Artist Beware: xZakurou

[ssmss.livejournal.com]

WHO: xZakurou on deviantART

WHERE: http://xzakurou.deviantart.com/

WHAT: Fully rendered, two character commission

WHEN: First contact from them was August 2nd, 2013 and last contact I received from them was August 5th, 2013.

PROOF: This is a screenshot of our whole exchange through notes on deviantART. Beware that the requested commission involves tickling fetishism so maybe don't read this if that makes you uncomfortable.

This is a screenshot of the times I have tried to contact him and received no answer. These notes have been read but haven't been answered.

EXPLAIN: I was contacted on August 2nd, 2013 and xZakurou requested a commission from me. I told them what the price would be after they told me what they wanted and they said they were okay with that. I sent them a few heavily watermarked previews to be approved and when the commission was finished, I requested payment before I sent anything final over (I used to only ask for payment once I was finished). They assured me I would be paid soon (that was back on August 5th) but I have not received any kind of response since. After waiting a long time for a response, I told them that I no longer cared if they wanted the commission anymore or could not afford it but asked for an explanation and warned them that I intended to post them here.

That's basically all that has happened and although in this case I should have requested the payment upfront (or at least half of it) I think this still deserves a warning to be cautious if dealing with this person. I had never had problems with asking for payment once I'm finished but I've definitely learned my lesson now. Luckily I have not given them anything other than a small watermarked preview of the final commission.

Comments

[kerstin-orion.livejournal.com]

That really sucks; but at least all they got was a watermarked preview.

Have you tried sending them an invoice through PayPal? Maybe something official-looking will prod them into action.

[ssmss.livejournal.com]

If I had gotten an email address from them I definitely would have sent them an invoice but unfortunately I didn't even get that much.

[kerstin-orion.livejournal.com]

Were their gallery and journals and favorites empty when they commissioned you? It's coming up all blank now. Very suspicious.

[ssmss.livejournal.com]

Yeah, everything was empty from the beginning. I didn't find it that strange at the time since I've be commissioned by people like that before (aka nothing on their pages) and they've been great customers. I'm going to be a lot more weary from now on, though.

[kerstin-orion.livejournal.com]

Ah, ok. I can't find any recent activity of theirs at all, but if that's how their profile was before, that makes sense. It still sounds like they're actively ignoring you, rather than just being absent.

I'm sorry I don't have much more advice to offer you to get your money from this person. Perhaps try a shout on their page if you haven't already?

On a side note, I would recommend in the future conducting all of your business through email. Much easier to organize and then you also have an email to send PayPal invoices to.

[ssmss.livejournal.com]

I haven't left a shout on their page yet but that's a good idea! And also doing business through email is a really good idea, I hadn't really thought about it that way before. Thank you, dear! <3