Questionable art trade?

[punkspacewafers.livejournal.com]

So I have a question regarding an artist that I set up an art trade with.
We agreed on this art trade about six months ago. They would do two small pieces of art in exchange for a hat.
They gave me a reference to make the hat, so I followed the reference, finished it my part of the trade, and posted photos. I finished it pretty quickly, and did not expect them to be done in that time. Well, I never did get a response from them about it.
I sent them a note about four months later, and they said that "the hat was all wrong." Well, okay, I re-sold the hat to someone else and asked them if they wanted to continue the trade with a new hat. They said yes.
They sent me a new reference, this time of what they wanted the hat to look like. It looked nice, and after some discussion, we decided on the final design. I, again, made the hat, posted photos, this was two months ago. They commented saying how beautiful and perfect it was, but they also said they had a hand injury and it might take longer to finish their part of the trade.
Recently, they've posted a couple of journals regarding owed art, so I got excited thinking they were working on my artwork! I commented, first on their journal, and got a response with them asking if they ever gave me an address to send the hat to. I said that they had not, and then asked if they started on my art yet. No response.
About a week or two later, I posted on their commission status (which I did not happen to be on) if they had started. No response. They posted a journal two days ago, meaning that they had been online, but I'm not sure if they are reading their comments.
So now, I have this custom hat sitting here in my room for a really long time, and I'm slightly tired of this shenanigans, but I don't know the artists situation and I don't want to be too quick to jump to conclusions.
Do you guys have any advice? Is it my fault for finishing the hat before they even started on their part?

Comments

[hollowzero.livejournal.com]

Well it's not your "fault" per say.

I would have taken "the hat is all wrong" as a warning. It seems like this person will be either shady, or will do subpar work in return.

I personally wouldn't have done the second hat, and said when they got one piece done you'd do the hat or some such.

What I would do now, is just give an ultimatum. Note her and say if she doesn't respond, the hat is being sold. If she does respond, say that she needs to provide the art in 2 weeks (or so), or the hat will be sold.

[mariechan.livejournal.com]

Seconding what the other person said, seems rather shady. However, depending on what the hat looks like you might be able to sell it like the first one.

[mariechan.livejournal.com]

And I just saw your hats! Their lovely, I would so do an art trade for one of those hats. This last person is foolish for snubbing you like that.

:/

[kappyjeanne.livejournal.com]

You think they would be aware of your ability to sell the product, especially after the first one. Why would they dawdle when they know you could just as easily get rid of this one?

You may want to encourage them to finish their half, lest you do put up a listing for this hat. It's not fair you've done so much work and have been getting no responses in return! They are basically only responding to you to let you know where to send their hat - I don't suspect they'll finish their half.

The great thing is, there was no money involved in this and you are not obligated to send the hat off if you don't feel comfortable. It's been long enough that I feel you're justified to start setting some serious ground rules. An ultimatum, if you will, and go from there.

Cheers <3

[spiffystuff.livejournal.com]

yeah, at this point, give them a deadline after which you'll just sell the hat and wipe your hands of the affair :P

[razzek.livejournal.com]

Well, honestly...don't do art trades unless you initiate them. Unfortunately, at least in my experience, there's nothing you can do in these situations. This person has treated you badly, you owe them nothing, and there's unfortunately no way you can really get what you're owed from them. I had this exact thing happen to me once too often and I just stopped doing art trades completely unless I knew for sure I was up to it and I asked the artist myself.

[punkspacewafers.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm kind of regretting making this hat since it was pretty intricate and took up some valuable commission time.
I'll go do that right now, hopefully they will actually respond to this note.
Thanks!

[punkspacewafers.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping I would be able to sell it, since the design is pretty general, but you never know xD
And thank you! :)

[punkspacewafers.livejournal.com]

Right-on, them asking if I had their address made me really suspicious. There's no way I'm sending it if I don't see their side.
I'm writing up a note to them right now, I'm just really fed up with this entire situation.

Thanks! <3

[yoka-neko.livejournal.com]

mm i have had trade problems too
im still waiting on 3 trades from last year!
one of them i contact read my notes but then doesnt respond.
it sucks,
i suggest what spiffy said, give a reasonable deadline, then if they dont co-operate, sell the hat.The good thing is that your item is a physical item, so you can sell it on, where as people who do character drawings cannot D:

[punkspacewafers.livejournal.com]

Done <3

[yoka-neko.livejournal.com]

also please excuse my terrible English, im mega tired

[punkspacewafers.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's a good idea. Art trades that weren't started by me generally take much longer and are much more stressful, so I think I'm pretty much done with them for now.

[punkspacewafers.livejournal.com]

Oh goodness, three? I'm sorry D:
I gave them two weeks, like hollowzero suggested, to decide on what they wanted to do with the situation, so we'll see what happens.
And that's true, so I'm usually grateful that I'm a seamstress rather than an artist, but sometimes hats just don't sell because people don't want something that isn't their own design :( I'm hoping that people will want this one though, since it's pretty general.

[razzek.livejournal.com]

After being ripped off by no less than five people at the same time with trades, I was done with the whole mess. If I want art, I'll buy it and ensure that both sides of the equation get what they actually want. :D

[yoka-neko.livejournal.com]

ive seen your work before it looks really nice and made to a high quality,
so im very sure you will be able to sell it ^_^
good luck with everything anyway

[punkspacewafers.livejournal.com]

Oh my goodness .____. I'm sorry to hear about that!
And yeah, buying it is usually the easiest way to go, as long as the artist actually works on the piece. :)

[razzek.livejournal.com]

Buying art is, generally, a more guaranteed thing, too. If someone just takes your money and doesn't do the work you paid them for, you've at least got some legal ground to stand on (and places like A_B to help you double check if an artist is trustworthy).

[kappyjeanne.livejournal.com]

The thing is, if everyone felt the same way and refused trades if they didn't initiate them, nobody would have anyone to trade with! Everyone would just decline trades from others.

I think it's important to know who you are trading with, and to have developed some sort of understanding of how their business ethic works (combined with how they view trades in comparison) and at least have some sort of relationship. The most common attributes for failure in a trade are either a disconnect between artists, or an unreliable half.

I do think it's possible to do art trades successfully, if there is some substantial profiling done prior to.

[razzek.livejournal.com]

I'm...not really sure why this is a problem. From what I've seen, as time goes on, every artist who once took trades who then goes on to take commissions stops trades once they realize how much of a scam it is.

Basically, you've just repeated my reasons for being the one who asks (because, let's face it, very few artists are ever asked by artists of equal skill, ethics, or business practices for a trade).

I've yet to see any real-world examples of profitable art trades, I'm afraid. Trading physical items for art of an equivalent value works great, though (well, provided you treat it like a paid commission, which it is).

[linksage.livejournal.com]

Ugh. This is exactly why I don't do trades of any sort anymore. I've been stiffed out of so many trades I've lost count, and those were just drawings. ;p

Thirding what hollowzero suggested. At this point if they don't deliver something, and something decent, I would just sell it to someone else and move on.

[spdora.livejournal.com]

Gosh. I'm sorry to hear about that and good luck! I feel like you really got jipped in this deal. Really, your make quality things looking in your gallery! You should probably set up your own personal rules about trades, I.E., they get their half done first before you start on yours. Art, especially fully digital art, costs them nothing to make, just time. You have materials, time, and effort you put into your things to get a physical outcome. So, yeah.

Anyway, neat idea about trading art for hats though! Maybe smaller items, such as tiny keychain plushies or something very simple to make? Ideas ideas ideas. I guess just note them, though, and don't do trades unless you start them up.

[punkspacewafers.livejournal.com]

Right-on, I have thought about that a lot lately. I always feel so bad about making them finish first though, maybe it would be better for them to show a WIP before I start on my part? Iunno hahah.
And I've also been thinking about making mini-plush instead of full sized hats and plush so that the prices equal out more >.>
Thanks for the ideas!

[sbneko.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't follow Razzek's advice personally. Because I'm guessing you're doing trades because you enjoy them, wouldn't be fun if you stopped.

That said, you'll need to start putting rules. I recently made rules and will use them unless the other person is my friend. I'm still working them out, so they're not the best so far.

But firstly, if someone asks YOU to trade, they either need to start and prove it, or finish first.

If you ask someone else, I'd either go with their rules (decline if I don't feel comfy) or ask to follow the same rule above in reverse. Where you start.

The best bet would be to do steps. I don't sew, so I'm not sure if it would work with you. But basically, with art, I'll do a sketch, they do a sketch, show it, do the inks, they do the inks, show it, etc. You could always get scammed, but not by that much.

[kayla-la.livejournal.com]

Trades are perfectly possible to have go right, it's just you have to find people who will follow through with them and stick with them. Research them like you would an artist you want to commission and don't just trade with anyone that comes along. But you don't have to quit doing them altogether.