COVID-19: Advice for artists

We understand this is a difficult and uncertain time for a lot of artists on the platform and we've put together a list of tips and resources which we hope will assist you in the coming weeks. Please keep an eye on this page and our Forum Announcements for further information. We invite you to have a look through this forum thread especially.

If you know that your existing order or shipment will be delayed/disrupted, please get in touch with the customer as soon as possible, and then check-in with them regularly, even if it's just to let them know that you’re monitoring the situation. Sometimes, customers just need some reassurance while they wait. 

What should I do if I am unable to ship my order before the estimated dispatch date? 

We invite you to change the dispatch date for your order by going to Dashboard > Transactions > Details and pressing the button that says ‘Update estimated dispatch date’ underneath the heading ‘Expecting delay with shipment of this order?’. 

This will trigger a notification to your customer and prevent reminder emails from being generated until the expected dispatch date has been reached. 

We recommend contacting the customer as well to inform them on the situation so that they are aware of the reason why the dispatch of the order is delayed. 

You can also update the estimated dispatch date for your entire shop, by going into Settings then selecting Shipping Times.

What if I am unable to ship to some countries? 

If you know that you will be unable to ship to a certain country then please remove the relevant country from your shipping table as soon as possible to avoid any confusion for customers. 

What if I am unable to fulfil orders at the moment? 

If you know you will be unable to accept and/or fulfil orders in the near future, please put your shop in holiday mode and select one out of four available reasons. To do so, visit Dashboard Icon → Settings → Holiday Mode. You are able to undo this at any time. 

I don’t know if my courier will be able to ship my artwork 

Although most deliveries are continuing unaffected, we expect that some couriers may experience delays, so please do refer to your courier's website for up-to-date status information.

Also, keeping your shipping tables up to date is important in case your regular courier is unavailable and the shipping price changes so that you do not undercharge your customers, because we do not want you to be out of pocket!

Please do contact your customer if there is a delay and update them or reach out to our Support Team if you're unsure. We also encourage you to post or even start your own thread on the Artist Forum to inform and support other artists. Please always follow your country’s advice and do not go out to ship artworks if you are unwell/breaking your country policy. We would, of course, love all orders to be fulfilled ASAP, but we also want you to be safe! 

My order is shipped but the delivery is delayed due to COVID

If you see that your order may arrive after the estimated delivery date you set out, or if the tracking shows no update due to COVID, we would recommend you first reach out to the courier to try and obtain more information on the whereabouts of the parcel. You should also reach out to the customer to update them on the situation.

Please note that as per our Customer Care Policy, we must wait 30 days past the ETA for delivery before we can declare a parcel lost in transit. Once that date has been reached, we would need to process a refund for the customer if they requested it, so it is important that you keep in touch with them regularly to avoid this.

We have also compiled a list of tips and actions you can take on your side to allow your customer to wait a little longer for their delivery, such as offering a partial or full refund for shipping costs, offering a replacement artwork or a discount on purchase, for example. You can find these in our forum post here.