Hi and thanks for the invite.
Your brief sounds interesting but I participate only in guaranteed projects.

Sure thing I understand. I am not out to screw anyone out of their payment but it is risky for me to agree to a guarantee when I don't have any idea what the quality of the submissions will be. Its a lot of money to potentially lose on a subpar design. Hope you understand. No worries.

None at all.
Bon chance!

OK made it guaranteed

Do you plan to submit something now that it is guaranteed?

Hope this would go well for you but if you'd prefer to work with me, next time you could invite me to a project through my profile page. You'd have my full attention in such an arrangement. It's a matter of trust, I know, but it's at its best if it is mutual.

As of this project, could you please elaborate on these:

(Needs a steampunk or rustic/industrial feel to it) >>> to match the design elements inside the business.
Usually, branding is based on the logo/logotype/colours and other elements are derived from such guides. Not carved in stone, but it is a common approach. I don't really understand which elements are you referring to.

>>> three pillars of the business are community, storage and services.
Could you please describe or share your interpretation of these 'pillars'? That would be something I could depict. Anything else is like Pin the tail.

Attaching some examples to your brief would also make the whole thing more comprehensive. I have no idea about your preferences, inclinations nor about the scale of your business. What should I depict then?

Forget it. You have become way too high maintenance. You said you didnt go after this because it wasn't guaranteed and I guaranteed it. Then you still didn't submit anything. If you want to talk about trust, why don't you start right there. Good luck.

I did forget about this, till you replied, 3 days later.
Alas, my interest in your project seems to be unilateral since you left all of my questions unanswered.

Bon chance!

ps
I'm pretty much certain I do not owe you anything.