Pixelation

General => General Discussion => Topic started by: miarapixelart on June 25, 2020, 07:34:28 pm

Title: question for artists
Post by: miarapixelart on June 25, 2020, 07:34:28 pm
how do u avoid gettin scammed in paypal?
like charage back after you have done the art work
Title: Re: question for artists
Post by: eishiya on June 25, 2020, 10:27:12 pm
Only work with people whose PayPal accounts are verified (getting partial payment up front allows you to check this early), you're less likely to run into people paying with stolen credit cards this way.
Only work with people who have an online presence of some sort, people who have a reputation they might want to avoid hurting. They're less likely to outright scam people, and people who intend to scam from the start often make throwaway accounts. You don't need to limit yourself to famous or "big" clients, something like a long history of non-spam posts on sites like TIGS, Twitter, or Reddit is usually plenty.
Related to the above, look potential clients up before you agree to work with them. Artists often share stories of scammy or otherwise unpleasant clients online in communities such as Artists Beware (https://artistsbeware.info/). If the client is working with a company/studio, look that company up too, as issues with them may involve the client. Related to this, keep in touch with other artists. The best work experiences I've had have been through other artists sending those clients my way.
Don't work through services like Fiverr, these often attract shitty customers, and even when you do get paid, the rates you find there are usually terrible.

Use PayPal's invoice feature, so that PayPal has a paper trail for the fact that you were doing work for the client and that the work is complete. PayPal is more likely to take your side if you use this feature.

Lastly, be courteous and professional in all communication with the client, at all times. While that won't help with people who set out to scam you, it will avoid "scams of passion", where a client will do a chargeback just because they're angry with you personally.
Title: Re: question for artists
Post by: miarapixelart on June 25, 2020, 10:36:42 pm
what if i record the whole chat between us, where they say they liked the art, and send to paypal, will they close the dispute?
and how can i see if their paypal verified?
Title: Re: question for artists
Post by: eishiya on June 25, 2020, 10:41:58 pm
No, since that can be easily falsified, but you've got nothing to lose by offering them the chat logs.

Generally, PayPal needs evidence of what the agreed-upon work was and that it was delivered. Invoices provide the former since they're supposed to include a description of the work, and you can prove the latter by showing PayPal the work during the dispute process. By comparing it with the invoice, they can see that you did deliver the work. If there's no invoice in PayPal's system, PayPal has no reliable evidence that the work you did is what the client agreed to.

This sort of situation is why invoices and contracts are so important. If you don't have a signed contract or an invoice that the payment is attached to, there's very little you can do, and PayPal will tend to take the customer's side.
Title: Re: question for artists
Post by: miarapixelart on June 25, 2020, 11:15:26 pm
No, since that can be easily falsified, but you've got nothing to lose by offering them the chat logs.

Generally, PayPal needs evidence of what the agreed-upon work was and that it was delivered. Invoices provide the former since they're supposed to include a description of the work, and you can prove the latter by showing PayPal the work during the dispute process. By comparing it with the invoice, they can see that you did deliver the work. If there's no invoice in PayPal's system, PayPal has no reliable evidence that the work you did is what the client agreed to.

This sort of situation is why invoices and contracts are so important. If you don't have a signed contract or an invoice that the payment is attached to, there's very little you can do, and PayPal will tend to take the customer's side.

is there any guide for invoices , i never heard of it before, ?
and you mentioned to check if the client has verfied paypal account, how do i check this after client send payments?
Title: Re: question for artists
Post by: eishiya on June 25, 2020, 11:45:38 pm
When the client is verified, PayPal will say so next to their name on the payment page:
(https://i.imgur.com/ePbzIip.png)

The UI is different depending on whether you have a personal account or business account, but look for invoices in the menus at the top of the PayPal dashboard. The pages will mostly guide you through it, you can google if you need more help. When you get to the part where you add the items to bill the person for, make sure you're specific and list every deliverable.

Bad examples of billable item descriptions:
"Pixel art"
"Game art"
"2x Tile sets"

Good examples:
"3x character spritesheets, 24x32px, with Idle, Attack, Run, and Death animations of 4-10 frames each, character designs provided by client"
"Tileset for the Jungle area, 16x16px tiles, including two types of ground, cliffs, at least different 3 trees, and at least 5 props"
"Game UI element: nine-slice rectangle for buttons with 2x colour variants for highlighted/disabled states"

For the Invoice type, select "Service", since you're performing a service (creating original art) for the client. Make sure you get this right, as it will affect things if you have any disputes pertaining to the invoice.
Title: Re: question for artists
Post by: miarapixelart on June 26, 2020, 12:05:13 am
When the client is verified, PayPal will say so next to their name on the payment page:
(https://i.imgur.com/ePbzIip.png)

The UI is different depending on whether you have a personal account or business account, but look for invoices in the menus at the top of the PayPal dashboard. The pages will mostly guide you through it, you can google if you need more help. When you get to the part where you add the items to bill the person for, make sure you're specific and list every deliverable.

Bad examples of billable item descriptions:
"Pixel art"
"Game art"
"2x Tile sets"

Good examples:
"3x character spritesheets, 24x32px, with Idle, Attack, Run, and Death animations of 4-10 frames each, character designs provided by client"
"Tileset for the Jungle area, 16x16px tiles, including two types of ground, cliffs, at least different 3 trees, and at least 5 props"
"Game UI element: nine-slice rectangle for buttons with 2x colour variants for highlighted/disabled states"

For the Invoice type, select "Service", since you're performing a service (creating original art) for the client. Make sure you get this right, as it will affect things if you have any disputes pertaining to the invoice.
thanks alot