- "What is 17Cats.Com?"
In a nutshell, the site is simply a place for artists to organize and manage commissions. We also provide a place for people to come and see who is available for commissions. What kind of artwork? Anything. Paintings, Sculptures, Woodwork, Sketches, Cartoons, Comics, Manga, Knitting... If you are an artist and create custom works, you are welcome here.
- How much does it cost to join?
Nothing. The entire site is free. No memberships, no subscriptions, no cost. We -do- accept donations. Artists listed below are all sorted randomly, there is no favoritism or gaming of the system. You do not get preferred listings for donating money.
- But why '17Cats'?
Coming up with a name for a site is a Difficult Problem. (answer 1) My wife and I volunteer for a Cat Shelter. We live in a house with more than a few cats. "17" is a prime number under 20 that is sufficiently unusual as to seem random. (answer 2) Between the cats we've adopted as our own, fostered temporarily, or lived out the rest of their days in Hospice care here, we had in one month, 17 cats.
- What if I have a problem with [X]?
The quickest method for handling problems is to e-mail me (rdewalt @ gmail.com). I used to take bug reports on other sites via AIM, but now, to keep everything straightforward, I request e-mail, so I can have a record. There will soon be a content form for posting comments/bugs to me directly.
- Why is nobody submitting requests?
Here is the BIG issue with the system around 17Cats. We can only advertise so much. I have banners running on projectwonderful, but they can only drive so much traffic our way. The -Real- issue is in how Commissions happen. While designing the site, I asked questions of not only several artists, but also several people I know who are regular commissioneers. When someone is going to Commission an artist, across the board every person I talked to, they said they Already had the artist in mind that they wanted to request. The number of people who "Spontaneously Commissioned" is so small that it is statistically zero. 17Cats cannot guarantee people will commission you. That is up to -you- the artist to tell people that your commissioning is available through our site. We do what we can, by making the site as streamlined, fast, and simple. We want our site to not be a speedbump between you and a sale. (This is why there is no Ajax, or Flash, or Java.)
- Allowed Art Styles?
There is no limit to what an artist can advertise here for. I do not do 'You can only post here if you draw $genre.' limitations. In fact, you do not even have to draw. I know people who knit, sew, do metalwork, write, compose music... There are absolutely No limitations on what content can be advertised for.
- Allowed Content?
Inside your Commission Information page, you can link to, or display images of Anything. The site does not place -any- content restrictions. Naturally, anyone using the site to post "Illegal Images" will be taken care of on a case by case basis. Do I need to detail out what images you shouldn't post?
- Posting Images?
How do you post images? Inside your Commission Info, you can use the IMG tag to link to offsite images.
- Payment Methods
Right now, the site is designed only to support Paypal. This is not to say that between Artist and Customer, you cannot agree upon a non-paypal method. There is no rule that says you -cannot-. If you know of an online payment processor that you would like for me to support, please use the contact me link to inform me.
- Why Paypal?
I know there are many detractors out there that use Paypal. However, I've been a member for -quite- a very long time, and personally have not had the problems that others have stated. That said, I do not -require- anyone to use paypal to use this site. I just have code written up to integrate everything an artist would need to use.
- Payment Tracking
"Hey wait, how did you know he paid me?" In truth, when a buyer presses the "pay now" button, 17cats tells paypal "notify me when this is paid". So when the Buyer sends you money for a commission, the site is told so it can flag the records, and keep track of everything for you.
- So what do you keep?
Right now, very little as far as payments are concerned. I track the transaction ID and the amount. I do not care about names, addresses, anything. I never see credit card numbers, bank details, nothing. And I only track the Transaction ID so that you can cross reference your paypal statements with the payment history. And yes, there will be a feature soon to wipe out your history.
- Split Payents?
Right now, the system is only set up to take care of commissions in two seperate payments. A "Deposit" and a "Final Payment". If you need to do more than that with a commission, let me know and I will help facilitate it.
- How much do you get?
Nothing. I don't get a dime from -any- of the payments made from a Buyer to an Artist. The site works as just an arrangement point. We do not touch the money -at all-.
- Donations?
Yes, we do accept donations. We are thankful for everyone who sends even the smallest amount.
- About Us;
17Cats is a collaborative work of art in its own regard. I (Ryan) wrote all the code and did all of the database backend work, as well as wrote the ustream and paypal interface pieces. However, the site would not have been out the door as fast as it was without the ideas, inspiration, testing, and general awesomeness of Dave, Jonas, Rose, Marmar, and most importantly, my amazing wife.
- How can I help?
So you'd like to help make the site better? Great! E-mail me, and let me know your ideas. I'm always looking for people to help advertise, draw up graphics for the site, donate time as well as money to help us out. As always, contact me, I'll be glad to talk over ideas.
|
(in Beta)
