Sorry for noobness.

Is there any specific way to safely do it? Or does the buyer have to pay the artist ahead of time and hope for the best?
Clearly I don't yet know the ropes around here, but I was hoping to sell some art.

I hope this is the right forum, many apologies if it's not...

I moved this over to the Information Desk, any questions you have should go into this forum so they can be answered quicker.

As for an answer, I'm not experienced at art dealing, but I have purchased before.

It's really up to you how you want to sell, people have different ways. A simple way would be to receive half of the payment first, then once the art is delivered you receive the other half.

Any reported scamming will be looked into by staff personally.

King's right. It's really up to the seller how they want to do business. Some ask for the gold upfront. Some insist on not sending payment until everything's finished.

Another suggestion, in addition to King's, might be to have an open trade.

The buyer starts a trade with the artist. With our system, if you want to trade gold you have to start the trade with an item first. Afterward, the gold can be added and the item removed.

That would create an open trade. Once the art is finished then both parties can accept the trade.

*hopes he didn't make that too complicated*