This is our last interview of this commission series, where Moonfaun will explain how she works with them on Ko-Fi, mentioning certain important details, and their pros and cons. You can find the VGen post here and the Artistree.io post here.

Who Are You, And What Do You Do?

My name is Diana Ocasio, but people know me as Moonfaun. I’m a digital illustrator and designer of plushies. My niche is everything related to magical cute monsters, alongside thematic food. My main platform is Ko-Fi when it comes to selling my merch, although I can take commissions too.

How Did You Start Doing Commissions?

I started with DeviantArt with commissions between $1 to $5, and they were done on my phone.

Do We Need A Specific Platform To Make Commissions?

I would say no, as long as you have your ToS and contract with you at all times.

How Did You Discover The Platform?

I discovered Ko-Fi thanks to other artists by researching for more cost-effective and flexible alternatives compared to the e-commerce platform Etsy.

What Is Ko-Fi?

It started as a place for donations for artists. Eventually, they decided to add monthly membership subscriptions (with VIP sections), commission orders, and a virtual store. To this day, they continue updating and evolving their services. So basically they became a Patreon alternative.

Is Ko-Fi The Correct Platform For You?

Yes, Ko-Fi is very comfortable for me and I have several things that I run simultaneously in the same place.

How Do You Achieve Successful Transactions?

Usually, I have successful transactions that come from the Instagram platform when I post my stuff or potential clients at in-person events. So showing my creative process to my audience, engaging with them, and doing promotional stuff does help.

What Do You Offer In Your Store?

My store offers mostly stuffed animals that I have available, some stickers, and digital content for the moment.

What Type Of Payments It Accepts?

It can only accept Stripe and PayPal.

Does It Accept Tips or Donations?

Donations are allowed, but tips on the other hand don’t exist, even for commissions.

Do You Have A Section For Restrictions and TOS Of Your Services?

Yes, there is a policy section called “Standard Terms” where the artist can write down their Terms and Conditions.

Do Requirements Need To Be Fulfill To Be Part Of Ko-Fi?

I understand that it does not have any requirements other than having a bank account.

Does It Have A Tracking and Update Progress?

Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a tracking system or update progress for the client to view. Basically, the client will either receive the delivery of the finished commission or direct messages for revisions via notifications (inside Ko-Fi dashboard) or email.

Does It Have The Ability To Keep Orders Organized?

Usually, Ko-Fi offers you a list of all the transactions with the client’s information and their order. Since Ko-Fi saves customers’ information once they buy or donate from me, there is a section in the dashboard with a drop-down selection called “Show Me The People Who…”. There you can choose the desired order from commission, shop order, subscription donation, etc.

How Does It Work When It Comes To Selling Artworks?

I simply enter the “shop” area and add the information on the content, description, and additional shipping costs. Now, when it comes to the commission section you can add all the details, including a section for the ToS, discount offers, add-ons, and numbers of slots. The client will place an order, and you’ll get a notification via the dashboard about the details and can continue with a direct message inside Ko-Fi.

Are There Any Extra Fees For Using The Platform?

Yes, there is. At least in my case, I pay gold service for my Ko-Fi where I pay $6 a month which allows me to have 0% platform fees in my tiers, commissions & shop sales. Regular is a 5% fee apart from the PayPal and Stripe fees.

Does Ko-Fi Sell A Subscription To Promote Your Work?

No, there is no subscription for you to pay Ko-Fi to be promoted on their front page.

Does the Platform Have Its Community?

They do have a community Discord besides their social media.

Any Other Extra Stuff That We Should Know?

• It does not collect and remit sales tax / VAT / GST for sellers.
• Ko-Fi does allow tagging your page as Not Safe For Work (NSFW) as an advisory label. However, not all NSFW content is allowed.
• You have to pay a fee or subscription on both, regular Ko-Fi and Gold Ko-Fi, to be able to sell commissions.
• It will not investigate or be held liable in any way for donations given in error, refund requests, or monetary disputes of any kind between the Creator and the Supporter.
• They have strictly prohibited the scraping of any content on Ko-fi. They also block access to all the major training bots including OpenAI, Google, and Amazon to safeguard the community’s content. Yet, AI seems to be allowed on the platform.

Comparison Table Of The 3 Platforms

NOTE: This information can be inaccurate in the future if new regulations and policies change over time depending on the platforms. We are trying to provide the best information available with our experiences and knowledge.

If you want to see the other interviews about managing commissions in different platforms, check Xenohybrida Commissions with VGen, Moonfaun Commissions KoFi, and The Grey Sanctuary Commissions with Artistree.io.

Thank You For Reading!

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