Image Designer Archive

First let me say that over the months I have experienced numerous trends in how players open an image change conversation and one such opening is " I need you to ,,,,". Now in the past this opening has usually ended up being a player who is amazed that someone who is a Master ID'er would even charge anything for their service.

So in the last few months whenever I get that opening and the request is something that is in the novice trees or its amultiple request( ie hair style andhair color), I request an amount that is very fair in my opinion usually 5000 in advance. Usually if they are reluctant to pay in advance I sayI only do changesafter payment and most do so. If it goes quickly or is a very simple change, then I also check weight, bust, torso, height or anything I notice that is in need of improvement and then offer one or sometimes even two changes to provide full value for the 5000. Very Very rarely does a player not need something else that would have been a change that wouldnt equal 5000 for the changes they needed and wanted. In a few ,,very rare,, situations I have refunded a partial amount if the 5000 wasnt really earned.

Fast forward to today; Standing at a bank , I get a tell,,,I need you to change my hair. I respond ok,,and since he was very close he walks up ,,invites me to his group and the converstion begins. I need you to ,,,and as he does that I notice his title "Jedi Initiate" and having noticed his overall appearance I asked for a 5000 payment in advance, thinking I would be providing him a super deal and knowing that 5000 wouldnt bother his bank account whatsoever. (later he said he had 28million). His response was that I was rude to ask for payment in advance and the entire conversation deteriorated from there.

Now, so you have the full policy in mind, if a player just adds a please at any time or is truly asking for information my policy is quite different. So your opinion is only for the " I need you to" opening,,and the opinion I am looking for is

Is it rude to ask for payment in advance under this scenario?

I've noticed the same thing. It seems that any time they tell you what they want rather than asking for what they want, they don't want to tip. It's just a symptom of their attitude toward image design.

Personally, I never charge, but I don't think there's anything wrong with asking for a fee or asking for a fee up front, either. Don't let people bother you when they get upset about having pay. Especially when they claim to have cash like that. It may even be the fault of people like myself. If they've had a previous experience where they weren't asked to pay, they may think that's standard practice. Others are just too self-centered to realize your time is worth as much as theirs.

Anyway, just keep doing what you're doing and enjoy it. ^_^

You were definitely in the right on this one, Jaela. That guy was just a jerk. Lately, I've gotten to the point where if someone is rude, I'll just tell them whatI prefer as far as politeness and etiquette goes. Usually, they just go away, but that really doesn't bother me. I don't need the money so bad that I'm going to put up with the inconsiderate.

Often the root of someone's displeasure in being asked to pay up front is that they do not think we have the right to a price list. As Tummygrumbles suggested, it could be as simple as they are used to having Image Designers ask to be tipped whatever they feel the service is worth and so your approach stands out and they interpret it as rude. I would simply explain that you have no secure trade window and so you ask for your payment up front, but that you will of course refund their money if they are unhappy with your services and decide not to accept any changes. You could also explain that Image Designers have been stiffed in the past and you need to pay your taxes/mortgage/rent.

All that said, I also get suspicious of someone paying if they use statements such as "Give me such and such" or "I want this and that" without any pleases or thank yous. I've felt veryawkward the few times I've asked for payment up front mostly because I knew it was because I didn't trust the person to pay me That said a good, kind player should have no problem with doing so.

On a related note someone may not ask about pricing because they are planning to greatly overpay you or have so much money nothing you say would make them blink. I still like to discuss pricing ahead of time so that noone is caught by surprise.

Just because he's a jedi, and an ostentatious one at that (Jedi initiate title??? LAME) doesn't mean he gets free stuff from you. No doubt he's used to people showering him with presents. He'll come crawling back to one of us, nobody does ID for free.