❤️The importance of choosing the right fursuit maker/artist❤️

Recently i have come to know from different people that someone sadly lost a LOT of money, by commissioning makers that, after years, declared bankrupt and disappeared.

I would like to spread some awareness about why selecting the right artist is important for you (and your money)

These below, are some points that could possibly indicate that something is wrong with an artist/maker. I made this list based on personal/friends experience:

❤️Doesn't have a regular VAT/ Doesn't release a tax invoice.❤️
❤️ Releasing an invoice, give you more protection from being scammed. If the artist decides to disappear with your money, you can legally sue them and use the invoice as a proof of your payment. Moreover, a scammer doesn't have a regular VAT number.

❤️The Artists asks for splitted payments in various payment methods/accounts, or insists to let you pay with cash only❤️
❤️ Splitting payments, especially if the artist asks you to send different payments to different bank names/accounts, is not a good sign. This could mean that the artist is accepting illegal payments, so they have to send different payments to friends and family to bypass their government rules about taxes and payments.
Asking insistently for a cash payment, could mean that the artist is not in regulation.
Making payments through illegal channels makes it harder for you to recover money if the artist disappear with them or don't fulfill his duty. Trying to recover even a couple of hundred of euros could not be worth it, but if you're paying in the order of thousands for a fursuit, you should take this point into consideration.

❤️Is not active on socials/ the website is not updated for long times❤️
❤️An artist that is not active on socials/website/furcons, could be failed/in bankrupt, except if they publicly delcared they are on a break. Always verify that the artist is continuing to work on suits/arts, avoid really absent ones.

❤️The Artist ghosts you or doesn't answer to your messages for weeks❤️
❤️It could possibly be a scammer. See the previous point about not being active! And even if he's not, in my honest opinion since you're paying thousands of euros for a fursuit, you should at least be aware when the maker is working on your fursuit.

❤️Their answers are generic/hasty/they don't give you enough info or try to avoid contacts with you❤️
❤️Artists should be always as available as possible with their customers/potential customers. Is in their own interest to keep the customers informed and updated, to avoid bad reviews or lack of collaboration.

❤️The Artist posts styles of arts/fursuits with HEAVY differences from each artwork in their socials❤️
❤️It could be a scammer. Usually, scammers tend to steal other artists/makers pics and passes them off as theirs. Always double check the watermark, and avoid artists with inconsistencies on their artworks.

❤️The Artist doesn't have a public queue/is always open for new commissions ❤️
❤️A public queue can assure you that the artist/maker doesn't have too many works in progress or a queue that is too long for their capabilities. Always check for a public queue, and be sure that the artist is not working with years and years long queue. (1-2 years of waiting are the maximum acceptable imho).
If an artist has already a long queue ahead and keeps accepting new commissions with a long delivery estimated time, they may be currently facing money managements problems and need a constant money ingress to cope with the extra unexpected length of the queue. However, by accepting new commissions they extend even more the queue, making it harder to recover from a situation like that.
If you send an upfront payment of thousands of euros expecting a fursuit in the span of years, and in the meanwhile the maker goes in bankruptcy, you will probably lose your money.

❤️Said that, i don't want to go against to any maker\artist, but please be aware, especially when there's a lot of money in it.❤️

❤️I also want to suggest some websites like https://fursuitreview.com/ and https://makers.fursuitreview.com/ , where you can easily check a lot of registered makers and their customer's reviews!

In my job, I had to learn everything 😵

It survived 🤩

Thanks to @Zervendoggo for helping me with this bastard