How to Sell Commissions on Discord (Without Getting Scammed)

7 min read · Updated November 2026

Artists, designers, bot developers and editors take commissions in Discord every day, usually in DMs, with the price buried in chat and the files sent before the money arrives. Here's a simple system that keeps every order in one place, gets you paid first, and gives you a record if a buyer ever disputes a payment.

Why DM commissions go wrong

• No clear agreement. The price, what's included and the deadline are scattered across 200 messages. When something's missing, it's your word against theirs.
• Files before money. You send the finished work, the buyer goes quiet, and the second payment never comes.
• "I paid, check again." Screenshots can be faked. Without a clear "seller confirmed it arrived" step, you end up arguing.
• Chargebacks months later. A buyer disputes a payment and you have nothing organised to show what was agreed and delivered.

A commission system that protects you

Whatever tools you use, these five rules fix almost all of it:

1. One ticket per order. Every commission gets its own private channel with you and the buyer, not a DM thread mixed with everything else.
2. A written quote the buyer accepts. Price, what's included, how many revisions, the timeline and your terms, in one message the buyer clicks to accept.
3. Part of the payment upfront. A deposit (often 30–50%) or a fixed starting fee before you begin, so time-wasters filter themselves out.
4. Files only after full payment. Show previews or watermarked versions while you work. The final files are released once everything is paid.
5. A short problem window. After delivery the buyer has a few days to report anything that doesn't match the quote. After that, it's accepted.

Set it up with Nodariq (free)

Nodariq's ticket bot has commissions built in, on every plan. Payments go straight to you; Nodariq never touches the money and takes no cut.

1. Add Nodariq from nodariq.net and set up a ticket panel (the ✨ Quick setup in the dashboard does it in one click). Add a "Commission request" ticket type with a short form: what they want, budget and deadline.
2. In the dashboard, open Growth → 🎨 Commissions. Add how buyers pay you (PayPal, Cash App and/or Venmo), your upfront amount (a percentage, a fixed fee or the full price), included revisions, the problem window and your terms.
3. When a request comes in, run /store quote in the ticket with the price and what's included. The buyer sees your quote with an Accept button, then your payment details and an I've sent it button.
4. You get a ping with Received / Not received yet. Only you can confirm, so nobody unlocks anything with a fake screenshot.
5. Post progress with /store commission action:update and a preview image.
6. Hand over the work with /store deliver (files up to 10 MB, or a link). If the rest isn't paid yet, the files stay locked and the buyer sees a button to pay the remaining amount. Once you confirm it, they get a Get the files button.

Every step (quote, acceptance, each payment, delivery, download) is recorded with who did it and when.

Taking payments safely

• Use the right payment type. Most payment apps have rules for selling things. PayPal, for example, expects sales to go through Goods & Services rather than Friends & Family. Read your app's seller terms so your account doesn't get limited.
• Ask for the order number in the payment note. Nodariq's quote asks buyers to write "Commission #12". It makes payments easy to match and shows what the money was for.
• Confirm in the app, not from a screenshot. Check the money actually arrived before pressing Received.
• Keep the record. If a buyer disputes a payment, the quote they accepted, your updates and the delivery are your evidence. Keep the ticket transcript.
• Refunds are between you and the buyer, through the app they paid with. Decide your refund rules up front and put them in your terms.

Write terms people actually read

Short beats long. Three or four lines on the quote itself work better than a page nobody opens. For example:

• "The deposit isn't refundable once sketches start."
• "Two rounds of changes are included; more are $5 each."
• "Personal use only. Commercial use costs extra."
• "Report problems within 3 days of delivery."

In Nodariq, these go in the Your terms box and appear on every quote, right above the Accept button.

Questions

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