General Advice Post: Declining a Commission and/or a Trade

[oceandezignz.livejournal.com]

Be it their reputation, their attitude or just the overall theme of what they want you to draw for them - we as artists and people have the right to say 'no' to offers placed upon our plates.

The question is, how does one say 'no' in such a way that it is purely professional and has that weight of finality to it that doesn't allow for weasel room. Lets figure out the best way to create a standard of etiquette for declining inquiries we don't want to handle!

I'm opening the floor to the community on this. Please feel free to advise or suggest ways to professionally bow out of offers for commissions or trades.

If you recall someone making a post or a comment regarding this in the past, and felt it was a big help to you; please link to it for everyone's reference!

Comments

[neolucky.livejournal.com]

I get this a lot and all I say is "I don't have the time, thanks!"

Frankly if they ask why, theres the answer, true or not. It's just kinda cruel to tell them they aren't "good enough". If they MUST KNOW I'll say it feels kinda one sided and that I can take a commission instead.

I don't think the brutal truth is necessary, very few people have ever asked me why in the furry fandom.

[grandioze.livejournal.com]

What about if you're open for trades, but you'll only trade with people who are near your skill level? I mean, yeah, you could tell them that you don't have time, but they'll know that you're lying when they see you take a trade with someone who is near your skill level. I don't know, I could see someone leaving a passive-aggressive comment like "Oh, I thought you didn't have time for trades" whenever you post a trade picture for someone else. :/

[neolucky.livejournal.com]

I've had this happen, and I don't acknowledge passive aggressive comments like that. If someone were to civilly come to me and ask for an explanation, then I might tell them I'm more into fair trades, and to go see my FAQ. (Which talks about trades being fair so there's no wiggle room) I do get asked a lot for trades when they really just want a commission...so it helps to have the FAQ handy.

Thing is I rarely, if ever, do trades or upload them when I do so I don't run into this often. But for someone who does, Id say simply tell them "This trade feels a bit one sided, thanks for asking though!"

Sometimes its best to be honest but not in a hurtful way. But there are those who will get upset no matter how you tell them no. This has also happened to me, and it's stressful to have to deal with, especially when they hound you for a year or so @_@.