reselling commissioned work and advice on an unusual commission

[wingsofjudas.livejournal.com]

I don't think I've seen this come up before but if I'm mistaken I do apologize!

I offered to do art in return for donations to pay for emergency vet care a few months ago. I've been working through my queue in chronological order and noticed that one of the people who donated a large amount ($100 towards the roughly $250 bill) has listed many Furbuy auctions of art they've commissioned during this time. I feel a little uneasy and am wondering if this is justified? The artwork is listed/reserved/sells for more than I charge and I know I would be bothered to see that if they decided to sell my work and someone paid more than I can make selling my own art. ;P Plus there's the issue of someone else profiting from my work.

I'm also uneasy with the content of the commissions (rape, pregnancy, copyrighted characters) and confounded by the commission procedure, as instead of being told to draw such-and-such and going through the usual approval/discussion, I was linked to a database of PDFs, each containing the information for desired commissions. I've spent considerable time going through these PDFs and trying to make sense of what I'm suppose to draw and figure out if any of them are even things I do draw.

Thanks in advance, I've really enjoyed the wealth of information this community consistently provides!

EDIT: I wanted to amend this to say I decided to issue a refunds if for no other reason than that I have very limited time with a baby/farm. I'm still interested in feedback though, for knowledge's sake, especially about reselling commissioned work. Thanks!

Comments

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

From an artists' perspective, I can see where it's an issue. But this is what merchants everywhere do. They buy low and sell high - or higher, anyway.

The artist benefits by having a guaranteed buyer and money now, rather than a potential buyer later; the merchant is taking on risk, and is potentially rewarded for that. They may also add value - for example, not all artists are good at selling the art which they create.

As the furry market develops, I see this kind of role becoming more popular. This is arguably a good thing - as long as they don't have a way to block artists from selling directly - because it makes the market more efficient. After all, if the artists is not willing to take on that risk, they may not make furry art at all, but instead choose to work a menial job for guaranteed pay.

[marus-puppy.livejournal.com]

Oh I can absolutely see what this would be beneficial to the market, I just think the immediate turnaround is pretty scummy, if that is in fact what he's doing. I'm still fuzzy on those details. When I commission an artist, it's because I want to see their work or my characters done in their style. It feels like an insult to commission them just so I can make a quick buck, but that's just my opinion.

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

I think that if you are not open about what you are doing, it opens the door to criticism. Ideally, parties should go into a transaction knowing all relevant facts.

[marus-puppy.livejournal.com]

I totally agree with this.