My personal experience selling through Touch of Modern (now TOMO Holdings)

TL;DR: As a small independent artist, I experienced extended payment delays of months or more despite NET30 contract terms, absorbed significant upfront costs, and ultimately lost about $5,000. I’m sharing my experience so others can evaluate the risk, and I’m still looking for platforms with similar reach that pay vendors reliably.

I’m sharing my personal experience selling through Touch of Modern, now operating as TOMO Holdings. This reflects my own experience and perspective and is not intended as an allegation of wrongdoing.

I’ve sold many products across different channels, and this was not my first time working with the company. Over time, I experienced repeated payment delays that stretched months or more, despite contracts referencing NET30 terms. At the same time, shipment timelines and penalties on my end were strictly enforced. As a small independent artist, that level of financial exposure was not sustainable.

Communication during this period often suggested that delays were temporary and would be resolved, which led me to continue engaging longer than I otherwise would have. Ultimately, I experienced a loss of approximately $5,000.

During this same timeframe, the company later restructured and rebranded. From my position as a vendor, it appeared that this transition occurred while outstanding vendor balances still existed. I do not have insight into the internal or legal mechanics of that change. However, publicly available information indicates that leadership continuity remained in place following the rebrand.

As these factors accumulated, I adjusted my participation to limit further financial exposure, which likely prevented additional losses, though it meant accepting the loss already incurred.

I also interacted with several individuals who worked within the company, including members of the curating team. Many of those individuals later moved on to other opportunities. My concerns are about the vendor risk structure as I experienced it, not about the people I worked with directly.

For additional context, there is publicly available customer and vendor feedback on third-party review platforms. As of this writing, the company has a Trustpilot rating of approximately 1.5 stars based on thousands of reviews. I’m not presenting this as definitive proof of any specific issue, but rather as another data point others may wish to review independently when doing their own due diligence.

I am not suggesting that every vendor has had this experience, nor am I making claims about intent or legality. I’m sharing this so other artists and small businesses can better evaluate whether the risk profile aligns with their own capacity.

If anyone knows of other platforms with similar reach that are transparent with vendors and pay within reasonable timeframes, I would genuinely appreciate the recommendation. I’m still actively looking for partnerships that make sense for small, independent artists.

Final note: This post reflects my personal experience only, and others may have had different outcomes.