So, you've got, or want to start, an art shop?
These are just a few basic hints to keeping your art shop maintained, and organized nicely.
Post Clarity
This one is pretty obvious, but I've come across a few hard to understand posts while wandering the forums, so I'll say it anyways; Make sure your posts are well organized, and make use of some grammar.
Waiting and Working Lists
ALWAYS keep your "Waiting" and "Working" lists clearly labelled and in check.
Separate posts are wonderful for this, because it just makes everything easier to check up on.
It's always nice to let the 'customers' see what you're working on, and what you've got lined up for the future.
Also, if you're really picky about things, you can mark your progress so that your current commissioners, as well as people looking to commission you, can see how fast you work on things.
This is also good because it will (or it should) put a limit on annoying commissioners who ask how much of their request you have done.
If they can see that their picture is, for example, 75% complete, then they won't really have much to whine about.
Pricing
Take a look around at other people shops for this. See what the other artists are charging for their work, and if yours is of similar style (ie: Bust shots or portraits, full body, 1/2 body etc) you'll be able to get a general idea of what to charge for your own work.
Don't be afraid to raise or lower prices accordingly. This will only help your business by making sure people are getting their money's worth, and that you are getting the payment that you deserve.
Keep in mind that it's not only your artwork that you are being compensated for, it's your time as well.
Samples
Always have examples of the work a customer will be receiving. If you have no examples yet, offer to do a free commission to get the ball rolling.
Do not expect people to blindly invest money.
If possible, find a host that allows hot linking and post the sample images right in your thread. Remember that human beings are lazy by nature. Forcing them to wade through pages of HTML to find examples will discourage even the most wealthy Gaian.
If you don't have an image host, try Angelfire or Photobucket.
Make sure the samples can be easily viewed by everyone. Don't post anything that stretches the screen or takes forever for someone on a 56k modem to download.
Try to keep samples at a maximum of about 100k.
Also, you may consider making a separate post for a few examples, in which case, Thumbnail linking is especially good if you decide to do that.
If you do just post links to your examples, make sure they are clearly marked and easy for people to find. You don't want things to get overlooked.
arrow Sites that allow Remote linking:
www.photobucket.com
http://www.imageshack.us/index.php
Rules
Saved this part for last. It's the most important thing, in regards to owning an Art Shop.
Make sure that you clearly list some rules that you want commissioners to respect and follow.
If you cannot, or will not draw certain subject matter, (ie: Furries/Anthro, hentai, yaoi/yuri) be sure to state that somewhere so that people know what not to request from you.
If you prefer that people to post their orders in the thread, rather than PM, state that as well.
Try to keep your rules concise and to a minimum, though.
Too many rules will scare people away.
Art Auctions
So we finally have an auction assistance post. I'm going to start it off with something that everyone should know by means of common sense.
Art Auction Etiquette
Artists: Try to keep a low starting bid, or it won't be an auction at all XD
Pick a good end time. About 4 to 5 days or so should do.
Nothing crazy like +2 weeks.
DO NOT have bumping contests! Those are spam and only suit the chatterbox.
Bidders: Try not to withdraw your bid in auctions, it's bad etiquette.
DON'T PM the artist with bids/offers, unless they say it's ok. No one likes a PM bidder ninja
Pick a good end time. About 4 to 5 days or so should do.
Nothing crazy like +2 weeks.
DO NOT have bumping contests! Those are spam and only suit the chatterbox.
Bidders: Try not to withdraw your bid in auctions, it's bad etiquette.
DON'T PM the artist with bids/offers, unless they say it's ok. No one likes a PM bidder ninja
Quoted from The Requests and Commissions Guideline!. Visit that thread every now and then...
Now, you're having, or thinking of having, an art auction?
Goodie! biggrin
But remember!
- ALWAYS Post examples for auctions!
This shouldn't even need to be said, but for precaution's sake...
Showing your examples in their own separate post will make them easier to notice/find.
- Keep your auction organised!
You'd best reserve a few posts because you may need them.
Always start off with your intro or your rules. It looks far more professional that way.
- Keep a clear spot for your bids!
It's much easier for YOU to keep track of offers, and for potential bidders to see what they're up against.
On this note: arrow Keep all bids IN YOUR AUCTION THREAD. Accepting bids via PM is NOT fair to others.
- Lay down the rules!
Most of your regular, run of the mill Art Shop rules should still apply in your auction. I would recommend that you post your rules straight from your shop.
- Clever bidders will take advantage of the little unsaid things. (ie: If you do not give a limit for how many characters you will draw in one picture, you might get someone asking for a giant group of 8 people.)
If you don't do certain styles or subject matter, (ex: furries, hentai, etc.) POST THAT CLEARLY. You don't want to get stuck drawing something you're uncomfortable with by your own lack of foresight.
Post what you will accept as payment, that way you're not getting things you do not want.
You can't really make a MAJOR change to your rules, or what you want as payment during the middle of your auction because, quite frankly, that's unfair and a little inconsiderate.
Just make sure that you are VERY thorough with what you will draw/accept/etc.
- Set a decent date and time for your auction's closing.
Pick a time and date in which you know you'll be around to properly end your auction. Be sure to thank your bidders and note down the final/winning bid.
- Be appreciative towards your bidders!
They are basically 'fighting' over you and your skills.
Also, you're kind of depending on your bidders to exercise proper bidding etiquette. Hopefully, most of them can handle that for you.
Nyome teh Auction Goddess
I'll cover first what really to ME, makes an auction unsuccessful:
-People in a rush to get to the R&C/Undeveloped Artwork - most likely won't be anyone in GASOC. whee But some people who personally ask me over AIM or PM if they should start an auction usually go ahead and do it even when I advise them to wait a few months, then complain when it doesn't go well. I know from experience and careful attention usually if their artwork will go well or not in R&C. neutral I try to be nice, but truthful foremost. I waited 3 months before my first, to get my art skills up a bit, and get to a point where I know I can at least try to venture in and sell art.
-Disorganization- Again, probably won't be anyone in GASOC. xd But make sure EVERYTHING looks nice. I was nagging at my friend for at least an hour to make him move his examples to the second post because squeezing it on the first post made my eyes bleed. x_____x;; I just don't like stretched posts. XD He reserved 8- might as well use them!
-Attitudes- I'm pretty sure no one in GASOC would have a problem with this. xd but there's been a few auctions with artists who are er... a bit.. o-O;; um, they think quite highly of themselves. XD;; sometimes they are just amazing, but the attitude can totally ruin artwork sometimes. I know personally I'm a bit turned off at the whole auction if I feel the artist did not present themselves in a nice respectful way on their front page. I also do prefer hosting the auction myself, so others can get to know me better. ^^
And an artist's personality throughout the whole thing is very important. I was almost about to bid in someone's art auction, but I make it a rule to read through a few pages to find out the artist's personality a bit before I bid. Her attitude totally turned me off and I didn't want to bid after that. @_@ After 10 minutes of no bids, whining will probably turn off any other bidders. ~_^;;
-Leaving the auction- I really think it's important for an artist to stay in the thread and devote themselves to the auction. I CANNOT stress how important this is. To me, this shows that the artist really really cares for the auction and wishes it to succeed as much as they can. Time is an issue, but that's why we should choose a good time to make an auction too. A time we know WE can be there at least half the time, and have devoted friends the other half.
I've devoted about probably.. 150+ hours to one auction.o_o;; I'm just estimating. xd R&C moves pretty fast, so the best way to get bids of course is to bump.But I think an auction has a nicer feel when the artist themselves are there. ^^
-Small things- People take notice of the smallest things. Hired bumpers can mean the artist doesn't have time to take care of the auction, or they don't care enough about it- who knows? Each person will interpret everything differently. Putting the words "BID NOWWWWWWW~~" into the title MAY work. ~_^ but...it rarely does. neutral at least what I've seen. When I see that in a title in the R&C, I usually skip over it. To me, that shows impatience and rashness, qualities I'd rather not deal with if I were to bid. Course, that could also be seen from a different perspective- an attention getter, they were frustrated...etc. It all depends right? Course, there's no real way to catch ALL the small things. ^^;; some things that look fine to you might be iffy to someone else, which is why I recommend having a friend look over your posts before you open auction, just in case. ^_~
When making an auction, remember....
... to reserve enough posts! xd
... it's safer to plan it out on notepad first, so you can go in, post your first post, reserve a few, go back and edit, and open auction in a matter of minutes, instead of waiting for a long time and letting peoples' attentions drift. ^^
... to show that YOU are devoted to the auction, and will see it through no matter what. 3nodding A bidder might be iffy on the art and HB, but if they see the artist devoted to the auction, that might be the deciding factor of whether they should bid or not.
... Always put your rules, what you will or will not draw, starting date, ending date, minimum increments, etc etc. Linking to GEN and saying you accept low,mid,or high GEN is important too. ^^
... just have fun. biggrin if you show that you're enjoying it, other people will come, and your auction will be a success. ^_____^
And also, remember to make a banner and stuff before you start. xd VERY IMPORTANT.
There's also a specific way to get art out into the open. ninja I lurk in the Q&F, Exchange, Minishops, R&C, Welcome to Gaia, and Art discussion. ^^;; During an auction, posting at least once in each of the popular forums, even the discussions, is advised. 3nodding After posting once, stay in the main money forums- Exchange and R&C. ninja
When posting in another person's auction, BE CAREFUL. O_O;; Sometimes I forget I'm carrying my banner in my sig, and I post a heart in someone's auction to help them bump, but I remember when during my first auction, I thought it a bit insulting for another artist to just post a domokun or heart without really saying anything (( back then I was new, and still thought of it as disrespectful and sort of advertising ~_^ )) I also don't advise posting your own or something else's artwork in someone's auction thread, or talking about the "OMG AMAZING artwork" some other artist has. neutral That IS disrespectful to the artist, and it does hurt, cuz I've had that happen to me many times. Many of my original 1st auction friends have left, so no one really knows my little irks anymore. u_u and of course saying "omg shuttap about that artist/get that artwork OUTTA my thread" is horribly rude. xd But it's important to make it known that it IS your auction, and if something bugs you, it will not be tolerated. x_x
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Aaaaaand there is probably a million things I've forgotten, but that's why there's a wonderful edit feature and all that jazz.
