Help on my new ToS and Pricing

[dodger-greywing.livejournal.com]

It's been a long time since I've changed my ToS, and some recent posts here have urged me to update my own.

I've referenced several other artists' ToS, but I want to make sure I haven't missed anything. Critiques on the aesthetics and my tone are more than welcome. I come across as really aloof and rude sometimes, I feel.

My new ToS are here. I'll be reevaluating my pricing soon, as well. My current prices are listed here. I know I undercharge, but I'm not really sure what I should or could be charging.

Comments

[hamburger.livejournal.com]

Sorry about the delay in approval. We've been trying to space out ToS request postings.

[dodger-greywing.livejournal.com]

Ha, that's cool. I figured that was the reason.

[fenris-lorsrai.livejournal.com]

The first section, you won't draw copyrighted characters in adult situations. Then you state you won't draw anyone's character without their express permission. Put together that seems, logically, like you won't draw copyrighted characters at all (they are someone's character afterall...) If this is what you want, you can state it more clearly. If you WILL draw copyrighted characters in non-adult situations, you need a clarification on fanart commissions. Otherwise it seems like you'll be contacting corporate to ask about fanart.


In the section on refunds, I think you may want to rephrase it from "I couldn't contact you" to "you were nonresponsive". Otherwise it seems like a bit of a red flag and way to wiggle out of a refund "but I couldn't get ahold of you...." Just changing the phrasing slightly makes it clear its if the customer is nonresponsive, not if you lost their email address.

Under the "My Rights" section you may want to make it clear whether when art is posted, whether the customer may request their name isn't associated with it or if it can just be listed as "a commission".

[dodger-greywing.livejournal.com]

Oops! I didn't even think about that coming across as vague like that. I added a clause about clean fanart being exempt from that rule.

I also changed the refund phrasing and added a bit about anonymous commissions. I had a feeling there was a better way to say the "failure to contact" issue.

Thank you!

[ocelotish]

The tone is much better than what you have on your website right now! Overall, I think it's a good tone.

I have a few little nit-picks that I'd recommend changing. "Major edit: changing clothing" might not be the best phrasing as it could be as simple as "can you make her skirt a little shorter" or as complex as a new outfit. I'd also change it to say "2 rounds of editing are included in the sketch phase" rather than allowed (because you'd probably be happier if they purchased the rounds there rather than latter). Also figure out if it's for all commissions or if icons or something are out.

You might want to specify mode of communication.

It's one of my pet peeves when artists say they can cancel for any reason and will get paid exactly up to that point simply because sometimes a sketch or ink might not work for the customer in question. If the customer drove you to cancel, eh, they can deal with it, but if you move and cancel everything, they might get the short end of the stick in that case. What I'd do is the same thing I advised the last person with TOS issues and say "Refunds initiated by the artist will be handled on an individual basis, but will not be less than described above."

Another thing you may want to include is something about whether the terms could be negotiated or not (though that may be on the page linking the TOS). Obviously some aren't, but I'd imagine having someone want a private commission wouldn't be something you'd be opposed to.

[mmyesidosay.livejournal.com]

Agreed, in regards to the bit about canceling for any reason. Speaking as someone whos only ever commissioned, and not an artist myself, there may be reasons for this that I dont understand, but it would still kind of make me uneasy.

[ocelotish]

I'm actually really glad to hear you say that, as for a while I was afraid I was the only one and out of my mind!

I can definitely see why the artist would want to get paid for the work they've done already and that is fair in most situations. If you're working a maid job, get violently ill, and have to go home, you'll still get paid for the work you did that day (as far as I know). Most artists see their work as a service so they've provided whatever percentage of the service, so they should get paid that amount.

However, I see it more like a reception hall. If the client changes their mind, the reception hall should get paid for whatever they've already done. If the reception hall needs to cancel on a client (where the hall is at fault), then they're not providing what they promised in the contract and therefore are required to refund the money, even if they've already done some work for that contract.

The key difference that I see is that the reception hall and the maid is whether someone else can finish it off and "complete the contract." You could probably hire a second maid for half a day's pay to finish up cleaning the house, but you couldn't hire a second reception hall to finish up what the first one had started. I think art generally is something you can't hire someone else to finish off, so I'd put it more in the reception hall category. However, as sbneko pointed out there are also cases where people are just happy to get the art and a partial refund too.

Also, sorry for the TL;DR. >.>;

[dodger-greywing.livejournal.com]

I'm bad with tone when I'm trying to maintain some sort of professionalism. My original ToS was a bit belligerent.

Thank you for the advice! I'll probably mention that the terms are negotiable next to any links to the ToS.

[sbneko.livejournal.com]

Agreeing with Celarania, but you could also offer options. I've noticed clients appreciate being able to chose either or, though sometimes you have no choice but to give them the one option.

For example, if you need to cancel you can ask them what they prefer. Being refunded for the work you didn't do or refunding in full. Some people will be happy with what they got regardless and what to pay you for the work while others would be upset they didn't get the commission they asked for.

If you're refunding because the picture is too difficult and large in the end, you could offer the refund or smaller pictures of equivalent value.

Then of course if they drove you to refund, you'd keep the money for the work done.

[dodger-greywing.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I decided to go with "case by case basis". If I'm canceling for personal reasons I'll probably give the commissioner a choice, because I do feel bad backing out of something half done because my own life got in the way.

Now of course if I'm canceling because the commissioner is being intolerably difficult, there won't be a negotiation.