Advice: Teen artist - how should I go about taking commissions?

[dixiedyboski.livejournal.com]

Hello A_B!
Errrr, first ever LJ post here, correct me if I'm doing it wrong :3



Basically, I want to start taking commissions :3 But, lots of the posts here are about 'minors' buying/selling their art, and everything ending in tears and whatnot. Is it ok to take commissions at 15? Or should I wait 'til I'm older?
I know that research is important, and everyone says about having a ToS that you both agree to before you start sending money or anything, so if there's any problem on either side, you can throw it at the commissioner and run :3
Also, I know my art is not terrible. Its not wonderful either, but I know I'm improving and yes, I have done life drawing since I started GCSE Art. I could improve a lot on anatomy though, very very definitely. (curse you, silly anime phase.)
Also, would sending the money through my parents (they use paypal a lot for their bubble business) be a good idea?
And postage too. I would rather not send actual pictures in the post, but I'm sure badges would be ok.

So, any advice you have would be very very very much apreiciated <3

Comments

[suzeyy.livejournal.com]

I started doing commissions when I was 15-16 but it wasn't for real money, like USD. Instead, I was active on a few SIM sites (still am!) that uses its own in-game currency (that can't be traded for USD) and banking system. I did commissions to build up reputation and gain experience. That way I wouldn't be out real money if something went wrong and the risk was reduced, but I still had to deliver the product. Social and in-game punishments if you scam, ect. Also I was dealing with people around my age as well as older (and sometimes younger) so the whole art buying/selling environment was just less.. "formal" then FA. I really learned a lot from doing this.

Mind you it takes a while to build up a base because there's a bit more trust building going on (depends on the community...) but I definitely suggest starting there instead of USD work. Idk how many people in this comm agree with me but I learned a lot from doing this.

[dixiedyboski.livejournal.com]

I have thought about that with deviantART, but now that the staff don't really seem to have the time to sort out commission strifes using their dA points, so I'd rather not it specifically, but any other sites, whose staff you can trust, I would love to know about, thanks for your suggestion!

[suzeyy.livejournal.com]

I found dA not so great just because your chances of getting noticed were so slim. The website I worked mostly on was furry-paws.com, which is good if you have canine-oriented work and you're allowed to sell/buy for USD after you get some good experience. C: I've also briefly worked on Mweor.com/ but it seems to cater more to younger kids, so I haven't been on in a while. Here's a wiki of similar sites, if you want to look through them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_artificial_pet_games#Browser-based_games I haven't been on any others though, at least not in a while. The best part about these sites though is that if you get bored with the art, you can always just play the game aspect. Or do both, if you want!

If you want to get started on the first two examples though, PM me and I can try and help you out a bit more. C:

[dixiedyboski.livejournal.com]

It is, its sort of an you're either famous or you're not thing there.
FFFFFFFFFF
thankyou <3
I keep forgetting how much everyone cares on this comm ;__; Its wonderful.