sorry to add to the string of pet peeve threads OTL. i just thought this would be a good place for people who buy commissions and who sell commissions to vent their frustrations. ill go first to break the ice.
when artists make you pay through friends and family, its soooo sketch. also when artist say theyll have your stuff done in one week...and never get back to you or do it way after a week. like its happened so many times and i feel like its a 'give me five minutes' type of thing. like just give me your real time frame, no need got give yourself a week if you know its not going to happen.
you all have very valid points! im going to add another complaint of mine since no one has said it yet.
when people whitewash my ocs. sidif thats the main thing that annoys me. like their skin color is very clear in the ref, why make their skin lighter?
edit: nvm someone already said it lol
new rules: please dont be transphobic or racist, i cant believe i have to say this but seriously, what the heck
as a buyer:
-not being updated unless i threaten to chargeback. if you can get on paypal to update me after you receive a claim, then you can get on toyhou.se and update me without being provoked beforehand. god.
as a seller:
-someone saying they’re going to commission you, even filling out a form, and then just? never paying you??? like what???
(Also posted this on TH pet peeves, but I figured this fit really well here too)
This has been brought up by other people months ago, but I really think it should be brought up again. (Oh and this can apply to other art/character based websites)
When a character has commissioned art (my character, or literary anyone else’s) drawn in the same/basically the same pose as their reference. This of course applies to trades as well, but ya know it’s kinda more annoying when it’s a commission.
I’m not paying you to draw my reference sheet; the point of a commission to me is to have my character drawn with someone else’s interpretation in a different way. The thing is, if they’re drawn in literally the exact same stiff fullbody side view there’s nothing new going on, and I could of just drawn it myself.
On the other hand, when getting a commission done, if it’s not just like an icon or something you should at lest have a vague idea of what you would want to see.
Even so, copying a basic pose strait from a character’s reference sheet is really easy to spot, and there should be at least an effort made on the pose.
(Feel free to @, also this has happened many times and isn’t pointing fingers at anyone in particular)
As someone who does commissions, I have a few:
1. Lack of communication or details. Yes, I understand you're anxious to point out flaws in the sketch or things you want changed. My point in showing you sketches before I finalize the artwork is for you to point out inconsistencies or any detail I got wrong. You can even point out how to correct the anatomy or the poses I sketched because honestly that's what I need, to give you the art you want.
2. Ghosting after I sent the final art. Soooo - what now? Not a thank you? Did you like it or not? Leaving commissioners hanging is the most disrespectful thing to do, at least for me because I tend to overthink RIP. I've had my fair share of this incident here in Toyhouse. Tbh, ghosting in general.
I can't stress this enough, if you want your money's worth for an artwork (so you won't complain to other artists that 'this artist didn't get my character right but--' ): COMMUNICATION. IS. KEY
^ Big mood on ghosting after you've sent the final piece. It gives me anxiety on whether they dislike it or not ;_;
Uh, I can't remember much peeve as a seller other than that but my peeve as a buyer? Is when people aren't honest with what they're selling for. I get that some are a bit embarrassed to promote their commissions for "luxury" or trivial things like adoptables or merch (I'm guilty of promoting my comms for that too, hahah) but you can say you're doing it for something personal or not-too-urgent rather than saying your cat is sick but turns out it isn't, it makes it harder for people to trust you when you're actually urgent imo. You don't have to spill every details if you're shy or worried about things, I just wanted a honest reason on it's an actual urgency or not.
Another one is rather silly but, I also wish artists I paid for would tell me if they can draw my character or not. I have a few that ended up altering their outfits into something less detailed or don't look like their actual design/character and this was done without any WIP approval. If you've told me earlier then I don't mind giving another character or outfit, or even charge a bit for details :'D
Oh yeah, and people putting down on their artwork like "my art sucks that's why no one buys even if its 1$ :("... It's not about the price, it's about the attitude. Nobody buys a product if the seller isn't confident with their work, and I'm sure no seller ever does that too when buying from others. Not only it's a huge turnoff but nobody wants to hear negative comments even on stuff they've paid for like "I finished your commission it sucks but you've paid so :((("
It bothers me when people draw the wrong body types on my characters. Like, please don't draw my chubby/curvy characters super skinny or draw my thin characters with big breasts and hips. It makes me ESPECIALLY uncomfortable when people draw my underage characters with "curvy" proportions.
It's also pretty bothersome when people specify "no gay." Like... c'mon, dude. I get not wanting to draw any pornographic imagery, but is it really such a horrific experience to ask for my gay characters to hold hands?
And I do have a pet peeve about selling art, though I haven't sold art in a long time since PayPal absolutely sucks and I've unfortunately lost a lot of my confidence due to this pet peeve. I've had people say they wanna buy art from me, so they give me the character they want me to draw, gimme the details, and then say something like "Great! Looking forward to seeing it!" Then I give them the finished result and they go all "OMG WHY DID YOU MAKE MY BOY LOOK LIKE A GIRL?????" Uhh... I posted like, ten examples of my art, some of which included men. I even SAID that I'm not too great at drawing super masculine proportions. You knew what you were ordering. You've SEEN my art examples. Seriously, I can understand if people may not like my style, or even just not the way I draw men, but if that's really the case, DON'T ORDER FROM ME. Order from someone else if you don't like my art.
This has even happened when I sometimes decide to draw FREE ART. People can seriously be super rude and it's the primary reason I no longer sell any art.
I am both a commission artist and someone who buys commissions, so I have several peeves for both:
When selling art:
- People who order a commission, give me their paypal, I send an invoice... and then nothing. They don't pay their invoice, weeks pass, they don't say anything and don't respond to me when I message them. This has happened many times, especially recently with my last batch of icon sales, and I don't know why. I guess maybe they didn't have the money on hand, then when they realized they couldn't pay they didn't want to get in trouble so they just pretended to not exist. Well, from a seller's point of view, "Sorry I can't afford this right now, my bad!" is a lot less annoying than total silence. The former I can understand - even though please don't order if you don't know you can pay - but the latter will make me not trust you and I will be unlikely to let you order again.
- When I say a commission will take a specified amount of time - for example 1 week+ for icons if I have a backlog - and I tell this upfront, but then the customer messages me later on the same day rudely asking; "Where is my commission?"
Bonus points if they threaten you if you don't complete it in a day. Bonus points if they then use the finished art without even saying "thank you" or crediting you. Yes, one person did all of these things together...
- People who refuse to pay until the work is done. I'm sorry, that's not how it works, and that's exactly how people scam commissioners to get free art. I always take payment first, and although I am willing to take partial payment on some occassions (usually for really big/complex pieces) I don't particularily like that either, because there's still a chance the buyer could take the art for half the price, and my art is already cheaper than I'd like it to be.
- People who try to haggle my prices... on art that already never exceeds $10. When I raised my pixel icon prices from $2 to $5, I got messages asking me if I would still be willing to sell for "the old price." I've also had people comment on $5-10 YCHs with "I love it, but I only have $3 right now..."
- When people fucking roleplay to order commissions. People have actually sent me messages like "H-hello! *smiles* Uhm... I would like to buy an icon from you... *wags tail*"
Why...? There's also the people who comment stuff like "*sobs* ;_; I love it but I have no money... *cries*" on my commissions, thinking that typing *cries* is going to make me give them something for free out of pity.... wtf
- People who ignore what I state I will and won't draw. I'm not very good at drawing masculine characters or feral animals, and I make that clear, but guess what kind of characters I always get asked to draw... lol. This also happens with people asking for wild NSFW stuff.
When buying art:
- When I give someone a character to draw with several clear pictures that show off the (simple) design, and they still somehow get it wrong. I don't personally like complicated designs so most of my characters, especially my sonas, are very simple. But I've had people totally use the wrong colours, give a blue-eyed character pink eyes... I just don't understand how that happens, it's like they glanced at my reference once for a second then did it from memory. Or perhaps they just do not care. One artist who did this actively shamed me on social media and kicked up drama when I asked her if she could fix the colours, because she and her friends said the piece "looked fine" and that the colours "didn't matter."
- Artists who re-sell base commissions on the same lines over and over, while doing a sloppy and rushed job. I have bought "base" commissions in the past, but in my experience they don't usually go well, so now I avoid buying any kind of base/cookie cutter commission. It's doubly shitty when an artist doesn't advertise a commission/YCH as a clone, but then goes and resells the lines anyway.
- Artists who totally ignore the simple, clear, "DON'Ts" on a character page/commission request. I specifically have an issue with "femboy" art for it's stereotypes, oversexualization and degradation. My main character/sona is androgynous. When buying commissions, especially from artists who have drawn "femboy" OCs in the past, I specifically ask them that they do not dress him in stereotypical "femboy" clothes (oversexualized lingerie that typically resembles baby clothes) or draw him with exaggerated, unrealistic massive curves on the hips/thighs. Despite this I have had multiple artists ignore this and put him in weird underwear or with big thighs anyway.
Uuhh... maybe you can tell I have been very frustrated when it comes to art. Art is truly suffering sometimes...
I agree with you so much on the body type thing. A lot of get mad if an artist draws a larger character thin, but apparently making a thin character curvy is okay and I'm too sensitive for complaining about it.
I have had several commissions where the artist drew my androgynous male character with comically large hips, buttocks and thighs, then claimed it was "just their style".
On "no gay" - artists have the right to choose what not to draw and in most cases people don't refuse to draw things just to be mean. For example I do not draw transgender characters simply because I am not transgender, and I do not want people swarming me because I accidentally drew such themes "wrong" or "offensive". People are sensitive about those kind of political topics and they are incredibly controversial, for that reason alone I steer away from drawing anything that could spark drama for my own sanity.
In my opinion "I just don't want to" is a valid reason. I used to draw furries, it's how I made any money from commissions, and although I am 100% capable of drawing furries, I don't enjoy it. So I feel like I have the right to say "Sorry, I don't want to draw furries with few exceptions". It's not because I hate them and want to exclude them and wish them harm, it's because I just find drawing something I'm not passionate about to be a chore.
Albinistic id appeciate if you didnt compare refusing to draw lgbtqia+ as refusing to draw furries. also if i may add why would you say something controversial if you didnt want to spark drama?
it doesn't matter what the topic is. that is my point. even if it's literally discrimination you cannot force someone to draw something they do not want to, and it is wrong to expect an artist to draw something they are uncomfortable with, no matter the reason.
some people might call me "bigot" for refusing to draw trans. some people would also say i was "discriminating" for not drawing furries just because my reason given is "i don't want to." regardless of your political opinions, one artist not drawing what you want is not a big deal. just find a different person to commission. i've found artists who i liked who didn't draw stuff personal to me, ie they refuse to draw humanoid/monster OCs or they don't draw androgynous characters. i didn't accuse them of discrimination, i was just like "oh well then" and moved on.
also, I'd appreciate it if you didn't include an "I" in LGBT+. I am intersex, and that is a medical condition. it has nothing to do with sexual orientation or gender identity, and people with intersex conditions have repeatedly been asked not to be included, because implying that our medical conditions (which are often debilitating) should be treated the same way as gender identity/sexual orientation is very disrespectful
Albinistic well i sincerely apologize for using the i and will refrain from doing so in the future. if i may id rather you not post controversial ideals on this thread so id appreciate if you were to delete or edit your post.
As an artist:
People sending me money in CAD when I specifically asked for USD (specified also on commission sheet, and again before asking for payment), because it's just easier for me to use my Paypal balance...
One time, someone sent me money in CAD, and knowing that CAD is 0.74 USD, I'm losing about 26% of the original amount I was asking.
I mentioned it to them, and they just shrugged it off and never answered me again, on top of taking forever to pay me that smol amount, when they were planning on doing gift cards/games giveaways on Twitch meanwhile...
Definitely something that I learned to look out for, now.
chuuiro Ahhh I've never used invoice before, but I've heard it was a thing on Paypal! I should definitely check it out for future references.
What a bummer though, since that was one of my first commissions after taking a very long hiatus. Thank you for mentioning it again, didn't know about the specifications possible <3