While I see your point, I like to keep things simple and consistent, that way nor the clients nor I get confused.

I prefer first come, first serve as long it's not likely always the same person who gets the slot. Who got a slot should have some waittime for the next one. Well yeah different timezones and such can be difficult but so is life, american people have better chances to american artists, European people to European artists and so on, it wont never be fair for everyone.

Personal opinion: Auction off a commission spot is a big No go for myself and likely will make me unwatch the artist. I can understand it's tempting for the artist and yeah for the people who can spend that money it's nice to get a slot. But I dont like the idea of people who have more money than others can do everything, it's like rubbing the other people into the face "I have money, I can get everything". I consider myself a person who can spend a lot money on art but I really dont like such an attitude. Makes the person and artist sorta look asshole like. A lot people on FA dont have that much money to spend and are happy to get some nice art with the moeny they have.

I have a day cycle of about 28 hours, so with me its very random when i open those slots, and no one is really favored.

On the other hand, I auctioned off a commission slot in the past and I certainly didn't feel like I was doing wrong. Many artist like me also do it to measure up how much people are willing to pay for our art. It's not super easy to price ourselves. And I certainly didn't mean to look like an a-hole. Can you really blame a person for working for the person offering the most? It may seem unfair to you but it pays my bills and buys me food. To me someone having a monthly income with sure survival judging me for trying to earn more can seem unfair. It's a matter of perspective.

I so wish someone just once got excessive on one of my auctions :D but honestly most of my them got very underpaid if anything. The only ones that got above normal commission prices were charity or emergency stuff, which is quite rare to happen obviously. Also I don't allow last-second sniping on my auctions, nor do most person who have a little bit of experience with it.

I think they're specifically talking about auctioning the slot (like what Caraid is doing) not an illustration/commission itself. Although I could be wrong X3

Coming up on our 1 year anniversary date of my commission, I'd lean towards trusted commissioners as priority in this case.

Otherwise in most cases, it should be first come first served.

I count someone and old commissioner by amount of work ordered, and how cool they were. but you are very close to it anyway. especially the cool part (･ω<)☆
but i'm not gonna do anything special for someone who ordered a commission even 5 years ago and didn't interact ever since. to me that just isn't anything special

I guess that was less than an encouraging respose that I had hoped for.

I meant that you are special already. sorry if my English failed me there. It's just not counted by time passed but by other factors. o.o

Yeah, I guess I was leaning towards a hopeful response that I may have mine completed before we reach the 1 year mark of my wait.

Well, I generally like the idea of first come first serve since it lets people ready to go get something. I know one artist who does first come first serve with "cooldowns." In other words, if you commissioned him this round, you have to wait on commissioning him again until he gets two more rounds done. Essentially allowing for more chances in the event that the same people happen to be on multiple times when they take commissions.

But that being said. Picking ideas that you would want to draw is also understandable. It allows you to create what you want to do and have fun doing it (hopefully).

It may be just me being unpopular but I don't think I ever got the same person twice in a row, I see no need for cooldown. Although I do open these slots in very random times of the day so the chance of someone being online twice in a row isn't very high to begin with.

That's true. As some people mentioned below if your goal is to get a varied clientele then letting everyone interested voice interest, assigning a number, and RNGing the slots is gonna be the way to go. Gives people a chance across the board and doesn't show favoritism.

First come first serve is really a bad idea. It forces people to stay on their pcs/phones/mac, whatever 24/7 to see if you are open. A nice open window of opportunity would give everyone a fair chance in a raffle rather than just being lucky with a time frame.

the point of random first come first serve is that noone expects it, so noone is on 24/7 for it. Instead of luck of the draw it's luck of timing. I feel like there is not much difference, it's luck either way.

I'm pretty sure we European artists don't stay up late just for Americans, we are just night owls, like myself. But I make sure my openings are all over the clock so it doesn't depend on where you live. At least I try.

What I know and seen of some artists who have been having problems with a lot of people always missing out (since timezone) or just a lot of people having huge interest to buy art, does the thing with letting people post refs in the journal for interest to commission the artist, and after maybe one day they close the journal and decide themself which one they wanna draw.
OR you can do that but instead of you choosing you can make a raffle out of it. Randomize out 1-3 winners who will get the slots.

In the journal you can even type out if it's a raffle/choice making in either picking a free type of commission from what you offer, or you can type in the journal a specific type of commission for ex sketches

For some this is working quite alright since it is also then allowing some new people to get the chance to commission the artist or allowing the artist themself decide what they wish to draw to say


First-come-first-serve may work for some, but for others who may notice that you only open on ''bad'' times (say in the middle of the night when they work next day) they will have to glue themself to their comps or phones just to refresh over and over in hopes to see you post for slots, can be quite stressful! But you could maybe do a cooldown then, that if somebody grabs a slot, they may have to wait a certain amount of rounds until they can commission you next time, so other peoples get the chance to commission you too

These are just thoughts, maybe can poke a idea ya feel comfortable with!
I hope ya will find a good way for the commission taking yah!

Yah, her! Very nice person, do talk with her time to time either through stream or note, she was on my mind when typing this out yah
I think the raffle is very fair since as said, there is a huge interest for people to commission! 3 people gets raffled out (and I think its a good amount to take for each batch)

Edit: Forgot poke, but I think it would be a good thing to try out, I know when I grab a slot from akitary here Ive seen a couple of people come hours after mentioning how they been late, so I think it could be a fair way to give out slots!

I'm leaning towards trying raffle at a point by now, maxbe for the next opening after this YCH I'm working on. Though it would definitely be specific commission type; my commissions range from 10 minutes to 200 hours, that may be a bit big of a range.

Thank you <3

Think ya should give it a shot! Hopefully ya will feel it will work well with that type of way

I personally prefer first come, first serve.
Also, if you have a YCH with a low starting bid then add tiers, the higher the bid, the fuller the quality, autobuy being the highest tier.

That's exactly what I do xP
Except for YCH-s that are very limited and there isn't much to add, or it wouldn't work so well.

Well. A mix is the best choice. I'd do it in multiple ways. open 3 slots for example.
1. Auction (added to the price of the artpiece) so that people that have the money and really want a spot can get it and support your arts like you deserve
2. You pick from commission ideas and do what YOU want to draw
3. Raffled off by random Randomness (is Random) to give a random person the commission slot.

I think that would be the best option.

I would really like to keep it simple instead, my little brain gets confused too easily. thank you for the idea still ~♥

I like:
First come first serve,
Auctions without absurdly high AB (If you're aiming to get over 400 for a piece I don't think you should start an auction at 10-50. You know? You won't be able to pay off the quality you usually work at then, and if you have to heavily compromise quality that would seem sort of sad too)
Waiting lists I enjoy so long as they're acceptable and fair. A good example is Akitamonster

I don't like the idea of having to buy a slot and then also having to pay for a painting on top of that. But im biased because I tip artists frequently, so I'd feel like they're double dipping then. It's cluttering from a clear-pricing perspective too.

Loyalty Reservations are something i particularly enjoy. It's something that can run alongside traditional systems and guarantees a picking list to choose from as well, for the artist. Basically loyal customers/fans that can sit in a waiting list and are always prepared to commission said artist if they're open.

Loyalty reservation is something I would really love to do, it is currently impossible with my backlog overshadowing, but once that's cleared I will definitely consider something like that!
My AB-s have been poked as too low so I kinda removed them, then I got told that is also too annoying because not everyone can sit around to bid before deadline so they would just love to take it when they can. so that's not something I figured out how to do yet.

autobuy prices are nice to have, they don't fit every auction though. I prefer them on flash sales and scenery pieces. And although it pains me to say it as I'm no fan of them myself I do think tiered auctions have a place of their own as well. So I think you did well with that in the past too. But honestly I wouldn't worry about it too much for the time being, just make sure you get income you need for now and you can always experiment with pricing later <3

Take care Aki dear, and keep your chin up!

I think if you're receiving a few complaints about people who couldn't grab a slot, maybe you should always keep some of your slots for new customers so that everyone gets a chance to get lovely art from you

That way, if anyone complains, it won't be that you aren't trying to please commissioners too!

Edit: I just saw you commenting above saying you don't really get repeat customers and that you open slots at random times during the day... that's all anyone can ask for really

Only other thing I can think of is to give everyone a heads up when you plan to open a slot/slots. Just say that you're opening tomorrow via journal... but don't give a time. So people can be still somewhat prepared but there's a 24hr gap.. so.. still fair for everyone?

Oh! I also saw a comment above about that money aspect of it... each time you open, you can always open one slot specifically for your highest valued type of commission

I usually open on a whim though, I do not know 24 beforehand. (which is quite bad i know). I recently posted I would start opening on weekends, which is basically the same? if people get used to me having weekend commissions that should work for a heads up.

I like the way  leilryu offers commissions. It's basically first come, first serve, but she accounces some days earlier when she will accept the commissions, so every one can prepare for that.

Also i don't really mind if an artist decides they want to give a slot to whom pays him most. In many other cases no one would mind if some one takes the job that pays more.
But I wouldn't offer it that this way too often, mainly cause many watchers who can't pay that such high prices would get disappointed soon (and someday start to dislike you)

I live with the assumption that everyone dislikes me anyway :'3

I'm recently trying to keep commission openings to weekends and make a routine of that, that would work as a heads up for everyone if they see it's always labeled weekend commission. I have to get used to it myself as well first.

Artists are the one in charge of the art they create. If there is a commission you
wouldn't want to do, then by all means you don't have to accept it.

I see you mention you open commissions on a whim, I do that as well. I can't really
get into the commission mood out of nowhere. I use a mix of selling methods based
on the type of work I want to do. If I have a set idea, I'll auction. If I want general commissions
I'll open up for some slots. My slots are never first come first served as I know if
I'm working on a commission I don't like, it won't turn out well. All folks asking for
commission must at least send a ref of the character to be drawn. Otherwise that is like
someone asking for a favor, me saying yes before knowing, and then me ending up burying a dead body.
Not to mention, the things you post attract more people who like those things.
So if you don't like.. say feet, and you post a feet commission, it would attract more
folks who want feet coms because you already posted one. It's not a pleasant situation.

I LIKE the idea of a "Raffle Commission" that was listed. However, I don't like raffles
that much because I always end up picking the character/idea i want to draw least.
I am very down on my luck.

I like looking for artists who open for a commissions either by first come first served,
or by "What Idea/Character interests them the most. Personally, I actually feel like I have
a much better shot at getting a slot by an artist who wants to do "Coms they're interested in"
than first come first served, as I am ALWAYS too late to find the artist has posted their
commissions up. I am also always ready for a rejection, too. I know not all artists are
up for or into drawing something.

Personally, I am not attracted to Auction as I am poor as dirt. Which sucks. I would
actually participate in some auctions if I had the money for it. I would commission
so many artists actually. If I ever make enough money, I would actually like to buy
Commissions where I could have the artist raffle off a slot/or something in the piece
to have someone else's character join mine. TuT I've always wanted to do that.

I think the main thing is being fair and open: even if you're selecting based on what you find interesting to draw (for example), everyone who enters should understand how the selection is done, and feel like you're selecting based on your own interest in the scenario (or whatever), not because you like an entrant personally.

While auctioning a slot is vaguely outrageous to me on a gut reaction, it's at least clear and not based on personal favouritism. It's based on fiscal favouritism instead. :)