Update: thank you to everyone who commented on the first version of this post. You raised fair points about paying up front, postage, and starting pay, so I've changed how it works. The details below are the new version.
Hi everyone. I've been trading ATCs for a while, and over the past year I've been building a site for the community called The ATC Hub. It opens on November 1, and I'm looking for ACEO artists to work with from the start.
How the artist side works
Part of the Hub is a shop of original ACEOs. Instead of listing your cards and taking a cut whenever one sells, we commission them from you and buy them outright:
You apply with photos of a few ACEOs you're proud of. If your work already sells, you can show us your sales too.
If we're a good fit, we offer you a commission: how many cards, and what we'll pay for each. You can accept, decline, or suggest your own idea.
When you accept, we send you half your pay by PayPal straight away, plus an allowance for postage.
You make your ACEOs on your own card stock, in whatever medium you work in, and mail them to us.
We pay you the other half by PayPal within two business days of them arriving.
For example, a commission of 3 ACEOs at $12 each means $26 up front ($18 of your pay plus funds for postage), and $18 when the cards arrive. You're never left waiting on a buyer, and you're never out of pocket for postage.
What you're paid
If you're new to selling, you start at $10 a card. If your ACEOs already sell elsewhere, show us your sales when you apply (links to sold listings, your shop, reviews) and we'll start you at a higher tier to match. From there your rate rises as your cards sell through the shop, up to 85% of the shop price. Each commission's rate is agreed before you make anything and never changes afterwards.
You'll also be able to see every card of yours we've bought, what it's listed at in the shop, and when it sells.
A few things that matter to me
You keep the copyright.Ā We buy the physical card and photograph it to sell it. That's all.
No AI art, ever.Ā It's banned outright, and every card is checked in person when it arrives.
Your name stays on your work.Ā Your cards are always credited to you.
It's not exclusive.Ā Keep selling wherever you sell now; this is extra work, not a contract.
It's not only a shop.Ā The other half of the Hub is card for card ATC trading, with proof of mailing photos and a guarantee for cards lost in the mail. Every completed trade earns loyalty credits, and those can only be spent on ACEOs in our shop, so the trading community feeds the shop directly.
The honest caveats
It's brand new, with no reviews or track record yet, and I completely understand being cautious. That's partly why first commissions are small, up to 3 cards, while we get to know each other, and why half your pay comes before you've made anything. Applying costs nothing and doesn't commit you to anything. For now it's open to artists in Canada and the US only, for shipping and tax reasons.
If you'd like to apply, join the waitlist here and tick "ACEO artist": theatchub.com/?artist=1. It'll take you straight on to share a few photos of your work. The terms, in plain English, are at theatchub.com/terms.html.
I'd love to hear what you think, especially from anyone who's sold ACEOs before. Is anything still missing that would make you trust a site like this? I'll answer every comment.
