Question about commissioning pay-upon-completion art

[thornwolf.livejournal.com]

I'm not naming names because I didn't pay anything yet and nothing was lost, but I'm very frustrated nonetheless and would like to ask for advice.

A few months ago an artist on my watch list was accepting animated icon commissions at $10 per, so I grabbed a spot. They said I didn't have to pay until it was completed, but because of the complexity of my character it would probably be in the $15 range. I said that was fine.

A month went by, and they were uploading personal artwork, but no mention of my icon (or the other ones they took). Being an artist myself, I understand the fact that people have every right to draw/upload personal art between commissions, but I felt that a month was a reasonable enough time to wait before contacting them about it, so I did, just asking how it was coming. They said that they had it nearly completed but then something happened and the file got corrupted/their computer died halfway through, I can't remember which it was just that it was a technical difficulty that wiped all of the progress they had on it so they'd have to start all over again. They also said that my icon would be done "tomorrow" or "the next day" latest.

This was 2 months ago. :/ They're still uploading personal art so they are active, but neither my icon or any of the other icons others have requested have been uploaded.

Should I continue to ask about it or should I just forget about it entirely? This is my first time commissioning someone who asks for payment upon completion so there's not technically much of a contract or obligation on their part to finish my artwork. I also have had experiences where I asked about progress and the artist felt so bad about taking so long that they immediately rushed through it and did a less-than-stellar job compared to their examples, so I don't want that to happen either. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Comments

[frazzled-niya.livejournal.com]

Ask the question and if they are still interested in doing the icon for you.

[techno4tomcats.livejournal.com]

I'd continue to ask and push the point you really want the art over 'not paying'.

I work on a 'payment at the end' basis and if I take too long, I'll ask the customer if they still want the art. If they want it, sweet, I'll push it through and collect my payment. If not? I'll drop it and maybe re-work it into something else.

That said, it's not fair to drop unpaid work with no notice.

[onesteptwo.livejournal.com]

I think if you decide that you don't want to bother with the icon any more, make sure to message the artist and make it very clear you do not want it, you will not pay for it. If you forget, may come back to bite you when you really need that 15 bucks. :P

[taelifoe.livejournal.com]

For me personally, at this point I would just contact the artist, thank them for their time, and ask them to please remove my name from the list so that they don't end up doing the art and then expecting payment later. After that, I would forget about it.

Sometimes computers do crash or other problems occur, but just because it has now been two months since they told you that, I would say nothing has been done on it and they don't sound terribly serious about getting it finished.

[syrusb.livejournal.com]

This is what I would do as well. No harm, no foul, both parties can move on.

[ogawaburukku.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this is what I was going to suggest.

[korsetkoat.livejournal.com]

Yes, definitely make sure to tell them you're cancelling. I made the very stupid mistake of assuming they just weren't going to do it in a situation very similar to this one, and didn't tell them to cancel. Five months later, it was finished, and I had no budget to pay for it.

[spiffystuff.livejournal.com]

If you want the icon you don't really lose anything by asking them if the commission is still on, until you either get it or they say they can't do it.

Of course, if the situation is more bother than you feel it's worth, then just forget about it for now? Actually, better to just cancel it unless you're okay with them popping up at random with an icon asking for $15 :P

[makealittlewish.livejournal.com]

I ran into a similar situation about a month ago. Two months prior, I commissioned a simple, animated icon for $10 that was a pay upon first draft. Time went by, and they were buying commissions but weren't doing anything themselves. I didn't like having my money tied up for that long, so I asked them to please cancel my commission. They replied within minutes with a simple ok. It was really weird.

I'd say ask them what the status is. If they won't show you what they have completed, I'd think they probably haven't done any of it and don't really intend to.

[claytronic.livejournal.com]

Just ask em if theyre goign to do it and when they think youll be done

if they never pull through well.. you didn't lose nothin cause you cant lose what you never had

[excessdenied0.livejournal.com]

Oh my god this is the wrong post for this comment. If the mods could remove this, I would be much obliged! ^^'

[kayla-la.livejournal.com]

Heh, no worries, screened it for ya. :)

[excessdenied0.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :P

[excessdenied0.livejournal.com]

I would recommend sending one more note to the artist to request that you decide on a completion date together. If they can't promise one, or don't respond, just note them to cancel the commission. Nothing is gained... but nothing is really lost either. If the artist prefers a pay after completion system, then they must be prepared to accept that this will happen and that some work may go unpaid because of it. That's not your fault, so don't worry about it.

Good luck!