Serious Buyer? (please help)

[yoka-neko.livejournal.com]

Hi there,

I hope I can post here for a quick bit of advice.

Recently I was noted by someone who wants to commission me for a pair of fursuit paws,
I asked him what he wanted, from which he/she responded with a picture ref and length of paws desired.
I quoted him, and got a response about measurements and how he was going to pay - from this point it seemed like he was ready to pay as he said the money will be  small amount first and to let him know when it comes though..(i didnt get any money)

But then this was where it got a little concerning, he/she then kept noting me about little questions, like length, thickness of fur, if i can change things etc.
to the point that my inbox on FA was just a page full of this person's username. The user has changed their mind on what they want, and then asked me for my MSN. At this point, I feel a bit wary on taking on this commission.

Should I be concerned? I have never experienced this before and i really dont want to be dealing with someone who will know my address when he paypals me. The other thought is that he is not a serious buyer, the person sounds quite young with the way the notes are typed.

I feel because of all this, that i no longer want to take on this commission, t says in my T&C that i can refuse a commission should i need to, but i dont want to give off any bad customer service vibes

Thank you for your time

EDIT: I politly declined, and the user responded well. I dont think i can deal with complicated transactions atm, and with your opinions also i think it was the best thing to do. Thanks again,

Comments

[blackberrypie.livejournal.com]

If your instincts tell you that you should say no... I'd prolly say no. I know I would. :X

[yoka-neko.livejournal.com]

thank you, i just wanted to make sure i wasnt being silly ^^;;
ive been screwed over before and these have similar patterns to it.
I mean he could just be indecisive, but id rather not take the risk.

[velvetnlace.livejournal.com]

Go with your gut on this one. To send that many notes seems more than a little excessive and I can't imagine it's going to get a whole lot better during the creative process.

[yoka-neko.livejournal.com]

it was a lot, im half tempted to take a screenshot of my inbox.

[fenrirs-child.livejournal.com]

This is way excessive, I'd drop it and potentially block them. I'd also think about sharing the name of the person, especially if they respond badly to you not taking their commission.

[yoka-neko.livejournal.com]

if they respond badly then i will do :)
so far the customer has been polite in their notes, and so i feel i shouldnt name them. Either this person wants me to reduce the price, do it for free, or they are just really unsure abot what they want. I did tell the user that they should go away and think about what exactly they want before buying. Il be noting them again shortly to decline the commission.
Thanks for the advice

[shukivengeance.livejournal.com]

If the person sounds young you should make sure they're over 18 before you even consider continuing the transaction.

It's possible that they're just new to commissioning and a bit nervous about it. My advice would be to refuse giving any IM handles and to tell them to write out one single comprehensive note (or email) detailing what they want, instead of several notes flooding your inbox. If you have a ToS link it to them also.

Most importantly, if your gut instincts tell you that this transaction may be more trouble than it's worth, don't hesitate to decline.

[marus-puppy.livejournal.com]

This. Especially if the person is a young, potentially inexperienced buyer. If you DO take on the work, make sure that they have solidly agreed to abide by your ToS before you do anything. Alternately, if you feel like you should drop the deal, definitely drop it.

[yoka-neko.livejournal.com]

Thank you, i think for safety i will decline.
The user just actually migth be unsure, but i have been wrong in the past.
I instantly replied saying i do not IM, funnily enough, he has commented less after that.

[ursulav.livejournal.com]

Run away! If you're leery already, run now before refunds are involved.

[yoka-neko.livejournal.com]

good point,
it would be worse to give a refund than decline the commission.

[otherscape.livejournal.com]

He sounds like he's under 18, which would mean getting in a contract with him is not a good idea. Underage people are pretty much legally able to step out of a contract and there's nothing you can do about it. Better not take chances.

[yoka-neko.livejournal.com]

i suspect they are, in one note, they mention their parents. But on the profile page, it states that he/she is 19.

[otherscape.livejournal.com]

Could be either one. It's not unrealistic that a 19 year old stays with their parents these days.

Did they type in text speech or did they just have grammar errors. If it's in text speech, I'd drop them since they'd be hard to understand and I've rarely had a good conversation with people who do that.

[yoka-neko.livejournal.com]

Text speech,
And true, i lived with my folks until i was 22, its just more affordable these days :3
I declined them, but they responded well and politly. Kinda think i wa worrying over nothing, but id rather bail out just in case as ive been in similar situations before and ive lost money because of it.

[skanrashke.livejournal.com]

Everyone(And I do mean "every") who's shown that kind of overzealous pickiness in the past has ended up not commissioning due to 'lack of funds', but 'will contact you again in the future!'.

Don't even bother with it.

[yoka-neko.livejournal.com]

yeah, i have a feeling they are stringing me along a bit. I did offer a small discount, but i think they are expecting more which i just cannot give.

[frazzled-niya.livejournal.com]

pretty much what everyone else said.

[sharpecostumes.livejournal.com]

I'm going to have to agree with a few above me and say this person sounds like a teen or younger, most likely having "mommy and daddy" paying. One thing I've noticed is their lack of knowledge and extreme mastered skill of being a royal pain in the arse. I would say be blunt, be straight up, and decline their commission as once working with someone of that age that's used to having their way NOW NOW NOW and having things exactly perfect, the commission becomes not worth the price paid very quickly.

Now I have had some younger commissioners (for simple things like ears) be very polite and nice... but the majority of them I don't bother with any more.

Or they could be like some folks I've had, older, but still very controlling in a sense. Like Skanrashke stated about overzealous pickiness and not paying... will have to agree as well. If they have not paid yet and are already nitpicking over everything that possibly pops into their noggin then yeah... Go with yer instincts and pass them on.

[sharpecostumes.livejournal.com]

Actually, now reading your post once more, it sounds like a person that has been encountered either on here or on my queue before... Sounds similar anyways. Perhaps once this is resolved, post a warning? Just to give everyone else a heads up as well? Hope things clear up nicely and quickly for ya gal! :D

[yoka-neko.livejournal.com]

thanks for the advice,
ther person in question isnt being rude or anything, so i have maintained a polite exchange of notes, but i do feel a bit iffy about the whole thing now. The person looks like he/she has commissioned before as they have artwork by other artists on their page, and it says they are 19...but still i think they are stringing me along.
As much as i need the money, Il be sending the user a note shortly declining the commission :3

[ghrelin.livejournal.com]

don't know if my input is useful or not, but just wanted to say I'm usually very picky when I commission artwork. I don't send tons of messages or anything like that, as I am older - I'm just very specific from the get-go about what I want. I'm also very good about paying, and in fact, have often commissioned artists who asked for the payment either prior to beginning work or after showing me a draft. Just based on myself then, I kind of want to say that pickiness doesn't necessarily equal 'stringing the artist along,' but maybe I'm different from the kind of picky commissioner people here are talking about.

[shukivengeance.livejournal.com]

Even though it's referring to an unspecified person, please refrain from namecalling.

[sharpecostumes.livejournal.com]

I don't believe I was calling anyone names as more describing what I have experienced in the past. I don't mean to cause any offense so I apologize

[shukivengeance.livejournal.com]

Yeah that's fine I'm sure you didn't mean anything by it of course, but to clarify it was the "pain in the arse" comment.

[claytronic.livejournal.com]

I know you've already replied to him and cancelled the commission but I've dealt with someone before who was a bit like that. Would ask me how the commission is going after I told him I wasn't open for commissions and required payment up front anyways before I ever started.

Eh. Just straight up tell em "not open" or "didn't start". They get the point.