Issues with commissioning

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MiFur Chat

[Anonymous]

I am having a heck of time commissioning artists, like it just seems like these artists just ignore me if I ask them, or after I pay them, they just seem to run off with my money, one guy did at MFF and what really sucked about it was he worked in the dealers den, so I noted him a few days after the con, he responded back, but then a week after I noted him asking a few more questions about the conbadge, and what happens?

He didn't respond even though he is active on FA and submitting stuff, my question is WTF? if you can post art then you have two minutes to answer my question, if you didn't want to do the badge then ya shoulda said so then I wouldn't have wasted $20 on you.

My issue is none of the good artists draw me for free , and I am starting to feel even if I commission them, they won't draw me anyways and run off with my money and I know I am jealous of my friends because they get the good artists to all the time. That and each time I try and chat with a good artist he or she just ignores me.

[NuclearNinja]

What happened to you isn't uncommon at all. When money is involved, people have the capacity to rip other people off. I'd say keep messaging him, and he he doesn't respond back, there's a LiveJournal community that may get you a response (Artists_beware).

I comissioned an artist a while back (name will be withheld), and didn't hear from them for a couple years. I posted to that community, and got a response within 30 minutes, saying other people had the same issue. Eventually, I got a refund from a person who knew the artist directly.

Simply put, don't let that intimidate you. I've had my share of artists I want to comission, but am way to intimidated to ask for them. I've also been ripped off in the past. Still, it never hurts to ask, and the worse they can say is 'no'. Be wary of giving a payment all up front though, since that's where what you mention tends to happen. If you have to, ask for progress updates if aplicable.

[Anonymous]

Yea, it is a bit of a nuissance but I am not a member of Linejournal.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it's kind of scary, especially in what can be an underground economy, really. The first thing you do, before forking over too much geld, is ask around and see if other furs have had a good experience with an artist or not. But, even so, you might have trouble. Right now, I am waiting for a commish I spent $120 on from a respected artist. It's been a couple months now. I am trying to be patient; a lot of times, there are good reasons for delays and you just have to be very patient. Keep writing to the artist and asking for updates. Good luck!

Grubbs

[Asche]

I do 5$ commissions 10 with colour and I ship them too included. I know that still seems like a lot but that's cheep.  that's with sketches and badges

[craftyandy]

I do pinups for $25 and badges for $15 and illustrations (8.5 x 11) for $40. Links are at the bottom.

[Aubrey Wretched]

I hope you're not letting one sole incident color your entire view of the fandom's art scene. Sure, there are horror stories of people running off with money and not doing the work, but they're fewer and far between than you'd think. Artist_Beware, if that can be used as a gauge, only has posts rarely, compared the the NUMEROUS artists in the fandom.

Sadly, it sounds like perhaps this person just got in over their head with commissions. No doubt they probably got a bunch, perhaps more than they could handle, and rather than addressing the problem or refunding the money, they're ignoring the problem. Perhaps they believe that they can get it done. I know when I first started commissions, I would ignore e-mails and notes if I didn't have any progress to show; perhaps that's what this person is doing. I've learned better since then, but doesn't mean they have.

The best advice I can offer is to be diligent and to not give up. If you keep pushing, they might come through. Don't be a dick, but try to be firm in your delivery.

As for popular artists ignoring you, you have to realize that they get TONS of notes every day. Most of them don't have the time, between everything going on in their lives, to answer every note they get, so it's easier just to ignore them. Most of the artists who have any sense list their commission status somewhere on their FA page, so look for that before noting an artist. If you just want to chat, you'll have better luck with IMs than notes. Most of the popular artists that I watch are not open for commissions generally, and will announce it via journals when they are, so your best bet is to keep an eye peeled.

Before commissioning anyone, it's a good idea to go to artists_beware and do a quick search of the tags to make sure the person doesn't have a history. You don't need to be a member to serch it, I believe. Otherwise, setting up an account is easy, and no ones saying you have to use it. It might come in handy if you do end up needing to post there.

Hope this helps. I won't pimp myself out to you given the circumstances, since I feel that's pretty rude, but hopefully this will give you some good information to go by. Please don't generalize against those of us who work hard to maintain good business relationships just because some dickwad doesn't know how to manage himself.

[Anonymous]

Worst problem I've had with commissioning an artist was on a $12 themed color commission that took a whole year where at AC they took my commission and then during the next AC they colored it at the con...

Other than that though I've had some of my favorite artists do commissions where I would receive the finished thing almost next day.  My worst case was from a lesser known artist who's excuse for taking so long was being busy on art school projects while all the other fast feedback / short return time commissions were from more well known artists.

So my advice would be wary about paying over $10 from some random artist, unless they have a good track record of satisfying their customers.

[Anonymous]

Artists are people, just like any other subgroup. You will find bad artists and good artists. The best you can do is ask around before you are commissioning someone expensive and check how that person's work ethic is. If they post a lot, try to keep track of how much of that is commissions and how much  is just art they did for themselves. Keep an ear to the ground whenever someone starts to speak of the same troubles.
At a convention it is hard because so much more of the art being commissioned at a convention is an impulse buy. Always keep track of contact info, and also try to keep in touch. It seems you were good about that but the artist themselves seems to be dropping the ball. Be persistant, but not rude.

[Anonymous]

yea ; he got back to me January 9th, he is still working on it, and will deliver, I will be seeing the artist at AC.

[sushikitten]

I was really good about commissions before I got a job. Now (and I know it's a crappy excuse) I just don't have time to deal. Like, I have two I'm working on, and I've been working on them since like November. Granted I haven't been working on anything else...I just don't work on art except for a few days a month now instead of all day, every day when I was unemployed. I have tons of notes in my inbox and I'm sure I'll read them at some point. And I'm not even a "popular" artist. I can't even imagine what a "popular" artist goes through.

Of course I keep in touch with the commissioners whose money I have and whose art I'm working on, and I've offered to refund moneys and such, so I'm sorry about the crappy treatment you're getting.

[Spix]

I've only just opened myself to doing commissions for people in the last couple weeks. I'm really worried that at some point I'll get too many commissions and fall behind, and get a bunch of people angry with me or saying I took their money.

Are there artists who take payment after they finish a commission, instead of before? Maybe you could look for artists that do that instead? I have been doing it that way for the two I've done so far, but I'm not sure if that's safe for me, either. Seems like no matter what, someone gets the risk.

[LordFenrir]

I generally ask for the money prior to doing anything more than a sketch for any commission, mostly because I know things come up.  If someone commissions me and I let them pay later, if they find out they are unable to pay, then I am usually left with a finished commission of a wholly unique character that only the commissioner can fully appreciate.  I always like to draw a rough sketch of what a commission will look like before asking for a payment, or at the most, ink a badge before asking for payment.  That way, I only need to colour a piece, which I very much enjoy doing before sending it. 

The only exception is if someone has to pay via check or money order, then all I ask for is confirmation that the money was mailed to my address and en route and I'll send out the commission.

[Aubrey Wretched]

I've only just opened myself to doing commissions for people in the last couple weeks. I'm really worried that at some point I'll get too many commissions and fall behind, and get a bunch of people angry with me or saying I took their money.

Are there artists who take payment after they finish a commission, instead of before? Maybe you could look for artists that do that instead? I have been doing it that way for the two I've done so far, but I'm not sure if that's safe for me, either. Seems like no matter what, someone gets the risk.

Finding an artist who will take payment after the commission is finished will definitely be a hard task, because they tend to get ripped off a LOT. And they don't want to get ripped off as much, if not more than, him.

[Aubrey Wretched]

The only exception is if someone has to pay via check or money order, then all I ask for is confirmation that the money was mailed to my address and en route and I'll send out the commission.

Do you not wait to make sure the check goes through or that the money order is real? Couldn't the commissioner just lie and say it's enroute when really it's not, and you'd just send the commission out without waiting for payment? That's just asking to to get ripped off in that respect.

[sushikitten]

The only exception is if someone has to pay via check or money order, then all I ask for is confirmation that the money was mailed to my address and en route and I'll send out the commission.

Do you not wait to make sure the check goes through or that the money order is real? Couldn't the commissioner just lie and say it's enroute when really it's not, and you'd just send the commission out without waiting for payment? That's just asking to to get ripped off in that respect.

Agreed, I have had commissioners tell me that "the check is in the mail srsly" but I won't send them the commission until the cash is in hand and cleared. So far the "check" method has NEVER worked out but since I never give them the commission all I lost is time, precious precious time.