How to Take Paid Commissions as a Creator or Artist

To take paid commissions, define one custom deliverable, set a fixed price and revision limit, collect full or partial payment before starting, and state the turnaround and refund terms in writing. Use Ko-fi for a creator-page storefront, a direct invoice for workflow control, or FanBell for an all-in-one paid-request link.

The tool matters less than the setup: every commission needs a countable deliverable, payment terms, revision limits, a delivery window, usage terms, and a written cancellation or refund policy. On FanBell, commissions are offered through Creator Services.

What is a paid commission?

A paid commission is custom work created for one buyer’s brief, such as an illustration, video edit, track, article, or design. Unlike a ready-made digital product sold substantially unchanged to multiple customers, a commission is bespoke and usually has limited resale value.

The safest approach is to sell a defined deliverable rather than open-ended access to your time. U.S. copyright law treats a commission as "a work specially ordered or commissioned," and the U.S. Copyright Office states that such a work qualifies as a work made for hire only if it falls within one of nine listed categories and the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them (U.S. Copyright Office Circular 9). Most illustration, music, and design commissions fall outside those nine categories, so ownership stays with the creator unless rights are transferred in writing. Give the commission a clear title, fixed price, revision limit, stated exclusions, usage rights, and realistic turnaround. How to write a creator service offer explains how to describe an offer so buyers know what they will receive.

Which commission method is best: Ko-fi, a direct invoice, or FanBell?

Ko-fi displays commission listings on a creator's existing page and charges a flat 5% service fee on commission sales at $0 per month (Ko-fi, "Does Ko-fi take a fee?"). A direct PayPal or Stripe invoice puts the brief, agreement, payment schedule, and delivery record entirely under the creator's own control, with no commission-specific workflow provided. FanBell combines advance payment collection, scope, turnaround, and decline-and-refund controls into a single request link for a 12% platform fee when a fan pays (pricing).

Use Ko-fi if you want a creator-page commission storefront

Ko-fi charges a flat 5% service fee on commission sales on both its $0-per-month Free and Standard modes, and 0% on one-time tips in Free mode. Ko-fi Gold removes that service fee on all payment options for a fixed $12 per month.

Ko-fi states that payment processor fees apply on top of its service fee and are "usually around 3% + $0.30," because Ko-fi payments go directly into the creator's own PayPal or Stripe account. Ko-fi lets creators cap the total number of open commissions with a single slot limit across all listings, which overrides the per-listing slot limits.

Use a direct invoice if you want to control the agreement yourself

A direct invoice works well when you already communicate with the buyer and are comfortable maintaining a separate brief, contract, approval process, and delivery record. PayPal and Stripe both provide invoicing tools, but neither automatically defines your creative scope, revision allowance, or ownership terms (PayPal invoicing; Stripe invoicing).

Invoicing carries its own charge on top of card processing: Stripe lists 0.4% per paid invoice for one-time invoices on its Starter tier and 0.5% on Plus (Stripe Invoicing pricing). A $300 commission invoiced and paid by US card therefore costs roughly $10.20 in Stripe fees — 2.9% + $0.30 processing plus 0.4% invoicing (Stripe pricing; Stripe Invoicing pricing).

Do not apply Stripe’s published rate to PayPal. Stripe lists 2.9% + $0.30 for domestic US card payments, while PayPal lists 3.49% plus a fixed fee per transaction for a domestic invoice paid by PayPal or Venmo, with different rates for cards and Pay Later. Confirm the rate shown for your provider, country, and account before setting a price.

Use FanBell if you want a paid-request link

FanBell is free to start with no monthly fee and charges a 12% platform fee only when a fan pays; Stripe’s processing fee is separate. FanBell states the arithmetic plainly: creator earnings = fan payment − platform fee − processing fee, and the fan pays only the displayed price. The fan pays the full price upfront as a guest by card, the request lands in the creator's inbox, and declining refunds it.

How do you scope a commission so it does not sprawl?

Scope a commission before payment: one countable deliverable, a fixed revision count, named exclusions, a delivery window, and usage rights. Ko-fi gives creators a standard-terms field of up to 10,000 characters and asks buyers to agree to those terms before submitting a commission request.

A commission scope should answer these questions before the buyer pays:

• What exactly will you make? Specify one character illustration, one 30-second edit, one logo concept, or another countable deliverable.
• How many revision rounds are included? State a fixed number and define what counts as a revision.
• What files will the buyer receive? List the format, dimensions, duration, resolution, or source-file access where relevant.
• What is excluded? Identify extras such as commercial usage, source files, additional concepts, rush delivery, or major changes to the original brief.
• When is the brief final? Explain whether a concept change after work begins requires a revised quote or new order.
• What rights does the buyer receive? Distinguish personal use, commercial use, exclusivity, and permission to display the work in your portfolio. By default, U.S. copyright law keeps the exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, and publicly display a work with its author unless those rights are expressly transferred, so a commission that does not address usage leaves the creator holding them (U.S. Copyright Office, "What Is Copyright?").

Revision limits should be presented as your offer terms, not as an assumed industry rule. How to scope a custom creator request provides a reusable structure for turning a vague request into a clear brief.

What does a practical commission scope look like?

Use this sample template as a starting point and replace every number with terms that fit your own work; the figures below are examples, not industry standards. Ko-fi allows up to 10,000 characters of standard terms for exactly this kind of detail.

Deliverable: One full-color character portrait of one person, supplied as one PNG file at the dimensions stated in the order. Included: One initial concept and one revision round covering minor color or detail changes. Excluded: Additional characters, major pose changes after concept approval, source files, printing, and commercial usage. Turnaround: Delivery within 14 calendar days after payment and receipt of the final brief. Buyer responsibilities: Provide reference images and consolidated feedback. Delayed feedback pauses the delivery schedule. Additional work: Changes outside this scope require a new quote and written approval.

Should you take full payment or a deposit?

For a smaller, clearly defined commission, full payment before work begins is the simplest option. For a larger project, you can use milestones or a deposit—for example, 50% before starting and 50% before final delivery—provided the amounts and release conditions are written clearly.

Taking payment upfront is the industry default on commission platforms: Ko-fi buyers pay when they submit a commission request, and a FanBell fan pays the full displayed price upfront by card as a guest before the request reaches the creator's inbox (Ko-fi, "What are Ko-fi Commissions?"; how it works). Refunding later is not free of cost: Stripe states that "Stripe's processing fees from the original transaction aren't returned" when you refund a payment, so a refunded $200 commission charged at Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 US card rate leaves the creator down $6.10 (Stripe refunds; Stripe pricing).

The 50/50 split is an example, not an industry standard: choose a split based on the project’s length, the work you cannot recover, and your ability to pause delivery while a balance is unpaid.

A sample 50/50 milestone clause could say:

The buyer pays 50% of the agreed price before work begins. After the buyer approves the preview, the remaining 50% is due before delivery of the unwatermarked final files. Work pauses while an overdue balance remains unpaid. Any change outside the agreed scope requires a separate written quote.

Upfront payment reduces the risk of completing bespoke work for a buyer who disappears. If you use an invoice, state when work begins, when the balance is due, and whether previews are watermarked. A FanBell paid request collects the fan’s payment before work starts.

How long should a commission take?

Set the turnaround before accepting payment and base it on your current queue rather than your fastest possible working day. A realistic promise such as “about two weeks” is more useful than “a few days” if two weeks is what your workload actually requires.

Ko-fi tells creators to state "how long commissions usually take" in the standard terms buyers must accept, and tells supporters chasing a late order to first look for the agreed delivery date in the order notes or listing (Ko-fi, "What are Ko-fi Commissions?"; Ko-fi, "Unfulfilled commission or shop order"). A dated delivery window written into the listing is therefore the single record both sides check when a commission runs long.

Clarify when the delivery clock starts. Possible triggers include the payment date, acceptance of the request, receipt of the final brief, or approval of a required deposit. Also explain what happens if the buyer delays feedback or changes the brief. How to set delivery times for services covers choosing a delivery window and managing a backed-up queue.

A practical turnaround clause could say:

The delivery period begins after payment and receipt of the complete brief. If the buyer does not provide requested feedback or materials, the schedule pauses until they respond. A material change to the approved brief may require a new price and delivery date.

What should your refund and cancellation policy say?

A creator’s voluntary refund policy and a payment processor’s dispute process are not the same thing. Your policy explains when you will cancel or refund a commission; PayPal or Stripe may separately review payment disputes under its own rules. Stripe documents refunds and disputes as separate processes (Stripe refunds; Stripe disputes).

The cost of getting this wrong is specific. Stripe charges a $15.00 dispute received fee for each dispute and a further $15.00 dispute countered fee when you respond manually, returning those fees only if you win the dispute. Stripe also documents that card networks typically allow cardholders to initiate a dispute within 120 days of the original payment, while local payment methods such as Klarna and PayPal typically allow up to 180 days. A commission delivered four months after payment can therefore still be disputed by the buyer.

Responsibility for the refund itself sits with the creator on a Ko-fi-style setup: Ko-fi states that supporters pay creators directly through PayPal or Stripe, so "any refunds must be issued by you, the creator" and "Ko-fi can't refund orders in your place". On FanBell, declining a request refunds the fan inside the same workflow.

Before publishing an offer, write down:

• whether the buyer can cancel before work starts;
• whether completed milestones are refundable;
• what happens if the original brief changes;
• what happens if you miss the agreed delivery window;
• whether final files are withheld until the balance is paid; and
• how the buyer should report a delivery or quality problem.

A customizable refund clause could say:

If I decline the request or cannot provide the agreed deliverable, I will refund the applicable payment. If the buyer cancels, any refund will be calculated according to the work already completed and the written milestone terms. Changes of preference after delivery are not treated as non-delivery. This policy does not replace any rights or dispute process provided by the payment provider or applicable law.

Adapt that clause to your workflow and local legal requirements. Do not promise that a transaction is categorically “non-refundable” without considering applicable consumer law and the payment provider’s rules.

Provider windows, not your own policy, decide how long a refund stays possible. PayPal tells sellers they can issue a full or partial refund within 180 days of receiving the payment, and Stripe gives merchants "usually 7 to 21 days, depending on the card network" to submit evidence once a dispute is opened, after which the issuer typically takes 60 to 75 days to decide (Stripe, "How disputes work"). Write your commission policy inside those windows rather than inventing one. How to handle refunds for creator services explains how to communicate a creator-service refund clearly.

What tax and transaction records should commission creators keep?

Keep records of gross commission payments, platform and processing fees, refunds, chargebacks, business expenses, invoices, and payout dates. In the United States, a creator owes self-employment tax once net earnings from self-employment reach $400 in a year, at a combined Social Security and Medicare self-employment tax rate of 15.3% (IRS self-employment tax guidance).

In the United States, a payment app or marketplace must send Form 1099-K only when a creator's gross reportable payments exceed $20,000 and the account has more than 200 transactions in the year, a threshold the IRS confirms was reinstated retroactively under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill (IRS Form 1099-K threshold FAQs). Falling under that threshold does not remove the underlying duty to report commission income; the IRS states that Form 1099-K is a record of reportable payment transactions to use alongside a creator's own records, not a replacement for them. Commission income is also taxed as you earn it: the IRS states that individuals, including sole proprietors, generally have to make estimated tax payments if they expect to owe $1,000 or more in tax when the return is filed. Thresholds differ sharply by country: HMRC sets a trading allowance of up to £1,000 a year of trading income, including casual services, that an individual in the United Kingdom can earn tax-free (HMRC, "Tax-free allowances on property and trading income"). Creators elsewhere should check the reporting rules that apply in their own country.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to use Ko-fi to take commissions?

No. Ko-fi charges a flat 5% service fee on commission sales at $0 per month; a direct Stripe invoice costs 0.4% per paid invoice plus 2.9% + $0.30 US card processing (Stripe Invoicing pricing; Stripe pricing); and FanBell charges a 12% platform fee only when a fan pays.

Should I charge before or after doing the work?

Collect full payment or an agreed deposit before beginning custom work; Ko-fi buyers pay when they submit a commission request, and a FanBell fan pays the full price upfront by card as a guest (Ko-fi, "What are Ko-fi Commissions?"; how it works). If you use a deposit, specify the amount, when the balance is due, and whether previews are watermarked.

How do I handle a commission I cannot finish?

Tell the buyer promptly and refund rather than substitute work they did not request. PayPal lets sellers issue a full or partial refund within 180 days of the payment, and refunding voluntarily avoids Stripe's $15.00 dispute received fee. Keep records of the cancellation, the messages, and the refund.

What is the difference between a commission and a digital product?

A digital product is created once and sold in substantially the same form to multiple buyers; a commission is made for one buyer’s brief. The distinction matters for ownership: the U.S. Copyright Office states a commissioned work is a work made for hire only if it falls within one of nine listed categories and both parties sign a written instrument saying so (U.S. Copyright Office Circular 9).

How can you start taking commissions on your own link?

If you want to take custom commissions with payment, scope, and turnaround handled in one workflow, Create your free FanBell page, turn on Creator Services, and describe your offer—there is no follower minimum, no monthly fee, and a 12% platform fee only when a fan actually pays.