Most artists should ask for 50% of the total commission price upfront, with the balance due at delivery. That is the number that keeps showing up in artist communities and studio templates, and it is a fair place to start whether you are asking for a portrait, a mixed-media piece, or a mural. Knowing how much deposit to ask for an art commission comes down to three things: what the job costs you, how much of that cost lands before you get paid, and how much risk you are willing to carry alone.
Small jobs often need less than 50%. A $180 piece of stitched textile work might only carry $40 in materials, so 30% covers you. Large or rush projects usually need more, sometimes the full amount before a single sketch. The percentage is a starting point, not a rule.
The numbers below are typical US ranges. They shift with region, specialty and how established you are, so treat them as a framework rather than a market rate.
Table of Contents
- How Much Deposit to Ask for an Art Commission: Typical US Ranges
- Deposit Ranges by Art Commission Type
- What Determines the Right Commission Deposit?
- How to Calculate the Deposit Amount
- How to Set the Payment Schedule in Writing
- Ways to Protect Your Time and Get Paid on Time
- Do not buy materials on a promise
- Pick one of three schedule models
- Set a refund ladder before you need one
- Have the words ready
- Choose the payment method deliberately
- Read the signs of a stalled project
- Frequently Asked Questions
- How much deposit should I take for my first art commission?
- Should an art commission deposit be refundable?
- When should I ask for full payment upfront?
- What if a client says they cannot pay a deposit?
- Do milestone payments replace the deposit?
- What payment method should I use for art commissions?
How Much Deposit to Ask for an Art Commission: Typical US Ranges
Think of a deposit as two payments in one. It buys the client’s place in your queue and locks in your schedule, and it also hands you the money you need to buy canvas, dye, wood, or framing before you invoice anything back. When those two jobs get confused, artists either ask too little and fund a client’s project out of pocket, or ask so much that the client walks.
Across r/ArtistLounge, the safespaceforartists Facebook group, and long-running studio advice like The Art Edge’s commission rules, the settled consensus is straightforward: 50% before work starts, no pencil to paper until the money clears. Smaller or material-heavy work sits lower, at 25 to 33%. Big or rush work goes to 100%.
| Total commission price | Typical deposit | Payment schedule | Worked example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under $150 | 30 to 50% | 50% at booking, 50% before shipping | A $120 ink-and-wash piece takes a $60 deposit |
| $150 to $600 | 40 to 50% | 50% at booking, 50% at final approval | A $480 mixed-media panel takes a $240 deposit |
| $600 to $2,500 | 50% | 50% at booking, 25% at sketch approval, 25% at delivery | A $1,800 wall piece takes a $900 deposit |
| $2,500 to $10,000 | 50 to 60% | 50% at booking, milestone draws through the build | A $6,000 installation takes a $3,000 deposit |
| Over $10,000, or rush work | 60 to 100% | Full payment or 70% before the first working session | A $14,000 mural takes $9,800 before scaffolding is booked |
Deposit Ranges by Art Commission Type
Medium matters as much as total price. A $900 commission that needs two yards of hand-dyed linen and forty hours of stitching carries far more upfront risk than a $900 piece made from a single sheet of paper.
| Commission type | Deposit to request | Schedule that works | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small original painting | 50% | Half at booking, half on approval before packing | A $350 oil on panel takes $175 upfront |
| Mixed-media collage | 50% | Half at booking, half at delivery | A $900 piece with found paper and hardware takes $450 |
| Textile or quilt commission | 40 to 50% | Half at booking, quarter after top is stitched, quarter at delivery | A $1,600 wall hanging takes $800 |
| Wood carving or cutout | 50% | Half at booking, half when the piece is finished and sanded | A $2,400 carved panel takes $1,200 |
| Mural or large installation | 50 to 60% | Milestone ladder with site visits and progress photos | A $7,500 interior mural takes $4,000 before paint is mixed |
| Character art or emote pack | 50% | Half at booking, half before the final files are sent | A $600 five-emote set takes $300 |
| Commercial or exclusive licensing | 50 to 100% | Full first payment before any files are released | A $5,000 exclusive character license is paid before delivery |
| Rush turnaround under two weeks | 60 to 100% | Full payment, plus a stated rush fee | A $500 portrait with a 10-day deadline takes $500 |
One detail worth borrowing: sellers on r/Etsy often run a deposit that is refundable for about a week after payment. It softens the word non-refundable for cautious clients without giving up the position. Once the week closes, it is locked.
What Determines the Right Commission Deposit?
Start with the number you would have charged if the client paid everything on day one. A deposit cannot be more sensible than the price behind it, and most painful deposit arguments are really pricing arguments that never got resolved.
How to Calculate the Deposit Amount
Price the work in four passes, then take the percentage. The order matters, because most artists skip straight to a percentage and end up undercharging.
- Labor. Estimate realistic hours including the sketching you throw away, not just the hours you enjoy. Multiply by an hourly rate you set deliberately rather than one you accept in a DM at midnight.
- Materials. Add what you must buy before you can invoice again: substrate, dye, thread, wood, hardware, framing, shipping supplies.
- Overhead and tax. Set aside 25 to 35% for self-employment tax and studio costs. This is the piece artists most often skip, and it is why deposits feel thin at tax time.
- Risk and licensing. Add a margin for revisions and rush work. Exclusive commercial rights are a separate charge, not a favor.
Now run a number. A commissioned wall piece comes in at $1,600: about 34 hours of hand stitching and mounting at $28 an hour, $180 in linen, thread and batting, and roughly 30% held back for tax and overhead. Materials are $180, so a 50% deposit of $800 hands you $620 toward real costs.
A 25% deposit on the same job gives you $400, which covers materials and leaves $220 for the first eleven hours of labor. That is the trade you are making, and it is worth naming out loud before you answer the client.
Several factors push the number higher: labor that grows as you work, unusual or custom materials you must source, a fixed deadline that costs you other bookings, unlimited revisions the client has not agreed to give up, and a first-time client with no history. Licensing is the biggest single multiplier. A personal-use piece and an exclusive commercial license can share a production cost and carry very different deposits.
A few factors push it lower: a repeat client who has paid on time twice, a small piece you can finish in an afternoon, or digital work with zero material cost. Twenty-five percent of a digital illustration still buys you the reservation. Fifty percent of it is mostly theater.
Keep the deposit and the milestone schedule distinct. A deposit reserves the slot and covers early costs. A milestone payment is triggered by an event the client can see, like an approved sketch. Projects with a long middle often need both.
How to Set the Payment Schedule in Writing
Clients trust a written agreement more than a friendly DM, and a short document takes less time to send than the argument it prevents. Your commission agreement or terms of service needs nine things.
- Scope. Size, medium, subject, and a reference image where relevant. Vague scope is where scope creep is born.
- Total price. One number, with the deposit and the balance shown as amounts, not just percentages.
- Payment schedule. What is due, when, and what triggers each payment.
- Revisions. A number, such as two rounds of changes on the sketch stage and one on the final, and the hourly or flat charge beyond that.
- Timeline and queue position. The estimated start date and the promised delivery window.
- Approval. A window, such as 14 days from the sketch, after which the commission pauses or the slot is released.
- Copyright and usage. What the client gets. Personal use, commercial use, and full transfer are three different prices.
- Cancellation. A stage-based ladder saying how much of the deposit you keep.
- Payment methods. What you accept, plus when work starts relative to cleared funds.
A sample schedule for a $1,600 mixed-media textile commission: $800 when the agreement is signed to reserve the slot, $400 when the pieced top is approved, $400 when the piece is stretched, signed off, and ready to ship. Materials get ordered the day the $800 clears, not before.
Here is copy-ready language for the deposit clause. Adjust it to fit your voice, then read it out loud once before you send it.
A non-refundable deposit equal to 50% of the total commission price is due when this agreement is signed and reserves your place in the schedule. No materials are purchased and no work begins until the deposit has cleared. The remaining 50% is invoiced at final approval and is due before the finished piece is released for shipping. If the commission is cancelled before sketch work begins, the full balance is refunded and the deposit is retained. If it is cancelled after sketch approval, 50% of the deposit is retained. No refund is issued once final delivery has occurred.
That is a template, not legal advice. If you are quoting large sums, transferring copyright, or working with a business that has its own procurement rules, pay an attorney in your state for a review.
Ways to Protect Your Time and Get Paid on Time
The deposit conversation is easier when the system around it is already built. A few habits do most of the work.
Do not buy materials on a promise
Ordering supplies while waiting for a check that has not cleared is the single most common way artists end up funding someone else’s project. Wait for cleared funds, then order. If a client wants you to start earlier, that is a conversation about a larger deposit, not a favor.
Pick one of three schedule models
| Schedule | Split | Use it when | Risk you carry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Split payment | 50 / 50 | Most one-off work under a few weeks | Moderate, and the easiest to explain |
| Milestone ladder | 40 / 30 / 30 | Projects with a visible middle stage | Low, but needs clear approval triggers |
| Full upfront | 100 / 0 | Large installations, rush work, or licensing | Lowest for you, hardest to sell to an unknown client |
Commission clients tend to accept 50/50 as a sign of mutual respect. They resist 100% upfront from an artist they have not worked with before, which is a reasonable position and one you can offset with a portfolio and a clear scope.
Set a refund ladder before you need one
| Stage reached when the client cancels | Deposit you keep | Balance |
|---|---|---|
| Before any sketch work | 50% | Refunded in full |
| After the client approves a sketch | 75% | Refunded |
| After materials are committed and work is underway | 100% | None due |
| After final delivery | 100% | None due |
Keeping the deposit after materials are spent is not a punishment, it is reimbursement. Say that in the agreement rather than leaving it to an argument later. Some artists add a kill fee of 25 to 50% of the balance for a cancellation inside the final two weeks, and that is easier to agree to in writing than in the middle of a disagreement.
Have the words ready
Asking for money is the part most artists dread, and scripts fix it. Send the deposit request the same way every time, with the amount, the reason, and the next step all in one message.
Standard request: Thanks for the commission. The total is $1,600, and the deposit is $800, which covers materials and reserves your slot for a February start. Once it clears I order the linen and get going. The balance of $800 is due at final approval.
When the client wants a lower deposit: I can meet you part of the way. Materials for this piece come to $180, so a deposit under $600 leaves me funding the work myself. $700 upfront and $900 at delivery works if that helps.
When a client stalls for weeks: The slot for February is held until the 15th, after which it opens to the next person on the list. The deposit keeps the place; no deposit means the place moves on.
If the client refuses any deposit and wants to pay entirely on delivery, you have three honest options: ask for full payment upfront, reduce the scope until the risk fits inside one payment, or walk away. A client who cannot fund the first half of a project rarely funds the second half on time.
Choose the payment method deliberately
A PayPal invoice or a Stripe link gives you a paper trail, a clear record of the cleared date, and less argument about whether a payment arrived. Card and invoice services also mean the client sees a business name rather than a personal handle.
For international clients, an invoice service handles currency conversion and fees far more cleanly than a direct bank transfer, and you can price the processing cost into the quote instead of absorbing it. Check with your accountant about how you report that income.
Read the signs of a stalled project
Late approvals, new requests that were never in the quote, and silence after the sketch are the three warnings artists notice too late. Answer them early, in writing, and keep the answer short. A one-line email confirming the current scope and the current invoice date does more than a long conversation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much deposit should I take for my first art commission?
Take 50% of the total price and hold the balance until final approval. Early on, that higher percentage also filters out clients who are only browsing, which matters more than the money. Once you have a handful of clients who paid on time, you can drop to 30 or 40% for small repeat work without much risk.
Should an art commission deposit be refundable?
Treat the deposit as non-refundable once materials are ordered, and say so in writing. To soften it for cautious clients, offer a short refund window, roughly seven days after payment, before any work begins. Some sellers run it that way and it removes most of the friction without giving up the position later.
When should I ask for full payment upfront?
Ask for the full amount when the project is large, when the client needs the work on an urgent deadline, when the piece will be licensed commercially or exclusively, or when the start date is close and you must buy costly materials immediately. Small digital work rarely justifies it.
What if a client says they cannot pay a deposit?
Offer two alternatives rather than one: a reduced deposit that still covers your material costs, or a smaller scope that fits a single payment at delivery. If neither works, walking away is reasonable. Clients who cannot fund the first part of a project are rarely the ones who settle the second part on time.
Do milestone payments replace the deposit?
They usually sit alongside it. The deposit reserves the slot and covers early costs, while a milestone is triggered by something the client can see, like an approved sketch. For long projects with a visible middle stage, a 40/30/30 split works well. For quick work, a plain 50/50 split is easier to manage.
What payment method should I use for art commissions?
An invoice-based method such as PayPal invoices or a Stripe payment link works best for most artists, because it gives you a clear record of the cleared date and looks professional. For international clients it also handles currency conversion and fees more cleanly than a direct bank transfer.
Start with the smallest useful change: put a deposit percentage and a stage-based cancellation ladder in writing, then send your next commission request using the standard script above. Fifty percent is a defensible default, but the number that protects your studio is the one that covers your materials before you have to ask again.
