artistree is literally the best one ive seen to date. kofi and paypal are much easier to scam on because the chargebacks are easy to do directly through paypal, artistree being a 3rd party makes it so they cant chargeback without going through the website itself and providing reasoning, and if they try to go directly to paypal theyd still hit that wall since they cant directly take the money from the artist (the money is being serviced by artistree, they process the payments and are basically an extension of paypal/stripe in that regard as a middle man so no one can just take the money back and run)
@meow7on well aside from scammers, what about how the site isn’t set up or organized to bring you success? What attracts you to the site despite the issues presented in this video?
@slimeskelly1027 yet they can chargeback if your client doesn’t want to use the website. Also, have you considered that most artists’ prior procedures invite those scammers? I see you’re really passionate about the site, so I’d be willing to bet you could be way more successful off of this platform than on it
@SylvesterLazarus what’s causing you stress tho? If scammers are your concern, that’s not due to any platform or without, but rather to impersonal qualification procedures. Why not just tighten up on a few things instead?
It's a weird contradiction that they encourage artists to price higher, but favor to promote lower-priced artists anyway. I was considering using Artistree as a place mainly to organize contracts and payments, but in the end I guess it's just more beneficial to do it all myself.
@@MomentaryUnicornthat's what I thought too. I want to believe respectful commissioners wouldn't be scrolling through some site of artists and just picking the best one for the lowest price like it's a menu.
That’s certainly a big issue, isn’t it? See how it’s not very worthwhile to try to make a sustainable business when its marketplace demands you to undercut your pricing just to stay ahead?
You’re right, hence why the platform is going to produce a red ocean effect where artists will need to undercut their own pricing to get ahead, won’t they? 😅 I mean unless you’re following bad advice like “grow your following” which doesn’t work out for 99% of artists
I think you might be being a little hyperbolic here, but yeah, pretty much. I've been doing commissions since I was 18 years old, I'm 33 now. So I've been at this for a while. I think one of the main draws Artistree has, especially to younger artists (who don't know how to price themselves and really don't have any idea what they're doing) is that they claim to cover the fees that PayPal/etc would charge you, which you aren't allowed to pass onto the client, per PayPal's ToS--that is supposed to come out of your pay. You can charge more to cover it, yes, but you're not allowed to outright say that's what you're doing, or you will get in trouble. Artistree gets around this by claiming the extra charge they give commissioners is like, a service fee, or something, which part of it is, yes, but they return the rest of it to the artist to cover PayPal/etc fees. This is why they can do what they do. The additional $2.60 on things under $100 just sounds like a credit card processing fee, that's pretty normal. Most places just eat that cost and deduct it when taxes come around, I don't know why Artistree is making a thing of it. If you're doing your taxes properly (nobody doing commission work online does their taxes properly for some reason) the fee is deductible. It's a business expense; what you pay in taxes will be lower if you write that fee off. So what's happening here is, you're passing that business expense deduction to Artistree, when it should be yours. A sole proprietor gets to deduct things like this on their Schedule C form, in addition to the standard deduction you get on your 1040. Some of you might be missing out on a larger tax return because of this, especially if you file jointly with a spouse (most of you are probably just committing tax fraud without realizing, but being able to deduct the fees will help if you choose to get your shit together.) I've always said that the PayPal fee shouldn't matter, and if it's really impacting you that bad, maybe you should raise your prices. Because the fee is a tiny percentage--it should be negligible. And then you write it off when the year is up. Artistree's set-up is just more money on the customer for no reason--making clients email you has always worked just fine, and word of mouth is a great advertiser. People talk about who has scammed them. Artists-Beware, if it's still around, is/was a great resource for doing research both on artists and commissioners and helping both parties make decisions. I think you have it a little backwards re: the types of commissioners Artistree attracts. Artistree doesn't attract anybody--it's the type of platform that only attracts the existing audience any artist that might join already has. Commissioners only care about Artistree in that this is where their artists are forcing them to buy from them now. Maybe commissioners might find new artists to buy from, but if they're already paying more to support the artist they already know, that additional fee isn't going to be a deterrent. Does that make sense? They want to support the artists they like, and clearly they'll pay more to do so. But the better way to do this is to, as the artist, just raise your prices by $10, as you said. That way it's the artist who benefits (which is what your commissioner wants, that's why they're paying more in the first place!!) not this random company. Through Artistree, they're already paying more anyway. You may as well take all of that for yourself, and then deduct the PayPal fees when you do your taxes. There's no reason for Artistree to make a living off of you, and I really don't like that their whole business model is just taking advantage of people who don't know any better. You really don't need them. Literally, everything they claim to do for you, you can do yourself. They also claim to help protect you from chargebacks and scamming--how common even is that? In all my years doing this, I have never had anything like that happen. The only time I ever hear about chargebacks is when either a. the artist didn't do their research before taking this client who is a known scammer, or b. the artist didn't do the work, isn't communicating, and the commissioner didn't have any other choice. I have probably worked with hundreds, if not thousands, of people by now, and not one has ever done a chargeback on me. This doesn't happen. Alternatively, you are undercharging, and the guy who spent $20 for a fully colored full body illustration has no respect for you or your time, and decided you are undeserving. You can avoid those people by charging more. Higher prices attract clients who actually respect the artist, and if you can't sell your art at a higher price, you might not be ready to be selling at all. And, again, if you do end up with a chargeback, that's another tax deduction. I know a lot of us are operating on a shoestring budget and something like that can ruin you, but these are the risks we take. All of that said, the biggest issue I have with Artistree is that, according to someone I spoke to who works over there, they're looking for investors. Which means, when they get some, they are going to gradually go to shit the same way Patreon has done by falling into the "infinite growth" capitalism trap. Their fees are going to get higher, they're going to start offering services nobody asked for, and nobody is going to benefit except for their shareholders and CEO, just like Patreon. I don't see good things in their future. It's fine right now--use them while it's still okay. And then take your clients with you when the ship sinks if you can. I keep putting it off, but one of these days I'm going to put together a series of posts that explains how to properly do this sort of work, and how to avoid being taken advantage of by places like this. I'm trying to learn programming at the moment too, so I might even put together a CMS that someone can take and install on their own server if they need somewhere to host their art, don't want to use social media, but aren't very web savvy. It is sorely needed. I apologize for the text wall--this is something I have been doing for a very long time and have thought about a lot, and I'm glad to see that someone has finally said anything about Artistree maybe not being so good. They're not here for artists, they are here for themselves. We're already a highly exploited bunch, they've just found yet another way to do it.
Wow there aren’t many artists like us who’ve been in the game as long as us! Great to meet another one 😁 so I appreciate your insights here. You’re definitely right on these additional details, and I hope more people read them. As you may be aware, there’s only so much I can cram into a single video. These are additional great points. Since you’re quite seasoned, have you seen my other content? I expose many of these issues and more for inexperienced artists. If you have any additional ideas, I’m game!
God you are full of knowledge, I will wait for you to post your video. I would love to have someone like you to guide me in this process personally, as for now I'm very nervous to deal with commissioners haha 😿
@@TheArtMentor Right? There really aren't many of us lol. Also yeah, of course; my comment was more or less intended to be supplemental to/back up what you were already saying haha, I know there's only so much time. I haven't had a chance to watch more of your work just yet--this video was suggested to me by UA-cam and seeing as I did try to chat briefly with someone on the Artistree team last year (I wanted to know how they were circumventing PayPal fees among other things, and was kind of disappointed by the entire interaction tbh) my interest was piqued and I thought I'd give it a watch. I'll definitely check out some of your other stuff when I'm able; I can't really have it on in the background while I work or it'll just become noise and I will absorb none of it, so when I find time to give it actual attention, I definitely will. That being said, I'd love to chat about topics to cover sometime; there are so many artists out there who mean well and want to do this, but don't know what they're doing, and not enough good information available to help guide them.
I use Artistree, and I have yet to get ANY commissions. It's very frustrating because I see people who draw art that's EVERYWHERE for really really cheap and they get commissions no problem. I'm starting to think maybe it's just my art, but i've had to recoup and readjust my pricing so many times. Thank you for your info. I followed you a few videos ago and I am already loving your content. I'll have to check out your other videos to see if I can find a different way to actual get commissions and places to take them. Instagram sucks for artists. Do you have any tips on knowing how to "categorize" your art? My art is stylized.
That’s exactly the point I made in this video, isn’t it? How can you possibly succeed when everyone else is charging so low, and the platform literally pushes cheap art on its marketplace? It’s not a winning formula 😩 Yes I have loads of videos on that! Have you seen my playlists on my channel? Thanks so much for your support 😁
@@TheArtMentor It's definitely not a winning formula. Especially to those of us who want to do it as MORE than just a small "hobby." I'll check out your playlists! Thank you!
I’m an absolute beginner when it comes to commissions and I’m willing to give Artistree a try because I like how everything is organized thru the platform. It doesn’t seem like any art platform is perfect for artist or client, but I figure here is as good a place as any to at least start. 🤔
Have you considered though that there are better ways to start well and start right though? The issue with any art commissions platforms are the ones presented in this video where it will keep you from earning and working with clients that will help you achieve your goals. Can I offer you some advice that I wish I heard earlier in my career?
I'm already in the artitree market and I'm a ride or die type of guy so I'm going to stick with Artitree. It's just safe to use other than relying only on paypal where you can get ghosted or scammed. Plus the community is great and supportive. Thank you for the valuable tips of how to improve the request form. I have been struggling with that as well.
@@TheArtMentor I'm not this person but from someone who uses PayPal for comms and has friends who do it's likely that PayPal is just flat unreliable for sellers. It'll 9/10 times take the customers side even if the customer is just flat out lying and you have proof.
How are you vetting your customers tho? How do you make sure that you’re not working with bad clients? It’s easy to blame PayPal but what about your procedures?
@@TheArtMentor Well that's because I value the time and effort that I put into my artwork. One mistake and the scammer gets off with free art and that's not even the worst part. Nope I didn't get scammed not once because I haven't gotten any clients yet 😂😂. I'm new to this type of business. Well the thing is I learned a lot in doing my research about this type of business and yeah, everybody wants a piece of the pie but it's up to the artist to decide who to share that pie with. Well that's my own opinion in regards to this topic.
Well first off, congrats on taking the first step! That’s a brave thing I commend you on. Since you’re brand new to this, and from one artist to another though, what if I told you there are better ways to go about this commissions process than what you’re trying here? Are you new to my channel? I make loads of content to support new and experience artists like you with actionable steps to get and keep you clients. I’d love to help and support you along your journey 😁 how’s that sound?
I have been using artistree for a year now, the only problem I have faced is finding clients who are willing to use the link I give them since artistree isn't very well known yet but I'm not in a position where I need to worry about how many clients I get for that month especially since I have returning customers. I like how I can just link my commissions and each slot is front and centered with the prices and description of why it's priced like that and what to expect. I like how I get 100% and I have gotten no complaints from clients about the fee. I will suggest to only use artistree if you need some spare change for the month and don't subtle it as your only way to get commissions. Artistree isn't bad, it does have some problems but only use it if you feel comfortable with the using it. Because at the end of the day that's what matters.
Sounds like you’re doing pretty well for yourself on commissions. Have you considered what kind of effect removing your pricing can positively have on your pricing and client pool?
@demonxeory768 may I suggest that course of action for you? In fact, I made a video about it recently. Would you like a link to it to learn how beneficial that can be?
For some reason I think artistree doesn't have the audience or clients to be honest. No one queries or shows interest. I just don't think any client uses it
You had some great points... but when talking about artists and their styles they promote I disagree with you. A lot of artists like to explore different styles and not everyone is limited to one style they do well. Why try and tell people to limit themselves? And you not understanding something that is listed... you might want to read the description provided? @10:58 you show a category and it clearly states what they mean...
Who said you can only have one interest though? 🙃 but can you also look at it from a business perspective rather than a personal one? What do you think the chances of someone with a scattered portfolio getting hired at a studio versus one that’s awesome and focused? Another example, how well do you think you could start four businesses instead of beginning with just one? Specialization breeds better results my friend 💪 why not just go forward in one style, gain a lot of success, and then branch out as I suggested in this video?
I'm a rookie artist and I was planning to try doing art commissions again, I was scared and confuse because i don't know what I'm doing and I got scammed 2x(thankfully I didn't give them the artwork I made), just want to say this channel helps me bit by bit on how to do commissions. I'm about to start to open a commission again, good luck to me and thank you for your tips😄
@@TheArtMentor the most helpful to me is that, don't waste time in commission sheet, have respectable price, how to talk to clients, how to be professional, and to never visit the said website/social media(Instagram for me). Still haven't got 1 client yet because I just started, but I won't give up😊
back last year, i used to want to do commissions at artistree, but doing heavy research on the commission process, i think i’m going to stick with DM or email for commissions. seriously, all these new commission sites sound overwhelming to keep track of, and seeing the prices people charge really doesn’t make me happy. sometimes i wonder to myself, “why can’t people just use DM or email? it’s so much more efficient”. thank you so much for the perspective in this video 🙏
@jarethcastro after watching this, u see how it’s just trying to be another middleman website to scrape your money away, right? 😅 you’ll be able to get more money and better clients off of better platforms using better practices. Have you seen my other videos on that?
@slimeskelly that’s great to hear that you’re getting clients commissions off the platform, but why use Artistree at all if you’re being contacted off platform and forcing your clients to spend more money? What’s your average price range?
my price depends on the offerings. i have cheap discounted things i do on stream for fun, then i have paintings in the 2-300 range and animations that are in the 1000s range. what i meant was i get the audience from other platforms, and then i take commissions from those interested on artistree, because it's super easy to set it up for the client and they dont need an account. it's easier than sending an invoice in paypal, and it's easier than going through kofi on backend because i have the dashboard that keeps everything organized.@@TheArtMentor
That’s a great sounding business, but why are you leaving so much money on the table and trading it to a company for profit? If you charge 1k, that’s almost $100 you’re giving to a company that can do nothing special you aren’t capable of. I mean seriously, is it really worth giving them $1000/year or more instead of just contacting clients yourself?
0:00 legit searching for this type of content that talks about Artistree outside of sponsorship cuz it looks really cool but idek if it’s worth it or if they allow AO stiff
I made an artistree profile because they say they offer protection against PayPal chargebacks and that clients don’t have to make an account for payment. After making a profile, I saw they have a commission organization and messaging feature. I don’t want to use their system and I encourage Email communication because going to a separate platform for communication is a hassle for a client. I did only offer full background Illustration and full body Illustration on my profile. My price had a very large gap. After watching this video, I’m not sure if I want to completely drop artistree. I like their terms of service feature. After seeing that there’s no invoice protection I’m kind of in between now.
i do not ever use the invoices, they should only be used with trusted clients and you will basically never have a problem. i actually enjoy the on-platform messaging but it's easy enough to make one of the detail questions for the commission info their discord or email, and their email is required to put a commission in anyways so just going to the email for direct contact is more than fine. there is even an option when submitting final to simply put it as "final submitted off-site" or something like that and it will count as closed, so you can easily do direct email but use the dashboard to keep the order info/references organized. that's what i like about it, and plus the public dashboard is great for people to get an idea of wait times as they can see how many commissions you have lined up and how many are active. definitely stay with the platform.
I made one two back when it became so hyped, but gradually more and more disenchanted the more you look into it. Like you, I teach and encourage more effective communication methods. How else have you attempted taking commissions before? I have loads of suggestions to give you a leg up
@slimeskelly1027 if everything is handled off site, why bother using Artistree? I see how passionate you are about the platform, but have you considered how not making your clients foot an extra bill and just charging more respectable will keep them as long term clients better?
late reply bc i barely get on pc to even comment or check notifs lmao - but mostly the issue for me is convenience. i can swallow the fees if i wanted to, but for the sake of the things i specifically deal with; the nsfw aspect of my commissions, the hassle of filing for VAT for international sales, dealing with digital sales tax in the united states, and finding a payment processor that is EASY TO USE and not convoluted or against nsfw are all very difficult things to do for someone who doesnt have the income to justify paying for assistance with tax filing or whatever else. payment processors like paypal are scummy and stripe is basically a shop payment processor like them, and also do not individually allow for nsfw/explicit content through their direct sales system. I would rather deal with the hassle of charging clients a small extra fee and have EVERYTHING ELSE i'm worried about covered, which artistree does. if there were a better site that actually checked all my boxes i would use it, but artistree really is the only platform i've seen that will handle that headache on behalf of the artists and actually allow the stipulations i provided. main thing is the nsfw and vat. im already banned off of paypal for it, so that limits what sites i can even use for income or payment by a lot@@TheArtMentor
There are some good points made here about the site itself, like no charge back protection is def an issue with invoices for example, and I will be avoiding them in the future, but many of the things listed seem to be user-created issues. People having too wide a range on charging, trying to be a jack of all trades and undercharging etc is an issue you can see on any website because they're problems made by the people using the site rather than the developers themselves. At first I was annoyed about some of these things being passed as a site-related set of issues, but in the end we have to manipulate people into clicking youtube videos and THAT'S whats annoying in the long run. I wish youtube wasn't like this. I'm not in a hurry to move off of artistree at the moment, but I'm going to keep exploring options until I find something that works for me. Thanks for the information.
exactly my thoughts it was infuriating to say the least when he rattled off the inexperienced artists as issues with the site and not an industry-wide problem. so far artistree is the best option of any of them, at least for nsfw + international client base, because of the sales tax/vat tax being covered and their allowance for nsfw. sfw's get the plus of the marketplace but i dont plan to use it even when it becomes available for nsfw artists.
Why do you assume I made this video for clicks when the majority of my entire channel is devoted to teaching artists like you how to follow your art dreams and earn respectable wages? How much of my content have you really watched? Click bait isn’t my thing 😅 but exposing poorly managed platforms like this that don’t give you a fair chance is
If you have a platform full of inexperienced artists, using ineffective procedures, and the website doesn’t help shift them into a more professional practice, who else can be blamed but the platform? I mean if Artistree really did care about correcting poor practices, wouldn’t they fix it rather than perpetuating them? Thats my point across this video. You seem really passionate about this platform, so I’m open to the discourse. However, have you ever considered that better strategies and practices would net you much better results?
@@TheArtMentorI wasn't trying to be rude, but I suppose it came off that way so I apologize. I just felt it was unfair to lump in user-caused issues with artistree's actual problems. Some of the issues you mentioned are caused by artists on many websites. That's all. Maybe I take things at face-value too heavily, I don't know. I didn't mean to imply that you only made the video for clicks, just that I know that you have to word things a certain way to keep people hooked so they'll actually listen. That's just how youtube rolls.
@@slimeskelly1027 Yeah there's a lot of naive users on it, but they're also on Deviantart, Ko-Fi, Toyhouse, etc I DO thinks its ridiculous that artistree put their hourly rate at 10USD though. It should be higher than that since its skilled work. I DO recognize that I need to fix my pricing a bit, as I do have one or two things with too big of a price range listed. Ignoring the marketplace there, I really don't mind artistree. If I were someone who was buying art at high prices I don't think I'd be upset at losing a couple bucks to the website as a fee. I just like how organized it is, it takes stripe, the site looks nice and its easy to use. Now the invoices not being protected is definitely an issue and if I find a better platform in the future I'll move without a doubt, but for now its working alright for me. OH also the "extras" being capped at 6...this is why I use the messaging system on artistree to discuss the commission price BEFORE telling the client what I'm charging. So far its worked pretty well for me. The extras are just quick little questions that I like to get out of the way because I'm very forgetful.
I can't lie your video was frustrating, fine you have pin point a lot problem on the platform cool but aren't you supposed to give a solution like recommending a different platform us, and pls don't mention any USA financial platforms they are all greedy and selfish to African and other third world countries
Well that’s the problem this exposes, isn’t it? There isn’t a single platform that addresses all of the concerns I’m exposing in this video. However, did you make it to the end or check the videos in the description? I teach actionable ways and places to get clients and grow an art business
Every time someone contacts me through that platform, I try to reply the client and they never get back to me. I think either people there expect your art to be super cheap, or the communication in the platform sucks somehow.
I recently heard about Artistree and in plain sight I thought it'd be great to start my commissions there. One of the things that stood out for me was that they advertised themselves as helping the artists with all the commissions process, and how they acted as an in-between with artists and clients, ensuring the artist's protection against chargebacks. Have you encountered a situation where someone requested a chargeback after paying and recieving the end product? How do you defend yourself against that? I've heard that the best way is to make clients sign a contract so in case it happens, you have a way to defend yourself showing "real proof" (since screenshots don't usually help and/or aren't enough, at least for PayPal's costumer protection policy). Are clients willing to sign them? What is the best way to protect yourself as an artist *and* as a seller against people like these? :)
Yeah Artistree says all the right things, but are you aware that this is just the newest in a long line of poorly managed middle-man money scraping art commission websites? Did you watch my video at the end of this where I also critique Fiverr and ArtsnClients? It’s the same issues with a parrot logo and they plant trees lol
As far as contracts go, can I be honest with you? They’re worthless unless you get them legally bonded by a lawyer or notary. You really only need them for commercial art when it involves asset rights. So you want to protect yourself right? Can I suggest some better practices to help you better qualify clients who won’t do that to you?
I live in Nigeria so most of your alternative are not viable for me 😭 - Nigerian PayPal accounts can send payments but cannot receive payments. - Kofi doesn’t accept a Nigerian payment account So for me artistree is to only way for me that won’t isolate my fellow Nigerian customers 🤷🏾♀️
You know, I appreciate some commenters like yourself bringing this to my attention. I want to help people like you not needing to use predatory sites like this with no upward trajectory. Would you like me to do some research and make a video on payment alternatives?
All the same, so why not just do that off of a platform that encourages cheap art and cheap clients, plus all the other issues presented in this video?
Well, if Artistree isn't going to work for me, then what is? I've been thinking about doing commissions lately and just try a new outlet for my drawing and creativity and maybe earn a bit of income on the side. I mean, I still want to make my own stuff but I think that commissions might help me with my artistry and still make a bit of income on the side while I do my full time job. How can I do commissions without Artistree?
I can totally relate! That’s exactly how and why I began too, and there are so many better ways and places to get clients and grow an art business. Mind if I link you a couple of my videos that will teach you everything? REAL advice to get art clients and commissions in 2024 ua-cam.com/video/JQMjdHBakno/v-deo.html WHERE to find art clients and higher paying art commissions ua-cam.com/video/OAvInGpHrMQ/v-deo.html
I still use Artistree cuz I don't have chasapp and other methods for payments so they help get commissions with clients that only use card, cash app and things like that but still I have to look for my clients and bring them to the site cuz in the site herself I don't get any commission just to be in there-
I know this is unrelated but I just wanted to shoot and ask anyway. How do you sell comms when you don't have a PayPal and its not supported in your country? I dont see many bigger artists talk about this or how to set up these things so I'd really wanna know if you know. Thanks for always keeping it real
@@TheArtMentor That would be awesome! Truly! Oh and I'm from Malawi, PayPal was supported much earlier on but lately linking your bank account when it's not from the US seems impossible. I've been trying to seek alternatives for myself and some other budding artists with little success in terms of which to use that's not a burden on the client as well.
artistree is the only way i can get paid by clients from different countries bc US payment platforms are mostly selfish towards third world countries. i was blocked out and frustrated over and over again for the longest time. but today i just got my first commission through that platform and so artistree it is for me, the only platform give an eff about artists in my situation.
How would using PayPal or a similar platform not be advisable when you could charge more money off platform and get better clients that don’t look for cheap work?
@@TheArtMentor you did not read my comment at all. paypal does not work in my country. and so platforms that use only paypal as payout processors (which is almost all of them...) are completely off limits. the ONLY platforms with options for me and people in my region is patreon and artistree. now guess which is better for taking comms? also, calling artistree artists pricing cheap work is crazy like that's a whole insult what does the platform have to do with that 😂😂
@@TheArtMentor also, artistree gives me exactly what i charge straight into my bank account while PayPal does not and encourages upcharging so i really cannot tell if you're joking with this comment. your criticism does not have a base as most of your comments have pointed out and i assume you either haven't used the platform or your video is bait.
Yeah I read it, which is why I asked why you could possibly use another payment platform? Just curious, what else have you tried? And no I don’t use nor advocate for cheap art websites that promote bad practices and encourage cheap pricing bc it’s bad for your sustainability and mental health. I’ve been using real, actionable methods without a social media following for a decade. Did you make it through this whole video? 😅 I expound upon all of these points throughout it. You deserve to be doing much better than platforms like this allow you too. I hope you come to that after some time, because I’ve been just like you in the past and attempted to do this on others, and they’re all predatory. You can do better, my friend 👍
I used to praise Artistree and have been on the site ever since Duchess Celestia was sponsored by them. Despite how I appreciate that the site bans scammers, AI and NFTs, I agree with everything what you said. Pretty much smaller artists like me there who rarely got commissions never got recognition whether they're accepted on the marketplace or not(?).
I made an Artistree account, then I realised... Do I have audience? Am I good to convince my clients to pay additional fees? 😅 So what I did is step this art commissions aside and to grow my right audience. Yeah, I just hit 300 subs 🎉 I have to change my channel's look. I will post a Short video of welcoming new viewers, change my profile pic (other socials too), establish my website, write my weekly journal and prepare a video script. Too much things in general niche is very exhausting. I decided to just change my niche. My old niche is: 🌐Countryballs = General New niche: 🇵🇭 Countryballs Philippines = Specific All of it its tough, how much more I do task with commissions? That would challenge 😢
Seems like you’ve successfully started to niche down well! However, why do you think you need an audience for commissions? You know you can get client without any following, right?
I was interested to use it at one point cause you know support artist yada yada yada then checked and all that promotion about being better for artist well all those costs were pushed on the client. Hate me for it but I chose to remain on fivver, it feels fair as a client at least
Nobody can scam you better than those scammer who "protect" your from scammers. I am a full time employee on a coal mine here in South Africa. I do sell my art on the side. I work in pen on paper (sometimes with markers). I ask 100% cash. I will never trust a platforms like this. Why should I pay someone when I do all the physical work? Look if this works for artists and they make money, good for them. I would suggest cash people. There is a reason we say cash is king.
the website is actually limited to digital art/file sales only, so you actually are not in the niche they are looking to provide for. that said, physical artwork is more demanding and easier to sell in person than online. the website aims to streamline the digital art commission process. i'm glad you are traditional, but know that they aren't scamming you. the fees they take also plant trees with some of the funds, too, so they aren't strictly making profit.
@@slimeskelly1027 true, it's only for digital artists. Is it possible for digital artists to go cash? I don't know anything really about the digital art business.
@jacotromp5958 that’s a great side business you’ve got there! Yes, it is impractical and slightly unethical in my mind to force clients to pay above asking. As a business, it’s up to you to incur those costs as a part of your pricing. Like, you wouldn’t sell your art and then ask for more money for materials, right?
@slimeskelly1027 yeah but who cares about trees when you’re just afraid to ask for more money rather than asking the client to cough up more? You could do that off platform as easily and more easily
Ready to get off of this awful platform that perpetuates age-old issues and steals money from you? Learn how to do this the right way and earn what you deserve here: Find Art Commissions ua-cam.com/play/PLlEcLwoh4Va0BOyXhbMAPiL-G9D87lP1t.html
And aren’t you glad? 😁 and for the peanut gallery reading this, how has your commission game been not using this and other similar art commission middleman platforms?
Coming back to this video to leave this comment cuz it’s something I’ve been wondering: how much faith do people have that their clients will make a random new account just to commission them?? We see it a lot in SW where workers are pushed off a platform and sometimes people follow sometimes don’t and where some workers want to try out the newest latest fan site but their clients and followers aren’t going there. Like thinking about it as something like that or why artists have Twitter and IG and DA and FA specifically, I just don’t think a lot of clients are using it right now….
Hi! I just found Artistree today, and thought "oh! This seems nice, i'll try it out!" Until i saw this video.(so i certainly wont be using it.) I'm new to commissions, and dont have any experience or knowledge on how to do them, so are there any platforms you recommend for beginner 13 - 16 year olds? (That isn't Artistree lol) I would use internet transfer, as i dont have stripe, paypal, cashapp, etc, but i dont think people use that. So I'm looking for a bit of advice on payment methods too? Thank you!
I'm glad to hear you got off this platform haha. So regarding your question about where to go, I have a video I'm happy to link for you. Would you like that? But on another more important note, may I give you some advice? Since you're still a teenager, I actually think taking commissions and seeking payment is one of the worst ideas for people in your age group. Go have fun, make your own IPs, make art you enjoy, and just focus on skill building and enjoying the process. All too often, I see teenagers focused on money with art, which becomes toxic to your artistic development because of that association. Also, you can't use payment services until you're 18, so that's another reason (at least in the US.) How does that sound?
@@TheArtMentor oh, i didn't know that! Thanks for the advice, i didn't realize how bad it can be.... in that case, I'll wait a bit longer until i open art comms.
I’ve been asked to do that before too! May I ask what other platforms you’ve tried before? Tbh Twitter/X is very hard now since it’s been so monetized lately that exposure seems very hard to come by
9:07 I prefer “x thing is x amount more as an addition” over this range thing Cuz lets say it’s $10 for a character drawing and you will draw up to 10 characters but each additional character is an extra $5 so that’s $10-55 cuz you have to account for that
yeah but even that just isn't worth it really is it? Like $10 is way below minimum wage nowadays, so why force yourself onto this platform that keeps everyone working for poverty wages from 50 years ago?
@@TheArtMentor personally I don’t judge others commission prices cuz ngl it’s really hard to figure out pricing >.< gotta get a fair wage but also gotta make sure people actually commission you 🫠 very fine line. Also $10 is easy math 😂 I almost always just pull out $10 or $20 for hypothetical 😂 my comment was more about the range seeming…. Kinda confusing both as an artist who’s done commissions before and as someone who’s commissioned other artists
Thanks for the clarification. Overall, having a fair wage is also a product of person standards and self-respect over what markets exist. Does that make sense? Cheap markets will always be a thing, but for artists, it's self-destructive to participate in it for too long
@@TheArtMentor oh yeah I get that. Like the fine line is so hard cuz it’s balancing so many things. The clients are regular people usually so they don’t have much but the ones who truly want a regular commission will save up for who they want at least. A lot of people review their prices yearly and lots also do a slight raise every 1-3 years which I think is good tbh.
Honestly, I get so many miscellaneous commission requests... I should probably add some information on miscellaneous category to my commission sheets. That's a good idea.
may I ask a couple questions about that? Firstly, what's your price point? If you're getting too many commission requests, my first instinct is to advise you to double your pricing immediately. Second, have you considered dumping the com sheet all together? You'll do much better without one
@@TheArtMentor I am not getting too many requests, it is just that from time to time I get requests for props and the like instead of characters (which are ~80% of requests). And I quite like the com sheet. It aids in communicating with clients to understand the scope of project they are after.
Is there any way to do commissions while still being safe? Honestly, I always had 0% interest on Artistree and others, though i liked the idea of the 'Anonymous Invoice', it sounds quite great for being safe out there. Thanks for the helpful video🦉
absolutely! Commissions generally are perfectly safe, but there are some lingering anxieties like that. I've discussed that in some of my other videos. Would you like a link?
I think we all should agree that we deserve our full money and we should have the benefit here... Like for real. Yes I am sorry fornthe client but art IS a luxury
@@Vanilla_bean2347 artist gets exactly the promised amount of money and client pays service fees and transfer fees in addition to the cost of the commission. if the client did not pay the extra then the fees would be deducted from the cost of the commission and the artist would get the commission cost minus fees so less money.
@@TheArtMentor The part where how the platform screws over artists. I'm sticking to the old fashioned way of engaging with potential clients and building up trust with them. That, and a business e-mail.
Thanks for that feedback, and you’ll definitely have better success using those strategies! I know you’ve seen my other content and learned how to do that well. Have you considered using DM platforms over email inquiries as well?
@@TheArtMentor DM platforms? The closest thing I have is Discord but that is where I keep touch with my clients and update them with progress through WIP spoilers which are also publicized in my socials (a subtle way that my draw queue is getting updated to drive anyone interested in my art). Commission forms are still a work in progress. However, I already have set up a Carrd page to go with the soon-to-come Commish forms. Also, the business email I was mentioning early? It's up, but no new folks yet.
Can I advise you a bit here? Commissions sheets and forms are a total waste of your time and so are card sites and similar ones. Those don’t work. Have you heard that before?
Can you help me, I need to know what I do to get my money back if I paid an artists from PayPal to do me a commission then he did half of my commission but then he stops from replying to me and not show me any update as I see him online?
Yeah you didn’t miss anything 😅 you could do much better using actually effective practices. It’s a pain to set up and isn’t set up to give you success, is it?
hey, i have a question, if i wanna take commissions through paypal business account will it still be anonymous? (i don’t like revealing my legal name/ address etc. to the clients. Will they only see my pen name and email address?
Hello and thanks for asking! Firstly, do you have a fully established art business? If not, I would not set up a business account bc it's unnecessary. You could just do it from a personal paypal account. In either case though, it will display a name. What is your fear in someone seeing your name or business name?
I use Artistree and I'm happy with it so far. I'm glad to at least be doing those tips you've mentioned like keeping to a niche and having a small price range. Honestly, I set up an Artistree because someone commissioned me and I had no idea how to collect the money and just set one up. They agreed to pay the fee so why not? I stayed on the platform because the Artistree Discord is full of good people and I found some nice artists to commission from there. All the artists I've commissioned gave the option to talk on Discord (which I prefer) and they frequently interacted with me throughout the commissioning process. I haven't found anyone who used Artistree to automate the process.
I'm glad that you got some good practices out of this at least. Have you considered though how not being attached to this or another platform can make you more money and a better future though? You have a paypal through artistree, so you're all set up to do it anyways.
@@TheArtMentor i use it for commissions and i think it’s okay. You still need to direct potiental clients towards vgen but i think the commissions process is okay and simple to understand. I have both a vgen and artistree account and i think i prefer vgen. There’s also portfolio section alongside the commissions info page. In this video you mentioned how clients don’t know all what you can offer and having a portfolio section can help solve this issue i think. There’s just some limitations between a verified user and normal artist user, but its not huge problem. It’s a bit complicated 😵💫 i still dont know much. I was confused because there’s a lot you need to know haha. I would still like to know your views on vgen (＾▽＾) if possible.
@@TheArtMentor Arts, I currently only took cms in my country but I plan to go for USD (since my country currency sucks and everyone is suffering from inflation) I heard Paypal charge quite a lot of fee from currency conversion (and maybe other too which Idk of), never try Squarespace before.
Damn really? I just saw a channel talk about them & thought about it, but then thought about the simpler route I was taking. Glad I didn't sign up w/ them.
@BallJoinedWing and have you considered that narrowing your style to one type will help you double or triple your pricing? I’ve helped plenty of artists within that genre who have done that
Welp, made my account yesterday, and saw this today haha. I’m actually relieved because this video confirmed for me what I’m doing right. (Kicking myself for not looking at the site more closely first thoI spent a week agonizing over pricing and what categories to do, when I really looked at my collection and said wtf - I do colorful stylized busts and half bodies with nice simple to very decorative backgrounds very well. Lets just go with that! One for bust, one for half body, priced well enough for my skill (95-110; 115-135). It was when I figured that out that I saw a video from Nadiaxel about Artistree and thought it would be a good place to start. Sadly I looked at the comms pages after setting up my page and saw all the cheap stuff on the site :(. I’m new to commissions, but I care about my art and the effort I put into it so I want to avoid underselling. Still a bit tricky since current weakness is my art time and I am working on improving my speed while I try to get my first commission. Yeah, I’m flying by the seat of my pants here - learning as I go. Thanks for the in-depth video! I’ll be checking out more of your stuff to try get a better start on this. I’m not sure if I’ll use Artistree to handle the commission process (leaning towards not using it) but I’ll keep it just for now since I don’t have anything crazy going on there, but yeah - it’s obvious that site won’t get me any comms. I’ll just consider it my commissions info poster..
Glad to hear you learned all that before experiencing it yourself 😅 can I recommend better and sustainable practices for your commissions? I have a couple videos I think you’d enjoy
@@TheArtMentor Thanks! I’m looking through your latest vid on Where to get commissions so I’m starting there. I’ve started to post om my DA acc again and I’ll see from there. I’ve noticed I don’t have a specific genre for my art - it worries me a bit bc I can say I do character portraits - but I don’t know if I can call that fantasy-anything? It could be a person, an elf a dragon girl but no specific theme beyond the CLAMP-inspired manga aesthetic. Happy to hear what else you have! You’ve created a gold mine!
literally just made my account because duchess celestia was sponsored by them ughhh. the layout was so nice too, I hate organizing my commissions myself.
Yeah many have been getting sponsored by Artistree 😅 No shade to DC, she's been on my channel before. I just hesitate against limiting platforms that force poor practices and cheap clients onto artists. Does that make sense? So are you preparing to take your work off of this platform now that you know more about it?
@@TheArtMentor I’m hesitant to continue with setting up there, but I don’t feel like putting in the delete account request when it’d take 30 days at most and I haven’t linked any funds to it. Beyond Reddit, do you have any suggestions for where I could possibly set up to draw attention to the fact I’m an artist for hire?
@@TheArtMentor exactly, even the consumers try to underprice art. The fight for free art is never ending XD, you have to combat undercharging, freeloaders and site limitations. So many obstacles.
@hyperspaceshow exactly! And these websites don’t make money off of big clients and big commissions. They take it from many small clients paying very small pricing
I still want to use Artistree despite all these. Scammers are everywhere. Thank you for the advice in the end. Really helpful!
artistree is literally the best one ive seen to date. kofi and paypal are much easier to scam on because the chargebacks are easy to do directly through paypal, artistree being a 3rd party makes it so they cant chargeback without going through the website itself and providing reasoning, and if they try to go directly to paypal theyd still hit that wall since they cant directly take the money from the artist (the money is being serviced by artistree, they process the payments and are basically an extension of paypal/stripe in that regard as a middle man so no one can just take the money back and run)
Same. I don't like playing with my blood pressure over scammers, I'm already taking enough medication for it.
@meow7on well aside from scammers, what about how the site isn’t set up or organized to bring you success? What attracts you to the site despite the issues presented in this video?
@slimeskelly1027 yet they can chargeback if your client doesn’t want to use the website. Also, have you considered that most artists’ prior procedures invite those scammers? I see you’re really passionate about the site, so I’d be willing to bet you could be way more successful off of this platform than on it
@SylvesterLazarus what’s causing you stress tho? If scammers are your concern, that’s not due to any platform or without, but rather to impersonal qualification procedures. Why not just tighten up on a few things instead?
It's a weird contradiction that they encourage artists to price higher, but favor to promote lower-priced artists anyway. I was considering using Artistree as a place mainly to organize contracts and payments, but in the end I guess it's just more beneficial to do it all myself.
That's why I was using it. The marketplace itself is worthless imo. Otherwise it's a good organization tool.
@@MomentaryUnicornthat's what I thought too. I want to believe respectful commissioners wouldn't be scrolling through some site of artists and just picking the best one for the lowest price like it's a menu.
That’s certainly a big issue, isn’t it? See how it’s not very worthwhile to try to make a sustainable business when its marketplace demands you to undercut your pricing just to stay ahead?
May I ask how many commissions you typically take on in a given month to need that level of organization?
You’re right, hence why the platform is going to produce a red ocean effect where artists will need to undercut their own pricing to get ahead, won’t they? 😅 I mean unless you’re following bad advice like “grow your following” which doesn’t work out for 99% of artists
I think you might be being a little hyperbolic here, but yeah, pretty much. I've been doing commissions since I was 18 years old, I'm 33 now. So I've been at this for a while. I think one of the main draws Artistree has, especially to younger artists (who don't know how to price themselves and really don't have any idea what they're doing) is that they claim to cover the fees that PayPal/etc would charge you, which you aren't allowed to pass onto the client, per PayPal's ToS--that is supposed to come out of your pay. You can charge more to cover it, yes, but you're not allowed to outright say that's what you're doing, or you will get in trouble.
Artistree gets around this by claiming the extra charge they give commissioners is like, a service fee, or something, which part of it is, yes, but they return the rest of it to the artist to cover PayPal/etc fees. This is why they can do what they do. The additional $2.60 on things under $100 just sounds like a credit card processing fee, that's pretty normal. Most places just eat that cost and deduct it when taxes come around, I don't know why Artistree is making a thing of it.
If you're doing your taxes properly (nobody doing commission work online does their taxes properly for some reason) the fee is deductible. It's a business expense; what you pay in taxes will be lower if you write that fee off. So what's happening here is, you're passing that business expense deduction to Artistree, when it should be yours. A sole proprietor gets to deduct things like this on their Schedule C form, in addition to the standard deduction you get on your 1040. Some of you might be missing out on a larger tax return because of this, especially if you file jointly with a spouse (most of you are probably just committing tax fraud without realizing, but being able to deduct the fees will help if you choose to get your shit together.)
I've always said that the PayPal fee shouldn't matter, and if it's really impacting you that bad, maybe you should raise your prices. Because the fee is a tiny percentage--it should be negligible. And then you write it off when the year is up. Artistree's set-up is just more money on the customer for no reason--making clients email you has always worked just fine, and word of mouth is a great advertiser. People talk about who has scammed them. Artists-Beware, if it's still around, is/was a great resource for doing research both on artists and commissioners and helping both parties make decisions.
I think you have it a little backwards re: the types of commissioners Artistree attracts. Artistree doesn't attract anybody--it's the type of platform that only attracts the existing audience any artist that might join already has. Commissioners only care about Artistree in that this is where their artists are forcing them to buy from them now. Maybe commissioners might find new artists to buy from, but if they're already paying more to support the artist they already know, that additional fee isn't going to be a deterrent. Does that make sense? They want to support the artists they like, and clearly they'll pay more to do so. But the better way to do this is to, as the artist, just raise your prices by $10, as you said. That way it's the artist who benefits (which is what your commissioner wants, that's why they're paying more in the first place!!) not this random company. Through Artistree, they're already paying more anyway. You may as well take all of that for yourself, and then deduct the PayPal fees when you do your taxes. There's no reason for Artistree to make a living off of you, and I really don't like that their whole business model is just taking advantage of people who don't know any better. You really don't need them. Literally, everything they claim to do for you, you can do yourself.
They also claim to help protect you from chargebacks and scamming--how common even is that? In all my years doing this, I have never had anything like that happen. The only time I ever hear about chargebacks is when either a. the artist didn't do their research before taking this client who is a known scammer, or b. the artist didn't do the work, isn't communicating, and the commissioner didn't have any other choice. I have probably worked with hundreds, if not thousands, of people by now, and not one has ever done a chargeback on me. This doesn't happen. Alternatively, you are undercharging, and the guy who spent $20 for a fully colored full body illustration has no respect for you or your time, and decided you are undeserving. You can avoid those people by charging more. Higher prices attract clients who actually respect the artist, and if you can't sell your art at a higher price, you might not be ready to be selling at all. And, again, if you do end up with a chargeback, that's another tax deduction. I know a lot of us are operating on a shoestring budget and something like that can ruin you, but these are the risks we take.
All of that said, the biggest issue I have with Artistree is that, according to someone I spoke to who works over there, they're looking for investors. Which means, when they get some, they are going to gradually go to shit the same way Patreon has done by falling into the "infinite growth" capitalism trap. Their fees are going to get higher, they're going to start offering services nobody asked for, and nobody is going to benefit except for their shareholders and CEO, just like Patreon. I don't see good things in their future. It's fine right now--use them while it's still okay. And then take your clients with you when the ship sinks if you can.
I keep putting it off, but one of these days I'm going to put together a series of posts that explains how to properly do this sort of work, and how to avoid being taken advantage of by places like this. I'm trying to learn programming at the moment too, so I might even put together a CMS that someone can take and install on their own server if they need somewhere to host their art, don't want to use social media, but aren't very web savvy. It is sorely needed.
I apologize for the text wall--this is something I have been doing for a very long time and have thought about a lot, and I'm glad to see that someone has finally said anything about Artistree maybe not being so good. They're not here for artists, they are here for themselves. We're already a highly exploited bunch, they've just found yet another way to do it.
Holy that's a lot of incredible insight, thanks for sharing!
@@zinzolin14 lol no problem, happy to share
Wow there aren’t many artists like us who’ve been in the game as long as us! Great to meet another one 😁 so I appreciate your insights here. You’re definitely right on these additional details, and I hope more people read them. As you may be aware, there’s only so much I can cram into a single video. These are additional great points.
Since you’re quite seasoned, have you seen my other content? I expose many of these issues and more for inexperienced artists. If you have any additional ideas, I’m game!
God you are full of knowledge, I will wait for you to post your video. I would love to have someone like you to guide me in this process personally, as for now I'm very nervous to deal with commissioners haha 😿
@@TheArtMentor Right? There really aren't many of us lol. Also yeah, of course; my comment was more or less intended to be supplemental to/back up what you were already saying haha, I know there's only so much time. I haven't had a chance to watch more of your work just yet--this video was suggested to me by UA-cam and seeing as I did try to chat briefly with someone on the Artistree team last year (I wanted to know how they were circumventing PayPal fees among other things, and was kind of disappointed by the entire interaction tbh) my interest was piqued and I thought I'd give it a watch. I'll definitely check out some of your other stuff when I'm able; I can't really have it on in the background while I work or it'll just become noise and I will absorb none of it, so when I find time to give it actual attention, I definitely will. That being said, I'd love to chat about topics to cover sometime; there are so many artists out there who mean well and want to do this, but don't know what they're doing, and not enough good information available to help guide them.
I use Artistree, and I have yet to get ANY commissions. It's very frustrating because I see people who draw art that's EVERYWHERE for really really cheap and they get commissions no problem. I'm starting to think maybe it's just my art, but i've had to recoup and readjust my pricing so many times. Thank you for your info. I followed you a few videos ago and I am already loving your content. I'll have to check out your other videos to see if I can find a different way to actual get commissions and places to take them. Instagram sucks for artists. Do you have any tips on knowing how to "categorize" your art? My art is stylized.
That’s exactly the point I made in this video, isn’t it? How can you possibly succeed when everyone else is charging so low, and the platform literally pushes cheap art on its marketplace? It’s not a winning formula 😩
Yes I have loads of videos on that! Have you seen my playlists on my channel? Thanks so much for your support 😁
@@TheArtMentor It's definitely not a winning formula. Especially to those of us who want to do it as MORE than just a small "hobby." I'll check out your playlists! Thank you!
Would you like a link?
@@TheArtMentor that would be wonderful :)
Here’s a whole playlist! I have a bunch more too:
Starting Art Commissions
ua-cam.com/play/PLlEcLwoh4Va2laCEdKxQChcuYfhqPMtg4.html
I’m an absolute beginner when it comes to commissions and I’m willing to give Artistree a try because I like how everything is organized thru the platform. It doesn’t seem like any art platform is perfect for artist or client, but I figure here is as good a place as any to at least start. 🤔
Have you considered though that there are better ways to start well and start right though? The issue with any art commissions platforms are the ones presented in this video where it will keep you from earning and working with clients that will help you achieve your goals. Can I offer you some advice that I wish I heard earlier in my career?
Free advice?@@TheArtMentor
Absolutely 👍 have you seen my tutorials and other videos on where to find art commissions?
@@TheArtMentor where would u say the best place to start taking commissions is
@Extrazzzz right here:
WHERE to find art clients and higher paying art commissions
ua-cam.com/video/OAvInGpHrMQ/v-deo.html
I'm already in the artitree market and I'm a ride or die type of guy so I'm going to stick with Artitree. It's just safe to use other than relying only on paypal where you can get ghosted or scammed. Plus the community is great and supportive.
Thank you for the valuable tips of how to improve the request form. I have been struggling with that as well.
Happy to hear that helped!
Out of curiosity, why are you so afraid of getting scammed? How many times have you been?
@@TheArtMentor I'm not this person but from someone who uses PayPal for comms and has friends who do it's likely that PayPal is just flat unreliable for sellers. It'll 9/10 times take the customers side even if the customer is just flat out lying and you have proof.
How are you vetting your customers tho? How do you make sure that you’re not working with bad clients? It’s easy to blame PayPal but what about your procedures?
@@TheArtMentor Well that's because I value the time and effort that I put into my artwork. One mistake and the scammer gets off with free art and that's not even the worst part.
Nope I didn't get scammed not once because I haven't gotten any clients yet 😂😂. I'm new to this type of business.
Well the thing is I learned a lot in doing my research about this type of business and yeah, everybody wants a piece of the pie but it's up to the artist to decide who to share that pie with. Well that's my own opinion in regards to this topic.
Well first off, congrats on taking the first step! That’s a brave thing I commend you on. Since you’re brand new to this, and from one artist to another though, what if I told you there are better ways to go about this commissions process than what you’re trying here?
Are you new to my channel? I make loads of content to support new and experience artists like you with actionable steps to get and keep you clients. I’d love to help and support you along your journey 😁 how’s that sound?
Never even heard of them to be honest
It’s not worth it for commissions tbh 😅 if you aren’t using them, you’re not missing anything. Are you looking to take commissions?
I have been using artistree for a year now, the only problem I have faced is finding clients who are willing to use the link I give them since artistree isn't very well known yet but I'm not in a position where I need to worry about how many clients I get for that month especially since I have returning customers.
I like how I can just link my commissions and each slot is front and centered with the prices and description of why it's priced like that and what to expect. I like how I get 100% and I have gotten no complaints from clients about the fee.
I will suggest to only use artistree if you need some spare change for the month and don't subtle it as your only way to get commissions.
Artistree isn't bad, it does have some problems but only use it if you feel comfortable with the using it. Because at the end of the day that's what matters.
Sounds like you’re doing pretty well for yourself on commissions. Have you considered what kind of effect removing your pricing can positively have on your pricing and client pool?
@@TheArtMentor No, I have never considered removing my pricing before but I might consider it in the future if recommend enough.
@demonxeory768 may I suggest that course of action for you? In fact, I made a video about it recently. Would you like a link to it to learn how beneficial that can be?
@@TheArtMentor Sure, it sounds like a interesting tactic.
Here you are! Let me know what you think:
The Secret Art Pricing Tip that NOBODY talks about!
ua-cam.com/video/zJKNeckFN9Q/v-deo.html
For some reason I think artistree doesn't have the audience or clients to be honest. No one queries or shows interest. I just don't think any client uses it
exactly. It's a sea full of fish and no fishermen, right?
You had some great points... but when talking about artists and their styles they promote I disagree with you. A lot of artists like to explore different styles and not everyone is limited to one style they do well. Why try and tell people to limit themselves? And you not understanding something that is listed... you might want to read the description provided? @10:58 you show a category and it clearly states what they mean...
Who said you can only have one interest though? 🙃 but can you also look at it from a business perspective rather than a personal one? What do you think the chances of someone with a scattered portfolio getting hired at a studio versus one that’s awesome and focused? Another example, how well do you think you could start four businesses instead of beginning with just one? Specialization breeds better results my friend 💪 why not just go forward in one style, gain a lot of success, and then branch out as I suggested in this video?
I'm a rookie artist and I was planning to try doing art commissions again, I was scared and confuse because i don't know what I'm doing and I got scammed 2x(thankfully I didn't give them the artwork I made), just want to say this channel helps me bit by bit on how to do commissions. I'm about to start to open a commission again, good luck to me and thank you for your tips😄
That's awesome, and I do wish you tons of luck! Which of my tips have been most helpful for you?
@@TheArtMentor the most helpful to me is that, don't waste time in commission sheet, have respectable price, how to talk to clients, how to be professional, and to never visit the said website/social media(Instagram for me). Still haven't got 1 client yet because I just started, but I won't give up😊
It takes time, don’t give up!
back last year, i used to want to do commissions at artistree, but doing heavy research on the commission process, i think i’m going to stick with DM or email for commissions. seriously, all these new commission sites sound overwhelming to keep track of, and seeing the prices people charge really doesn’t make me happy. sometimes i wonder to myself, “why can’t people just use DM or email? it’s so much more efficient”. thank you so much for the perspective in this video 🙏
@jarethcastro after watching this, u see how it’s just trying to be another middleman website to scrape your money away, right? 😅 you’ll be able to get more money and better clients off of better platforms using better practices. Have you seen my other videos on that?
@slimeskelly that’s great to hear that you’re getting clients commissions off the platform, but why use Artistree at all if you’re being contacted off platform and forcing your clients to spend more money? What’s your average price range?
my price depends on the offerings. i have cheap discounted things i do on stream for fun, then i have paintings in the 2-300 range and animations that are in the 1000s range. what i meant was i get the audience from other platforms, and then i take commissions from those interested on artistree, because it's super easy to set it up for the client and they dont need an account. it's easier than sending an invoice in paypal, and it's easier than going through kofi on backend because i have the dashboard that keeps everything organized.@@TheArtMentor
That’s a great sounding business, but why are you leaving so much money on the table and trading it to a company for profit? If you charge 1k, that’s almost $100 you’re giving to a company that can do nothing special you aren’t capable of. I mean seriously, is it really worth giving them $1000/year or more instead of just contacting clients yourself?
0:00 legit searching for this type of content that talks about Artistree outside of sponsorship cuz it looks really cool but idek if it’s worth it or if they allow AO stiff
yeah you won't really find much content on this platform outside of people paid to promote it
I made an artistree profile because they say they offer protection against PayPal chargebacks and that clients don’t have to make an account for payment.
After making a profile, I saw they have a commission organization and messaging feature. I don’t want to use their system and I encourage Email communication because going to a separate platform for communication is a hassle for a client.
I did only offer full background Illustration and full body Illustration on my profile. My price had a very large gap.
After watching this video, I’m not sure if I want to completely drop artistree. I like their terms of service feature. After seeing that there’s no invoice protection I’m kind of in between now.
i do not ever use the invoices, they should only be used with trusted clients and you will basically never have a problem. i actually enjoy the on-platform messaging but it's easy enough to make one of the detail questions for the commission info their discord or email, and their email is required to put a commission in anyways so just going to the email for direct contact is more than fine. there is even an option when submitting final to simply put it as "final submitted off-site" or something like that and it will count as closed, so you can easily do direct email but use the dashboard to keep the order info/references organized. that's what i like about it, and plus the public dashboard is great for people to get an idea of wait times as they can see how many commissions you have lined up and how many are active. definitely stay with the platform.
I made one two back when it became so hyped, but gradually more and more disenchanted the more you look into it. Like you, I teach and encourage more effective communication methods. How else have you attempted taking commissions before? I have loads of suggestions to give you a leg up
@slimeskelly1027 if everything is handled off site, why bother using Artistree? I see how passionate you are about the platform, but have you considered how not making your clients foot an extra bill and just charging more respectable will keep them as long term clients better?
late reply bc i barely get on pc to even comment or check notifs lmao - but mostly the issue for me is convenience. i can swallow the fees if i wanted to, but for the sake of the things i specifically deal with; the nsfw aspect of my commissions, the hassle of filing for VAT for international sales, dealing with digital sales tax in the united states, and finding a payment processor that is EASY TO USE and not convoluted or against nsfw are all very difficult things to do for someone who doesnt have the income to justify paying for assistance with tax filing or whatever else. payment processors like paypal are scummy and stripe is basically a shop payment processor like them, and also do not individually allow for nsfw/explicit content through their direct sales system. I would rather deal with the hassle of charging clients a small extra fee and have EVERYTHING ELSE i'm worried about covered, which artistree does. if there were a better site that actually checked all my boxes i would use it, but artistree really is the only platform i've seen that will handle that headache on behalf of the artists and actually allow the stipulations i provided. main thing is the nsfw and vat. im already banned off of paypal for it, so that limits what sites i can even use for income or payment by a lot@@TheArtMentor
There are some good points made here about the site itself, like no charge back protection is def an issue with invoices for example, and I will be avoiding them in the future, but many of the things listed seem to be user-created issues.
People having too wide a range on charging, trying to be a jack of all trades and undercharging etc is an issue you can see on any website because they're problems made by the people using the site rather than the developers themselves.
At first I was annoyed about some of these things being passed as a site-related set of issues, but in the end we have to manipulate people into clicking youtube videos and THAT'S whats annoying in the long run. I wish youtube wasn't like this.
I'm not in a hurry to move off of artistree at the moment, but I'm going to keep exploring options until I find something that works for me. Thanks for the information.
exactly my thoughts it was infuriating to say the least when he rattled off the inexperienced artists as issues with the site and not an industry-wide problem.
so far artistree is the best option of any of them, at least for nsfw + international client base, because of the sales tax/vat tax being covered and their allowance for nsfw. sfw's get the plus of the marketplace but i dont plan to use it even when it becomes available for nsfw artists.
Why do you assume I made this video for clicks when the majority of my entire channel is devoted to teaching artists like you how to follow your art dreams and earn respectable wages? How much of my content have you really watched? Click bait isn’t my thing 😅 but exposing poorly managed platforms like this that don’t give you a fair chance is
If you have a platform full of inexperienced artists, using ineffective procedures, and the website doesn’t help shift them into a more professional practice, who else can be blamed but the platform? I mean if Artistree really did care about correcting poor practices, wouldn’t they fix it rather than perpetuating them? Thats my point across this video.
You seem really passionate about this platform, so I’m open to the discourse. However, have you ever considered that better strategies and practices would net you much better results?
@@TheArtMentorI wasn't trying to be rude, but I suppose it came off that way so I apologize.
I just felt it was unfair to lump in user-caused issues with artistree's actual problems.
Some of the issues you mentioned are caused by artists on many websites. That's all. Maybe I take things at face-value too heavily, I don't know.
I didn't mean to imply that you only made the video for clicks, just that I know that you have to word things a certain way to keep people hooked so they'll actually listen. That's just how youtube rolls.
@@slimeskelly1027
Yeah there's a lot of naive users on it, but they're also on Deviantart, Ko-Fi, Toyhouse, etc
I DO thinks its ridiculous that artistree put their hourly rate at 10USD though. It should be higher than that since its skilled work.
I DO recognize that I need to fix my pricing a bit, as I do have one or two things with too big of a price range listed.
Ignoring the marketplace there, I really don't mind artistree. If I were someone who was buying art at high prices I don't think I'd be upset at losing a couple bucks to the website as a fee.
I just like how organized it is, it takes stripe, the site looks nice and its easy to use.
Now the invoices not being protected is definitely an issue and if I find a better platform in the future I'll move without a doubt, but for now its working alright for me.
OH also the "extras" being capped at 6...this is why I use the messaging system on artistree to discuss the commission price BEFORE telling the client what I'm charging. So far its worked pretty well for me. The extras are just quick little questions that I like to get out of the way because I'm very forgetful.
I can't lie your video was frustrating, fine you have pin point a lot problem on the platform cool but aren't you supposed to give a solution like recommending a different platform us, and pls don't mention any USA financial platforms they are all greedy and selfish to African and other third world countries
Well that’s the problem this exposes, isn’t it? There isn’t a single platform that addresses all of the concerns I’m exposing in this video. However, did you make it to the end or check the videos in the description? I teach actionable ways and places to get clients and grow an art business
Every time someone contacts me through that platform, I try to reply the client and they never get back to me. I think either people there expect your art to be super cheap, or the communication in the platform sucks somehow.
I've heard that too. It's just not professionally designed or inclined, is it?
@@TheArtMentor doesn't seem to be! Glad you made this video. I'm not sure if I should leave it, but I think I'll stop promoting that I'm there then.
I recently heard about Artistree and in plain sight I thought it'd be great to start my commissions there. One of the things that stood out for me was that they advertised themselves as helping the artists with all the commissions process, and how they acted as an in-between with artists and clients, ensuring the artist's protection against chargebacks.
Have you encountered a situation where someone requested a chargeback after paying and recieving the end product? How do you defend yourself against that? I've heard that the best way is to make clients sign a contract so in case it happens, you have a way to defend yourself showing "real proof" (since screenshots don't usually help and/or aren't enough, at least for PayPal's costumer protection policy). Are clients willing to sign them?
What is the best way to protect yourself as an artist *and* as a seller against people like these? :)
Yeah Artistree says all the right things, but are you aware that this is just the newest in a long line of poorly managed middle-man money scraping art commission websites? Did you watch my video at the end of this where I also critique Fiverr and ArtsnClients? It’s the same issues with a parrot logo and they plant trees lol
As far as contracts go, can I be honest with you? They’re worthless unless you get them legally bonded by a lawyer or notary. You really only need them for commercial art when it involves asset rights.
So you want to protect yourself right? Can I suggest some better practices to help you better qualify clients who won’t do that to you?
I live in Nigeria so most of your alternative are not viable for me 😭
- Nigerian PayPal accounts can send payments but cannot receive payments.
- Kofi doesn’t accept a Nigerian payment account
So for me artistree is to only way for me that won’t isolate my fellow Nigerian customers 🤷🏾♀️
You know, I appreciate some commenters like yourself bringing this to my attention. I want to help people like you not needing to use predatory sites like this with no upward trajectory. Would you like me to do some research and make a video on payment alternatives?
@@TheArtMentor yesss please! I would really appreciate that.
Thanks for the idea! I’d love to help people like you have a viable alternative
When Paypal and all its alternatives are banned in your country, you don't get many choices.
You need PayPal for Artistree, so how does that change anything?
@@TheArtMentor It has Stripe Express which allows you to use it without needing a Stripe or Paypal account. You can give your bank information.
@@TheArtMentor Well, Stripe is another option for it and I use that instead
All the same, so why not just do that off of a platform that encourages cheap art and cheap clients, plus all the other issues presented in this video?
@@TheArtMentor ...Because you literally can't.
Well, if Artistree isn't going to work for me, then what is? I've been thinking about doing commissions lately and just try a new outlet for my drawing and creativity and maybe earn a bit of income on the side. I mean, I still want to make my own stuff but I think that commissions might help me with my artistry and still make a bit of income on the side while I do my full time job. How can I do commissions without Artistree?
I can totally relate! That’s exactly how and why I began too, and there are so many better ways and places to get clients and grow an art business. Mind if I link you a couple of my videos that will teach you everything?
REAL advice to get art clients and commissions in 2024
ua-cam.com/video/JQMjdHBakno/v-deo.html
WHERE to find art clients and higher paying art commissions
ua-cam.com/video/OAvInGpHrMQ/v-deo.html
I still use Artistree cuz I don't have chasapp and other methods for payments so they help get commissions with clients that only use card, cash app and things like that but still I have to look for my clients and bring them to the site cuz in the site herself I don't get any commission just to be in there-
So what's stopping you from signing up with PayPal or another similar payment app? If you can get clients off platform, why use this one?
I know this is unrelated but I just wanted to shoot and ask anyway. How do you sell comms when you don't have a PayPal and its not supported in your country? I dont see many bigger artists talk about this or how to set up these things so I'd really wanna know if you know. Thanks for always keeping it real
That’s a really interesting topic I’d be happy to dive into! For reference, can you tell me which country you’re from so that I can look into it?
@@TheArtMentor That would be awesome! Truly! Oh and I'm from Malawi, PayPal was supported much earlier on but lately linking your bank account when it's not from the US seems impossible. I've been trying to seek alternatives for myself and some other budding artists with little success in terms of which to use that's not a burden on the client as well.
Thanks for the idea, I’ll see what else I can do
I didn't know about the anchor effect. That was really useful
It's not often talked about is it? How do you want to utilize that to make your commissions more attractive?
artistree is the only way i can get paid by clients from different countries bc US payment platforms are mostly selfish towards third world countries. i was blocked out and frustrated over and over again for the longest time. but today i just got my first commission through that platform and so artistree it is for me, the only platform give an eff about artists in my situation.
How would using PayPal or a similar platform not be advisable when you could charge more money off platform and get better clients that don’t look for cheap work?
@@TheArtMentor you did not read my comment at all. paypal does not work in my country. and so platforms that use only paypal as payout processors (which is almost all of them...) are completely off limits. the ONLY platforms with options for me and people in my region is patreon and artistree. now guess which is better for taking comms?
also, calling artistree artists pricing cheap work is crazy like that's a whole insult what does the platform have to do with that 😂😂
@@TheArtMentor also, artistree gives me exactly what i charge straight into my bank account while PayPal does not and encourages upcharging so i really cannot tell if you're joking with this comment. your criticism does not have a base as most of your comments have pointed out and i assume you either haven't used the platform or your video is bait.
Yeah I read it, which is why I asked why you could possibly use another payment platform? Just curious, what else have you tried?
And no I don’t use nor advocate for cheap art websites that promote bad practices and encourage cheap pricing bc it’s bad for your sustainability and mental health. I’ve been using real, actionable methods without a social media following for a decade. Did you make it through this whole video? 😅 I expound upon all of these points throughout it. You deserve to be doing much better than platforms like this allow you too. I hope you come to that after some time, because I’ve been just like you in the past and attempted to do this on others, and they’re all predatory. You can do better, my friend 👍
I used to praise Artistree and have been on the site ever since Duchess Celestia was sponsored by them. Despite how I appreciate that the site bans scammers, AI and NFTs, I agree with everything what you said. Pretty much smaller artists like me there who rarely got commissions never got recognition whether they're accepted on the marketplace or not(?).
exactly, and it's not set up for continued growth and success, which you felt, right?
I made an Artistree account, then I realised... Do I have audience? Am I good to convince my clients to pay additional fees? 😅
So what I did is step this art commissions aside and to grow my right audience.
Yeah, I just hit 300 subs 🎉 I have to change my channel's look. I will post a Short video of welcoming new viewers, change my profile pic (other socials too), establish my website, write my weekly journal and prepare a video script.
Too much things in general niche is very exhausting. I decided to just change my niche.
My old niche is:
🌐Countryballs = General
New niche:
🇵🇭 Countryballs Philippines = Specific
All of it its tough, how much more I do task with commissions? That would challenge 😢
Seems like you’ve successfully started to niche down well! However, why do you think you need an audience for commissions? You know you can get client without any following, right?
@@TheArtMentor Maybe in the future. I'll stick to settle my UA-cam for now
I was interested to use it at one point cause you know support artist yada yada yada then checked and all that promotion about being better for artist well all those costs were pushed on the client. Hate me for it but I chose to remain on fivver, it feels fair as a client at least
Nobody can scam you better than those scammer who "protect" your from scammers. I am a full time employee on a coal mine here in South Africa. I do sell my art on the side. I work in pen on paper (sometimes with markers). I ask 100% cash. I will never trust a platforms like this. Why should I pay someone when I do all the physical work? Look if this works for artists and they make money, good for them. I would suggest cash people. There is a reason we say cash is king.
the website is actually limited to digital art/file sales only, so you actually are not in the niche they are looking to provide for. that said, physical artwork is more demanding and easier to sell in person than online. the website aims to streamline the digital art commission process. i'm glad you are traditional, but know that they aren't scamming you. the fees they take also plant trees with some of the funds, too, so they aren't strictly making profit.
@@slimeskelly1027 true, it's only for digital artists. Is it possible for digital artists to go cash? I don't know anything really about the digital art business.
@jacotromp5958 that’s a great side business you’ve got there! Yes, it is impractical and slightly unethical in my mind to force clients to pay above asking. As a business, it’s up to you to incur those costs as a part of your pricing. Like, you wouldn’t sell your art and then ask for more money for materials, right?
@slimeskelly1027 yeah but who cares about trees when you’re just afraid to ask for more money rather than asking the client to cough up more? You could do that off platform as easily and more easily
@jacotromp1027 yes you are correct, so no platform would really be beneficial for you. Have you considered selling your artwork online though?
Ready to get off of this awful platform that perpetuates age-old issues and steals money from you? Learn how to do this the right way and earn what you deserve here:
Find Art Commissions
ua-cam.com/play/PLlEcLwoh4Va0BOyXhbMAPiL-G9D87lP1t.html
I was considering getting into Artistree months ago but Sean talked me out of it, and he's never led me wrong before. Glad I didnt go into it
And aren’t you glad? 😁 and for the peanut gallery reading this, how has your commission game been not using this and other similar art commission middleman platforms?
I tried using the site the layout alone fried my braincells
It’s pretty bad, albeit the design looks aesthetically pleasing. But its functionality is lacking huh?
Coming back to this video to leave this comment cuz it’s something I’ve been wondering: how much faith do people have that their clients will make a random new account just to commission them?? We see it a lot in SW where workers are pushed off a platform and sometimes people follow sometimes don’t and where some workers want to try out the newest latest fan site but their clients and followers aren’t going there. Like thinking about it as something like that or why artists have Twitter and IG and DA and FA specifically, I just don’t think a lot of clients are using it right now….
Yeah I agree, and it's amongst many concerns for this platform, isn't it?
Hi! I just found Artistree today, and thought "oh! This seems nice, i'll try it out!" Until i saw this video.(so i certainly wont be using it.) I'm new to commissions, and dont have any experience or knowledge on how to do them, so are there any platforms you recommend for beginner 13 - 16 year olds? (That isn't Artistree lol) I would use internet transfer, as i dont have stripe, paypal, cashapp, etc, but i dont think people use that. So I'm looking for a bit of advice on payment methods too?
Thank you!
I'm glad to hear you got off this platform haha. So regarding your question about where to go, I have a video I'm happy to link for you. Would you like that? But on another more important note, may I give you some advice? Since you're still a teenager, I actually think taking commissions and seeking payment is one of the worst ideas for people in your age group. Go have fun, make your own IPs, make art you enjoy, and just focus on skill building and enjoying the process. All too often, I see teenagers focused on money with art, which becomes toxic to your artistic development because of that association. Also, you can't use payment services until you're 18, so that's another reason (at least in the US.) How does that sound?
@@TheArtMentor oh, i didn't know that! Thanks for the advice, i didn't realize how bad it can be.... in that case, I'll wait a bit longer until i open art comms.
Can you make a video about growing on twitter and using it to get Art clients?
I’ve been asked to do that before too! May I ask what other platforms you’ve tried before? Tbh Twitter/X is very hard now since it’s been so monetized lately that exposure seems very hard to come by
@@TheArtMentor I’ve tried Reddit and Instagram. What do you recommend?
Instagram isn’t good at all, in fact it’s the worst. Want a link to my videos on where to find clients?
@@TheArtMentor sure thanks
Here you are!
Find Art Commissions
ua-cam.com/play/PLlEcLwoh4Va0BOyXhbMAPiL-G9D87lP1t.html
9:07 I prefer “x thing is x amount more as an addition” over this range thing
Cuz lets say it’s $10 for a character drawing and you will draw up to 10 characters but each additional character is an extra $5 so that’s $10-55 cuz you have to account for that
yeah but even that just isn't worth it really is it? Like $10 is way below minimum wage nowadays, so why force yourself onto this platform that keeps everyone working for poverty wages from 50 years ago?
@@TheArtMentor personally I don’t judge others commission prices cuz ngl it’s really hard to figure out pricing >.< gotta get a fair wage but also gotta make sure people actually commission you 🫠 very fine line. Also $10 is easy math 😂 I almost always just pull out $10 or $20 for hypothetical 😂 my comment was more about the range seeming…. Kinda confusing both as an artist who’s done commissions before and as someone who’s commissioned other artists
Thanks for the clarification. Overall, having a fair wage is also a product of person standards and self-respect over what markets exist. Does that make sense? Cheap markets will always be a thing, but for artists, it's self-destructive to participate in it for too long
@@TheArtMentor oh yeah I get that. Like the fine line is so hard cuz it’s balancing so many things. The clients are regular people usually so they don’t have much but the ones who truly want a regular commission will save up for who they want at least. A lot of people review their prices yearly and lots also do a slight raise every 1-3 years which I think is good tbh.
Honestly, I get so many miscellaneous commission requests... I should probably add some information on miscellaneous category to my commission sheets. That's a good idea.
may I ask a couple questions about that? Firstly, what's your price point? If you're getting too many commission requests, my first instinct is to advise you to double your pricing immediately. Second, have you considered dumping the com sheet all together? You'll do much better without one
@@TheArtMentor I am not getting too many requests, it is just that from time to time I get requests for props and the like instead of characters (which are ~80% of requests).
And I quite like the com sheet. It aids in communicating with clients to understand the scope of project they are after.
Gotcha. Are you aware of the issues com sheets create for clients as well? I made a video about it if you’d like to learn about it
Is there any way to do commissions while still being safe?
Honestly, I always had 0% interest on Artistree and others, though i liked the idea of the 'Anonymous Invoice', it sounds quite great for being safe out there.
Thanks for the helpful video🦉
absolutely! Commissions generally are perfectly safe, but there are some lingering anxieties like that. I've discussed that in some of my other videos. Would you like a link?
@@TheArtMentor Yes, i'd like to!
I use these, I don't really trust them.
is another easier option possible ? if there is, thank you. I need help.
Absolutely! Did you see my pinned comment with my playlist on where to find art clients?
I think we all should agree that we deserve our full money and we should have the benefit here... Like for real. Yes I am sorry fornthe client but art IS a luxury
What if you made more money and got more clients off the platform and didn’t have to worry about that though?
on 3:25 can you help me understand it a little more...? Sorry I had a hard time understanding what you meant completely.
Sure, what can I clarify for you about this?
@@TheArtMentor What the fee is complpetely, and who it affects since the artist has to persuade the client to pay more.
@@Vanilla_bean2347 artist gets exactly the promised amount of money and client pays service fees and transfer fees in addition to the cost of the commission. if the client did not pay the extra then the fees would be deducted from the cost of the commission and the artist would get the commission cost minus fees so less money.
Good thing I haven't considered going into this platform.
I’m glad to hear too! What important points helped you make that decision after watching this video?
@@TheArtMentor The part where how the platform screws over artists. I'm sticking to the old fashioned way of engaging with potential clients and building up trust with them.
That, and a business e-mail.
Thanks for that feedback, and you’ll definitely have better success using those strategies! I know you’ve seen my other content and learned how to do that well.
Have you considered using DM platforms over email inquiries as well?
@@TheArtMentor DM platforms? The closest thing I have is Discord but that is where I keep touch with my clients and update them with progress through WIP spoilers which are also publicized in my socials (a subtle way that my draw queue is getting updated to drive anyone interested in my art).
Commission forms are still a work in progress. However, I already have set up a Carrd page to go with the soon-to-come Commish forms. Also, the business email I was mentioning early? It's up, but no new folks yet.
Can I advise you a bit here? Commissions sheets and forms are a total waste of your time and so are card sites and similar ones. Those don’t work. Have you heard that before?
Ko-fi rhymes with no fee. So its pronounced, Ko-Fee.
Oh thanks for the correction! I honestly had no idea and appreciate you letting me know
Here I thought it rhymed with coffee 😅 Koff -fee
Can you help me, I need to know what I do to get my money back if I paid an artists from PayPal to do me a commission then he did half of my commission but then he stops from replying to me and not show me any update as I see him online?
Did you use artistree, or another platform?
I forgot about that site I remembered creating an account for it but that didn't go anywhere.
Yeah you didn’t miss anything 😅 you could do much better using actually effective practices. It’s a pain to set up and isn’t set up to give you success, is it?
3:48 that’s so fucking weird MOST COMMISSIONS ARE LESS THAN $100!
sad isn't it? That's a lot of labor for less than minimum wage
How should I sell then? Paypal now has huge fees and I can't find where to get paid
What country are you in and what's the fee rate?
hey, i have a question, if i wanna take commissions through paypal business account will it still be anonymous? (i don’t like revealing my legal name/ address etc. to the clients. Will they only see my pen name and email address?
Hello and thanks for asking! Firstly, do you have a fully established art business? If not, I would not set up a business account bc it's unnecessary. You could just do it from a personal paypal account. In either case though, it will display a name. What is your fear in someone seeing your name or business name?
I use Artistree and I'm happy with it so far. I'm glad to at least be doing those tips you've mentioned like keeping to a niche and having a small price range.
Honestly, I set up an Artistree because someone commissioned me and I had no idea how to collect the money and just set one up. They agreed to pay the fee so why not? I stayed on the platform because the Artistree Discord is full of good people and I found some nice artists to commission from there. All the artists I've commissioned gave the option to talk on Discord (which I prefer) and they frequently interacted with me throughout the commissioning process. I haven't found anyone who used Artistree to automate the process.
I'm glad that you got some good practices out of this at least. Have you considered though how not being attached to this or another platform can make you more money and a better future though? You have a paypal through artistree, so you're all set up to do it anyways.
Hello ArtMentor, can you make a video about VGen? It’s also a commission website like Artistree.
Thanks for that suggestion! Never heard of it. What’s it like?
@@TheArtMentor i use it for commissions and i think it’s okay. You still need to direct potiental clients towards vgen but i think the commissions process is okay and simple to understand. I have both a vgen and artistree account and i think i prefer vgen.
There’s also portfolio section alongside the commissions info page. In this video you mentioned how clients don’t know all what you can offer and having a portfolio section can help solve this issue i think. There’s just some limitations between a verified user and normal artist user, but its not huge problem. It’s a bit complicated 😵💫 i still dont know much. I was confused because there’s a lot you need to know haha.
I would still like to know your views on vgen (＾▽＾) if possible.
hm thanks for the tip I'll check it out
Any reccomendation for international payment method? I am interested in selling my arts outside my country
Sure, have you tried PayPal or squarespace? Also, what are you selling? I sell my stuff internationally so I can help you if I can
@@TheArtMentor Arts, I currently only took cms in my country but I plan to go for USD (since my country currency sucks and everyone is suffering from inflation)
I heard Paypal charge quite a lot of fee from currency conversion (and maybe other too which Idk of), never try Squarespace before.
11:42 so what are they counting as an extra??
yeah it's too ambiguous isn't it?
Damn really? I just saw a channel talk about them & thought about it, but then thought about the simpler route I was taking.
Glad I didn't sign up w/ them.
@thgritic102 you’ll be glad you did! Which of my points helped you come to the decision that you can do more with different practices?
Jack of all trades is great if ur a furry lol
Those pol have serious cash
Sure, but you realize a furry artist is still a specific genre, right? 🙃
@TheArtMentor yesse, but within the confinds of that genere the clientele will have demand for a greater array of art types than average.
@BallJoinedWing and have you considered that narrowing your style to one type will help you double or triple your pricing? I’ve helped plenty of artists within that genre who have done that
Never heard of it
good, you can do better elsewhere, can't you? Are you currently seeking/taking commissions?
Welp, made my account yesterday, and saw this today haha. I’m actually relieved because this video confirmed for me what I’m doing right. (Kicking myself for not looking at the site more closely first thoI spent a week agonizing over pricing and what categories to do, when I really looked at my collection and said wtf - I do colorful stylized busts and half bodies with nice simple to very decorative backgrounds very well. Lets just go with that! One for bust, one for half body, priced well enough for my skill (95-110; 115-135). It was when I figured that out that I saw a video from Nadiaxel about Artistree and thought it would be a good place to start. Sadly I looked at the comms pages after setting up my page and saw all the cheap stuff on the site :(.
I’m new to commissions, but I care about my art and the effort I put into it so I want to avoid underselling. Still a bit tricky since current weakness is my art time and I am working on improving my speed while I try to get my first commission. Yeah, I’m flying by the seat of my pants here - learning as I go.
Thanks for the in-depth video! I’ll be checking out more of your stuff to try get a better start on this. I’m not sure if I’ll use Artistree to handle the commission process (leaning towards not using it) but I’ll keep it just for now since I don’t have anything crazy going on there, but yeah - it’s obvious that site won’t get me any comms. I’ll just consider it my commissions info poster..
Glad to hear you learned all that before experiencing it yourself 😅 can I recommend better and sustainable practices for your commissions? I have a couple videos I think you’d enjoy
@@TheArtMentor Thanks! I’m looking through your latest vid on Where to get commissions so I’m starting there. I’ve started to post om my DA acc again and I’ll see from there.
I’ve noticed I don’t have a specific genre for my art - it worries me a bit bc I can say I do character portraits - but I don’t know if I can call that fantasy-anything? It could be a person, an elf a dragon girl but no specific theme beyond the CLAMP-inspired manga aesthetic. Happy to hear what else you have! You’ve created a gold mine!
irrelevant but you sound like a voice actor
Should I start a career in voice acting? lol
literally just made my account because duchess celestia was sponsored by them ughhh. the layout was so nice too, I hate organizing my commissions myself.
Glad I wasn’t the only one
Yeah many have been getting sponsored by Artistree 😅 No shade to DC, she's been on my channel before. I just hesitate against limiting platforms that force poor practices and cheap clients onto artists. Does that make sense?
So are you preparing to take your work off of this platform now that you know more about it?
@@TheArtMentor
I’m hesitant to continue with setting up there, but I don’t feel like putting in the delete account request when it’d take 30 days at most and I haven’t linked any funds to it.
Beyond Reddit, do you have any suggestions for where I could possibly set up to draw attention to the fact I’m an artist for hire?
@spiritthesnowyowl8948 more than anyone on UA-cam:
Find Art Commissions
ua-cam.com/play/PLlEcLwoh4Va0BOyXhbMAPiL-G9D87lP1t.html
@@TheArtMentor
Thank you!
thankyou ❤
you're very welcome, my friend! What was the most important thing you learned in this video?
Most will lose you money.
Fake reviews are nothing new.
All of the art commission websites are just out to make a buck off of a lot of cheap artworks, don’t you think? They don’t help artists progress
@@TheArtMentor exactly, even the consumers try to underprice art. The fight for free art is never ending XD, you have to combat undercharging, freeloaders and site limitations. So many obstacles.
@hyperspaceshow exactly! And these websites don’t make money off of big clients and big commissions. They take it from many small clients paying very small pricing