Fine Art America Owner, "Sean B.", has closed the account of another artist today.
The artist had sold a print that was 108 x 20. The artist has a distinguished vintage style using a technique that incorporates graininess and blurring into the images. The artist received a congratulatory email from Fine Art America, encouraging said artist to post the sale to Facebook, and other networking sites.
Shortly thereafter, one of the Fine Art America staff members emailed the artist to state that they were having issues with their image quality, and that a photo of higher resolution would need to be resubmitted.
The artist replied, stating that what the staff was seeing was not a lack of quality, but an intentional and deliberate edit that purposefully integrated that particular style into the image. The photo was taken with a DSLR and a new 50 MM 1.8. It was also taken in the rain and there was a heavy mist abounding. The would-be buyer was attracted to the print not only by the subject, but by the mood as well, which was enhanced by the antiquated post processing: it was a B&W landscape.
The artist received another email from the staff member, Dawn, stating that she too is a photographer, and in a nutshell, she "knew what she was talking about" and so on. She advised the artist to go out and reshoot the shot and reupload it, all the while, the buyer had no idea that the Fine Art America staff was intending to sell the buyer a different photograph than the one he thought he would be purchasing. The artist was appalled at the practices of Fine Art America.
The artist emailed Dawn back and was resolute in the fact that the artist would NOT be reshooting the image, as it would be unfair and dishonest to the would-be buyer. The artist was absolutely flabberghasted that Fine Art America would be so dishonest in their business dealings: The artist lost all respect for Fine Art America. The artist did not meet the deadline for resubmitting a new image, and darn proud of it. Fine Art America contacted the would-be buyer of the 9 ft. Print, misconstreuding the situation to the buyer and completely ommitting information and the artistic intentions of the artist regarding processing. Fine Art America was one-sided in their explanations.in short, they presented the would-be buyer with loaded bits of information, encouraging the buyer to cancel his order. Naturally, the buyer cancelled his order.
The artist was outraged, and rightly so.
Shortly thereafter, the owner, Sean B. Emailed the artist. The tone of the email was condescending, and Sean B. Refused to make any ammends, retributions, or compensations for such gross treatment of one of their artists.
Fine Art America did not only cancel an order that had no pixelation or mutilation of artifacts in the image, they are now misrepresenting their website policies altogether by disallowing the artist to rightly interpret ans sell his or her own art.
The artist told the owner that a Ripoff report would be filed.
The artist received an email from the owner Sean B. Stating that he was going to close the artist's account, and that it just "wasn't working out" between them. The artist was infuriated and told the owner of Fine Art America that he better not close the account, as the artist didn't request anyone to close it, nor had any rules been broken.
The artist received an email from Sean. B. Stating that the artist's account had been closed.
The owner of Fine Art America clearly wanted to simply "wash his hands" of an unpleasant situation, rather than uphold standards that are typically found at even substandard sites.
Fine Art America has proved to be a company that discriminates artists and "hand-selects" the ones who are and are not allowed to participate, according to the owner's personal likes and dislikes. Their actions are grossly discriminating, unethical, abusive, and highly unprofessional.
I would warn any and all artists to stay away from fine art america.
At any time, the owner, Sean B., can send you an email, and for whatever reason, simply close your account, without so much as giving the artist adequate time to remove his or her images that he or she may have posted over the course of several years; and the only reason being, "It's just not working out between us".
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Redbubble.com is the # 1 art site in the world (and for good reason). I do not work for Redbubble, but have seven years of experience at the website as an artist. I've never had a better experience anywhere, and have had over 70 sales there. The community is friendly, the staff are always helpful, and they treat the artists with understanding and respect.
I've never had a worse experience with any website owner in my life, anywhere, than that of Sean. B. (owner) of Fine Art America.
If you're looking for a rewarding place to sell your fine art prints, Redbubble blows Fine Art America out of the water.
For the record, I've only had one sale at Fine Art America in three years.
Again - over 70 at Redbubble.
Redbubble is free (whereas Fine Art America charges their artists), and the traffic flow at Redbubble is significantly heavier than that of Fine Art America. If you're wanting to mix with artists, Fine Art America would suffice. But if you're wanting to sell your prints and actually make money, there's no comparison: Redbubble wins - hands down.
To sign on for a free account, you can go here:
Http://www.redbubble.com/
And again Sean B. And Fine Art America, shame on you for treating one of your (x) veteran artists with such disrespect, tact, and a lack of integrity.
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