Art fees, why do they exist?

First off, we all know what fees are, right?

If not, they are an extra charge made to the total of an order. 

Sometimes they are obligatory by state, like taxes in most parts of the world. With the only difference being their purpose, since taxes are a shared group effort while fees are more like a conditional access to specific privileges and/ or benefits. In this case, it is access to certain service perks or modalities.

Personally, in the world of commissions, I've only ever seen these same four but I'm sure artists might have their own for different purposes. So let's get into it!

Our most common fees are then:

• Priority or Rush
• Privacy NDA
• Commercial
• NSFW

Starting from the top, the Priority/ Rush fee is acquired upon a request for a quicker turnaround time for a commission to be delivered—aka the TAT acronym—and after the payment, it grants the client a queue line skip to the first two slots based on their arrival and first priority over any of the other commissions.

Now for NSFW, it is simply because the production of adult content has many risks involved, both in reputation and privacy rights for both Creative and Client. It covers for the nature of the artwork and for the right to keep it a private deal.

Including the NDA that'll be drafted in order to assure them of those rights.

Though, speaking of another serious topic now! Commercial fees.

Commercial fees are a must, and their commonly know hefty price can go up to some great numbers depending on the order being placed and its purposes. But you know what's pricier? Paying the usual fine for not specifying you'll be making money out of the art commissioned by you, for your business, novel or product.

You're more often than not, not only paying for the art made or the time spent on it, but also the credits and rights to edit that art, print it into products, to advertise it, to share it with other people and a whole other plethora of things you can make with custom designs. The specifications can go from artist to artist, though, so make sure to check in with them or locate it in their TOS.

In resume, be a good sport, don't forget to mention it and be ready to cover for the estimated amount that art will be worth in your endeavors in advance.

There is nothing wrong with budgeting if necessary. Most artists are more often than not ready to work with installment plans, discounts and the like if asked.

And let me tell you, always make sure to ask! You never know when there'll be a holiday discount and you'll be able to get an artwork for half the usual price.

We artists really appreciate having our work honored and respected as much as the next business person or independent entrepreneur who's got to manage everything by themselves, while trying to offer a good quality of service to their costumers ♥ so thank you for reading!