General Thread for PSAs

Hi all, I'm looking for a bit of advice...

I'm a frequent commissioner both on and off site, and lately I've have quite a few sour experiences w/my artists. In more than one instance, I'm left waiting for my art for months on end w/no communication unless I chase down the artist myself and ask for an update. Usually, I'll wait about a month or so before messaging them, as I feel that is an inappropriate amount of time w/silence... In my last few commissions I've gone on to make it clear I'm fine w/waiting, I would just appreciate if they would let me know if there were going to be delays. I've been waiting for a headshot for the past 4 months now, and each time I message the artist they run me a different excuse like; "Oh sorry, I forgot!"... and this is the norm. now when I commission people. :/ It's happened more than once, with more than one artist, and it's getting super frustrating.

What can I do to promote better communication, or protect myself better as the commissioner? In the last few cases, I've gone the extra mile to check their que, look at their socials to see if there had been any other negative experiences w/them, yadda yadda. In the case of the headshot artist's, their que was empty and in their TOS it states they will complete the art within a WEEK, otherwise they will TELL you if there are issues. They have not (without me asking). My characters mean a lot to me, and some of these commissions aren't what I would consider cheap... (like $50+ on average for one piece). I use my recreational spending money on art as it's what makes me happy... :/ Sorry if this is a mess, it's been on my mind for a while.

Squidbot yeah you're not alone, I've definitely had similar issues with a number of folks. Honestly, I check in usually around the 1 month mark and every month at that point unless they're upfront about their turnaround time being longer than that. Unfortunately there's only a handful of folks I've commissioned more than once due to communication. Lots of people have pretty art but a lack of other professional attributes (organization, communication, project planning skills, etc.). Whatever people say, once you accept someone's money, you have to be prepared to act as a professional!

It's super annoying but there really is nothing you can do to make other people be proactive about communication. I've had to set up a personal trello to keep track of 6 month dispute window dates and reach out on my end every month or so :/ agreed that at a certain point you have to give some people an ultimatum. I'm an artist who does commission work as well - if it's only been 2 weeks since I started, that's too soon but I don't begrudge anyone reaching out if it's been a while since I sent a wip

ETA in my experience, the most reliable people I've commissioned charged triple digits prices. Unfortunately I've just not had the same level of communication at lower price ranges most of (but not all of!) the time. I would offer to drop a few recommendations but they may not be to your tastes and everyone's budget is different

Hi! I would love some advice for how to deal with a situation!

I was interacting with a user, trying to negotiate a trade with them. They pointed out one character of mine that they really liked, but I was hesitant about trading and told them so. They then asked for the worth so they could consider buying my OC. I gave them the worth and the minimum price I’d be willing to sell the character for, and awaited a response.

I logged back into toyhouse a little later, to see that they had made and uploaded a character with a decently strong resemblance to mine, and are now putting it ufo/selling it and saying they’ll keep the design if they can’t find an offer they like. 

I know their design has some definite changes from my oc and I can’t report it as the two look very different, but I would like to point out a few small details that makes me think they took heavy inspiration from my design;

1. my oc is wearing a baggy sweater with sleeves that cover their arms. Their design is also wearing a baggy sweater with sleeves that cover the arms, the only difference is mine has a collar and theirs has a hood.

2. my OC has a heart on the left side of the chest. Their OC also has a heart on the left side of the chest, except theirs is anatomically accurate and is surrounded by veins.

3. both designs have an off-white color for the main body and a glowing spot on their foreheads. The only difference is my oc has orange markings and theirs has red.

4. both designs have their eyes hidden/not visible.

My OC does have a tail, wings, and “ears” on top of their head, and the other design lacks these things, but I’m still a little paranoid, especially with the strange timing. For reference, here are both designs below;

My OC	Their design

I want to know if it’s wiser for me to leave this alone (I have anxiety and this wouldn’t be the first time if I’m being a bit paranoid and pointing things out that aren’t actually a problem) or if I should confront them about it/resolve the issue a different way somehow. I am aware most designs based off sea angels or similar underwater creatures have many similarities, but again the small details and the timing is making me a bit worried

Any help appreciated 

Edit; I would also like to point out that I have a very clear profile warning that states not to take inspiration off my OCs, screenshot of that below 

Edit 2; their design was just sold, and so idk what I’m supposed to do now :’)

Andrew_Artz I certainly can see how you might be anxious about this situation but like you said the designs aren't that similar overall (especially since they are fairly plain to begin with due to their minimal color schemes and lack of heavy defining features) so I think your best bet would be to simply block the user and move on unfortunately. Starting a huge fuss wouldn't help your anxiety and it could come across rudely or spitefully on your end. Blocking them could ease your mind and keep them from seeing your characters and getting inspired by them in the future! Just a suggestion of course and I hope this at least helps ease your mind a bit! 

Vossed

i think I’ve seen you around somewhere; hi again :D

you’re probably right, but I’m also torn about that LOL..this artist was one I really liked, I’ve been subscribed to them cause their designs are really cool, but it probably would be best to block them, yes? Also should I wait til they respond about the offer or just block them now? I don’t wanna seem rude in that regard either 

Andrew_Artz Haha I'm an admin in your world actually! cx You don't have to block them but if you feel uncomfortable by them making a design that's too similar in your mind to one that you own I think a block would help ease your worries! As for the offer you could always just decline the offer without them responding or simply wait to hear back from them, whatever feels best for you! I just don't think confronting them about the similarities is your best option especially if you tend to worry a lot, I think unnecessary drama would worsen your anxiety

Vossed

I AM SO SORRY LMAO MY BRAIN IS NOT WORKING TONIGHT, I KNEW I KNEW YA FROM SOMEWHERE!!

Im sure that will help, tysm for the advice!

Andrew_Artz It's no problem I'm just glad I could help ya out!! XD Hope you have a great day/night! 

hiya, i'm very unhappy to do this as i'm normally adverse to calling attention on matters like this, but i feel like i should let people know (specially those who mainly make adoptables) about this 'chiiochi' person who's been mentioned in this thread before.

recently she offered on a design of mine, i politely rejected her offer then blocked her; our convo was finished once i made it clear that i was declining her offer, and i didn't want to keep interacting any further as her beliefs made me uncomfortable. this much is irrelevant as i'm not here to psa on anyone for believing whatever they believe, it was her behavior afterward that convinced me it was a good measure.

she immediately made a bulletin complaining about what happened, calling me petty/toxic/unprofessional/etc, included a link to my design within it and called for other people to buy it for her behind my back.

i saw the bulletin and privated the character. once i did this, predictably neither the design or my account could be traced from the link since TH works this way; but she then proceeded to namedrop my account in the comments so other people could go and look for the design, potentially to buy it for her, and check if they were blocked too.
i believe this falls under block evasion as she was trying to get other people, other accounts, to buy this design from me and pass it over to her, after i've made it very clear that her offer was rejected and that i did not wish to continue engaging.

something else that is relevant to this: the design in question had a clear, highlighted piece of information in it's profile that requested for any potential buyers to read my TOS before offering. my TOS currently contains the following:

• i retain the right to reject offers for any reason, with no need to disclose why.
• i retain the right to blacklist certain clients without providing a public reason.

[⚠️⚠️⚠️] i should make absolutely clear that this is not a call to harass, witch hunt or go after this person in any conceivable way. chiiochi's sister who's linked on her profile also has nothing to do with this and does not support chiiochi's actions. [⚠️⚠️⚠️]

i am only doing this because i believe that if it wasn't me who were to go through this unpleasant experience, it could just as easily be anyone else who refused an offer from this person. that, and the fact that she also has an history with being very difficult  in situations like this, if the previous mentions in this thread are anything to go by.

all things mentioned in this post - save for my design that is now private for safety - are publicly available for anyone to see.
[⚠️] EDIT: i've been informed the bulletin is no longer public; it can still be viewed at both the links below.

i don't want this post to be a bajillion miles long with images so i'm including all proof in this sta.sh link: https://sta.sh/22fbscv2v4ci.
there's also a (now archived) bulletin that my friend kindly made, mainly to their subscribers, so they'd also watch out for this person: https://archive.ph/Rmnjl

Hey all. Posted a few days ago, reposting today partially as it got buried, but mostly because I need to rewrite it due to the situation escalating.

So, first, the artist in question is (anonymised for their own protection). They have the same username on the YCH site and on deviantart. I have not linked the deviantart mostly since it seems to be inactive, but prior to the whole commission thing.

The situation goes like this. Early in september, i saved up money to order a $50 commission - for a full body coloured reference - just a simple one, nothing too fancy. Specifically coloured. It comes up to $50 in paypal. They invoice me, I accept/pay it, time goes on. Communication starts off alright, but slows down after a little while, after which I get the final sketch sorted. After I give the go-ahead for coloring, the artist disappears entirely. This is still in september. It has now been a few weeks, but I am consicous of the 180 day window, and the artist has not even opened the PMs I have sent after the final sketch was sent.

IC marks the commision. They also have a negative reputation on YCH, which I am theorising is due to possibly scamming other users in the same manner, but I am uncertain. Their YCH is available here: (anonymised for the time being.)

The last i heard from them was on 17th september. They have opened the last PM but never sent anything back, nor opened any sent after that. I will now be pursuing a chargeback once paypal stops being weird. I was advised to report the transaction, which I did on the invoice, but there was no option to report it in the resolution center. Does anyone know how we are meant to do this if there is no option?

And last of all, is this PSA worthy? I am starting to wonder due to the negative rep on the YCH, but that's another site, and I've not heard of anyone else possibly being scammed by them here.

edit: anonymised because paypal's being weird. still poking the person to try and get any feedback from them, but no luck so far.

As a small continuation - paypal reads the money has come out, and it came out of my bank. The problem is I have no way to confirm if the user recieved the money, as they are still ghosting. They have claimed they recieved it in a note before they started ghosting, but I have heard nothing since.