Eden

http://www.furaffinity.net/user/saki

http://www.furaffinity.net/user/squeakybutt

Saki and I have worked together for a number of years.  We've done numerous payment plan commissions, and each time she's been prompt with payment or would let me know when a payment was coming.  Her prompts were easy to understand, and she's always open to taking artist suggestions if it benefits the piece.  She's a wonderful repeat client to work for.

http://www.furaffinity.net/user/tlailaxu  (NSFW, adult content)

Tlai has been a client for a very long time.  My uploads indicate around 2012 or 2011.  With each commission Tlai has been very courteous, easy to work with, and he gives just enough artistic freedom to have fun completing his art.  He pays promptly, and gives feedback quickly.  He is also a regular stream attendee even when I'm doing boring things.  Tlai is a pleasure to work for.

http://www.furaffinity.net/user/beartp

Bear has been a client from the early years as a commission artist.  He began commissioning me in 2011, and each time he has been a treasure to work with.  Each prompt was clearly communicated and paid promptly.  There has not been a commission that I've completed from Bear where he's been very generous in letting me know just how happy he was with the outcome.

http://www.furaffinity.net/user/Crytrauv  (NSFW, adult content)

Crytrauv and I have been working on a long-term project since 2017.  He's very good at communicating what he wants with each page, and is very attentive to my recommendations.  There have been a couple of times in the course of the project where ideas had to be reworked to fit a comic format, and he was happy to hear me out.  He's paid each page promptly, and responds quickly when feedback is required to continue the project.  Usually within a few hours, if not instantly.

http://www.furaffinity.net/user/thefleta  

Our most recent commission was this month, though TheFleta has commissioned me previously.  This client is very kind, and was extremely patient and understanding when I accidentally misread their prompt.  The result was a character needing to be entirely redrawn.  Repairs were done on my end, and they were very courteous and polite pointing out my goof.  A good client to work with!

http://www.furaffinity.net/user/wrytergirl/  (NSFW, adult content)

Wryter has been working with me since 2014.  She always delivers good references, pays promptly, and provides good prompts.  Thanks for being great, Wryter!

http://www.furaffinity.net/user/turbomcgogo  (NSFW, adult content)

I began working with Turbo in April 2016.  He's been a very easy going client ever since.  Prompt payment with short, concise prompts.  He's quick to answer questions, and has been kind when I had to inform him of delays.  It's a pleasure to work with Turbo.

http://www.furaffinity.net/user/icarusaresane  (NSFW, guro)

Iccy is another fantastic client that began commissioning me in March 2017.  His prompts are short, easy to understand, and he gives enough artist freedom to make an interesting image.  He pays promptly, and is an all around wonderful repeat client.

http://www.furaffinity.net/user/furx  (NSFW, guro)

Furx began commissioning me around March of 2018.  All prompts are easy to understand, and his references are clear.  He pays within the hour of receiving his invoices, and is very polite and courteous.  He is a fantastic repeat client.

On 9/4/2019 at 3:15 AM, worriedbean said:

idk if y'all are interested to know this
but i managed to resolve the issue.
i opened a dispute and after two weeks of still not hearing back,
i wrote them a message through paypal letting them know i'll escalate the day after that message.
they got back to me on dA this morning and delivered the files (in perfect quality, so no rushed work).
they apologized and even said i could have the refund still, but i don't wanna accept both the art and the cash heghjjerjg

case closed.
thanks for your support guys <3

Yay glad you got it delivered!

This is a tough one.  So I've been doing nsfw for as long as I've done commissions, but I've never really checked? 

The two big concerns with a minor is going to be:

1. Potential legal ramifications for distributing porn to a minor.
2. Potential for chargebacks if an adult catches what kind of material they've been getting from you.

The first one check with your country's and local region's laws.  In the US there's federal ramifications for distributing porn to minors, and in some states they have obscenity laws.  From what I've read on my local laws simply ensuring that the client agrees that they are over 18 and are authorized to purchase this content is enough to protect you.  You can start utilizing google forms, or refuse to continue the transaction until they've answered this.  If they say they're not over 18, then the transaction stops.

As for the second, unfortunately there's not much to stop a chargeback that has been initiated by a parent.  I don't think the joint Paypal accounts are still in service (can someone correct me?), so either a minor would have to use a Paypal that isn't theirs, or they're lying about their age to Paypal.  Either way the most you can do in this scenario is keep everything and call Paypal.  If you lose, call them again with your proof.  Sometimes they eat the loss and give you all of your money back, or they'll just refund the chargeback fee.

10 hours ago, theodor said:

The first.

Although now that its mentioned, the second may be an issue as well.

Gotcha!

How to thank donors is still in the works. If a badge on their account is too intimidating, then maybe I can send a thank you sticker with our mascot on it.

The second I can't really show any "proof", but I assure everyone that this won't be the case. We have a lot if internal checks that prevent anyone from sneaking posts out of the queue. Every post that has ever been rejected is archived with the exact notice we sent to the user. Every time we get a post in every member of staff is emailed.

Plus the individuals that we have modding for us are very principled. I know without a shadow of a doubt that if we asked them to review posts with keeping donor status in mind they'd call us out publicly without hesitation.

At the very least take screenshots of everything. If they want to toss you all over social media you'd at least have proof of your side.

11 hours ago, theodor said:

I would not, but I do feel like the 'donors being protected thing would still be an issue. Would there be a way to combat this, if donations were added?

I'm not sure what you're asking entirely. Can you clarify what you mean?

I'm not sure if you're asking how we would prevent the public from being afraid to post on a member who is a donor, or how we would prevent our staff from being lenient on a donor.

Basically what Xai said.  Regardless of what they want their constant badgering and refusing to believe you has to be putting stress on you.  This isn't good for your recovery.  I'm actually concerned that you're drawing at all!

You can tell them that either they can lay off and let you work, or they will receive an immediate refund.  They can either supply you their email so you can refund them, and they can accept the refund, or you'll consider it a charitable donation.

This is going to be a scenario where they're hoping you'll bump them to the top of the queue and do their work.  That is the only option they're looking for if they don't want a refund, but don't want to wait.  That scenario can't be good for your recovery, either.

On 8/29/2019 at 11:34 AM, Sigh said:

Looking at the list of proposed topics, could there also be a general one about how to begin to file taxes as a freelance/commission artist? I suppose I could submit my own question about this but I don't know if that'd be allowed.

Oh yes, thank you for reminding me to put that on the list.  Right now the AB trello is private, but I can make it public later to allow others to comment on it.

2 minutes ago, Alkraas said:

I'd love to! But only if PayPal is supported~

Yes!  It would probably be entirely through Paypal.  :)

Howdy!

To start AB is funded by staff members.  Either monetarily or by licenses.  We didn't have any plans to ask for donations given that we didn't want readers to feel that donors would have a protection from being bewared or given special treatment when it came to their post being in queue.  Currently the costs of maintaining the site are manageable and comfortable.

Until I had the idea to expand the Resources section beyond the original scope.  The original scope was to have a few articles that staff could write concerning freelancing, dealing with difficult clients, ect.  However, as time went on the idea to make the Resources section to a basic 101 course section really became appealing to me.  Plus with the move off of Livejournal the site has more traffic than it originally did on LJ.  As a group we're pretty busy taking care of the behind the scenes work as well as archiving.

So the next idea was to pay decent rates (3c a word) to ask individuals to write for us.  Which I don't mind self funding, but it would be slow going.  This is where we have to ask you:

Would you be open to the idea of donating to help fund the new articles?  Donors with site memberships would have a special rank.

The current items I'd like to see in the Resources section are:

Freelancing 101:  Getting Started

Payment Processors

Dealing with Difficult Clients

How to Build a TOS

Commissioning Art 101: Tips for New Clients

How to Mitigate Chargebacks

Enamel Pins 101: Getting Started

Enamel Pins - Third Party or Factory Direct?

Stickers and Charms 101

How to Price Your Art

Convention Tables 101: Surviving your first con

(I'm working on the items in Italics.  The items in Blue are already being licensed.)

Edit:  I also want to do a quick Q&A

1.  Will you accept donations after the Resources are completed?

No.  We'll return to business as usual.

2.  If there is excess money, what happens to it?

It'll be used to pay for the site until it's gone.

3.  Will there be record keeping and transparency?

Yes!  I'll be keeping a google doc with information concerning incoming donations and outgoing payments.  (With proof as is required)

4.  Would you accept donations of articles instead?

Yes!  Absolutely.

If it's beyond the 180 days for PayPal, then there's unfortunately nothing else to do. You could contact your bank, but most of them are 180 days as well.

46 minutes ago, VosurAekira said:

 If you start a dispute and you don't escalate it within a week of the start of the dispute, the case could very well be dropped and you will not have the chance of escalating it to a claim or starting a dispute on that transaction again.

The time limit between a dispute being opened to being automatically closed in a seller's favor is 20 days as a heads up.

OP, you can send a note and an email being firm but polite that you do not appreciate the way this transaction is going, and that you are willing to continue but that you want regular updates.  If that yields you positive results, then great!  If not, @Borneshas written a great guide on ultimatums.

I'm going to go ahead and lock this Kei. If you need any more help you're welcome to ask, or make a new thread!

For folks who are coming from the artist: we keep all advice posts anonymous. If you out yourself, your post will be hidden.

Advice posts are to remain anonymous. Please leave your disagreements off of our doorstep.

12 minutes ago, Kei said:

Also I don't use Twitter much, though I do have an account.

Do they allow call-out posts like this?  Is this something I can report to Twitter?

I think they have rules for targeted harassment, but I've never had to use it personally.

Also the characters look nothing alike. If they want to claim that design is ""stealing"  no one tell them about flight rising and the contour gene.

It really depends. We don't accept behavior bewares, but if they are demanding that you sell to them as a condition for them to stop then maybe it's something we'd review. It's not a guarantee that it would pass queue, as we really would prefer to not be involved in non-transactions.

But your best course of action is to block them everywhere and let them continue to dig their hole. If they block evade or send others to do so, then report them to the site you're using.

Yeup, send them another poke asking for an ETA.  Either they deliver or you'll have to escalate.  Unfortunately, there are just some scenarios where you'll have to put your foot down.