Our commission rate for sales is 50%, regardless of whether or not an artist sells exclusively with us.  In fact, we don’t even ask if our artists will be selling exclusively through GameArtPartners.com. Why? We don’t believe any artist should sell exclusively!

Artists have a global marketplace to tap into. So why let one person or one company represent your work?  Is a site like iStockPhoto any more or less capable of delivering a file after a purchase. No. So why should any site penalize their artists for trying to make as much money as possible from their work. The costs are the same to deliver a file to a buyer after a purchase.

Here’s a sampling (as of August 2014) of the rates at similar sites.

iStockPhoto. Default rates:  Non-Exclusive 15%. Exclusive 25%.  Reference.  Those numbers slide up to 20% and 45% if the artist redeems 1.2 million in credits (credits sell for between $1.40-2.00, so the artist would have made over 2 million for iStockPhoto to get those higher end rates).

GraphicRiver – Non-Exclusive 33% Exclusive 50%-70% (based on sales volume)  Reference.

ShutterStock –  20% to 30%  (based on sales volume). Reference

GraphicStock – Lump sum for art, no per-download rate.  Reference (hey artists, that might be worth looking into!)

Here at Game Art Partners we would like to see ourselves more like an affiliate for selling your work. Affiliate programs pay a commission to whoever was the “sales lead”, tracked via a URL and browser cookie typically.

Let us sell for you. If you created a website tomorrow to sell your own work, and your e-commerce solution offered an affiliate program, what would you set the rate at? Keep in mind you want to attract affiliates, but also make a fair amount for yourself. Does 50% sound fair? That line of thinking is how we came across our rate.


Game Art Partners has also been designed to be a gateway for developers to connect with artists. So aside from creating a mutually beneficial environment for ourselves and for our artists, the long term advantage for sellers is establishing a connection with developers. Assuming you want to excel your freelance career, this is a great place to do so.

Related reading: Pricing Options, Preparing your art, Submitting Gallery Images, Featured Images