Personally i wouldnt mind

If you do Multiple Slots in a YCH, make sure every spot is directly involved in the art.
I see tons of YCHs where there is always 1 slot that isnt involved in the action, and they are still an expensive slot, and then the art piece never gets done, because they cant fill that final slot...both because its uninvolved in the whole image (A guy just sitting in the background) and its unreasonably expensive.

Just, whatever you do, make sure all slots are involved in the image.

Second this so hard.

I definitely agree with this. I understand artists having an issue of filling out background space but I think it's unfair to have people pay $500 to be the skyrim NPC just walking around. If it's gonna be a background position, atleast have some voyeurism at MINIMUM Usually if I cant get a slot filled I fill it with my own designated NPCs

They're often lower priced, so they make a nice piece of art available for people who otherwise might not have been able to afford a piece like that if it were auctioned off for a single slot, while still getting the artist good compensation by spreading it around to several people. As long as it's identified clearly that it's a multislot (it would suck as a commissioner to be surprised by that), I think they can be a great thing. There is some uniqueness lost, but I think if you're up-front that it's a multislot and, ideally, how many slots you're going to do (or if it will be open-ended / as many as people want), that's fine; people can make their own choices, there, and there are certainly other artists who do that quite successfully, so there's clearly a market of people happy to buy into that.

There will be some people who won't buy multislots (I usually only will for small / silly stuff), but that's not really a problem; those people can get single-slot YCH's or regular commissions just fine if they want, and like I say, there will be other people who will be thrilled to get in on a multislot, so no loss. :)

Thank you for detailed input! I've thought about the idea of it being a cheaper thing for multiple slots because the base pose sketch is already done so there isnt as much guess work even though the artist still has to redraw it with character particulars ( I.E: proportions/body type/etc). Im all about being upfront so it'd never come as a surprised if I ever did.

I think there's some confusion in the other comments?

I'm pretty sure you meant "multiple slots" as in "this is a single pose that multiple people can buy for their own character to be filled in". But it sounded like a few other comments were talking about "this is a single piece with multiple characters in it that can be from different bidders". (My feedback here will be about the former - I don't deal with the latter.)

I see no reason that a ych pose should be an exclusive one and done. The strength of a ych for an artist is a template to work from for expedience, and for the client it's that you know roughly what to expect from the outset and have the pose idea shown to you ahead of time with no effort on your end. Uniqueness doesn't come into it imo. If someone wants something more unique, that's what regular commissions are for.

Ooo possibly. I can see how the wording would be confusing, and yet there's a degree of relatable-ness in it too tbh. I dont usually do the latter with very few exceptions since some people dont want to be put into commissions with certain others for a multitude of reasons.

I can definitely see your point on it! I always did YCHs as a method of ' this is what I as an artist want to see/draw ' either in themes or posing. I have an idea I want to put out soon that I feel like a few people might like to get so I want to scope the thoughts/feelings on it. I appreciate your time/thoughts!

Often they are really interesting and can make more than a normal commission if they sell a lot of slots! :)

I don’t mind sharing poses! Exclusivity has never been a draw for me with YCH. I’ve had instances where I lost a YCH on a technicality (more than once) so the artists offered to do another pose but when I’m set on a pose it’s hard for me to want something different even if it’s similar. I’ve also seen closed YCH’s where I like the pose so much that I offered to pay more than the last bid and also gave the option to keep it private if it upset the other client with the pose. So I don’t think you need to offer them cheaper.

Usually what draws me to a YCH is the combination of a good pose and the sketch matching very closely to one of my character’s body-types. So basically the option to buy a “preliminary sketch” I already approve of takes off a lot of the stress of commissioning. I think for me that is the most exciting/stressful moment when commissioning an artist is seeing that first WIP and hoping it suits my character and matches my description/pose reference.

Uniqueness doesn't matter too much to me; not like most people I show it to will have seen any other versions.