I think always open is better because with slots it's harder to catch the commission slots when they do come out and at the same time also have the money at hand. When it's always open, you at least know you are getting your comm in the future. Now with this I think it's the artist choice if they want to charge all the price before letting them in the waitlist or just a percentage and then the rest when the turn comes x'3

I prefer when an artist's commissions are always open, because slots tend to fill up and go exclusively to people who just happen to be in the right timezone or are able to check FA at any hour of the day. I'd rather be at the back of the queue than excluded entirely.

This makes sense!

Oh good, I was worried I sounded like a jerk.
Even though it's how I handle commissions myself lol

I personally have always been into slots as there's a load of different ways they can be done! You can have em first come first serve OR also alongside that then you could also have a couple slots for you to pick ideas you're most interested in - you can have journals ahead of time announcing when you're gonna open so people can be ready to to grab a slot and send in their info - you can open your slots in a wave or two at different times so people with different schedules or timezones get a proper chance to get in on the action, etc. Plus all around its a bit cleaner and quicker I feel like?

I admit I think I'm a bit biased against always-open comms cuz it seems to result in mile long waitlists everywhere I've seen em lol. Like its kinda cool to just be on the list I suppose but you end up getting on the list and then wayyyy in the future getting contacted about it which at that point you may or may not even still want/ be able to get the idea. Whereas slots are pretty concise and quick in how everything is handled for both the artist and the commissioner.
Then on top of that when you've got a queue then now you've got to eternally keep track of and manage the neverending giganto-giga-queue as people are added to it or their status changes and stuff is completed or they're removed from it etc. And one thing I just thought to bring up is that I even know a few people who just see the gigantic queues and don't even bother to commission the artist cuz the queue is so daunting haha, so I imagine that effect happens a decent amount too?
Additionally I think a queue has a functionality problem where it allows information to get kinda stale or scrambled due to having to keep track of it over a significantly longer time period, which has potential to lead to some communication problems as someone who is later in the queue means both you and them have to kinda keep track of the information for longer. You'll also get a few people getting on the queue just to have a slot reserved, but when the time comes they may not even be ready as they were just tryna snag a slot earlier on. This happens less I say with standard slot openings due to the faster nature of em tho

So that's about my opinion on the two styles, and I'm very much a slot fan if not just cuz its kinda the traditional way things seem to be handled and it works pretty nice and quickly while being flexible! Especially with stuff like prepping journals so people can be ready for opening times or other various things to make sure people can get in on it (you can even combine slots and queues by having a minor waitlist/reserved slots or something for a couple people that missed a previous opening, etc).

I guess this response is a bit longer than expected lol, wanted to give a solid breakdown tho!

Yeah, I've experienced all of those problems using a waitlist system. it's definitely a mess to keep track of, even keeping on top of documenting requests as they come in.

Personally I prefer always open and waitlists, but it's comfort by the artist highly depends on how much client traffic, etc, the artist gets as well. But even then, always open can help a client secure a slot when they might not be around for openings or otherwise get unlucky with them. And typically clients who are truly interested in getting a slot and hold out next to their idea are willing to wait the waitlist time.

As an artist, it personally prefer doing batches because I can take, say 10 on. Work on ones I feel inspired to draw first and mix and match whilst waiting for feedback on sketches. Plus it helps maintain workload and means my commissioners know it'll be around a month max turn around time.

I think it also helps market stuff because they have the faux limitability ( really, you just gotta wait a month) and sometimes people will want a comm, can't afford it that month and ask for a reserve spot next round


As a buyer, I've mostly been buying YCHs lately, so they tend to work in the "limited slots" style.