i thought a lot about writing a beware since in the end, i did receive the commission. but its been days and i honestly still feel sour about it so i'm deciding to go through with writing this. do not harrass the artist. i didn't make this bulletin for that intent but just to raise awareness about this artist's commission practices.
Toyhouse:
https://toyhou.se/sunmi
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/sxn_mi/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/sxn_mi
Discord: Sunmi#3303
Deviantart: https://www.deviantart.com/sunml
all conversation below happened via discord unless specified otherwise. anything in color are clickable links.
‣ Jan 8: sunmi opened sketch commissions and i ordered 2. all commission details were sent and payment settled on the next day
‣ Jan 16: sunmi dropped in with the first commission and i loved it
‣ Feb 21: sunmi DMd me about their discord getting hacked and warned me to not click any links. i replied the next day because i wasn't online
‣ Mar 6: i DMd sunmi to ask whether they've started with my 2nd comm. if not i wanted the commissioned character to be changed
‣ Mar 8: sunmi replied to OK the character change. they came back the next day with a wip which i adored
‣ May 29: i DMd sunmi to inquire about updates (no reply)
‣ Jun 24: i bumped (no reply). i also decided to send a DM on toyhouse (unopened). and i sent a DM on instagram too
‣ Jun 30: i bumped on instagram since i saw they were online
. . .
all conversation below happened via instagram unless specified otherwise
‣ Jul 6: sunmi replied on instagram saying they just saw my message and notified me about their discord issues. they told me they have an update and will send it "in a bit"
‣ Jul 7: since i still haven't got anything back, i replied with all my social handles, discord tag, and email. telling them they can message me via... anywhere really
‣ Jul 21:
sunmi posted a fanart on twitter of a vtuber who first appeared on Jul 20. i saw that and
sunmi's active status on instagram so i messaged there again, pushing that it's been several days since they said they'd send an update shot.
‣ Aug 13: i bumped on discord (no reply). i also messaged on instagram asking for the update
‣ Aug 14: my final message to sunmi on discord (not replied)
‣ Aug 17: my final message to sunmi on instagram that i sent because i can see their online status (not replied)
‣ Aug 18: a mutual friend DMd me with a SS of sunmi's discord message to her, asking my friend to send my commission in sunmi's stead. i received the commission and asked my friend to send a screenshot of my response since i knew sunmi wouldn't answer me otherwise. doesnt matter though because sunmi never replied anymore after they finished getting my friend to do them a favor.
MY ISSUE with this despite already receiving the commission:
- discord message eaten. i felt iffy about their message that my discord message got eaten. it may be true the first time but i've sent 3 more messages over the span of 2 months and none are replied even until today. sunmi could readily reply to my friend but not me?
- the instagram ghosting
- the alleged progress they had. if they did have it, it wouldn't be hard to send it. taking the risk of jumping the gun and sounding very accusatory, i believe there werent any progress and they just said it bcs i implied wanting to see one. these are NOT facts and are only my personal feelings and may/may not be true
- the fanart. they finished and posted a fanart of a 1 day old character when i couldn't so much as get a reply from them anywhere. and i was still waiting for when my "in a bit" will come so i can see the commission update they said they had. if sunmi had the time to post something that's not tied down by monetary obligations, why couldn't they answer me, a paying client whom they owed art to?
- ultimately though it's sunmi's final response. i felt very disrespected when i receive their response via my friend. i felt like sunmi took the easy way out by pulling an uninvolved party to be our communication intermediary. it was offputting and i did not want to have a back and forth while inconveniencing someone. i have spent months chasing sunmi's tail and i couldn't even get so much as an apology from the artist themselves? once they got their message across and commission delivered, they never replied again and seems to have swept this issue under the rug.
so all in all i got half of a closure? because i got the art but not closure from the artist themselves. sunmi may be having troubles irl but it wouldnt take much to reach out to commissioners, especially ones that are actively reaching out to sunmi themselves and had managed to establish contact with them. but for whatever reason, got ghosted again.
since i do art commissions too on top of commissioning others, i understand that as an artist irl stuff can often hinder motivation/ability to do comms. accidents, health, just genuine mental health taking a dip for no reason other than being a bitch, etc... i get it. i have my fair share of issues too including anxiety. and even if my mental health take a hit because ultimately confronting your own failures are scary as fuck, if a client reaches out to you then you as an artist have the responsibility to reply back. even if i have nothing to show. because the art commissioner side in me have experienced and know that it's better for me to get a reply that my commission hasn't progressed rather that not receive a reply at all.
hello, sorry for commenting on something of yours thats a month old, but i got curious and went looking to see if anyone else has had this issue and uh... yeah, similar experience to everyone else OTL screenshots tell the story better than i can given that im EXHAUSTED and have just woken up, but tl;dr is i commissioned them back in oct'21 and have never gotten an update with only one sparse reply... like i said in the DM, i didn't want to fuck them over and force a refund or something and i thought it might have only been me so i didnt want to make it a bigger deal, but seeing this is a reoccurring pattern is just extremely upsetting and frustrating. ive frequently and recently been in positions where i've had to take quick comms just so i can like, eat lmao, and i truly do understand being overwhelmed which is why i felt so bad pushing but this just feels like a pattern of literally taking advantage of peoples kindness and running. at the very least maybe don't post goddamn genshin art while you're ghosting your commissioners, lol.
i'm so sorry this happened to you and everyone else.
1 year, 7 months ago Edited 4:47 am
oh gosh so sorry for the late reply!! have u heard back from sunmi? :o
1 year, 6 months ago
it's okay, no worries!!! and no :') officially a year and no reply, despite them uploading art oct 12th lol;; i dont think im ever going to get a reply from them unfortunately u_u
1 year, 6 months ago
wah thats unfortunate;; have you tried her discord? she's in many cs servers! i can send you the # or message her to look out for messages from you?
1 year, 6 months ago
AHA sorry now im the one with late replies :') i haven't tried her discord yet because i'm honestly a bit meek and bad with 1 on 1 convos without any like... buffer (discord is so instant it scares me LMAO), but i may hype myself up to message her sometime so!!! her # or just telling her to check her th msgs would be very appreciated, thank you!!!
1 year, 6 months ago
sorry hope this isnt a bother - just to keep you updated i did end up reaching out to sunmi via discord and i haven't gotten any response yet u_u;; i don't think i ever will, and though it doesn't look like they have any comms open rn i hope other people see this if they do decide to 'take commissions' again so people can avoid being ripped off bcause it looks like their whole 'sorting out things with people' just ended up being a lie ;__;
1 year, 4 months ago
Oh wow okay, I'm not the only one after reading the comments. On mobile so I can't dig through my inbox as easily, but I didn't get a single wip until I sent a message asking for a wip or a refund 1 month before the 6 month protection period ended. (I believe I sent a few check in messages previously, although I could be mistaken.) Sunmi was very polite and apologetic about it and told me they sent a PM with a wip that must have eaten. I ended up getting the comm near the end of the month, as well as a bonus as an apology and I love both pieces to this day. Honestly I'm only posting this because it seems like such a prevalent pattern. I work full time and take comms on the side, so I get it - sometimes you get busy, sometimes things get stressful, but I always try to keep up communication, and that's really what I wanted
1 year, 7 months ago
1 year, 7 months ago
i think at this point its well established that sunmi has issues with replying and giving statements that they have something to show before dipping without showing anything;; i'm sorry it happened to you too TT
good news though, sunmi reached out to me with an apology. i think it will be a good time for you to inquire again regarding your pending commission if sunmi hasn't reached out to you themselves. in my response to sunmi i sent just now, i pointed out that there are people in my bulletin comments who are still waiting on art. so whenever sunmi sees my reply, i think the issues of the people here can be immediately tackled and hopefully resolved!
1 year, 7 months ago
HAHAHA I went thru smth similar where I commed them 16/09/2020, sent me a wip 22/09/2020
Then I asked for a wip 27/03/2021 and didn't get a reply DHJSKAD- I felt like such a push over when I asked for an update a month later after being ghosted- I I got an unfinished wip the next day-
Then 2 months later I traded the character- I told them after they finish it just to DM it to the new owner- I don't know man TTTT
I know a friend going thru smth similar
I also have trouble getting motivated to draw and can take a couple months- but when I'm asked for an update i sure do respond!!
1 year, 7 months ago Edited 4:31 pm
hGSJF im sorry it happened to u too lu!! i...dk if yours are resolved now or not yet, but in case you & your friend's art is still pending (i'll copypaste a response i sent to someone):
good news though, sunmi reached out to me with an apology. i think it will be a good time for you to inquire again regarding your pending commission if sunmi hasn't reached out to you themselves. in my response to sunmi i sent just now, i pointed out that there are people in my bulletin comments who are still waiting on art. so whenever sunmi sees my reply, i think the issues of the people here can be immediately tackled and hopefully resolved!
and ye ye!!! that's all that matters i think;; at least with a response, the client knows where the commission/artist is standing atm. the issue with not replying is that the client's worry will just continue brewing into something bigger and thats never a good feeling o)-(
1 year, 7 months ago
I have the very same issues, They seem to have very big troubles with communication. I had to ask for WIP myself after they promised to send it... I have no problem with waiting, but communicationg is crucial, and I have no interest in further supporting someone that forces me to basically chase them around to do what I paid them to do.
1 year, 7 months ago
wah TT im sorry its happening to you too!! sighs... another case of "i have something to show" and not showing anything;;
if you haven't received your commission (i'll copy paste a response i sent to someone)
good news though, sunmi reached out to me with an apology. i think it will be a good time for you to inquire again regarding your pending commission if sunmi hasn't reached out to you themselves. in my response to sunmi i sent just now, i pointed out that there are people in my bulletin comments who are still waiting on art. so whenever sunmi sees my reply, i think the issues of the people here can be immediately tackled and hopefully resolved!
1 year, 7 months ago
Was hesitating on adding my input, but since it seems like there were more than one instance of this happening... I'll add my apples to the basket.
I went through something similar as well on two different instances. The first was a halfbody commission from June last year... and I got a wip in december, which was fine, cause I saw progress. All the while before my comm was sent a wip, a friend of mine ordered a similar comm in august and got it finished super quickly (within a month from memory), so :/ that left a bad taste in my mouth, but was ok since I got a wip... but then after that I really had to push for updates and finally got the comm finished in... april.. after almost 10 months. It likely would never have been finished if I didn't push for it, I'm guessing.
the other incident was regarding a time limited myo event, around november (with the deadline being roughly a month later) I paid extra for a rush fee, but didn't get any updates for a full two weeks after the initial payment even after I asked for an update, to which I didn't get a reply. All that would be fine, since life gets in the way but in a friends server I saw they had completed art for a birthday + did a whole shaded bonus (which, yes I understand birthday gifts, but to not even spare enough time to confirm if my custom was even being worked on left me on edge...) the custom did end up being finished on time, around 15 hours before the deadline I was sent the drawings, needless to say it wasn't a pleasant experience and I wouldn't recommend commissioning sunmi even with a deadline,
I've discussed sunmi's communication problem with them after I got the custom (so in november), to which we appeared to have come to an understanding, and sunmi had said they would improve, except from the looks of it, they really haven't improved to this date at least on my part :/ Though I do understand life getting in the way, amongst other things, the communication on sunmi's end is frankly quite appalling at this rate, given it hasn't happened to only one person. I'd like to think I was very patient and understanding the whole time, and even giving them months to contact me after the custom with the finished halfbody comm, but I had to ask many times for updates after that for sunmi to even reply to me. Having to really push for a commission or even basic communication really leaves a bad impression but it seems like that's the only way to get something out of them, unfortunately.
1 year, 7 months ago
argh... that was a stressful read, especially the timed myo part. it must've been super stressful to not get any updates on art that has a deadline looming over it;;
its... concerning how much overlaps there is to my experience even though our orders are some time apart. this was what was said in june after i expressed frustration over how their communication could be better. the month you started your first commission and a whole 5 months before the november custom. this was also the reason i commissioned them this time, because i believed that they would make good on their statement. but seeing all these comments and the fact that multiple clients have expressed how lacking their communication is, yet still doing the same time and again... i'm having a hard time believing that what was told to us was anything more than words of service or just simple placating words.
(this particular trade began on 26 Aug 2020. so... around 10 months to finish too)
1 year, 7 months ago
1 year, 7 months ago
i guess its the same across the board, we all get our arts but after some persistent bouts of pushing from the client's side... and yeah, totally! i would understand the non-replies better if they have an up to date and active trello board or something where we can see how the commission's doing even without their reply. but they didn't have that, so the least to do in that case is to reply to clients who has questions to ask or worries to alleviate...
1 year, 7 months ago
1 year, 7 months ago
oh, i went through something similar ...! ordered a commission in january and still haven't got it yet, though they did respond when i changed the character i wanted drawn last month they haven't updated me since ...
1 year, 7 months ago
uwah i really want to recommend you contacting them again and maybe giving a strict deadline... TT i unfortunately cant guarantee a reply due to my own experiences but i hope they'll be more open to replying from you and not avoiding you like they did me.
have your buyer protection passed?
1 year, 7 months ago Edited 8:20 pm
i'll definitely contact them again about it, yeah! they said they'd have a wip for me me on the same day i got a response but i got nothing yet TT
yeah, unfortunately it's already passed :(
1 year, 7 months ago
yeah you should definitely bump your message and ask for the update since its been a month TT it took a lot of chasing and persistence for me to get my update so i think the sooner you bump it up the better >< so sorry that this is happening to you too;;
1 year, 7 months ago
hi mayu! just wanna give an update that i received an apology message from sunmi. i'll copy paste a message i sent to someone else:
good news though, sunmi reached out to me with an apology. i think it will be a good time for you to inquire again regarding your pending commission if sunmi hasn't reached out to you themselves. in my response to sunmi i sent just now, i pointed out that there are people in my bulletin comments who are still waiting on art. so whenever sunmi sees my reply, i think the issues of the people here can be immediately tackled and hopefully resolved!
1 year, 7 months ago
oh, thank you so much!! <33 i inquired for an update, i hope they get back to me soon... i don't wanna rush them but it has been a real long while... ;;
1 year, 7 months ago
1 year, 8 months ago
ah... this reminds me so much of my first trade with sunmi. is actually not my first tango with sunmi. like you, the first time i also traded a character for 2 arts and it took from 26 august 2020 to 8 june 2021 for the trade to finish. it took a lot of me chasing them around for progress updates too, at the time while seeing them being very active in a certain cs server. i called them out like... twice regarding how im not getting any replies to my messages while they were chatting in cs servers. it took me instilling a strict deadline too to get the 2nd part of the art and they sent it on the very last day.
i expressed a lil bit of frustration on how long the trade took from the intial promised 2 months and sunmi :apologized that it became that way even though it wasn't their intention". I replied back:
"Just keep on working on communication more in the future as i imagine if everything was communicated well or stably, it would've gone more smoothly and less stressful from the client's part. no matter how little (or even none!) the progress is, it's better than long bouts of silence"
and this is their reply
"Yes I know! I'm still working on it and trying some methods like putting reminders and such to help me with it so ty for the support!! I hope i'll stop from relying on them in the future ///"
due to this i really thought they would've improved more on stuffs but... obvious from the beware, i still had trouble communicating with them. its regretful that 2 years wasn't enough for them to make good on their promise to "work on it"
i also got a private dm from someone who experienced hardships with having to chase sunmi around for their art piece too o)-( a friend suggested i bring this to the public psa forum since there seems to be a couple of people affected... im thinking about it but idk ><;;
1 year, 7 months ago Edited 7:54 pm
Going through a situation about not getting owed art as well
I'm glad you got your commission though but damn I would just block and yeah put a beware
So sorry you had to deal with irresponsible commissioner like that
1 year, 8 months ago Edited 5:07 pm
oh no!! im sorry to hear TT have u tried contacting them again? i hope you can get your art soon!
1 year, 7 months ago
I have! I we sorted something out so no worries
1 year, 7 months ago
this stressed me out and i wasn’t even the commissioner wtf i’m so sorry ):
1 year, 8 months ago
haha yeah ;w; at least its done(ish) now.
i threw the bone already that i will always be available for when (or if) they are ever ready to talk to me directly as i feel like i deserve at least that;;
1 year, 8 months ago
you absolutely do deserve that. just so shitty to leave u like that :(
1 year, 8 months ago
I think the ghosting and involving a friend is the weirdest part of this.
If they can’t be bothered to reply even though they’re active, that’s just sketchy behavior. It makes it look like they took the money and ran. It also makes them look really unprofessional, especially when had a friend suddenly be involved. It’s insane anyone would think to involve a third party when they can’t be bothered to say something themselves.
Just give updates, it’s not that hard. God damn.
Sorry you had to go through this. Must’ve been mentally taxing.
1 year, 8 months ago
yes! if they had time to draw and post a fanart, they have time to update me on my commission. they themself said they had it. all thats left to do is show me which will not even take a minute to do >< so i cant help but to distrust their words of having an update regarding the commission o)-(
i was appalled to say the least when i got sunmi's response from someone else when there's no reason why sunmi couldn't have sent it themselves. it didn't feel like a genuine attempt to make right of their mistakes, but more like a "lets get this over with" kinda thing. especially since neither me nor my friend got any reply after my friend relayed my response. it left a bitter taste to an already disappointing experience
1 year, 8 months ago