Ways to Verify a Commissioner is 18+?

[mudzy]

Sorry in advance if this has been discussed before. I couldn't find any threads in which it was.

Hi all. So, cutting to the chase, I've never had to verify the age of a commissioner. All of my NSFW commissioners have been close friends or acquaintances that I can confidently know the age of. However, I just opened May commissions today and I've gotten an inquiry from someone new who seems...suspicious.

I know I shouldn't judge peoples' ages by how they act or their writing/art skill, but looking at their page, they just seem to be...super childish. They talk/type, draw, and interact with other people like a pre-teen or tween, just budding into the fandom, and it just seems a bit off to me. I'm hoping that my "High" prices or me giving them a heads-up that I'll need age verification will scare them off if they're a minor, but there's always the possibility that it won't.

Does anyone have any tips on how I can verify a commissioner's age without asking for intrusive things such as ID, legal name/birthdate, etc? are there any sites i can send them to that will verify their age and provide me with the results? If there isn't, how can I go about denying this commission without seeming rude or biased?

 

[SLCMedia]

First things first, you always reserve the right to refuse service to someone for any reason you think is appropriate, especially if you have reason to believe they're underage.

Unfortunately, there's no surefire way of verifying someone's age. You can have them send a photo of an ID and allow them to black out a certain amount of personal information, but past a certain point, they can use someone else's ID.

What it comes down to is making it difficult enough to lie about their age, so you're comfortable, while not making it so personal on their part to where you're comparing photos to IDs.

Though, again, there's no surefire way and if someone wants it bad enough and is savvy enough, they can find a convincing way to lie.

If you end up denying their commission, my suggestion is to explain that, no offence to them, but you feel like they're underage, and to ask if they have any means by which they can verify their age. If they're willing to volunteer their ID, legal name, birthdate, etc., than that might resolve things right there. Otherwise, once again, you always reserve the right to refuse service to someone for any reason you think is appropriate.

 

[PercyD]

One way I verify ages for NSFW is that I ask for their f-list.
F-list is pretty good for screening for underaged users. They have to be, they are certified restricted to adults.
If they start making excuses about why they don't have an f-list then, probably, they are underaged. I have rejected someone who was actually underaged this way.

You can also ask them other questions like what they major/majored in in college, if they went to college. Usually people who are of age have a whole opinion on that, even if they didn't go to college. Those who are underaged typically are still figuring it out and probably won't give you a very indepth answer.

 

[Asher Grey]

One way I verify ages for NSFW is that I ask for their f-list.
F-list is pretty good for screening for underaged users. They have to be, they are certified restricted to adults.
If they start making excuses about why they don't have an f-list then, probably, they are underaged. I have rejected someone who was actually underaged this way.

You can also ask them other questions like what they major/majored in in college, if they went to college. Usually people who are of age have a whole opinion on that, even if they didn't go to college. Those who are underaged typically are still figuring it out and probably won't give you a very indepth answer.

I've never even heard of f-list. For me, the ID part is the most effective way, as well as asking about their income.

My main input, though, is that having a paypal account is not sufficient, and it amazes me how many people say they'll draw NSFW stuff as long as someone has an account on it. The youngest person I've known with their own was 11. Yeah, it goes against their ToS, but I had it as a minor and never had an issue with it.

 

[PercyD]

I've never even heard of f-list. For me, the ID part is the most effective way, as well as asking about their income.

My main input, though, is that having a paypal account is not sufficient, and it amazes me how many people say they'll draw NSFW stuff as long as someone has an account on it. The youngest person I've known with their own was 11. Yeah, it goes against their ToS, but I had it as a minor and never had an issue with it.

Well, now you know f-list is a thing. =u=/
If someone is found out to be underaged, they block them right away. If someone hasn't heard of it, whatever, but usually people use that for listing kinks n such for NSFW things. I just use it as an option.

Yea, Paypal will swipe your money if you breathe the wrong way. They don't really care about validation. Thats why I use Google Pay whenever possible tbh.

 

[Fallowfox]

I didn't know F-list screened ages. I know somebody who is in their early twenties now, but created an F-list when they were 15.
At the time I encouraged them to delete it, but they wouldn't. :\

 

[PercyD]

I didn't know F-list screened ages. I know somebody who is in their early twenties now, but created an F-list when they were 15.
At the time I encouraged them to delete it, but they wouldn't. :\

They don't screen but they do actively ban people who are reported underaged.
In that case, you could have reported them and they would have their account banned.
They can obviously make another account , spoof their IP but at that point they can't interact with the community the same way.

 

[Fallowfox]

They don't screen but they do actively ban people who are reported underaged.
In that case, you could have reported them and they would have their account banned.
They can obviously make another account , spoof their IP but at that point they can't interact with the community the same way.

I threatened to make an account and report them, but never did because when I took a look at f-list it made me hella uncomfortable!

But it's good to know they at least try to keep teenagers off the site.

 

[Miles Marsalis]

Honestly, the best way to screen out of underage commissioners besides asking for ID, which poses its own problems, is to use the forum to do commissions. Most users here seemed to be screened pretty well and I don't get the sense that anyone is lying about their age. The forum also seems to be more conducive to be reeling in business that passively waiting for commissions to drop in your lap on the main art site.

F-list is pretty good for screening for underaged users. They have to be, they are certified restricted to adults.

I do not have an F-List.
However, I can and can not see how this would work.

 

[PercyD]

I threatened to make an account and report them, but never did because when I took a look at f-list it made me hella uncomfortable!

But it's good to know they at least try to keep teenagers off the site.

Don't ever be afraid to report someone. In that particular system, it depends on people putting in reports. Silence is just another form of affirmation that whats happening is okay.
Beyond protecting minors, having minors in kinky spaces just makes me feel ULTRA uncomfortable. Its better to report someone and the proof of burden is on someone who can just prove that they are of age to get their account unlocked then letting some minor into kinky spaces. A minor who goes into a kinky space doesn't have a clear understanding of boundaries. Thats why they think they have a right to be there. Thats the problem.

 

[PercyD]

Honestly, the best way to screen out of underage commissioners besides asking for ID, which poses its own problems, is to use the forum to do commissions. Most users here seemed to be screened pretty well and I don't get the sense that anyone is lying about their age. The forum also seems to be more conducive to be reeling in business that passively waiting for commissions to drop in your lap on the main art site.

I do not have an F-List.
However, I can and can not see how this would work.

=u=/ You probably don't rp kinks, maybe. Probably-

 

[Fallowfox]

Don't ever be afraid to report someone. In that particular system, it depends on people putting in reports. Silence is just another form of affirmation that whats happening is okay.
Beyond protecting minors, having minors in kinky spaces just makes me feel ULTRA uncomfortable. Its better to report someone and the proof of burden is on someone who can just prove that they are of age to get their account unlocked then letting some minor into kinky spaces. A minor who goes into a kinky space doesn't have a clear understanding of boundaries. Thats why they think they have a right to be there. Thats the problem.

I agree. Said person is an adult now. If it happened again today, I'd make the account for the sole reason of reporting them.

 

[SLCMedia]

It should be noted that the F-List's "RTA, Restricted To Adults" badge only links to the RTA main webpage instead of a specific verification page. Which, if you're trying to be safe, means that, at best, they do make an effort to keep minors off of the site, but can't be sure all minors are off of the site.

It'd be easy enough for a minor to make an F-List account and fully build a character page, then just lay low and never interact with the community and never get found out that way.

Unless you're willing to go in-depth and really scrutinize the page they send you to and you're confident enough in your ability to sniff out underage people on F-List to make a judgment call based on that, it's just as much of a toss-up as making that call here on FA.

I'd recommend erring on the side of caution here. Quite frankly, not to throw shade at the site or its users (It's a good site and they do what they can to keep it restricted to adults), but if you're already uncomfortable, asking your client for an F-List profile is probably a waste of time. Many perfectly legal-aged people don't have F-Lists, and minors on F-List are only ejected once discovered.

Again, I'd recommend asking them for a way they can verify their age. If they volunteer their ID, etc., then that's one thing and you can go from there. If they don't have a way to verify their age, then you have a right to refuse service if you feel like it'd jeopardize your business.

 

[Ashwolves5]

My advice is if you believe there is a minor using the site and wanting nsfw art is to file a trouble ticket. Unfortunatly, without any ID verification there really is no true way of knowing.

 

[CrookedCroc]

Ask them "Do you like Seinfeld?"
If they say they don't know what Seinfeld is they're underage, if they just say that they don't like it just don't commission them because they have bad taste

 

[Doodle Bunny]

As far as I know, services like Paypal require people to be 18 or older.

 

[SLCMedia]

As far as I know, services like Paypal require people to be 18 or older.

It's very easy for someone under 18 to fake their way into getting a PayPal account.

Like many online services, they're nominally restricted to users 18 and older, but what that really means is that they ban people they find who are under 18, not that they have some way of preventing underage people from using the service.

 

[Kinare]

I'd absolutely just go with your gut on this one and refuse the commission. There is no sure-fire way to tell someone's age online because as many others have pointed out already even the sites that require you to be 18 to sign up can be lied to and they can provide fake IDs. If you don't feel comfortable telling them why, make up something about how you don't feel you can do the commission proper justice or something of the sort.

 

[Asher Grey]

As far as I know, services like Paypal require people to be 18 or older.

You can use that to cover your ass legally, but most people I talk to online in art groups are under 18 and all of them use paypal. Like I said, I know people as young as 11 with their own accounts.

Plus paypal bans/locks accounts over such arbitrary matters(paying for nsfw art through it, asking customers to pay enough to cover the paypal fee, etc) that losing your account isn't even a big deal to folks anymore.

If you draw porn for a minor and someone tries filing a lawsuit, yeah, you can point to that. But as far as moral values go, paypal is no means of age verification.