fun of doing art trades and getting free art in general.

 Well, anyway, Person A complained to me a month or so ago that Person B send them a nasty reminder on Gaia. I didn't see the actual message, but Person A was very upset. She told Person B that the art trade would be finished in the summer, after finals, when she had more free time.
 Then, a few days ago, Person B gave Person A another reminder, this time on DeviantArt. This one I DID see, and it was rather nasty. She kept mentioning "At least a sketch would be nice, so it'd be ALMOST a fair trade" and Person A was upset. She told Person B again that she would finish it during the summer (Person A was still in school at this point).

 Well, since Person A is a good friend of mine, and it was annoying to hear someone treating her badly over art they're mostly getting for free, I told Person B, basically, that art trades are about waiting, and that Person A was busy, and said she'd get it finished. Person A thanked me because she couldn't say what I had said without sounding like, well, a bitch.

 Then Person B wrote back. They were angry that I had stepped in, seemingly having no idea what was going on, and basically told me I wouldn't know what art trades are about, maybe insulting my art skills. After that, I got a little snotty, but they were being rather awful themselves.

 Now, I wouldn't have stepped in, but Person B had even made journals, saying Person A was the reason why they won't ever do art trades again, and repeatedly saying they were being scammed (which got a lot of replies from her watchers, calling Person A terrible and such). Person A could've reported them, but they never mentioned her by name. Soo.

 The person decided to give up on getting their half of the art trade in the end, though.

 Now, my question is, is it all right for my friend to be waiting so long before giving in her half of an art trade? Person A tried her best to stay polite after being repeatedly bothered. I was polite with my first couple posts to Person B. Then I got sarcastic because they were being rude. Sure. But should they have acted the way they did over an art trade?

Comments

[tayit.livejournal.com]

I don't think it was out of line for A to get upset over the persistent prodding of B. Some people are just really...dense like that. You tell them once and it just won't sink in. I don't know...maybe people have a hard time understanding the concept that people in school (especially college) are there for a reason, and are getting an education, and can't focus or give undivided attention to commissions.

Your friend should, in retrospect, have asked for a sketch, or something. But, aside from that, I think it was only right for A to wait to submit her half of the trade because I'm going to surmise she'd seen nothing in return from B. If I were doing trades I'd not submit anything to the other party until either A: I'd seen progress sketches, or B: both parties come to an agreement on a certain date by which to see progress.

Seriously, though...B shouldn't have been such an asshole to your friend for all that. I cannot blame your friend for waiting and then eventually dropping the project. Snotty people exist everywhere, and unfortunately it looks like your friend chose the wrong person with whom to do business.

[katchansan.livejournal.com]

Lol, I think you got confused. B finished A's work already, and posted it on DA and everything. A has been too busy with school (She's not in high school yet, and B is 20, sooo..I dunno, judge that for yourself) so she wasn't going to work on it until summer (presumably so it would look better than if she had rushed it during school).

My friend is nice, though, and even though B no longer wants her half, she's still going to draw something for her.

[lilenth.livejournal.com]

Not really, sounds like person B is a bit of a kid. I've dealt with similar before, having artists sic their fan following on me. It's harassment plain and simple.

[katchansan.livejournal.com]

The sad thing is, my friend is younger than me (I'm 16) and the person she owes the trade to is 20

[allytha.livejournal.com]

I'm going to have to agree with strayd0g here. I see you kinda making trades out to be no big deal because money isn't exchanged, but the fact of the matter is that art done for trades takes as much time as art done for commissions, and time is money. You even said she put off commissions in order to get the trade done. Don't get me wrong, that was her choice, and not one I would have made, but it doesn't dismiss the fact that she put valuable time and effort into a piece for your friend.

Furthermore, age is irrelevant if person B feels she's being ripped off. I'd probably be irritated as well. Now, if your friend told her when the trade began that she wouldn't be able to start till summer, that would be an entirely different story. But I'm not getting that impression. :/

So.. yeah. But that's just going off what I understand of it. Like the others said, there's little info to go off of. ^_^;

[katchansan.livejournal.com]

Yes, but my friend made sure the person knew she wasn't going to be ripped off, but the person kept saying the trade wasn't going to be fair, and complaining in her journal and stuff. It's not as though my friend didn't even say when she would have time to work on it.

I think they're a big deal, but I still feel that they're for fun, and you shouldn't bother someone, and make it not fun for the other person. That's just my view. I'm not really experienced with these sort of things myself.

I'm sorry I don't have all the info. I'm kinda posting this here out of curiosity because I mostly felt bad of how I personally handled it. My friend doesn't know, so she can't fill you in.

[spiffystuff.livejournal.com]

Agreed. TRADE does not mean FREE. Would it be okay for a commissioner to stiff an artist? (or tell said artist "wait wait, I'm low on cash, I'll pay you in 6 months!" after the art was already complete)

Person B has a right to be annoyed, and to tell people that the trade has thus far not been honored.

[katchansan.livejournal.com]

I don't think that's really the same, but it is a good example, I suppose.

They have the right to be annoyed, sure. But so does my friend. If I could find the conversation had on her deviantart page (I couldn't even find it when I had to reply to it, I'm sorry), then I would post a sample of how polite person B was.

Far as I think, someone as rude as that deserves to wait a little bit.

They should just be happy my friend isn't going to rip them off. Even after Person B said they didn't want their half anymore, my friend is still going to finish it.

[spiffystuff.livejournal.com]

Well, not that it really matters what MHO is, but I don't really have a Humble Opinion on this for person A or person B. Just not enough info.
Person A was rude to agree to a trade they couldn't fulfill in a timely manner. Person B may be over the top with their reaction, but unless they're lying or really harassing person A (where harassment is multiple contacts after person A tells person B explicitly not to contact them anymore) or threatening person A, etc, I can't see how it's a case to "beware" of person B.
(I realize you're not exactly saying "beware of person B", but I'm not really sure what the reason for this post is except to get an idea of who's in the wrong?)

... and yeah, while it's okay to try to calm person B down, telling them they're being rude and wrong and should just wait for it ain't going to help the situation any.

[katchansan.livejournal.com]

Ah well, didn't know where else to put it.

[allytha.livejournal.com]

"They should just be happy my friend isn't going to rip them off."


If this is the opinion of you and your friend about art trades, you shouldn't be entering into them to begin with.

[katchansan.livejournal.com]

I'm not positive on the complete story, but she apologized when she was reminded on Gaia, and said it would be finished in summer.
There was no deadline as far as I know.

I don't think my friend should be blamed for person B losing money. Her commissions should've been finished first, in my opinion.

My friend was struggling in school. She let the person know she WAS going to do it, but it was just going to have to wait, and they were sorry. They continually asked my friend if they were done, and being terribly rude while doing so.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

I had a similar experience.

I accepted a trade with a then-friend with the warning that between school and work it could take a while before I finished my half. He, only having school and living with his mum, finished his half really fast.
After that he began to badger me every day to finish my half, even after he'd seen a sketch. I eventually stopped going to IRC, after being a regular for years, to avoid his badgering and rushed to finish my half so he could stop harassing me.

Yes, the promise to finish your art trade is as important as a commission. However, unlike a commission an art trade should also be fun! Harassing someone to finish their half never works, if anything they'll rush the work to be rid of you and it stops being fun for both parties.
It's especially ridiculous when the harassed person has explained why she's busy and when she'll have the time to dedicate herself to the work.

If you didn't trust them to do their half why accept an art trade with them in the first place?

My ex-friend later apologized when he saw me regale the event to a friend elsewhere in LJ and said he had no idea I experienced it the way I did; as the most obnoxious art trade I ever did.

That said, I've also had bad experiences with trades where I did my half and the other artist never even showed me a sketch, most notably Chris Goodwin, and it sucks. I think your friend should finish their half after all, even if person B abused him, if only because it would make her the better person and so she can finish this unpleasant business and move on.

[katchansan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's how it seemed to be for my friend. Though Person B didn't bother her every day, she'd bother once a month (which is completely acceptable, but just how RUDE they were was not), even after my friend told them they'd do it after school and their finals.

My friend is going to finish her half, even though person B said they didn't want it anymore. She feels bad they had to make the trade so unenjoyable for them both, and also probably doesn't want her name tarnished before she's sixteen. xP

[aaaamory.livejournal.com]

Art trades are "about waiting?" What the heck does that mean? Also, art trades aren't just trades. It's bartering, not gift-giving, and I actually know of one person who had to write off some financial losses for never receiving their half of an art trade (It was a pretty big project). Each person completing each side of their agreement is important. Something that might have been missing in this agreement is that there was no agreement on how long it would take, which can cause stuff like this to happen.

I dunno why it was necessary to step in in the middle of it, it seems a little bit unprofessional for her to let you do that.