(This was originally written for Furaffinity, but after the good response this got I reckoned I might as well post it here too. Feel free to share if you find it useful!)

I've been in FA for a good 7 or so years now, about 3-4 of those I've been taking commissions regularly. One thing I couldn't help but notice (and I'm sure I'm not the only one) is how much art is becoming a business. Long gone are the days of raffles and requests, now if you are capable of lifting a pen and make something with some inkling of talent you are already slapping a price tag on it.

Don't get me wrong, I find the consumption of art in the furry fandom absolutely fascinating and a great opportunity for people to seek new ways of funding their life expenses doing something fun and original. However, if art is to become a business, it's high time we start treating it like such. Artists are usually taught on how to handle tough commissioners, how to price your art, how to make this business work the best for you; but I find no one does this with consumers and in my opinion this is very unfair.

So today I want to give you commissioners a few guidelines to consuming freelance furry art. This relates mostly with art commissions since it's what I do the most and have most experience with, but I think crafts, adopts and YCHs are not that different. You may decide to disregard everything I write down, or take it to heart, but I want you all to be smart customers and know that now you have more power than what you think.

SOME ARTISTS ARE OVERPRICED
Oh no, unpopular opinion alert. But yes some artists ARE overpriced buuuut THIS IS ALRIGHT! Overpriced art means there is added value to it from the artist name. This added value exists for a reason: more marketing, convention presence, more years of experience, a particular theme they work well, a market niche they are fulfilling, a specific style only they have, etc. The added value reflects the extra time and work that went into building the brand name they have today, and I understand it's very frustrating to not be able to afford the coolest artists (like you can't afford a Lamborghini or Gucci bags) but the joy of the free market is...that you have options!

Please don't try haggling artists or complaining about prices, it's useless and makes you look like a dick: they have their own market share that will buy their art at the prices they set, why should they listen to you? If you sold your toenail clippings at 500 dollars because you knew there was a crowd ready to buy them, wouldn't you?

It's ok to think certain people are way too expensive but there's no need to scream it to the heavens, simply turn around and find something closer to your price range.

YOU ARE PAYING FOR A PRODUCT
When you are buying art, consider what final product quality you are expecting. Consider the anatomy, style, coloring, creativity and originality of what you want to get. Consider how much money you are going to pay for this artistic good and weight it against other things you could get for the same amount. This helps you visualize how much you REALLY want the picture. Would you buy this picture if it was equivalent to a McDonalds Meal? To a videogame? To a week of groceries? Up to you.

One thing people love to harp about is how much of a bad person you are if you don't pay minimum wage to artists for making your pictures. I want you to know you don't HAVE to do anything, the artist sets the prices, the artist does what the artist wants. You buy their services at THEIR prices and that's it. In my opinion prices should be set based on final product and not hours of work.

Consider an artist that spends 5 hours on a picture, but delivers a bad picture: bad anatomy, sloppy coloring, error in character designs, etc. Now consider an artist that spends 2 hours and delivers a great picture. Who would you pay more to? The more experienced an artist becomes, the more they can correlate time=quality so eventually some artist might know that charging x amount an hour for y amount of hours assures you a specific quality.
You spend your money on what you think is worth it, not what others might pressure you into thinking it's worth it.

FIND AND READ THE TERMS OF SERVICE
VERY VERY IMPORTANT! Every artist worth its salt should have a ToS, these are the rules they set when making art for you...and you need to read it, all of it, carefully; because some of these ToS hide little things that can screw you over in the long run, and if you didn't do the reading you only have yourself to blame.

Things that are a huge no-no in ToS:

• The lack of ToS (lol)
• No refund policy
• Sending money to paypal via friends and family (doesn't allow refunds via paypal which is a huge risk)
• Asking you to pay paypal fees (paypal actually can fine people for doing this, the fees should be added onto the product's final price)
• Charging you for work in project previews or not offering them at all
• No editing policies
• Sudden dropping or rushing of commissions over reminders or comments about it
• A general condescending or aggressive tone[/center]

Mind you, you can still commission someone with a terrible ToS with things like these but again, you have yourself to blame if the transaction goes south.

RESEARCH YOUR ARTIST
It sucks that I have to mention this, but it's true. Make sure you know the reputation of the person you are going to give your money to: how have their previous transactions gone? Do they have Artist Bewares? Is their queue absolutely massive? Do they even have a queue to look at? Have previous customers been satisfied? How active are they in the community?
Doing a little bit of research can help you dodge a bullet in the long run

DO NOT STAND BEING GUILT TRIPPED
And this is one of my pet peeves, artists who guilt trip their followings to fleece them for cash or to get away from doing owed work.

Red guilt tripper flags:

• Excessive emergency related journals with strong judgements about people who do not help
• Venty journals about customer relations that went wrong
• Having their anxieties triggered when asked about commission progress
• Excessively long periods of absence with no communication being excused on tragic events
• Woe is me journals relating to how they get no sales

Now, I don't want to imply that artists are machines and cannot have tough real life problems, but so do all of us. A responsible artist faced with a tough situation informs their customers and even provides refunds if the situation is too overwhelming. If an artist is incapable of doing this then they should not be taking commissions in the first place.

This is a business, not a charity: it's not your responsibility to solve artists' problems, or fund their entire life projects. Your money is not a donation, is payment for a product.

Don't be afraid of standing up for yourself, it's YOUR money that's gone. Ask for reminders, ask for refunds if you are concerned you might be getting scammed. Be patient and empathic sure, but not a push over.

DO NOT STAND FOR ANY UNPROFESSIONALISM
Associated with the previous part, this is important. If artists want their craft to become a full time business then they need to act the part.

• Do not allow your commission to not be finished and not contest a refund.
• Do not allow a person who scammed you to go unscathed.
• Do not settle for rushed, traced, recycled or commissions that did not reflect what you paid for in general
• Do not stop demanding your money back because the artist has sudden sob stories or has spent your money before finishing your work
• Do not stand by angry replies or any abuse[/center]

The consumer has power, warning other people about the hard time you had with an artist is powerful. Keeping evidence of their actions via screenshots is even better. Hold them responsible for their actions.

Again, this sort of thing would not fly in any other business, so it shouldn't in this either.

USE YOUR COMMON SENSE
I have dealt with many commissioners, some have been more pleasurable to work with than others, easier than others, etc. But in general, they are not stupid.

Find an artist that can produce what you are looking for, provide them good references, be clear when explaining your idea, always provide constructive criticism on sketches. If you don't know what you want, leave it for a day and go back with a fresh head and ask for the changes. Be polite, write in whole sentences with punctuation, don't for the love of god try to seduce the artist. Treat a person the way you want to be treated, be patient when asking for updates.

If you receive a picture that you are not satisfied with despite it all, try to see what can be changed, again, maintain your composure. If nothing can be done I am afraid you must bite the bullet and move on, simply do not commission the artist again.

If you had a great service and great results, please promote the artist! Let other people know you recommend their work! Word of mouth is one of the most effective ways to gain new customers as a small business, especially in a pretty tight group like furries.

And that's about it for this quick guide, if you have any other points you'd like to add, or disagree with, do let me know. Once again, you don't have to follow this, you can think I am full of shit and wrong, and that's ok too.

But I felt it was needed to point out that the consumer has power and has rights, and you should be smart, even when consuming things like furry art.

I hope this helps! AND BE SMART!