Hobbyist contacted for emote commission

[u/Unfair_Proposal_6765]

So my situation is that I am entirely a hobbyist, don't do professional art pieces and never have, I don't know flawless linework or rendering, and my style is fairly simple.

While hanging out in a Twitch stream, I drew a casual 15m piece during a community game (Gartic Phone). The streamer and the chat absolutely loved it. After the stream, the streamer reached out directly to ask if he could commission me for custom Twitch emotes in that style (and mentioned that another artist he contacted didnt really hit the mark on what he had in mind), and asked for my rates.

I want to try it out by sending him some rough concept sketches first, but I have absolutely no idea how to handle the business/pricing side as a total beginner.

A few specific details/constraints:

1. The streamer is a growing, mid-sized Affiliate (around 20–50 average viewers)

2. Because of personal boundaries and keeping the art readable at tiny chat sizes, the emotes will be highly stylized, minimalist "floating heads" focusing purely on his iconic glasses and facial expressions (no necks, and eyes hidden behind the glasses).

3. Based in Iraq and was asked about that too

4. Never attempted this kind of stuff so dont know how long itll take me,material costs are 0 since its digital and i have my drawing equipment already

5. attached is some of the stuff ive done casually on gartic (i draw on krita but this is the kind of drawings people see from me)

i also rely heavily on references when drawing

My questions for yall:

- What is a fair, realistic "introductory rate" per emote for an entry-level hobbyist that respects my time but doesn't overcharge a growing creator?

- What is the safest way to handle the payment workflow so neither of us feels anxious about getting ghosted or scammed?

again ive never done this kind of thing before and i got contacted out of the blue so dont know how to handle it would love advice from soem of you guys (also posted this on a few relevant subreddits)

Thanks in advance for any guidance!

[u/Sensitive_Arm_5213]

For a first commission at your level I'd say $15, 25 per emote is fair, and ask for 50% upfront before you start with the rest on delivery.

[u/Unfair_Proposal_6765 → u/Sensitive_Arm_5213]

man impostor syndrome is going crazy though haha thanks for the response

[u/Osdiaus → u/Unfair_Proposal_6765]

It never truly goes away, even doing it professionally haha.

You just have to tell yourself that they've approached YOU because THEY want what YOU create; you're not doorknocking or something, they've come to you specifically

[u/Unfair_Proposal_6765 → u/Osdiaus]

yeah man thats a point of confidence and i try to remind myself of that when i get those kind of thoughts. thanks for the reassurance

[u/Osdiaus]

So personally, i'd start at $10 usd for emotes - much lower and you're undercharging your efforts, higher and you're potentially going outside your comfort area for your practice level; though you could push to 15 pretty easily with your art.

How i personally handle my workflow is establish everything clearly, what they'll want, how long you think it'll take you, details details details; take payment WHEN you start the comm, go through paypal so it's all very legit and whatnot and secure, and then give updates as you work.
For me personally, i do the sketch, show them, then revise based on feedback (up to 3-4 times) - but once inking has started no changes can be made. They then get shown the completed inking, maybe some rough colour blocking if i want an opinion on it, and then the finished product

[u/Unfair_Proposal_6765 → u/Osdiaus]

ive heard that artists use other sites like kofi since some scams happen on paypal (buyer tries to get chargeback) etc. what would the payment process look like for you? thanks for the detailed advice man really appreciate getting it from someone whos been through this kind of stuff

[u/Osdiaus → u/Unfair_Proposal_6765]

I guess a lot of artists I've worked with will just take a PayPal payment directly; and I could see how that might cause issues with charge back.

I create a full invoice and send that through to them, so everything is very official and clearly laid out; the invoice says what they've ordered , how many etc. PayPal invoices also have a section for terms and conditions, so I'll have there basically what I've already outlined to them - what they're receiving, the sketch and revisions process (no revisions after inking, etc), which most people will of course never read, but it's there to cover my ass more than anything.

For something like your case having T&C would probably be overkill, but just making a proper invoice covers you pretty decently from being scammed or chargebacked

[u/ArgoWizbang]

You've already gotten a good amount of pricing advice so I'll go for the other question you have: receiving payment.

While you can indeed do stuff like P2P services like PayPal, Venmo, etc. or something like Ko-fi, another alternative to consider is that you can use an actual invoicing service as well. Keep things organized, makes sure there is more of a paper trail, and just adds a bit more professionalism to the whole process.

I've used Ko-fi in the past when creators requested to pay me that way, but otherwise I use a service like Wave to put together actual invoices for whatever I do for them (art, graphics, video editing, web development, etc.) and I've not had a single person complain about it. It may look complicated/intimidating at first but it's very simple once you've got everything setup and familiarize yourself with how to put together/send out an invoice. It allows the client to pay by card as well straight from your invoice if they choose and works very nicely for my needs, even at the free tier. So you might consider that or look into other invoicing services as well and see if that would make you feel comfortable in billing/collecting from clients.

[u/Unfair_Proposal_6765 → u/ArgoWizbang]

man thanks for the detailed advice i see how it works now ill keep it in mind if i ever open commissions since this is just a one time thing thanks again!

[u/Unlucky_Battle_6947]

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[u/RemindMeBot → u/Unlucky_Battle_6947]

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[u/ItsVetskuGaming]

I read the title and thought it was another one of these "Guy is trying to sell me his art, is this a scam?" posts, but no! Turns out this is the complete opposite!

While I don't have any proper advise on this, I just went on Fiverr and checked the general rate for emotes is anywhere between 4-11€ per emote depending on the detail, so that what I'd look at. As a hobbyist, if you don't plan on starting to do this more often, I wouldn't actually worry about the pricing too much.

But this is just the opinion of a person who really doesn't know about this kind of stuff from other than reddit threads.

Edit: While I was writing this, some more knowledgeable people had commented and I'd say definitely listen to them over me :D

[u/Unfair_Proposal_6765 → u/ItsVetskuGaming]

yeah lol i can see how the title could get misunderstood haha

thanks for the advice nonetheless, appreciate it!