Frequently asked questions

Email is optional at registration, but strongly recommended for notification emails. If you explicitly enable Email MFA, the same verified address can also receive one-time security codes. Email is not used as your username and cannot recover your account.

Every account starts as a Collector. Artist mode is an optional seller role that unlocks Studio, listings, portfolio, orders and business tools. Activating Artist mode requires a verified MFA method and acknowledgement of the Community & Marketplace Rules.

Artist Pro adds professional seller tools such as expanded active listings, analytics, scheduling, saved replies, profile customization and a monthly Featured YCH benefit. Collector Pro expands the Character Vault and unlocks advanced discovery and saved searches. Current pricing and billing options are shown on the relevant Pro page.

Use a strong unique password and enable MFA. Passkeys/FIDO2 and TOTP are preferred; verified Email MFA is available as a lower-priority option. Staff accounts require TOTP or a passkey. Store recovery codes offline.

Yes. Passkeys use WebAuthn/FIDO2 and can work with compatible YubiKeys, Windows Hello, Touch ID and other platform or hardware authenticators. You can register more than one passkey for redundancy.

Yes. Security → Sessions includes an emergency action that revokes every session, including the browser you are currently using, and signs the account out everywhere.

YCH means “Your Character Here”. You buy or win a predefined pose or composition and the artist adapts it to your character. Listings can be Instant Buy, Auction, Commission Slot or Multi-slot depending on the artist.

Each selected slot can have its own saved OC attached. If you claim several slots, you can assign a different OC to each position, reuse the same OC, or leave individual positions without a saved character. The artist receives the corresponding reference snapshot inside the order workspace.

A Commission Slot reserves custom work from an artist. An Adoptable is a character or design offered under the artist’s stated terms. Always read the listing and the artist’s commission terms before committing.

Auction listings show their end time and current bidding state. The highest valid bid at the end of the auction is handled through the order workflow. A listing may also include a buyout if the artist configured one. For YCH auctions, a winner must respond in the order or start payment within 72 hours. If they give no sign of life at all, the next eligible bidder may automatically be promoted at their own highest bid.

No platform commission is taken by The Hoard on artwork sales between buyers and artists. Artists choose and configure their own payment methods, and those funds go through the artist’s provider rather than through The Hoard.

No. The Hoard is not an escrow service or payment service provider for artwork transactions. It provides the marketplace, order workspace and payment-status tooling, while payment for the artwork is made through the method selected by the artist.

The Hoard collects payment only for its own optional platform services, such as Artist Pro, Collector Pro and paid Featured YCH promotion. These platform purchases are processed through The Hoard’s configured PayPal checkout.

PayPal may offer card or guest checkout depending on your country, device and PayPal account eligibility. The exact payment methods available are displayed by PayPal during checkout.

Paid PayPal Pro subscriptions are recurring until cancelled. You can cancel renewal from the relevant Pro page; access normally remains available through the already-paid billing period unless the subscription is otherwise refunded, reversed or suspended.

Mandatory consumer rights are not waived by these rules. For a billing issue involving a The Hoard subscription or Featured promotion, open a private ticket on the official Discord. The applicable Terms of Use contain the platform billing details.

Artists can publish supported external providers such as PayPal, Lava.top, Boosty and Hipolink, or another suitable HTTPS checkout link. The available options belong to each artist and may vary by country or provider.

It means the artist manually verified a payment received through their own external payment method. That status is different from a payment event automatically verified by an official provider integration.

The Order Workspace keeps the commission thread, supplied references, slot assignments, progress updates, revisions and delivery state together so both participants can follow the same order from purchase to completion.

When you attach a Character Profile, The Hoard snapshots the relevant character information and reference images into the order. Later changes to your Character Vault do not remove the references that were supplied for that order.

When an artist submits work for review or final delivery, the order workflow can be used to request a revision where the commission terms allow it. The artist can then submit an updated WIP or delivery.

Yes. Opening an order conversation from Messages or from the Order Workspace uses the same underlying thread. Live updates, typing indicators and attachments are shared between both views.

Configure any accepted MFA method first, read and acknowledge the Community & Marketplace Rules, then activate Artist mode. Seller access is never enabled automatically at registration.

Yes. Every YCH lives permanently in your YCH Library. Each time you publish it, The Hoard creates an independent publication snapshot, so past sales and orders never rewrite the original YCH.

Yes. Multi-slot listings can use numbers such as #1, #2, #3 or letters such as A, B, C. The last choice is remembered as the artist’s preference for future YCHs and templates.

Yes. Artist settings include commissions open/closed, vacation dates and message, plus listing pause and cancellation controls. Existing orders remain accessible while new work can be paused.

Featured YCH is an optional paid visibility boost for an active YCH. Featured cards are clearly marked and receive additional placement while the boost is active. Artist Pro includes one 24-hour Featured boost per calendar month.

No. A new promotion cannot be purchased or claimed while that YCH already has an active Featured period. The promotion controls unlock again after the current boost ends.

The Character Vault stores reusable OCs and their references so you can attach a character directly to an order instead of re-uploading the same material for every commission. Public visibility is optional per character.

Nothing is deleted. Characters above the Standard quota become locked and unavailable for new public use or order references until the subscription is renewed or the account returns below the free limit. Existing order snapshots remain intact.

Collector Pro unlocks advanced discovery filters and saved searches, including artist-rating, commissions-open, followed-artists, listing-age and delivery-time filters plus additional sorting options.

Featured listings are visibly labelled and can receive additional placement. Organic discovery remains available and explicit user-selected sorting continues to follow the selected sort rather than silently becoming a paid ranking.

The Hoard tries to minimize unnecessary real-world identity data, keeps private workspaces out of public discovery, uses essential cookies rather than advertising cookies, and gives users control over public presence and profile visibility. See the Privacy Policy for the precise data practices.

No. Direct messages, order conversations, private references and deliveries are not part of Explore, public galleries or public profiles unless a participant deliberately republishes content through a public feature.

Yes. Settings → Privacy lets you hide both your online indicator and last-seen timestamp from other users.

Yes. Account deletion is available in Settings. Active or pending paid orders can temporarily block deletion so transaction and order state is not destroyed mid-process. Some minimal records may still be retained where legally or operationally necessary.

Yes. You can control selected public characters and completed commissions, and choose achievements to pin to your showcase. Artist portfolios and active listings are public storefront content while Artist mode is active.

You can pin up to nine unlocked achievements to your public profile showcase. Some achievements are automatic, some are secret, and special distinctions can be awarded by the Owner.

The Community & Marketplace Rules are available at /rules. Artists must acknowledge them before enabling Artist mode, but the rules apply to all users where relevant.

Sexual or sexually suggestive content involving characters depicted or presented as underage must not be published publicly in YCHs, portfolios, public galleries, public OC galleries, thumbnails or other public-facing areas.

The official The Hoard Discord ticket system is the only general support channel. Join the server from /support and open a private ticket. Do not send passwords, MFA codes, recovery codes or payment credentials.

Include your username, the relevant order or listing number when applicable, what you expected to happen, what actually happened, and a screenshot if useful. Never include authentication secrets.