dA points/Commissions/''Why can't I sell?!''/FA

"Welcome to my world Ninja. Even when I did put NSFW stuff on Furaffinity, I got nothing... so yeah, I don't know what the heck is going on between you and me. I have the same issue. I've also tried all kinds of sites and yield next to nothing except dA I get some stuff here and there. I don't know what I seem to be missing to get the right attention. It feels like a secret that others know and we're just like grasping at them being all like "tell me your damn secrets!"....
But yeah... you and I need to find some better luck around here so we can get some income back in our lives. Let me know if you need help with anything... can't provide anything financial, but maybe there's something else. I'm sure you're just as frustrated as I am in this department, wanting to know what the heck people want from us. I even do polls to ask and when I do what has been top rated in the polls, I still get nothing. T___T What are we doing wrong Ninja?"
~Aminirus

--------------------------------------------------------

"I'm pretty sure it's just a luck of the draw anywhere you go. 
It seems this place in particular bends more to trends because a lot of the time I see the top sellers being either 'closed species' or fan art of what's popular (for AGES it was 'My little pony' then 'Steve universe' and as always 'Pokemon' lol Anything anime as well) so there's just a lot of trends that pay out bigger budgets than regular artwork. 
It's also a factor of a lot of younger people who do not have the funds to spend or aren't allowed to due to parental units not wanting them to, which is fine because parents should keep an eye on things. 
There's also the factor of a lot of college/Uni students who are no financed enough to have the free funds to spend as well. 
However, the main reason is likely because of lack of funds on both ends. This place just isn't the best place to sell unless you are supremely popular/well known or you draw what is trendy/popular.

Closed Species and such are a huge deal and those that can sell theirs for 300$+ are on the right end of the market for sure! That's how much art should sell for, but unfortunately dA's value of the dollar is just shit lol
It's not the members fault entirely as well, dA's points system really screwed the commissions market completely because they don't know how to calculate money vs. fake money values (ie. people think 500pts = like 50$-500$ or something lol).
Points were/are fine for on-site merch but once that's gone it's of little value elsewhere online so it's just basically useless. People are working for on site bonuses but it devalued the 1$ even more. 
They're also essentially working for free since can't be used anywhere else and you have to wait 14 days to transfer their meager earnings to Paypal and to top it off you lose part of them to dA's system 'for using their widget'. 

This site is just very lopsided in sales. For instance there's times when I can sell things really well and then there's a long expanse of just dry-spells where people show interest but don't ever really buy. They ask about stuff but the don't want it or can't afford it. High hopes for naught more or less, y'know? 
Art isn't necessarily my primary source of income but it's something I figure I'm skilled at enough to be able to use it to help fund life, I've been doing it for  20+ years now so it has to pan out for something other than just a waste of time and money. I enjoy it but it becomes less easy when life hits you in the face with a croquet mallet with bills, work, food, petrol, etc. 
People want art, but they want it for free or for their budget (and for many that's below $20-$40 in the market). dA supports this kind of market because a vast majority of it's members are between the ages of (12)13-18yo. and have little money to spend of spare on anything that's not necessity, as I said previously. 
As for FA -- I won't draw porn unless it's for a friend for a laugh and I certainly don't do furry porn (not my thing). I used to years ago because it was the only way to get noticed on FA but then I started getting known for it and I found out that was not something I did want to known for :C I did far more SFW stuff but a lot of people wanted more NSFW and many times they wanted some pretty questionable stuff; stuff I didn't feel comfortable drawing :I 
FA is called 'a mature site full of more mature people than dA' but that's not entirely true. Yes, it's a bit more mature than dA in that boobs, bums, and genitals are't 'boo hiss!!' as they are on dA but it's less mature in that it's known for being a more pornographic based website that caters more to furries and the furry fandom over anything else. Thing is FA, like dA, goes by a popularity scale as well and more popular/well known artists sell a ton while lesser known artists sell very little if at all. 
I never used to believe it but it is all about popularity and what you draw over anything else these days... Wasn't always like that but these days it very much is. 

So you see we aren't doing anything wrong other than putting too much hope in a market that is just not anywhere near as lucrative as it was or should be. Freelancing is hard work and most of the time unless you can find a good niche or even fit into a company somewhere, you're going to wind up poorer than you will make ends meet. 
Art just doesn't sell anymore unless it panders to a crowd (as awful as that sounds, I mean it nicely I promise) and unless you pander to that crowd it's just going to be harder. 
It's a luck of the draw in that you have to catch someone's attention enough in that they want to not only have a piece of your work but want to pay you for it. That's how it's always has been, but it's harder now because of many factors."

Just about sums it up. 

In case you were wondering why it's so damn hard to sell on places like dA/Furaffinity. 

The points system royally screwed us over. It was okay when they had merch and clothing but with that gone the only thing you can 'buy' with dApoints is a subscription (and even that's messed up) or you can 'buy' art... 
FA (Furaffinity) depends solely on popularity or if you can find a niche somewhere on that site, unless you draw pornographic images -- then you're sure to draw in a crowd. 
A lot of other websites aren't as well known nor do they draw in a big enough crowd to have an expansive enough audience where sales and selling is somewhat more normal. The value of the dollar plus the value of art has dropped significantly over the last few years, and even if you do draw 'trendy' you suddenly become 1 of 10,000 all doing the same thing and then suddenly you're just another goldfish in an already overfilled pond; unnoticed. 

So if you're sitting there wondering why it's so hard to sell on dA and FA... this is kind of what I've surmised over observations and personal explanation/experience. 

Lack of funds but also a lack of understanding.