Advice, commissioner requesting art removal due to personal issues

[lavenderpandy]

So, this came about months ago where an old commissioner requested removal of their commission due to their significant other having major issues with the artwork. The image was of their personal character with someone else's character which was not allowed in their relationship or something. I'm not entirely sure. As the commissioner described, it

Comments

[jamesalesto]

I think you're handling it just fine. FWIW I have a policy in my ToS that I don't pull for any reason unless the client is going to buy out my rights. The buyout price is 5x commission cost.

It's entirely up to you. Some folks do it as a bit of customer service, but I personally don't want to be involved in people's relationship drama.

[lavenderpandy]

Thank you, I felt I was making the right decision as well but was unsure if I was being a bit too harsh presenting the privacy fee.

[metallik_hasse]

I've been wondering what to charge for the right to a piece of my work. May I ask how you decided on 5x the original price?

I apologise if this strays too far from the topic.

[jamesalesto]

The general consensus has been for a while that a complete buyout of rights is 3x the cost on commission. I want to say it came from the illustrator's handbook, but I can't recall at the moment. Given that I really don't like selling my rights I bumped it to 5x. Mostly to scare people away unless they absolutely want it. I mostly do sketch commissions with a max price of $110, so if they want me to never post it the sketch has to be worth $550 to them.

[metallik_hasse]

That's really helpful info! I think I'll follow suit, honestly. I [i]really[/i] don't like keeping my work private, [b]but[/b] if they want to pay that much, I'd be willing to accept those terms.