{Where do you usually look for an artist's commission info? IN ORDER.}

I would generally look for something a bit like the text below (obviously all example/made up descriptions here);

PRICES (example prices etc):

Sketch, $5
Ink, $10
Coloured, $15

PAYMENT:

I will start when payment is received in full/half now, half later/etc

POLICY:

I will draw tickling, chubby, etc (whatever goes here),
I -may- draw X depending on the scenario, note me if you are unsure (We all have our crazy kinks, let me know what you're after, I won't bite)
I cannot/will not draw (nasty illegal stuff goes here)

Minor changes may be made whilst image is still in sketch form (if changes are major such as completely new pose and image, this may incur a fee of $5)

Refunds are available if the image has not been started on and you change your mind or decide to go elsewhere.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Q When is my commission going to be done!?
A I endure to get all commissions done within 2 weeks of receiving payment, however I have a life and sometimes that gets in the way, so it may take up to 4 weeks

Q How can/should I contact you?
A Skype me on skypeboi69, email me on dodgy_power[at]email.com or note me here on FA.

Q Other FAQS etc go down here (I guess you'd add to these over time as you get more other questions)
A All done!


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In regards to the nervous people, I don't think it's your fault, but I've commissioned a fair amount of art since 2010, and all I can say is that it's a very different story from artist to artist. There are genuinely brilliant and polite artists out there, but also some who are unbelievably snappy (ironically, most of these people put up things on their userpage like "Feel free to note me, I don't bite and I'm very friendly and tolerant :)" and such, but I've had some artists go absolutely ballistic at me for asking simple little things like "Would it be okay for this image to remain private rather than going online?" or even for general inquiries such as "Hi, do you charge any extra for additional characters in the scene", so now, I rarely commission anything because I don't really feel comfortable with the stress levels I endured from a few particular artists. It doesn't feel good to note someone politely and get "UGH! Why do you people not learn!? I don't draw other characters, it's common judgement even though it's not in my commission page! jeez!"

In the end, I guess it depends on that users experience with commissioning on FA, and after a while, I think they may become "damaged" due to commissioning/requesting/etc from the artists with extreme tempers and such (and sadly, there is a lot of them), although it does go both ways, so I'd guess that some bastard customers will weather some artists into snappy people because they're sick of dealing with idiots, and it sort of goes both ways from there.

D'oh I forgot to add, examples couldn't hurt next to the sketch/ink/coloured/other finishes sections so people know what they are, especially those new to commissioning.

Thanks for your answer! I had something similar on my profile but removed it because i thought i was annoying people, and EVERYONE asked the very questions that were answered on the profile anyways xD I'll try it again though, because why not? C:


unfortunately, i don't really have examples of the new tiers since i either never offered them before or examples are many many many many years old x.x;


I have feared for some time that in some way that I have become damaged like in your given examples, and wanted to know if I really have, but didn't notice it myself and have been driving some people away because of it.


I should work on some examples to link to on my commission page though, yeah.

I guess one of the things that made people "damaged artist" was their presumptions in their journals, such as writing warnings even before commissionees have asked a specific question, such as "And before you ask, I DO NOT DRAW (icky kink here)".

I guess in the end, try not to let the words of anyone who is upset with you (as in, in an angry, annoyed way) affect you or your commission journals too much. I would go by the classic method if "If you are unsure, drop me a note and I'll be happy to answer it!" coupled with a smiley face

Perhaps it's the nutty artists causing such; I think a some commissioners sometimes feel a bit sensitive, almost intimidated to ask questions because of these artists flying off the handle or having journals that target that commissionee in particular. Encouraging the asking of questions works over making assumptions and writing terms that apply to only the 5% of the commissionees (ie writing a very specific "I do not draw scat!" or something might instantly throw off a few people who might be into that type of kink, even if they wanted to come to you for something completely different, perhaps it sounds almost as if it's personally targeted them.

Either way, I always found BIG CAPITAL LETTERS WARNING YOU NOT TO DO STUFF were huge putoffs, it just gives the impression of a burnt out, pissed off artist, rather than someone who is happy to take information and provide a response to it.

Where do you usually look for an artist's commission info? IN ORDER.

- The journal that posts that commissions are opened
- The commisions tab
- Previous journals
- Artist's FA homepage
- Artist's other websites


Is my commission page confusing/discouraging in any way?

The commission page is indeed not really all too clear imho. The tiers are good split up, though the fees split up as well ends up making it very user-unfriendly.
It's easier to have your tiers set with all the additions (+ adult fees) explained in that tier.
IE:
Digital Lineart - Price: USD 20.00

+$10 per extra character and/or heavy accessories/detail.
+$10-$15 for backgrounds **AT YOUR OWN RISK. MY BG'S ARE VERY WEAK ATM**
Adult fees:
ADD $5 per extra character and/or heavy accessories/detail.
ADD $5-10$ for backgrounds **AT YOUR OWN RISK. MY BG'S ARE VERY WEAK ATM**


Do you need more examples of something, so you are sure I am capable of this difficult idea?

That is always a good thing! Just hyperlinks to art are enough.


Would you rather I take a less personal approach to doing artwork for you such as splitting things into steps without streaming/scheduling a stream, etc.?

It should always be an option for those that don't want too much of their own time invested in the creation.


Should I get pizza or chinese?

Chinese if you're going to eat it for two to three days, else get pizza.

1. Oh? journal postings for opened commissions is at the top? I did not expect that! this is very useful info C: Since i'm perpetually opened, I don't really make these kinds of journals very often. Had no idea on effectiveness, either.


2. Hmn, so I should condense it? I can do that, yeah. I'll just leave the extra adult sections up for examples only O:

3. Ah yes, i guess that question and its goal wasn't clear enough D: I know examples are great to have, but i need to know if this is stopping certain commissioners...so that would also require me to know what those things are that people are afraid to even ask me to commission xD an answer to a question that answers another question's answer context words toes bacon

4. I have gotten a couple recent commissioners who lack the time and it has made things a bit difficult..i can see it continued to cause issues, so yeah I will have to make a statement somewhere on my info that it's always and option c:

5. FA's downtime killed this one for me ;~; I really couldn't decide, so i made one of my last boxes of macaroni instead D; also i'm kind of the opposite there, in that i take days to eat pizza if it's only me eating it, but immediately nuke chinese! xD


**whups, failed at hitting reply earlier**

I'll leave a comment here in case it helps...I'm not a seasoned commissioner, but I know what I would look for & I also do business as an artist myself so here goes!

If I see a piece of art that I like, I'd first go to the profile page and check their journals/posts (in the case of here, I rarely check the commission tab as it's often not even used) and see if there was any available information there. I also check the dates & comments of the posts - if a journal with commission info was posted months ago and has been left with old comments then I probably wouldn't pursue it. Nothing is more frustrating than sending an inquiry that goes unread because the artist isn't active/taking commissions anymore! So I would say keeping your information updated, current, and in one place is really key to getting people interested in buying from you. Having many journals with old/differing prices can be quite confusing, especially if the commissioner has to dig through those to find the most current/updated information.

Conversely, if people have the "Commissions are only available through journals" disclaimer on their page I would not buy from them. Limiting commissions to sporadic journals with no set time/place effectively locks out customers who may not have an account, live in different time zone, etc. and its a really huge turn off for me to automatically have less of a chance to commission an artist from the start. A good transaction is one where the artist equally makes time for you as a client, rather than you having to chase the artist to even commission a piece in the first place.

As for an issue:
I wanted to commission you a while back, and I followed your terms and asked you about it via IM - but the conversation was kind of patchy, I wasn't able to get an agreement from you about a time/place for payment or the commission itself, and then I believe you went MIA for about six months or so. That kind of put me off for a number of reasons:

1) Firstly I don't think using instant messengers is a good idea for commission work - I have a feeling that the artist will not remember or care to write down the information I give them, which drags out the process even more when they do forget/haven't saved the info to ask you again for it. Unless the artist can do it right there and then, I feel much safer using email to send a description as the information is saved and available to the artist who doesn't have to save it elsewhere and can bring it up without much problem.
2) An artist not responding, ignoring or otherwise just 'letting go' of a commission is really off-putting. I can absolutely understand life issues and needing time to take care of priorities - but one thing which really frustrates me is if you show real interest in a commission, and if for some reason the artist becomes delayed - when they return they do not follow it up and continue on as if you never asked in the first place. I think it's really sad to just be 'forgotten' as a potential customer, and it really does impact on the chance of that customer buying (or trying to buy) from you again. All it takes is a few minutes to write a quick email saying "Hey! Sorry about the delay, are you still interested in a commission?". Its the difference between getting a commission or not!
3) I felt as if you weren't interested in the commission, or perhaps didn't want to do it for a personal reason which doesn't make me feel very good as a customer. Every artist has their list of things they will or won't do for whatever reason, but being politely declined feels much better than being given the 'cold shoulder', as it were. I think the chance of me attempting to commission the artist with a different idea is much higher when treated politely, I don't think I would return if I got the vibe of 'ughh I don't really feel like doing your commission..'.

I strongly believe just having basic business etiquette can make a huge difference between "hobby artist shilling a couple of doodles" and "professional artist who cares about their customers". Some people prefer to have a more personal approach to speaking and transactions with their clients, and thats fine! But you have to draw a line between being personable and what you are actually doing, which is working as a service for a paying customer.

As for the commission information itself, I would say - keep it clear, keep it concise and keep it all in one place! Unfortunately the journal system on most art pages can look really clunky and overwhelming if you use it to post a long list of all your commission details. Personally, I use Dropbox to host an HTML file which displays as a webpage with a full list of my terms & conditions; its neat and tidy and I don't have to worry about changing multiple instances (cross-posts, multiple accounts, logging into multiple sites etc.) if I want to change the information. I can just download the file, make my edit and upload it again - so simple! If you know enough coding you can create a page with image examples and make a really nice little 'micro-layout'. You could even use one for a price list - a lot of people now use Google Docs for their prices/terms but I don't know much about it. I believe it's possible to style it with text and images much the same as a Word document, however personally I prefer the flexibility of using code to create a little external page that I can style to my own tastes.

If you would prefer not to use an external page for it, then I would suggest making a master journal that has your prices/terms laid out clearly. Bolded prices to draw the eye, and bullet points to provide bite-sized nuggets of key information is much easier to digest than a big long post with lots of words, and no direction...

Here are some examples of my own commission infos if you want to take some inspiration from them - so long as you keep the key info readily available, updated accordingly and all in one place you really can't go wrong!
Commission Journal - TOS

It really makes me sad to see hobbyists and professionals alike drowning in despair with advertising or keeping on top of their work - by keeping it simple you can reduce the unnecessary excess that often puts people off, or just plain confuses potential customers; you just need to master that first step and the rest will fall into place.

P.S. PHO!

Sorry for the long post, omg its way longer than I thought it would be hahah

Thanks for the response!


Do not worry about length, this is EXACTLY what i'm looking for!

Oof, did I really, though? that's no good....life issues aside, until i read this comment i sadly only remembered a query for a trade, and responding on stream that i couldn't do it x.x; I dread to find i've done this to many others during my issues...but knowing is half the battle, so hopefully anyone else i have wronged can come poke me

with a baseball bat






I'm going to have to steal like, 90% of that commission info/TOS like, for damn sure.




Oh hey, i was gone all day and decided randomly to stop at the Pho place to get some eats. It's like my face could feel the suggestion sliding across it D;

Oh, good! After I posted it I thought of like, six more points I could have added but...this should be enough hahah!
Also if you have a high volume of commissioners, maybe it would be a good idea to write up a 'stock response' for people who will ask about prices/info (it's inevitable no matter how many flashing lights you surround your info with hahah). Something along the lines of "Thanks for your interest! You can find my full terms and pricelist here, etc...". Saves time & patience writing a reply for every inquiry - of course you can tailor it if they ask specific questions, but in general if you have your info already up then most people just need pointing in the right direction.

And sure, you can use as much of my commission/TOS info as you need!

Oh I remember that stream as well - I did mean it as a joke, but yeah I think I was a bit sleep deprived, so maybe it didn't come across that way. Sorry about that hahah ughhh..

Hmm besides that, I do remember two occasions where I asked you about a commission - I'll have to prod you about it next time you're around!

With my udders

_Moo

Timpie pretty much gave the same answer to your first question that I would have.

Your commission page is not discouraging - if you need examples beyond the first, linking to them in the description for each section would be fine.

As far as streaming/not streaming, I like that this is an option but not everyone's going to be able to be in the stream for every step of the commission. For those that need details an exact way - i.e. something closer to a reference sheet or what someone would consider their flagship piece for their gallery being a commission from you, yes, a stream is great because it lets them interact with you in real time. For those that might only need tweaks here or there, they may only want to see a sketch and go "hey, could you fix X and tweak Y" and see the ink and go "sweet, this is good, go ahead and color" and see the color and go "okay, could you adjust this one shade of color here, everything else is great".

If you haven't bought food yet you should get pizza if you're going to eat it over multiple days, as most likely that's way more cost effective per meal. If you're only eating for tonight or a max of 2 nights, chinese.


One thing I want to mention is that lowering your adult art tax/fee has single-handedly opened me up to wanting to commission you even if the work I commission would not be adult.

The "porn tax" is a very intricate thing. I completely understand that an artist is sometimes willing to draw adult work but not wanting it to overtake their gallery, and a porn tax is a good tool in achieving those means. However, your prior adult tax - tripling the cost of each commission - pretty much screams "I hate anything adult, and I hate you for wanting it, so I'm going to charge through the nose for it." To me, someone that's willing to take on adult commissions only with that disparity in the price would probably be better off not taking them at all. I think the adult tax should be tweaked over time, up or down, until you get to a proper balance of what percentage of your gallery you're willing to have be adult in nature. Good on you for being willing to adjust to where you did, even if it has to go up a few percentage points more at some point.

dohoho O: 'twas months ago but i think i ended up with pizza! Ah realized that it usually lasts me the week, instead of barely the night like chinese xD~ I DESTROY dat chinese food and what i order ends up costing about as much as the pizza + chicken does.


though i now crave some chinese...