Advice: A instagram artist might be ghosting me but I already paid

Community General Chat
#1

Hey guys, so I am a author and I love getting art scenes! I usually request from the same people but since I also recently joined instagram for my episode stories I’ve been trying to branch out and find other artist. I found this one artist (I will not say names) and last week I commissioned from a artist and like I usually do I sent the money beforehand and they told me they were starting on the sketch and would send it later that day. It’s been a week and I haven’t heard from her…

I messaged her on Tuesday asking for a update on the sketch but haven’t gotten a response back. I’m not sure how to react or respond anymore then I already have.
Does anyone have any advice on how I should approach this?

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#2

I’m sorry that you are facing this. Maybe try to wait for a few more days to see if this artist will reply?

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#3

it depends if they’ve been active (posting, stories,etc) then maybe you should reach out again but if they’re not, then maybe wait? one message and 20 are the same thing if the person hasn’t been active on insta (if that analogy) makes sense

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#5

Hey! So sometimes artists are really busy. I just commissioned and they would go about a week without responding because they also had other commissions.

However, if it’s a very small artist that doesn’t have previous commissions I would be very skeptical and let them know that if they do not respond within another week you can go to Paypal, or whatever app you used, and claim that they haven’t reciprocated the deal. Although, I would give it a bit of time before doing this, and you want to k]let them know before doing so.

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#6

Art usually takes a while and it’s not uncommon for artists to get busy or distracted. Just a nice check in would be fine, in my opinion. Just a “Hey, how are you? Is there any chance you have a WIP for my art piece? No rush, take your time!” Honestly, I’d wait for a response before continuing with any chargeback methods, as Celestial_Night said.

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#7

you could try messaging them again, if they haven’t been active in a while they’re most likely just busy. Are they a popular/well known artist?

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#8

I don’t think there is a way for chargeback methods bc I already payed the full thing, but I understand what you are saying and where you are coming from.

#9

She is like fairly popular, she’s only done 1 episode cover and her commision status always says closed so you have to dm her to ask about them.

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#10

No, I meant chargeback as in going through Paypal (or the site you paid on) and getting a refund that way. A chargeback is when you tell the website you sent that money through to get your money back,

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#11

I’m not sure what to do in this situation, maybe just wait and see how it plays out, she may just be busy.

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#12

I used PayPal, I didn’t know PayPal offered those, thank you for telling me!

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#13

If you don’t hear back from her I can do the art scene for you (or if you just want another art scene done) I’d be happy to do it❣️

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#14

Tysm :pleading_face::heart:

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#15

No worries. Just a heads up that I think the limit is 180 days post-sending. It should be an absolute last resort, if asking for a refund through the artist doesn’t work. But I strongly encourage you to just wait it out and see if the communication betters when you reach out.

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#16

Definitely! I won’t go to such measures until the end of the month just to be safe, thank you again!

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#17

I’m sure by now you’re probably tired of hearing this, but sometimes artists do get uuuuuber busy with commissions. My best friend is a full time free-lance artist and she barely has any personal time to herself. She gets commissions stacked on top of each other, so sometimes orders take a while to get through since she goes down the list in the order that the commission has been placed. It may be beneficial to ask if they have an order-tracker or a slots list, just to give you an idea of where you sit.

A simple bump should suffice, if the wait time is bothering you or they won’t have it to you in a desirable amount of time, you should definitely pursue asking for a refund. I buy quite a bit of art and sometimes wait times have been really long, as in like, 3 months for it to be delivered. The best advice I can offer is to keep a clear line of communication, not in a rushy way, but as a concerned customer type!

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#18

I have a few questions

  1. Did the artist give you a rough time estimate for how long it would take? I only ask this because when I first started here I had an artist do that, ghost me multiple times, and then turn on me when I asked for an update (she’d been promising to show me the “almost finished result” for ages and never did.

  2. Did you have to pay all up front at once or did she show you anything before making you pay? In my experience most artists will either show you a sketch before payment or will ask for half before the sketch and the other half afterwards.

I’m really sorry this is happening to you. I know the general consensus is that artists are busy people and I agree with that, but when you take money for a service you are acting in a professional manner and ghosting someone is the exact opposite of professional. It’s the very reason I’m so careful with who I’ve chosen to commission with. I hope you get your answers soon or at least your money back if the artist can’t complete the order.

Also, when an artist promises a time frame most of us authors like that because it means we can get the art work when we need it. If the artist really did tell you it’d be done by the end of the day, I’d be frustrated too. We don’t all have ages to wait for artwork.

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#19

She didn’t give me a day when she would be done she just told me that she would send the sketch that day, and I paid it fully upfront because that’s what I always do for commisions, this time wasn’t the route I should have taken.

#20

Thank you!!

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#21

Yeah, next time my advice would be to either wait until you have a sketch to pay or only pay part. This community is, sadly, full of artists who scam people/pretend art is theirs or who take on too many commissions and then never get them done. I hope your next time using an artist is better. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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