Calming self now. Most the artists I've commissioned have asked for payment beforehand. %90 of them have taken over 3 months to give me a sketch, and that is after I ask for a refund. Like I scared them into finally doing their paid service. However they take another great length in time to go from there.

Point is, artists shouldn't start taking commissions unless they know for sure they have the time for it. You can't just take peoples money then wait 3 months to start the art. Please only take commissions if you know you can finish them in a timely manner, I.E probably not during your exams.

I don't know - I paid an artist here beforehand and they had the picture done in roughly a week, possibly less. The only thing I'm not sure is done is my extra freebie sketch, but that's a freebie so I'm okay with waiting a bit. I guess it all depends on who you commission.

I have had a few good artists who I paid before and got my art soon after. Its just all the ones I commissioned lately have been taking their time. I didn't pay them so they could just wait till they feel like drawing, I paid them for a drawing asap. Otherwise I wouldn't have commissioned them at all.

I'm so sorry to hear this happened to you! It sounds really shitty and frustrating wasting money and having to wait months to get the art done, if it ever gets done :(

But sadly buying art is always a risk, be it for the commissioner or the artist. If the artists is paid once they finish, there's a chance of the commissioner never paying them. It happened to me, and it's a shitty and frustrating feeling too, that you spent hours on a commission for nothing. And if they ever reply when you ask them, they tell you they don't have the money. So it's understandable why artist prefer to be paid beforehand.

So yeah, it's crap when you pay someone and they never finish your commission, but it's also crap when you draw something and get nothing for it. Sadly, once side will always have to take the risk.

That's why in my commissions I both give myself some leeway but also hold myself to a one week wait time {if I don't contact the buyer} or I cut the price. But that's also why I only do overlays... my drawings take a looooong time.

I know it really sucks when an artist puts so much effort into a commission, then the buyer 'disappears'. I can't imagine how irritating that would be. However, all that is lost in that situation is time. When it's the artist that does not pull through, the buyer is out money. We all know how valued and needed money is.

I wasted $60 on one commission. This artist took 7 months to decide they could not draw my character, then asked if I wanted another character drawn, which I gave them one. Few weeks later, and they said they could not draw that either. They had jacked up their prices in this time, so apparently I had to settle for just a sketch of a pokemon (the only thing $60 worth bought of theirs). They had this bull shit reason to why they didn't refund too.

Now it seems I keep commissioning these type of artists. Why open commissions when you're not ready?? Seriously. I don't pay you right away for nothing.

In the future, if you want your art by a specific time/date you should request it when they begin. Then if they don't deliver, request a refund. (If you're using paypal and you have not received your work you can issue a chargeback between a certain number of days.) For now however, I would suggest asking them if you can make a reasonable deadline with them and if they can't meet that, request a refund. I also suggest posting over on Artists_Beware on LiveJournal if you're having a really hard time with some of the commissioners. (This community is also great because they have monthly posts about artists who /are/ finishing commissions and making commissioners very happy.)

Good luck getting these issues resolved!

There's also a risk the artist takes by waiting for payment until the end. Disappearing/silent customers is a BIG one for me and buyers can also lose interest over time. I've waited months for payment as I watched this person buy from other artists left and right. It was clear she lost interest in paying for my piece, but she wouldn't ask me to change anything either. She just avoided me as much as possible until I put my foot down for good.

The only way I can see getting around this is paying half after seeing the sketch then the other half after the artist sends a watermarked version of the final piece. I suppose there's still a chance that they could run away after sending a crappy sketch. If you're interested in an artist, but you're unsure of them, then see how they delivered to previous customers if possible. Do they do this to others or are you one of the first few customers?? I'm sorry to hear of your bad luck streak especially since it involves real money. I believe all $$ orders, with the exception of extremely complex pieces, should be completed within a month at the very least.

Why? So the artist can slave away on the commissioned piece and then get scammed themselves when the commissioner doesn't pay? Try again.

I'm sorry that happened to you but to right out say that every single artist that doesn't want to be scammed has intentions of scamming their customers is just the worst sort of disrespect.

I agree that artists should not open commissions unless they are sure they'll have the time to do it, and then complete the commissions in a timely matter, but in case you haven't noticed, life happens. Back in October I thought I had all the time in the world to do things and next thing I knew I was constantly at the hospital day in and day out before my grandmother suddenly passed away. You should think about what other people might be going through before being extremely rude about them "taking their sweet ass time".

I totally disagree with this! One of my friends irl sells art on da and it is absolutely beautiful. She does each one especially for that customer and puts a lot of time and heart into them. She's really amazing too. Within the last month she's had to start asking for payment up front because so many people would commission and not pay or not pay in full. I can't even imagine how terrible that must have been for her.

Your best bet is to only commission well-known, established artists, who have a long list of satisfied clients. Sorry you had a bad experience. It happens both ways unfortunately.

Selling art through the internet is no different than going to work at an office or whatever other job. Just because it isn't tangible and the artists enjoy doing it doesn't make it less than a normal job. So yeah, wasting time is the same as wasting money, since I could have spent that time in another commission and get paid. It really irks me when people think selling art is not a job, and paying for it is just doing us a favor.

I totally agree that artists shouldn't open commissions when they don't have time to work on them though. I know real life stuff can happen, but in that case you should ask the buyers if they don't mind waiting or if they'd prefer a refund. This is part of why I don't do much commissions. I always feel like I need to finish it in 1-2 days and stress myself a lot haha

Okay, I didn't mean all artists. Just all the ones I've been dealing with lately have been really unprofessional. Which is why I am venting. Also, the artists I buy from can NOT be selling art for a living. In order to do that they'd have to have art commissions opened constantly, and they would have to be a lot more expensive. There is a difference between a full-time job and opening art commissions when you need some spare cash. The artists I mention usually open 3 $20-60 slots every other month, so one asshole who doesn't pay isn't a huge set back.

A lot of artists refuse deadlines and refunds(which they normally mention after you've paid them). Yes, I understand life has complications, but when they keep giving excuse after excuse. You start to wonder. I'm not that impatient. I'll give them 3 months before I note them about my commission.

I think in situations like this the best thing to do would maybe ask them to split the payment. Half down to start, the rest is expected upon completion.

But the money commissioners spend in buying commissions isn't used for food or bills, it's spare cash too, so it wouldn't be a huge problem to get scammed that way too. Sorry but artists and buyers have exactly the sames rights on not getting scammed. None deserves it more than the other.

To be fair even if an artist isn't doing art for a living but for "a bit of extra cash" that doesn't make the payment any less important. I know a lot of people who only open art commissions in case of emergencies, unforeseen expenses, needing to get the bills paid on time etc, so the payment of non-professional artists is just as important as the ones that have a full-time career in art. That's why a lot of people ask for payment ahead of time too. It's no good if you've got something important to pay on the 25th but you can't complete the drawing until the 30th when the commissioner isn't paying in advance.

Personally, I think asking to be paid in advance for creative work is totally okay as long as you do the work you were commissioned for properly. I agree that artists just disappearing or not completing the work in an acceptable time period is totally unprofessional and not okay, though.

I never said there were not scams among both parties. I've heard the woes of both sides. I'm just pissed at several artists right now. See, with a fulltime job you are required to DO the job first, then you get paid. And that money that we pay, we can never get back. Some of us don't make loads of money to spend on art. Just every once in awhile we splurge to escape the monotony of the work life. At least the artists I speak of can put the unpaid art into a portfolio and open another slot.

Here's another scenario that happened - An artist opens up a certain amount of slots so they can earn money for a ps4. They fill slots, make commissioners pay for non-existing art, then go buy the ps4. The artist then waits over 4 months to even contact anyone again. They were most likely playing the ps4 in that time, so is how I imagined. They think it's okay to take peoples money and not do the services asked until they felt like it. You can't do that if you want to be a professional.

Its just that when you blatantly say that "paying artist beforehand is a scam" as your post topic, it makes it seem like you are saying that about all artists. And yes, it is all different depending on the person. Me personally, I wouldn't ask for money unless I had a basic preliminary sketch done, then I would only finish the rest unless I got paid. It sucks you had some unprofessional artists, but know that all aren't like that. You just need to find people you can trust to get the job done in a timely matter.

if an artist refuse deadlines and refunds, i would be wary to commission them in the first place. you should probably ask them before sending any $$ to them. if they fail to answer (ie avoiding the question) or if they tell you 'no' to both, then i would not recommend commissioning them. if you do commission them, then you are knowingly giving your money to them for something they will not give back.

maybe due to these experiences, you should have further discussions with future artists you decide to commission about deadlines, refunds, and if they change their rates, you should be grandfathered into their old rates.

and i feel you. ive commissioned someone at a con one summer and i have all of their contact info. i even tipped! but they were unable to finish on time and told me they would mail it to me. i follow them on tumblr and it annoys me when they are offering new commissions etc since i never got mine =/ this was back in 2012. i just emailed them again a week ago. if i dont hear back soon, i probably will email them to warn them i will report them to the artists beware and see what goes from there.

Lets get this straight. Before you say Paying artists before hand is a scam. Let me just ask you this, Do you go to a store and tell the cashier "I am not paying this fruit until I eaten it."

You are paying for the service. And guess what you are not the only one that probably has asked for a commission by this artist. There is a line. So if you wanted your OC fappin about with another character and you were expecting it in a week when possibly that artist is working on something else, you best wait your turn. Or in advance SAY I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE THIS BY.

Then the artist will probably ask for more, because you are being bumped up in line and its a rushed project.

Lets not forget that artists are probably not artists all the time. They like everyone else have a part time job to pay those bills. Or perhaps other engagements. Lets not make this just about you.

By the way, if you are asking for commissions you yourself need to do a little bit of research on who to commission. If you want to be professional go to a professional artist pop out 35-50 dollars. But if you are expecting something like a 5 dollar commission. That means thats a newbie artist that isn't fully aware of time, or perhaps how to manage it. Give them deadlines it really helps new artists because its like assignments. In the real world Artists work on deadlines.

Also if you are worried about how that money is spent, it isnt up to you. Once that money is left your hands they can do with it how they please. And maybe it isnt just a PS4. Maybe they are paying bills with it. You don't know that.

It is a two sided blade. I also have lost once about 200 EUR for two illustrations and never seen ANY drawn line for that even if I gave that artist even 2 years to do these commissions as they talked me into delay over and over again - never got refund either. THAT in my opinion is scam.

Professional or let's say serious and reliable artist mostly do it that way: you pay half of the price after you approved an initial sketch/concept. Then the artist goes working on that piece and you can ask smaller changes or so. Then after showing you a small version of the finished work you pay the other half. Almost all artists I've commissioned do it that way and I do it the same when I do commissions either.

In my opinion it is the safest way to handle that issue.