I believe we should have some kind of system for art sales, and all other forms of purchases that are currently considered unofficial transactions. I'm sure I'm not the only person who's been scammed when buying art from someone else, either because they just never replied, or because they weren't advertising their own work in the first place. I know you rarely see this kind of platform on other sites, but what if there was some kind of trade system for art?

Here's something I think could work:

With our current trades, what if you had the option of including a link/text rather than only items? The creator of the trade would still create it as they normally would - offering xGB and xSB and x x x items, but instead, they would be able to check a box that said something along the lines of "Art only". At this point, the trade could be forced into private mode so that only the commissioner and commissionee will be able to see it. Then, they would fill out the private trade ID as usual and post it as a trade.

The main difference that this "art" mode would be have a different offer system. Instead of offering items, the offer box would be a text box. Now say the commissioner was buying a headshot, or some form of digital art. The commissionee would post an offer with a link to the completed piece. (If they were buying writing or a photograph, this would work as well.) Once they offered, the commissioner could double check that it was the correct piece of art before accepting the offer. Thus, the commissionee would never receive the money if they didn't plan on making the art in the first place.

Although there are still risks to this system, this now makes the mechanic of buying art an official transaction. That means that if the person you commissioned doesn't offer anything, links some unfinished work that was not what you agreed upon, or links dummy text, you wouldn't lose your money. If the commissioner refuses to pay although you provided exactly what you said you would, they would be able to get that money to you.

I know this may be annoying to code and require a lot of manpower to reinforce, but I think it's worth it, especially in a community like this where there are so many artists and people who purchase art. This probably wouldn't be put into effect for a long time, but I think no matter how long, it'll be worth the wait. This way, it'll also be a lot easier to pick out art thieves as well.

I'm open to suggestions and criticisms for this system, another way to do this, or ways to improve it. Whatever the system ends up like in the end, I would really like for something like this to exist.

Additions:

Reebuh {TMFEoL} (#3487) - Instead of just a text box for the link, why not a file upload slot as well? That would allow them to upload it directly for the artist to upload it and the buyer to download it, as well as have a possibility for a link to the artwork if they wanted it.