A couple of days ago I discussed my suspicions that an offer to buy one of my pictures was possibly fraudulent. I was cautious about this from the beginning, and went along with it, entertaining initially the possibility that my problem lay in my own incomprehension of the process of exporting to the USA. Nevertheless, I was determined to follow the question through until I was certain that the enquiry I had received was a scam. I have now reached the decision that I ought to pull the plug on the whole thing.
The experience which really tipped the balance for me was an extremely useful ‘phone conversation I had with a member of staff of a-n (the artists’ information network, of which I’ve been a member for many years.) He assured me very quickly that my suspicions were probably well-founded, and that my story resembled in most of its details a common experience among artists. It was extremely reassuring to have this backing, and has repaid my membership fee many times over. I shall defer sending the fatal email to my “purchaser” until tomorrow.
The final piece of information which really put the seal on my decision was my looking up the address I had been given on the internet. (I had forgotten that it is possible to do this, but it is a very useful thing to have in mind.) It turned out to be that of a rather down-market estate agent, which hardly struck me as the likely residence for a well-off American businessman. The interesting thing also was that the original correspondence was written in impeccable (if slightly stilted) English, whereas once I started to put the writer under some pressure, compelling more spontaneous composition, this tended visibly to deteriorate.
I have found the experience to be quite stressful, as my natural inclination is to blame myself for aspects of the proposed transaction which I didn’t understand. In the end, however, my judgement has been vindicated and I feel good about that. If any colleagues out there ever find yourself in a similar situation, being unsure of the genuine nature of sales enquiries, do take the time to make all possible enquiries before making a commitment. It turns out that there are quite a few people out there who are trying to take advantage of our desire for recognition of our work and our relative ignorance of business procedures.