I always try to negotiate for paying after completion especially with artists I've never worked with before. Usually what I've done is pay after the artist is done, but before I'm shown.
Some artists seem to work better with a carrot too, but that's just my opinion.

well with the artists im not sure about or new to... i prefer the half and half..that way they seem to want to finish the work witht he promise of the money (specially for the larger commissions)....aka the offer of the carrot...WITH DIP!

as a customer im good with full payment upfront for under $20 myself its not a huge amount of money and easy to come by (for me lol)

I fully support 100% up front. The artist has a reputation to uphold, and random customers don't. Who has more to lose?

If you're not sure about paying everything up front for a full color work, ask if you can pay for a sketch, and then upgrade to color later. That way, you can pay in two parts, and depending on how quickly the sketch gets done, you'll have a rough idea of how seriously the artist takes his/her work.

lol this also works..but also kind of what I said just worded differently right?

and hey im all for 100% upfront...just really dont prefer it. As I said was just a rant from someone who has been burned (still waiting on a certain commission 7 years later lol)

you never did ask me for money for that picture yeah drew for me for the first FAU...heh i still have that pic floating around my room ^^

I have to call bull here. There's a large number of artists who are notorious for taking large comission fees (Gideon, I'm looking at you) and then never delivering the paid for work. And yet these artists remain incredibly popular. It's pretty clear that the furry fandom could care less if you're a ripoff artist as long as you can draw purty.

Payment upon completion is not completely unfair to the artists.

It's a risk, but that's a decision for the artist to make, but it isn't >unfair< at all. Just a matter of whether the artist is able or willing to do it that way.

Personally, I really would prefer payment upon completion. It's just not as much of an option for me. If I don't need money, I'm not taking commissions, and if I need money, I generally need it when I take the commission. XD

I consider myself a very poor example for an artist doing work for pay. Sometimes I have valid excuses, but too often there really just isn't any good excuse. I'm lucky in that every customer has been inordinately patient and still pleased with the final result regardless of the amount of wait they had (not counting two commissions I terminated and refunded, or commissions still in progress). My customers are still always pleased, but I am by no means a good example. I'm trying to be better about that.

But I do try to let people know up front that I am slow to deliver. So, as much as it is the artist's choice whether to gamble with payment upon completion, it's also a buyer's choice whether to make the same gamble on an artist.

Any time what is being sold is not a set pre-made product, this is going to be the case. Either buyer or seller makes a gamble with the transaction. More often than not, it's going to be the buyer taking the chance.

I understand you're just voicing your opinion, not really even complaining at all, and that's cool of you. It's just sorta one of those things that is what it is. ^_^;;

(I'm not the 7 year old commission you're waiting on am I? I'm not sure we've known each other THAT long and am preeeeeeetty sure I haven't had any outstanding commissions THAT old, but... I'm paranoid and sometimes forgetful. XD)

nah dude i only have requests from you...and beggings of you takin commissions from me *grr* also get your ass to fau!!!

Can I be guest of honor?

That is, obviously, all kinds of facetious. X3

Cons aren't an option for me presently. But for what it's worth, you would be the only reason I would go to FA:U if I could. *hugs*

awww well come next year! *hugs tightly*

I'd probably rather just visit Calgary if I get to a point of having the money for trips like that. ^_^;;

:/ I've had too many people just forget to pay or change their minds after the work is done.

Personally I always try to insist upon paying the artist the whole sum upfront as I'm paying for their time and I know I'm bad with money so it's safest to not hang onto something earmarked for someone else.

I think the best compromise would still be pay up front but on a per section basis, so if you want a sketch you pay for the sketch, if you want coloured then you pay for the sketch and when done it's shown for adjustment then you pay for the inks, then when that's done you pay for the colour.

I think it's better to pay upfront, unless you already know the person, maybe a deposit would be good, but the trouble is, there's lots of dodgy people out there who will probably take the low resolution pic of the sketch you send to them and run, I've seen so many people demanding free commissions like it's their god given right, and reacting badly when they don't get them, so what's to stop these people from nicking off as soon as they've got something?

But yeah, that's a bit of a generalisation, I'm fine with paying upfront, like the guy above me, i'm terrible with money, i'd hate to get to the end and realise I can't afford it. :P

As a customer, I don't mind the whole payment up front deal. Most artists I've dealt with required this, and none have burned me on that as of yet. I can certainly understand why many would prefer to do it that way; I've seen plenty of stories about customers who "grab and run" so to speak. In some cases I think it's understandable; most of the money goes into the supplies needed to make the image (most of my commissions have been in real media) so it only makes sense that the artist might want money up front to be able to buy what's needed for it, especially since it seems many artists don't exactly have a reserve set aside purely for the purpose of having all materials needed.

Some of the artists who require full payment up front are pretty lenient about it too, allowing me to make payments for large commissions that cost far more than I can usually pay for in one shot (like several large real media commissions that ran between $100-$300 each.) Granted they usually don't start until I've either mostly paid or paid in full, but I've never had a problem working with that.

I must agree though that the half and half way is certainly one of the better ways!

Honestly, I can understand the rant here from both sides, I both commission folks on occasion and I also take commissions. Generally I'm pretty lenient about payment methods. What I do not accept is when I take the time to stop what I'm doing, scan in and wait for the approval of the commissioner. Yes I could do your artwork incredibly fast, I could probably punch one out in a few days if I just hammered at it continuously.

However, I want to give my customers the vision that's in their head of the commission they're asking for. That being said, I do an approval system. When I get the sketch or base line image done, I send it in for approval. Once I get that appoval, the work is over half done and I generally ask for half the payment then, for a few reasons: Firstly, commissioners oftentimes change their mind and it's not fair to me to invest my time and work only to be told "OOHH SORRY I HAET IT, NO PAYMENT FUR U". That's why I do the approval system too. There are no surprises about what my customers get at the end of the day. Secondly, I have bills to pay. They don't WAIT until the end of the month when my commissioners get paid. They demand payment or they get things like lawyers involved. Ten bucks may not seem like much to most people, but that puts gas in my gas tank. I don't generally take full payment up front because I can't guarantee when it'll get done.

Most artists are fulfilling multiple roles. I haven't run into anyone thrives solely off commissions alone. They're moms, dads, sisters, brothers, children, workers for whatever job they're pulling off, and if they're a responsible adult, they also have things like housework, homework (in the case of collegiate folk), shopping, bill paying and have family and pets to care for. Art work has to take a back seat for a lot of these. And yes it's a pain to someone who commissions them, but you have to see it realistically. How many hours of the day do they invest in their artwork?

>_o I dunno. I honestly think people can be really too hard on fartists.

I nearly always accept payment after I've completed the artwork. I show the commissioner a small, low resolution version of the finished piece, or a sketch in between so they know what they will be getting. That way, if something happens and I'm too busy to get to the commission, they haven't sent me any cash and there are no real obligations on either side. (If I can't get to it, then I can't get to it. Furthermore, if they don't have the money, they don't feel as though they've cheated me.)

you do not hun

no definatly not that one