How Should Artists Accept Transactions And Deliver Artwork To Clients?

I don't know how they feel secure - but NEVER send your art before you have money IN your bank or hand - cash - which means if they pay by any method other than cash - you make sure the "paper" is good FIRST. Of course - if it's your mother - perhaps you might give HER a break - and be willing to get the money later.

Maxwell, If you sell a print on FAA it is taken care of automatically by FAA, if someone wants to buy an original from you they will contact you directly, get paid by them with PayPal and then and only then ship the product to them

PS: using PayPal is about as secure as the buyer can get with on line transaction payments - if you read over the merchant account guidelines - you either refund - or the buyer could do a charge back if they used a credit card - I think. I've sold art and received money through PP. As for how you put in the PP button on your account - that you should as PP about.

Create a contract for purchasing.
That is the clients security.
When your contact information is available on a legal document, people are far more comfortable.

Receive payment first and send a PayPal invoice.

Always get paid first.

Can you imagine Amazon.com or Nike.com sending out merchandise before receiving payment? Of course not!

Let your clients know that their payment is securely handled (through PayPal, for instance), then proceed like any other business would. That includes having a 'Terms of Service' (if you're selling independently) which clearly spells out your shipping and return policies.

Also, be ware of scams. A popular scam against artists is to send a personalized email complimenting one or two specific art pieces and mentioning their titles. They offer to pay, usually not by PayPal, but some of the scammers DO use PayPal to seem more legitimate. They say they have their own moving company to transport their art, so no need to worry about shipping. They may or may not send you more than the amount you expected and want you to refund the difference. Now, if you have happily shipped off your original, you discover the check bounces or the credit card payment is reversed through PayPal and you are out both the money and your artwork.

PayPal's seller protection has strict requirements to protect both buyers and sellers from fraud. One of those requirements is that the seller's (your) paypal address is in the U.S. Another is that you ship to a verified address and using a shipper that can provide proof of delivery or proof of shipment. That means FedEx, UPS, USPS, etc., NOT a random moving company that the buyer arranged. That is almost guaranteed to be fraudulent. You can read about PayPal's seller protection here:

https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/security/seller-protection

Hope this is helpful!

Thanks for the advice guys, I have a commission piece I have to send. Now I know what to do :)