Hello!
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who commented their opinion on this thread:
(You can still do it)
It helped me see different perspectives and understood reasons why people do comms or commission something.
So, I gathered a bit courage (I’m still scared af) and though I could slowly start moving towards taking comms myself. But just because I want to try how it is.
I need help from other comms artists or anyone who knows something about it.
What rules do I need to set before taking comms?
I just don’t want to have awkward situations or scams.
If we’re talking about paid commission and you’re afraid that someone may scam you - my advice is 100% pre paid or 50/50.
Unfortunately, with 100% pre-paid, there are likely fewer people who would like to do it, because they’re afraid of scams too. It’s always both ways, so remember that you’re not the only one who’s anxious. It’s hard to trust these days in many aspects, especially the money involved.
But you can make it 50/50, 50% before or after the sketch, and the rest after finishing art. You can watermark the whole art before sending the finished version, to make sure that even if someone download it, their art will be a bit distorted with watermarks all over. After sending the second half of the payment, you’ll send the files for the “right artwork”.
You can easily bend those rules for people who will come back to you, knowing that they won’t scam you.
Also, don’t accept “someone else will pay for me” thing if you’re not sure who’s on the other side. There was a big scam with one girl who had many many accounts and was scamming artists and people using the method of “someone will send payment”. If I remember correctly, she was tracing art, selling it, those people were paying her by paying the real artists for their work. It was such a mess. So, please, be cautious.
I’m thinking of doing some commissions in the near future and I would suggest always doing at least 50% advanced payment. You just simply can’t watermark sketch since someone can steal it and then color it by themselves or other artists
I know you may be scared by the scammers. I recommend the 50-50 payment method like @/Mi_writes said but I take 100% when I am finish with the sketch. I show the other person the sketch (with watermark) and ask them to pay 100% of the payment.
I 50% of the time get the scammer’s msg on insta. And they will be like… can u draw my dog cat or my sister etc etc. (They have no posts, no following and almost no followers). But I got to recognize those scammers with time
You will get scammers in insta. Mostly… Its very rare here… On the forums tho
@Mi_writes@Tesbie28@Amaterasu
1st - So the main rule right now is take half of the payment before the sketch and then the other half when the sketch is approved.
2nd - Look at requesters Instagram profile and reject it if it seems suspicious (Asking for non-episode content)
3rd - Using watermarks on everything
4th - take money only from the requester and no one else.
It’s not the main rule, it’s only a suggestion to do to 50/50 as every artist does it however they like. Some people take 100% before the sketch, some after, or when they deliver. It depends on their trust level, how much money is involved and their overall experience. The rest are mostly doing 50/50 (after/before the sketch and the rest after finishing). You just work the way you want - after all, the client has the same rights as you. They can just move on to another artist if your rules are not suitable for them. (I’ve worked with so many artists to this day that I only pay 100% [after or before sketch] to people I trust and know they’ll deliver based on our collaborations prior. Usually it’s 50/50 or even 100% after showing me that work is done.)
As for 2. Well, scams are also in the Episode community, like from the outside. My example was perfect for that; you just never know. Being cautious is the best policy.
Hm also get familiar with paying options? Settle with the most comfortable ones for you and don’t step into the apps that u don’t know nothing about if the clients is pushy to pay with an app u don’t know about as it might be tricky/frustrating etc imo
Hey! Here’s how I do my commissions:
I tell the person how I work in advance (payments and everything) so that you can both agree on it before starting.
Usually, after I make the sketch, the persons pays me the full amount. After that, I finish the drawing and send it later.
However, some people that are scared of scamming, ask me to pay half after the sketch is done and the other half after it’s done. Somethings that I never do:
• Keep on drawing after the sketch is ready and the person didn’t send any payment
• Send the ready drawing when I haven’t still received the full payment
For me when I commission with artists I ask if they can do 50/50. 50% before the sketch and 50% after the sketch once everything is all good. I think that is a better way to do it for both, the artist and the commissioner without being scammed. (with adding your watermark so it won’t be stolen) The only way I would do 100% payment is if I am close /trust the artist.
If you decide to do coms you can use Ko-Fi & Boosty. (If they are available in your location) For me, I like to use this way of payment because it is easy to sign up and pay and no fees as well.
Also, you should make a low-price list first to get some commissions in. With artists they use “head, busts, knees up, and full body” for different prices and you can add extras, like tattoos, animals etc.
Along with simple backgrounds for free and exclusive backgrounds for a bit more. Maybe later on you can make your price list affordable to your liking for your prices! … Also make a timeline (I think that is what is called lol) like roughly how long it would take you to make for each piece. If that makes sense
Also, update update update update UPDATE your commissioner because they are using their hard-earned money to buy an art piece for their story, friend art etc. And I feel like it is awks for the commissioner to be like “heyyy can I have an update” like we want to be nice but also at the same we time understand that art takes a bit to make. So update them (lol) when you are making it, the progress etc.
I don’t know about Boosty, as it’s the first time I hear about it but I guess if ko-fi works, then I’m fine.
And I have thought about prices - I will def have them really low with everything included, except bg as I can’t draw them yet But I have heard that a lot artists who don’t draw bg, just give png versions because if the bg the person gives is copyrighted, it will cause problems.
Thank you, Shiv, so much for the detailed response! I’m def keeping everything in mind!
