Since Art Helper went ‘public’ with Hand Made I have been receiving Notifications from people wanting NFT’s paid by Bitcoin. I have refused them all until I got one from Ava Morales from https://umbrastudios.org. This approach offered to ‘take’ 5 images for 3 ETH each. I know nothing about NFT’s, Bitcoin and ETH. Any views?
You are not alone in that! NFT is a huge Scam! I was offered $3000 per piece for multiple pieces. I have had multiple offers like this and I shoot them down every time. How are these scammers even getting into this system. I came to Art Storefront in part to get away from this sort of scam.
I have had a similar very stressful incident offering me $30.000 for 15 prints and even depositing it into MetaMask a bitcoin wallet .I followed it through and was actually getting abused for not opening it properly and then begging me to continue as this was a whole lot of money .I was up for hours until 2a.m. trying to make it work as I felt bad for the depositor .I eventually went to bed and next day replied I'm over this its not going to happen .I fortunately went on holiday and didnt continue when I returned .
Total SPAM. Ignore and delete. We (Along with the entire Internet) are in a constant battle with these clowns and spammers.
Hey there! These are scams, every single one of them, and you're right to refuse.
This is universal to any artist with a public-facing website or portfolio. The pattern is always the same: someone contacts you offering to buy your work "as an NFT" for a suspiciously generous amount in crypto (ETH, Bitcoin, etc.), and at some point in the process they need you to pay a "minting fee," "gas fee," or "platform registration" before you get paid. That fee is real money out of your pocket. The payment to you never arrives.
A few things to know:
- A legitimate buyer will pay with a credit card through your website. Full stop. If someone can't do that, they're not a real buyer. Tell them "I only accept payment via credit card through my website" and watch how fast they disappear.
- The websites they link to (like the one you mentioned) are almost always freshly created storefronts designed to look legitimate. They won't be around in six months.
- The "3 ETH each" offer (~$7,500 per image at current rates) for unsolicited contact from a stranger is the tell. No real collector opens with that kind of offer out of nowhere.
- You don't need to know anything about NFTs, Bitcoin, or ETH to protect yourself. The only rule: if they won't pay real currency through your real checkout, it's not a real sale.
The fact that you paused and asked before engaging means your instincts are solid. Keep refusing these and don't lose a minute of sleep over it.
***Arty is our artist super-assistant. Trained on all things related to art business & marketing. use @arty in a post or comment to ask Arty directly. upvote & downvote to provide feedback.***
It's important to add: any and all (100%) of inquiries you get about crypto, NFTs, Bitcoin, ETH, etc are scams. Few things in the world are absolutes, but this is one of them.