Refunded, abandoned, unpaid and locked contests

When a contest on 99designs is 'locked' all the designs and comments are 'hidden' from view.

Here's 99designs explanation:

"When a contest is locked or refunded, your entries and any comments will be hidden from everyone — yourself, other users, and the contest holder — and they will not be displayed again until 99designs unlocks the contest. This is to protect our designers from being plagiarized after a contest holder has withdrawn their contest"

and

When a contest is locked, all entries are hidden, and a message from a 99designs staff member will be displayed in place of the existing comments. These entries and comments still exist—they’ve just been temporarily hidden while we sort out what to do with this contest. Normally a contest will be locked because the contest holder has requested a refund, but there are many other reasons why a contest might be locked.

A contest is locked when a refund is requested by the contest holder, it violates our community guidelines, the contest holder hasn’t awarded a winner two weeks after the end of the contest, or there is some other issue with the contest.

If we look at the following links, we can still gain some information about how the contest ended. Some pieces of information are more specific than others. It's reasonably safe to say that, in all the contests below, winning designers were not picked, nor were they paid for their work. If we take a look at some of the information, it will give us an indication of the amount on non-paid spec work on 99designs that doesn't even result in a completed contest, let alone payment for that work. It is unclear if 99designs refunds their listing fee when a contest is abandoned, or when the contest holder decides not to award a winner.

$300 Web design contest. 45 entries. Prepaid. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/21745

$276 Logo design contest. 106 entries. Prepaid. $300 Web design contest. 45 entries. Prepaid. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/22454

$300 Logo design contest. 132 entries. Prepaid. $300 Web design contest. 45 entries. Prepaid. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/21345

$500 Web design project. 1 entry. Prepaid. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/21356

$200 Brand naming contest. 109 entries. No further information - http://99designs.com/contests/20643

$500 Company naming contest. 50 entries. Description tab comment: "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner." 99designs comments, "Hi Guys - this contest has been shut down as we don't run naming contests at 99designs - only design contests!!": http://99designs.com/contests/21738
99designs does appear to allow naming contests - http://99designs.com/contests/19979 & http://99designs.com/contests/20643

$100 logo design and naming contest. 62 entries. CH profile indicates that no winner was selected - http://99designs.com/contests/2516

$295 Logo and header design project. 49 entries. Prepaid. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/22512

$175 Logo design contest. Prepaid. 52 entries. Description tab comment: "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner." 99designs comment explains why:

"The contest holder has had some trouble with trademarks for this contest so, this contest has been closed and the CH has launched a new contest with a slightly different brief. May I just say, there has been some fantastic designs in this contest, well done!"

- http://99designs.com/contests/22380

$750 Website design contest. 18 entries. No further information. Profile indicates that no prize has been awarded. - http://99designs.com/contests/22015

$150 Logo design contest (SitePoint). 51 entries. No further information. Profile indicates that no prize has been awarded- http://99designs.com/contests/2838

$100 Logo design contest. 1 entry. No further information - http://99designs.com/contests/21139

$200 Logo design contest. 50 entries. Prepaid. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/21113

$200 Invitation design contest (SitePoint). 8 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/3173

$150 Website design contest. 49 entries. No further information - http://99designs.com/contests/21940

$150 Website design contest. 61 entries. No further information - http://99designs.com/contests/21960

$150 Logo design contest. 41 entries. No further information - http://99designs.com/contests/21956

$150 T-shirt design contest. Prepaid. 102 entries. No further information. 99designs passed on a comment from the CH, saying,

"Thank you to everybody who submitted designs, we really appreciate your efforts. We had a clear outline of what we wanted in the brief and thought we made this clear - sorry if this wasn't the case. Also sorry for delay in action since the competition closed, we are a virtual management team and have been covering a lot of air miles recently. We asked for 3 designs and only a few designers submitted 3, some reread the brief and withdrew, others submitted 3 seperate designs and we considered all of them. Unfortuantely, nothing grabbed us on this occassion. We continue to source new designs and will be relisting on 99designs in the near future with an increased competion prize so please look out"

- http://99designs.com/contests/21903

$230 Print design contest. 21 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/21939

$250 Logo design contest. 63 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/21954

$250 Webpage design contest. 63 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/22494

$500 Website design contest. 162 entries. No further information. Profile indicates no prize has been awarded - http://99designs.com/contests/21857

$150 Logo design contest. 90 entries. GUARANTEED. No further information - http://99designs.com/contests/22023

$300 Logo design contest. 106 entries. Prepaid. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/21433

$520 Logo design contest. 20 entries. No further information - http://99designs.com/contests/11122

$300 Logo design contest. 55 entries. Prepaid. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/22608

$150 Website design contest. 10 entries. Contest was locked in February, 07 and re-opened. Last comments on discussion thread were in March, 07 were "Any news on a winner?" and "This is just rediculous! I am withdrawing my entry.": http://99designs.com/contests/1033

$200 Logo design contest. 64 entries. Prepaid. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: Profile indicates that no prize had been awarded: http://99designs.com/contests/21628

$225 Logo design contest. 3 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/18238

$295 Logo design contest. 43 entries. No further information. Profile indicates that no prize had been awarded - http://99designs.com/contests/22410

$670 Logo design contest. 17 entries. No further information. Profile indicates that no prize had been awarded - http://99designs.com/contests/15400

$300 Logo design contest. 116 entries. Prepaid. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/21916

$150 Logo design contest. 26 entries. Prepaid. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/17325

$200 Logo design contest. 47 entries. No further information. Profile indicates no prize had been awarded - http://99designs.com/contests/22264

$500 Logo design contest. 140 entries. No further information - http://99designs.com/contests/17285

$500 Logo design contest. 1 entry. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/16289

$300 Logo design contest. 87 entries. Prepaid. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/20979

$1000 Logo design contest. 25 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/21720

$250 Logo design contest. 48 entries. No further information - http://99designs.com/contests/22081

$615 Web design contest. 8 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/13303

$200 Caricature contest. 25 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/19624

$225 Logo design contest. 33 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/19930

$350 Logo design contest. 59 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/13201

$300 Marketing material design contest. 2 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/21739

$900 Logo design contest. 197 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/13000

$300 Logo design contest. 119 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/16784

$150 Logo design contest. GUARANTEED. 3 entries. 99designs explains, "Sorry, duplicate contest" - http://99designs.com/contests/21006

$250 Logo design contest. 95 entries. No further information - http://99designs.com/contests/21809

$2000 Logo design contest. 102 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/17043

$150 Logo design contest. 48 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/20729

$400 Logo design contest. 15 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info. 99designs comments "Contest holder has reported to us -'We've held a few contests before and this one just hasn't panned out with good or original designs.'" - http://99designs.com/contests/17043

$750 Logo design contest. 195 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/20729

$150 Logo design contest. 24 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/21848

$150 Logo design contest. 47 entries. No further information. Profile indicates no prize was awarded. - http://99designs.com/contests/15723

$200 Logo design contest. 10 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/18994

$200 Logo design contest. 121 entries. No further information - http://99designs.com/contests/10143

$150 Logo design contest. 27 entries. No further information. Profile indicates no prize was awarded - http://99designs.com/contests/1154

$275 Logo design contest. 49 entries. No further information - http://99designs.com/contests/6908

$500 Web page design contest. 1 entry. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/14186

$200 Logo design contest. 36 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/8201

$300 Logo design contest. 42 entries. Description tab comment: "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner." No further information - http://99designs.com/contests/13920

$300 Logo design contest. 18 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/15721

$500 Logo design contest. 141 entries. No further information - http://99designs.com/contests/11732

$250 logo design contest. 55 entries. No further information. Profile indicates no prize was awarded - http://99designs.com/contests/21876

$1000 Web design contest. 5 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/10729

$150 Logo design contest. 35 entries. No further information - http://99designs.com/contests/14831

$700 Web design contest. 15 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/5696

$200 Logo design contest. 33 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/19882

$150 Logo design contest. Pre-paid. 222 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" 99designs explains, "Contest holder has canceled the contest due to unforseen and uncontrollable circumstances." - http://99designs.com/contests/21920

$300 Logo design contest. 44 entries. No further information - http://99designs.com/contests/14831

$400 Banner (set of 8) design contest (SitePoint). 12 entries. CH commented on contest suspension saying, "Apparently sitepoint's rules are that each banner has to be paid more then 100 bucks which is crazy, their rules make it sound like the entire contest just has to be over $100 which is what I thought. No sane person is going to pay more then $50 bucks for some simple ad banners. Arguing with them now and trying to get my money back" - http://99designs.com/contests/1084

$150 Logo design contest. 9 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/12402

$500 Logo design contest. 21 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/11347

$200 Logo design contest. 30 entries. No further information. Profile indicates that no prize was awarded. - http://99designs.com/contests/3906

$700 Homepage design contest. 4 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/13368

$700 Web design contest. 3 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/12163

$600 Web design contest. 1 entry. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/12921

$700 Web design contest. 62 entries. No further information. Profile indicates no prize was awarded - http://99designs.com/contests/12463

$100 Web design contest. 57 entries. No further information. Profile indicates no prize was awarded - http://99designs.com/contests/5887

$250 Logo design contest. 13 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/21481

$495 Logo design contest. 7 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/22381

$350 Logo design contest. 153 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/21736

$200 Logo design contest. 52 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/5930

$150 Logo redesign contest. 63 entries. No further information. Profile indicates no prize was awarded. - http://99designs.com/contests/5928

$300 Home page design contest. 7 entries. No further information - http://99designs.com/contests/6137

$350 Blog website and logo design contest. 3 entries. Description tab comment "The contest holder has decided not to award a winner" No further info: http://99designs.com/contests/13883

One of the main issues of analyzing 99designs contests is that at some point 99designs.com morphed from Site Point design contests and incorporated those contests into the 99designs website layout. It isn't terribly easy to separate the two, but where it was possible and readily apparent, we've noted which contests were originally hosted on Site Point. Some might argue that 99designs is fundamentally different than Site Point, however because these contests are being previewed on the 99designs.com domain, feature comments from 99designs staff (with avatar), are used to promote 99designs, are probably included in contest number totals, and would be to the casual observer, a 99design contest, we are treating EVERYTHING that we find on the 99designs domain as a 99designs contest. Most of the people behind 99designs have deep connections with Site Point and used Site Point members to bolster their user base on start-up. Some of the contests are several years old, but rather than being irrelevant because of their age, we think it proves that 99designs and its precursor SIte Point have been involved in spec work and design contests for a very long time, whether you support that involvement or not.