I know the pain. I have been on my own for almost two years, and suit making just isnt the best form of income.
However i just got a job, and would love to help you. Do you make foam bases on commission? I have two suits i need to make soon, and I buy the bases from other artists, as i can not make them myself.

I could do that, yeah :D I've been wanting to practice foamwork more anyway, I kinda get burned out on everything after that, haha
I definitely need to get another job though, this is not cutting it x___x

yeah, i would suggest getting a job that has about 15 hours a week, just to cover bills, and your suit work can be your spending and saving money. thats what im doing.

But I would need a bear, and a wolf base. Want to shoot me a note with your prices?

ooh, definitely a good idea
I'll note ya right now :33

Dude, FUCK banks. I'm so glad I got my money out of my bank and into a credit union. Has saved me so much heartache/money. Best of luck with your issues..

Seriously, man. I gotta find an alternative, I don't even know why I set up another account here after I moved

Is it a big national bank? Because those are the worst.. Local banks, from my experience, don't seem to be as bad.

If you're looking for an alternative

It's Bank of Albuquerque, so I guess it's local

Credit unions are WAY better than a shitty bank. I have one and they are so much better. They actually care about you.

Maybe a slight break would help you out. Can you talk to your bank about any payment plans? I myself use a credit union, they're more relay able.

Hope things turn around for you. ; n;

Yeah, I gotta go in & talk to them about that and/or figure out how to switch out to a credit union :c
I wish I could take a break, though, agh >.<

If you have a local credit union, I would say asking them for some advice also. Surely they can help you.

Thanks, I'll definitely do that

I will headbutt all of them with pointy tusks. Point me in the right direction.

please do omg
will you be my bounty hunter

Attack boar at your service!

aughhh i wish i could help you out @n@
idk why anyone would act like they didnt commission you or w/e...
i cried like, everyday because i ended up not getting that opossum from you (WHICH I SHALL GET SOME DAY....) and again because of Monday

i would agree with Vanya though, get at least a part time job and make suits more of a side thing.
just like normal art... you gotta have a big name to make a living off it.

awwwuu ;n; one day!
Yeah, I definitely have to get another job, haha. I just gotta take a semester off of school or something, it's just too big of a waste time/money/energy right now

Honestly..you should just do pre-mades...then you don't have to deal with anyones bullshit.

I've tried, the last one I did didn't even sell for base price :/ I guess I should do more generic stuff

The popular species definitely sell faster. Dogs, fox, wolf....hell just make 4 heads all the same pattern...different colours. It would be more efficient till you can get your ducks in a row :)

Just tryin to help..debt is no fun at any amount.

But tunny you have an awesome and original style. Just keep building girl :) if you build it..they will come.

ahh, thanks so much, that's a really really good idea. Plus I have a bunch of species that I wanna make but no one's commissioned me for XD Like a dang red fox, I've been wanting to make one for forever haha

A couple things;

1) immediately call and rant like hell to that bank. Call them, talk to supervisors, if that doesn't work tell them you'll go in. You might have to do so and continue in person. Rant like hell. HOWEVER, if you owe them money (besides the BS they tried to pile on you) like it started because it overdrew by $3, make sure you have that with you. If they're charging you a new monthly fee and you didn't sign up for it, then call and try to get that straight. That stuff sounds flat out illegal to me tbh.

2) switch to a good credit union. Make sure they don't have hidden fees, most don't but I know the teacher's credit union will actually charge you to cash checks that aren't made with them, which is total crud.
I've had problems with key bank, bank of america, US bank, and WaMu. Usually it was a case of I put in money, but it did not register that money had been put in. So when I went to spend said money, it overdrew the account, and it'd charge every transaction after (even a transfer-in to remove the overdraw) as a fee, so I lost like $45 and had to call and raise hell to fix it.



As for commissions, there's a couple things I've known to work.

- Make a "special" offering to put out discounts for things that are artistic freedom or something. This allows you to work quicker without having to check in as often to see if it matches their character (usually)

- add in something to your terms that will allow you to sell their suit if they miss 3 payments (if they're supposed to pay every month, and skip 3, then they relinquish their suit and allow you to sell it.

- Take requests. No, seriously. Take requests for standard animals. Foxes, wolves, etc are going to be popular ones. Just as long as it isn't specifically an original character, like "Do a green fox with purple ears and a black X on it's snout" sort of thing. Ask "What do you want to see for sale as a pre-made?" take the requests there and try them out.

- There are free ways to advertise. Offer a little raffle for a free small tail or something, say "Advertise this in your journal to enter!" and make it a requirement that they have to be a watcher to enter. Hold that for about a week and see how far it goes. Make sure you don't extend it or it might make people iffy about entering again. Though it isn't unreasonable to list that the winner will have to pay shipping charges, (especially if they're out of country!) more people will enter if you don't require that. These might not be the people to commission you, but they'll send more people your way, which is exactly what you want. The more people that watch you, the more likely you'll pick up commissions.

- And last but not least, ALWAYS advertise you're taking commissions. A lot of people won't realize if you're taking commissions or not if it is not clearly listed in journals, on description posts of pictures of fursuits, or on your front page. Make sure it's clearly listed. Perhaps turn it into a different font color. After looking on your front page, it was not immediately clear if you were taking commissions or not. I use a light background would easily pass over that. I:



Hope this helped? Sorry it's not much and it's likely things you've already heard, but hopefully it gives you some path to try.

Also, I've seen one of your heads at Rainfurrest. No offense, but your pics don't quite capture them. I highly suggest trying to take pictures of them outside while it's sunny. Even overcast is okay, but preferably any bit of sunlight you can manage will make the details and colors come out better. Maybe get a large box, put a white blanket (or fleece fabric, just any white fabric should help) inside, and put the head on the fabric to take a picture. That's what i tend to do, and it's a massive difference. If you have a tripod and it's too cloudy out, try messing with the exposure time to get the picture to come out lighter.

aah I've been meaning to set up a little studio or something to take pics, I need to get on that >.<
Thanks so much, I'm totally going up to the bank this week to bitch at them & see if they can lower all that stuff down at least a bit

Just remember, the person on the other end did not have their hand in it. It's not their fault. They deal with angry people all day. I'd only suggest starting to get angry if they refuse to do anything. Try to keep a good tone the entire time, because they might have one of those managers that are fine with them hanging up on people if it gets to that point. :P I've been in the other people's shoes, and I'm MUCH more likely to help somebody out if they are nice than if they're yelling. Persistence might be key, but just keep your cool. If they can't help, ask for a supervisor. Try to go up the ladder until somebody can help.

If I had extra money, I'd totally help you out, man.. I'm getting ready to move out myself, so I'll be suffering right there with you!

oh nooooes D: It's totally worth it though

I don't buy anything until i have all the money in my possession and i can make the payment right away in full. :( I don't feel comfortable with 'Payments'.

Right? I though like having everything saved up & ready to go was the norm for huge purchases like fursuits & stuff :/

I thought so too.