I thought this was happening to me. Turned out to be a breakdown in communication. Time passed, I forgot about it for like a year, then I finally came back to ask what happened.I think English wasn’t their first language, and they accidentally wrote that they understood my commission request when they meant to say they DIDN’T get what I was asking for. They were waiting for clarification from me.
 
They did say they tried messaging me a few times, but I never received any notes or I would have wrote to them sooner. I did eventually get it, though.

too relatable lmao

@some-guy  
$20.00 usd the most expensive Ú C U
 
unfortunately not the only one

@ScarletHeartPony  
It was $15 usd on DA for me first time.

@some-guy  
Well, at least to me.

@PaperBagPony
 
You are not doing anything wrong. We just… live in a society :v

@ScarletHeartPony  
>it only seems to happen with the very cheap artists. Like one to five dollars on a site like Google plus  
I beg to differ.

This has happened to me way too much as well. But it only seems to happen with the very cheap artists. Like one to five dollars on a site like Google plus.

Welp, you don’t need to be paid a artist for this. Same happened to me with simple art trades :v

@Tavi959  
but i don’t want to change… even if many thinks i’m wrong :C
 
|| I do NSFW pony art and I already think it’s wrong ^^” ||
 
I’m not complainig about this ‘pay first’ sistem… i just get sad when i’m cheated  
I haven’t cheat any customer before, so, I haven’t had any complain about it
 
And if I do change my payment sistem, that wouldn’t do any change…
 
so…..

@Bigshot232  
I felt the same way at first. I know how you feel. Once you reach out to a good artist though, you feel less silly.

@PaperBagPony  
@Tavi959
 
As you can tell, I’ve never asked for a commission, so it’s pure stipulation on my part.
 
_{never ask because I feel like I’m bothering people with silly requests}

@PaperBagPony  
You can change the way you do things :3
 
I’m not trying to be mean, I’ve just seen far too many people get scammed like this by an artist who “forgot” to do the commission. It happens way more often than the art/time theft that prompts artists to ask for money up front.
 
You do you, I just believe there’s a better way.

Oh Dear….
 
now i feel bad
 
:’C

@Tavi959  
That’s true, a good amount of communication can only benefit both parties.
 
This year’s collab event I’ve tried my hand at taking requests and found a relatively nice way of going about it.
 
I’ll take on board their suggestions and make a number of base like poses based on my interpretation for them to look at.
 
If they pick one, I go back and make a refined sketch, correcting proportion mistakes, adding features like mane, eye types, cutie marks etc and send it back so they can see what’ll itll look like and if they want anything else done.
 
After that, I’ll ink, colour and shade it and do one final send out for their approval.
 
But yeah, I’m also pretty busy with my job, studies, exercise and stuff to commit to these for extended periods of time, which is why i worry about lost time so much. But asking for a proportioned advance after showing the base stage sounds about right.
 
Not that I do commissions, in fact I’m only just thinking of taking requests out side the 2019 event.

@Bigshot232  
Asking for a fee, for example, after the base sketch is complete, is reasonable. But I really don’t think it’s fair to charge up front. If you need an income, that’s what Patreon is for…commissions should be treated as a business transaction. You pay for a service once it is complete, not before. If the client decides at the 11th hour that they don’t like it, chances are you’ve failed to show them any previews to ask their opinion.
 
Personally, I draw for fun, and if anyone ever commissions me for anything (art, writing, I do both) it’s with the understanding that my drawing time is limited by my actual full time business. Out of respect for potential clients, I expect them to keep their money until I have something to show them. My good friend and mentor Horsecat is technically my first commission, though it’s more a trade. He did a couple of sketches he decided not to finish, so he’s given me permission to turn them into proper drawings as tablet practice. Dunno when I’ll get them done >>’ but Horsecat knows my work schedule woes and I am treating him as a client the way he does me when I commission him.

To be fair, what’s to stop the requester asking for something and the artist puts up the completed product (with intrusive watermark) and the requester turns around and says no thanks and leaves?
 
The project could have been worked on for a number of hours / days on it and now it’s kind of been wasted.
 
Some kind of up front fee should be paid to help both parties enter into a contractual agreement. And if the requester doesn’t want to pay for the full commission, at least the artist has something for their time.

@Tavi959  
Indeed. I am also an artist, a novelist that is, and I know quite well asking for pay before delivering a product is simply unreasonable. But many business owners insist on charging up front, especially when commissioned to do something.

@raakamagna  
Better than paying up front and getting nothing. Nobody should be asking for payment for something they haven’t done yet. When you buy milk at the store, you don’t have to wait for someone to go milk the cow for you.
 
As an artist I would not dare to ask for money up front. No final copy until payment is received, but asking for the money up front is just unfair. You haven’t done anything to earn that money yet. If you are worried about not getting paid, put an obtrusive watermark layer on your previews to the client to ensure they don’t steal it. There are better ways than acting like a conartist and expecting payment for work you haven’t done.

@Meanlucario  
I did that with my artist. They did deliver, but I had to chase them around once the deadline got closer.

@PaperBagPony  
Why not half before, half after?

@Cyborg_pony  
But a lot artists [me included] only start working after the payment :C

Never give the money upfront first.

@PaperBagPony  
Ok you are right when you put it that way ;3  
Buts its just bad that people do this. Take Money and leave i mean >.<

@CDV  
That sounds good, sadly most of the artists, only start drawing AFTER the payment… uhm… and i do that too
 
@SnoopyStallion  
Well, i don’t expect to be done in a ‘certain time’, because real life can delay the work. also, i can’t give a deadline for the same reason. but i try to be active and i’m open if my customer wants to ask about the commission status  
but also, i know that waiting more than 3 months it’s to worry about :C
 
@Ghostpikachu  
But i want to commission others because they can do what i can’t ; C ;  
and maybe because they commission to someone that will commission to me in a future
 
@some-guy  
that sounds good, but also it’s nice to get more styles <:3
 
@Dsiak  
@vit  
:’C