A fandom commissioner can't just change names, though - people would recognize the characters they were buying art of and their old name would catch up with them pretty quickly. Building up a reputation good enough that people are willing to buy from you is also not overly difficult in fandom - artists like Starfinder and Shiuk that could wallpaper a room with their complaints still have buyers lining up. Poor reputation really doesn't seem to deter furry-art purchasers all that much. I think your point would probably hold up if we were talking about "traditional" (i.e non-fandom) artists, though.
I wasn't proposing (and I think few people would propose) that buyers shouldn't have to pay until the art is fully completed. I think the most equitable way of "splitting the risk" would be half upfront, half on sketch approval. The artist doesn't lose anything that way if they never get the second half of payment - the first half is enough to cover the work they did on the sketch. And the buyer has at least seen some evidence that the piece is being worked on before they send the full balance.
I don't think other businesses correlate directly to buying art online anyway, but just for the record because you brought it up? That's really not how it works in most businesses. You don't pay a restaurant until you've received the food. You don't pay a plumber until the work is done. You don't pay a dentist until your teeth are fixed and you're leaving the office. You don't pay a dog kennel until you've come back from vacation and are picking up your pet. You don't pay a car mechanic until the car is fixed and you're picking it up. I can't think of a single service industry where the buyer pays in full upfront before the work is done. Like I said, I don't think other businesses really correlate to online art-purchasing anyway, but just because you brought it up.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2011-09-15 02:36 am (UTC)I wasn't proposing (and I think few people would propose) that buyers shouldn't have to pay until the art is fully completed. I think the most equitable way of "splitting the risk" would be half upfront, half on sketch approval. The artist doesn't lose anything that way if they never get the second half of payment - the first half is enough to cover the work they did on the sketch. And the buyer has at least seen some evidence that the piece is being worked on before they send the full balance.
I don't think other businesses correlate directly to buying art online anyway, but just for the record because you brought it up? That's really not how it works in most businesses. You don't pay a restaurant until you've received the food. You don't pay a plumber until the work is done. You don't pay a dentist until your teeth are fixed and you're leaving the office. You don't pay a dog kennel until you've come back from vacation and are picking up your pet. You don't pay a car mechanic until the car is fixed and you're picking it up. I can't think of a single service industry where the buyer pays in full upfront before the work is done. Like I said, I don't think other businesses really correlate to online art-purchasing anyway, but just because you brought it up.
Those are my two cents, anyway.