Maybe there's a system where the commissioner puts the payment somewhere like a trade offer ish thing maybe, then the person making the art has to send a link to the art and the commissoner has to approve (with watermark, ofc). when it's approved the watermark gets taken off and the payment gets sent to the artist

(Sorry for bad grammar, since I SUCK)

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The trades can be observed by mods/admins in a specialized trade-off thing, where the SB is held in the trade, and wips and art is sent in. Only when the art is done will the mod or admin complete the trade and allow each party to have their side of the deal. If it takes more than the promised amount of time, the sb/gb/items will be returned to the payer.

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LionOfLight, that is exactly what I was going to say, but with worse words jajaja thank you

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Katze, if we know of a site with a well-structured art sales feature, would you like us to perhaps privately message you with the name of the site? I'm on one with a pretty solid art commissioning function that would be a great example for you guys to see.

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Here’s my input: we implement a system (like the stud requests) named “Commission Request”
When a person gets a commission request, they have to specify the payment option, and what the person is getting when they order art. Here’s an example:
Feral Fullbody - 15 GB
And then there’s two options for the person ordering: they could
A. Decline or B. Pay
When you “pay” you can select the items or currency amount to give to the artist. The items/currency will be taken out of your account and held in the request until the Art is finished.

If you get bored of waiting, or if the artist isn’t doing your art, or etc etc, you can have the option of
A. Remind or B. Decline order
When you A. Remind, you can send in a notification with the message of your choice.
Example; “don’t forget to draw my commission! thank you in advance!”

There could also be an option where you can see how far along your commission is. example:
Step One: hasn’t started
Step Two: sketching
Step Three: lining
Step Four: flatcoloring
Step Five: shading
Step Six: etc etc etc
Step ~~: Finished [view preview here]
With the finished step, there should be a watermark on the finished product provided by Lioden at least?

Then both sides have an “accept payment” option, with one side’s payment being art and the other side’s payment being items, currency, etc. there’s also a “are you sure you want to accept?” kind of thing, like when you do transfers?

Just my idea, I know it’s long and needs some sorting out but yeah :’D

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Even though I am often the one on the buying side, just make sure people can’t like deny the commission without paying once the art has already been completed/shown to them. Or at least make sure commissioners can’t get the full file (maybe a preview via wm or thumbnail) until they’ve approved that the funds go to the artist.

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I'm not a fan of an artist not getting paid before starting the piece at all. Perhaps a ticket-like trade system could be used where the artist can receive their GB/SB but the "ticket" remains open until a commission file is submitted and confirmed by the purchaser. I'll be fine with most of whatever choices are actually implemented, however I am firm on the belief that an artist should be paid(at least half) before they start the commission.

People are concerned with artists scamming users and not finishing art, so some sort of moderated system would help curb that. However, artists can just as easily be scammed by users who cancel a commission when a final is about to or has been presented or they simply refuse to pay. I've been on both ends of this ordeal and neither is worse than the other. A scammed customer may be scammed out of money(that is refundable). But an artist will be scammed out of their valuable time, something that is irreplaceable.

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The last time i did a comission which i rarley do those, due to many other projects i wish to finish as real life being more important, Plus i have had a time where i wasn't paid for a art piece but didn't care too much at the time really but not really important.

The last time i got paid by using the trade center where i made a trade for the artwork i did. I put part of the Url in a Goodie bag's name and the rest in the 'Or what i want in return' part. It worked rather well. I got my payment and the person got thir commission.

Sadly goodie bags can't be traded/sold due to the Tapiocaferbrains scammer ruining it fer everyone. -3-

But i'd love to see what ideas the staff, if this has enough support, come up with. ^ ^
I just thought i'd share one way i did my business until the goodie bag ban.

And the ideas thus far by fellow LD players are wonderful ones ~

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This is kind of a dumb idea but what if:

-One person sends payment in a new trade feature. The other player does not receive it but they see that it is there.
-The artist has a text box where they can put an image, and Lioden automatically stamps a Lioden watermark on it
-The buying player sees it and approves the trade
-The watermark is removed from the image

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@TheOakWoods: That's not dumb, that's just as good of an idea as any here. It's better to have an idea then none at all imo ^ ^

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I like the idea of a sort of locked trade like what's been suggested above, so that neither party can receive/redact funds before the order has been completed or canceled.

For cancellations and completions, I think both parties should have to confirm the status of the commission to ensure that everyone is in agreement before funds are transferred to the artist or refunded to the customer.

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As long as there's a way to guarantee an artist will get paid as long as they finish the commission. I haven't ever taken commissions via lioden, but I personally don't ever begin any art without at least half paid upfront.

As others already mentioned, I think this would be solved by having the items/currency immediately deducted from the buyer's account once the request is approved and then held until the artist submits their commission (with a gigantic watermark on it) and the buyer "approves" it to unlock the full sized art. That guarantees the artist will get paid, but also if the artist never finishes then the money can simply be made available again to the buyer -- kind of like when raffles are cancelled. If an owed art piece isn't uploaded within a certain period of time and the artist drops off the face of the earth, buyers could then have the option to cancel the order? (Perhaps like 30 days or so? Some artists are slower than others and it'd be awful for an artist to be working on something just to be scammed of their money, so it should be a reasonably generous amount of time.)

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I agree with Merakki (#180971). I've already had an incident where the artist requested payment up front and then never delivered. Thankfully, I went looking for them and got the payment back with no final product (and an assload of excuses), but this isn't always the case. Players demanding payment up front or no work make people play a dangerous game, especially when the cost can be more than a couple GB.

Especially with younger players who might not have as good a grasp on what it means to take commissions, it's important to help make sure buyers are protected, as well as artists. Art scams are ongoing both ways, and I think having a system that holds both currency and image in limbo until both sides are in agreement would help combat this, and potentially cut down on people taking money or art and running.

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I agree with Xanthipe (#110718) in that cancellation should not be able to be dictated solely by a single member of the exchange. Reputable artists and commissioners within the larger art market(in terms of outside of lioden), reach 1v1 agreements if a project needs to be cancelled and then thusly handle appropriately. Both sides need to be equal in power.

Instead of a flat out cancel button, perhaps a "cancel request" that sends a PM to the other individual. Depending on how far along the commission was taken(sketch, lined, etc), the artist can come to agreement for a reasonable payment substitute rather than the initial price agreed upon for the finished piece which was unable to be finished. Even if an artist does only a sketch in an order that was a full painted illustration, they should still get compensation for their time. This price could be discussed between the parties with a moderator overseeing the transaction to make sure neither user is being undercut.

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Seconded @ Deertush (#50864)

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