XVvajra 
Make eveything huge
Hi I want to know how commissions work, how much should I charge and should I use paypal or Patreon?
How does commissions work
dt 
Both have pros and cons.
Paypal seems more secure since you can send invoices directly. In Patreon it is trivially easy to steal from you, unless you wait for their payment to go through first. But that takes a long time and clients might not want to wait that long.
But Paypal is notorious for shutting down your account, and thus your entire business, with no reason and no warning, with little-to-no chance of recovery. Something that Patreon doesn’t do, as far as I know.
No Thank You
should I use paypal or Patreon?
Both have pros and cons.
Paypal seems more secure since you can send invoices directly. In Patreon it is trivially easy to steal from you, unless you wait for their payment to go through first. But that takes a long time and clients might not want to wait that long.
But Paypal is notorious for shutting down your account, and thus your entire business, with no reason and no warning, with little-to-no chance of recovery. Something that Patreon doesn’t do, as far as I know.
Joey 
Actually there was a class action lawsuit about Paypal holding/suspending accounts that just announced a settlement yesterday. I didn’t read much into it as I never had that issue, but it may be relevant: link
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But Paypal is notorious for shutting down your account, and thus your entire business, with no reason and no warning, with little-to-no chance of recovery. Something that Patreon doesn’t do, as far as I know.
Actually there was a class action lawsuit about Paypal holding/suspending accounts that just announced a settlement yesterday. I didn’t read much into it as I never had that issue, but it may be relevant: link
Joey
Personally, as a customer, I always prefer Paypal when paying for commissions. Patreon kinda requires the artist to set the price before the customer contacts them, which can limit flexibility greatly in terms of price, content, etc.
Each artist handles commissions differently, but out of all the commissions I’ve purchased, the general process goes something like this:
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Hi I want to know how commissions work, how much should I charge and should I use paypal or Patreon?
Personally, as a customer, I always prefer Paypal when paying for commissions. Patreon kinda requires the artist to set the price before the customer contacts them, which can limit flexibility greatly in terms of price, content, etc.
Each artist handles commissions differently, but out of all the commissions I’ve purchased, the general process goes something like this:
- Artist announces that commissions are open, and posts details (price sheet, what you will/won’t draw, etc)
- Customer contacts the artist and explains what they want
- Artist and customer discuss detail and work out a final price
- Customer sends payment
- Artist sends a sketch, making sure everything (pose, design, etc) look good.
- Customer makes any suggestions/change requests
- Artist finishes and delivers the image
Note that steps 4 and 5 can flip sometimes - I’ve worked with artists who sent me a sketch before asking for payment. This can work better sometimes, in case the customer wants to make a major change that would affect the price - there’d be no need for a second payment. Though that also can be a bit risky, because if someone just wanted a free sketch, and you send it to them before they send payment, then they may run with it.
Joey
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Also, another thing that I don’t see nearly as many artists use (but think they should) - invoices. Normally artists give their Paypal address and ask them to send payment, but this carries two risks which I’ve seen artists get screwed over for:
- The customer may select the payment is for “goods”, which causes Paypal to expect you to ship something physical when it’s a digital delivery.
- The customer could put something in the payment’s notes that trips Paypal’s “naughty word” sensor, causing them to review and possibly cancel your account if they believe you’re getting paid for porn.
Invoices reduce these risks by having the artist send a “request” for money to the customer, and they simply click a link and pay it. This reduces the first risk because you can specify that you’re not shipping anything, so there’s no expectation of a shipment/tracking number.
An invoice will also reduce the second risk because you can simply say the commission is for “Art commission - two full color characters” (very low risk of review) instead of “Picture of Twilight ramming a strap-on dildo in Rainbow Dash’s pussy” (much higher risk of Paypal questioning the transaction).
Not that I’m implying that you should ever use Paypal for purchasing/selling clop - after all, that is against their rules.
Joey
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@XVvajra
Pretty much, but don’t open commissions if you don’t believe you’ll have adequate time to work on it. Some customers can be very forgiving and wait a little extra time in case something happens to delay you, others can become very upset at delays.
Don’t bite off more than you can chew, and don’t take payment for anything you don’t intend to finish in a timely manner.
Pretty much, but don’t open commissions if you don’t believe you’ll have adequate time to work on it. Some customers can be very forgiving and wait a little extra time in case something happens to delay you, others can become very upset at delays.
Don’t bite off more than you can chew, and don’t take payment for anything you don’t intend to finish in a timely manner.
Vree
@Joey
I’d expect a reasonable time limit to be a given, but apparently it ins’t to some people.
I’ve seen a few DA users in extreme cases to disappear for years, then show up and post a bunch of commissions complaining about how they’ve been busy with life and such. Even if the commissioners put up with this behavior, it’s still extremely bad manners.
It might be attractive to take money for say 10 commissions that you already know will take you 1 month each to complete, but really I don’t think you should take money for anything that will take you more than a month, 2 at most, or be prepared to wire the money back. Not following up in a timely manner also empowers scam artists (giving them time to collect more money before they disappear) and so it hurts the whole community that’d pay in the first place.
I’d expect a reasonable time limit to be a given, but apparently it ins’t to some people.
I’ve seen a few DA users in extreme cases to disappear for years, then show up and post a bunch of commissions complaining about how they’ve been busy with life and such. Even if the commissioners put up with this behavior, it’s still extremely bad manners.
It might be attractive to take money for say 10 commissions that you already know will take you 1 month each to complete, but really I don’t think you should take money for anything that will take you more than a month, 2 at most, or be prepared to wire the money back. Not following up in a timely manner also empowers scam artists (giving them time to collect more money before they disappear) and so it hurts the whole community that’d pay in the first place.
Joey
PM me your cute OCs
@Vree
I’ve luckily never had any artists take the money and run/disappear for a long while. Just about everyone I’ve bought commissions from has been very communicative, timely, and pleasant to work with.
If an artist takes a customer’s money and then seems to disappear/stop responding, a last-ditch option is to always file a dispute with Paypal and try to get the transaction reversed. But that should be reserved for only extreme circumstances, where you can confirm the artist actually took your money and has no intent on delivery - if they’re just delayed/backlogged but actively working on commissions as quickly as they can, a dispute can really screw over the artist.
I’ve luckily never had any artists take the money and run/disappear for a long while. Just about everyone I’ve bought commissions from has been very communicative, timely, and pleasant to work with.
If an artist takes a customer’s money and then seems to disappear/stop responding, a last-ditch option is to always file a dispute with Paypal and try to get the transaction reversed. But that should be reserved for only extreme circumstances, where you can confirm the artist actually took your money and has no intent on delivery - if they’re just delayed/backlogged but actively working on commissions as quickly as they can, a dispute can really screw over the artist.
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