Let's say you are another dedicated, poser user, a new artist, one with dreams that definately include eventually your work to get recognized and you start doing something professionaly with the app you love the most...or even better, how about start selling? A category most of us - if not ALL - do fit in, right? ) Let's say one day you get a message from someone who praises your work and asks you to do exactly that, without lifting a finger of your own..everything will be taken care by him, you will just go on doing what you love only this time you won't get just a thank you for return but some money instead.... He will be taking care of all the sales, the site updates, everything and for all this he will just deduct 50% as comission! Sounds like a nice deal, right?.. But what happens if you happen to be a lot more wise than spontaneous and instead of grabbing this unexpected opportunity you ask for some reassurance...let's say a written agreement about this instead of a simple email and a way to check the actual amount of sales?.... Let's say that you never get a reply after you forward that message...what would you start suspecting? Any chance that perhaps this man was bad news and was just trying to take advantage of your own work for his personal profit at your own expense? I just can't help wondering... In time, you forget about the incident... until you see some real friends have fallen into the trap you managed to avoid...then what do you do??????? Hard question, isn't it? renapd

I personally would never deal that way. Most of my work is comissioned. Some of it has been over the intenet. In those cases I have requested a full payment before any work is begun. This has caused me to loose some jobs, but who can be sure if they planned to pay in the first place. I learned the hard way and I will never put myself in a situation like that again. And another note, I would never share 50% of the profit of my work. The only thing I can say is, be carefull, there is a lot going on out there.

As for the friends... don't hesitate in telling them if you value their friendship.

I think Renapd you listen to that inner voice that speaks to you. Each of us have our own inner voice. I am thinking you have already been pondering this much. And I can not tell you what your voice should do. Only you can decide this. My inner voice, and my business experience, just reading what you say, screams "rotten apples in that barrel!" Phew - much stinking! But of course I am not involved and don't know all facts. But warning lights of caution were clanging away most loudly! It reminded me of the many flim flam people in business. "Dazzle ya, razzle ya, try to make your common sense go away." Just a word, since you asked for advice, of something I have experienced. Maybe you have too, but maybe not so I will go ahead and mention. What your voice is saying maybe different from someone else's inner voice talking to them. You may loose friends. You will be sad if friends perceive you differently, but you will know you only spoke with your inner voice that comes from your helping heart. Just my opinion and what I "try" to always do. *smiles *

I would look the situation over carefully... wiegh the pros and cons of such an offer, and as LilWolff stated, listen to that little voice. It may be the right thing for some, and wrong for others.

Thanks for all your help! :o) I'm glad to see that you all realized what I was trying to do...just trying to warn the community of this trap...it was sad enough to see a few already caught in it - dear ones too! I have no idea if the offer was similar to them or that man considered just ME an easy prey because I live so far away in Greece...that's why I felt I have to write all this down, my inner voice wouldn't make peace with myself unless I made sure that I had made my best to warn the rest in time, as tactfully as possible under the circumstances! Thank you all for listening!:o) renapd

Rena, I did have something like this happen. I was asked by an Australian software company to design a texture map for a female runner. It was a small company, just getting started, didn't have a lot of money, but wanted to pay. They said they would pay me in two copies of the software when it came out. I inadvertently deleted the e-mail after I had sent the image they wanted, thus losing contact with them, and I never heard from them again. I'm tempted to offer the texture up for grabs either in Free Stuff or on my web site, and if the company complains, I can just say they broke their promise, so the image is not theirs. I only asked for credit for the image and they offered the two copies of software (supposedly a typing tutorial for children -- don't ask me why they wanted an adult female runner for their ad -- that should have been a clue, eh?). Anyway, I've decided not to accept things like this after that. Melanie

Hmmmm.. Just happened to be listening to Pink Floyd's "Have a Cigar" while reading this... TyggerBob