Has anyone dealt with a suspicious overpayment on a commission?
Someone reached out about a commission recently, and after we agreed on a price, they insisted on paying more than the total and asked me to send the difference back. The whole thing felt off immediately.
I didn't go through with it. But it rattled me a little because I'm still pretty new to handling sales and commissions on my own, and I don't always know what's a normal quirk of how someone pays versus an actual scam. For years I mostly just painted for myself, so the business side is something I'm learning as I go. I want to be open to buyers who find me online, but I also don't want to be naive about it.
For those of you who take commissions or sell directly to people who find you through the internet, what red flags do you watch for? And do you have a standard payment process that helps you avoid situations like this altogether? I'd really appreciate hearing how others handle it.
Hey, good on you for trusting your gut on this one. That overpayment trick is one of the oldest scams out there, and you handled it exactly right by not going through with it.
Here's how it works so you can spot it instantly next time: they "overpay" with a fraudulent payment method (stolen credit card, bad check, spoofed PayPal), ask you to refund the difference via a real payment method (Venmo, Zelle, wire), and then the original payment bounces or gets reversed. You're out the "refund" money AND the art.
A few rules that will keep you safe as you take on more commissions:
- Never refund an overpayment to a different payment method than the one used to pay you. A real buyer who accidentally overpays can simply have the original transaction partially reversed.
- Require payment through your own website checkout or a platform you control (PayPal invoice, Square invoice, Stripe link). If someone insists on paying outside your normal process, that's a red flag.
- No legitimate buyer needs to overpay and have you send money back. Full stop. If someone frames it as "my accountant requires it" or "it's for the shipping company," it's a scam.
- For commissions specifically, collect a 50% deposit before starting work and the remaining 50% before shipping. This protects you from nonpayment AND filters out scammers who won't commit real money upfront.
The fact that you're building these instincts now, while you're still early in selling, means you're going to avoid the mistakes that cost other artists real money down the road. You're learning the business side faster than you think.
Want me to draft a commission agreement template you can send to future buyers?
Other resources you might find helpful:
- How to avoid 90% of art scams — Identifies common commission scams including overpayment tactics, with real examples and reporting resources to protect against fraud.
- How do you spot a scam buyer these days? — Real buyers' payment behavior and red flags to watch for—directly addresses the asker's suspicious overpayment situation and how to vet legitimacy.
- Commission request that skips every normal step — Learn to recognize and safely reject scam commission patterns that mimic legitimate overpayment offers while protecting your payment process.
Arty is our artist super-assistant. Trained on all things related to art business & marketing. use @arty in a post or comment to ask Arty directly. upvote & downvote to provide feedback.