Question: Tattoo etiquette - money

General tattoo discussion

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Angertank
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Wed Apr 01, 2009 12:29 am

If a person is going for a tattoo, has an idea of what they want and has a finite amount of money to spend on it, is it considered rude to say something like, "I want x type of design, and I have $600 to spend - is that enough"?

If that's not the way to bring it up, how would you ask?
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BuS927
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Wed Apr 01, 2009 12:49 am

id tell them what i wanted, let them give me theyre idea of how much it'd cost then say well i only have 600 dollars and see where that gets you.. who knows it might be less then 600..
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Jase71
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Wed Apr 01, 2009 3:16 am

That raises a question I had regarding price. Is there the potential that some tattoosts can go slower, thus jacking up the per-hour charge ? My new pride & joy (oh well, some pride, I'm picking it to bits, there are several thinks I DONT like about how it's been done) was done by a guy who's strokes seemed to be a lot slower than what you might see on a television show (my partner pointed out that "X" artist, when doing my leg, was moving at about 1/2 the speed as those turkeys on LA Ink).

In my case it didn't mater at all for the price aspect, because we clearly agreed on a total value before the first needle was sunk. But fuck, if he could have done it faster, I would have been personally grateful :wink:

Overall, I see no rudeness or disrespect in discussing a total value before the work begins. You agree on what it will cost based on the idea, and if it's mutually agreeable you go ahead.

Of course this is hardly relevant if you're going for some little kanji effort that will see you in & out the door in an hour. But for epic work, its worth coming to an agreement up front, so everyone's on the same page.
Rufus08
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Wed Apr 01, 2009 5:54 am

I think that I would rather an artist takes his time to do the piece rather than to get it done as fast as they can....afterall, this will last a lifetime. Those tattoo shows also don't show you the whole process of getting a tattoo from start to finish. They may go fast for a few minutes while the camera is rolling then slow down when not being filmed.
scape
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Wed Apr 01, 2009 7:26 am

here's a related question... how much do you tip? for a one session job? for a multi session job?
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sidelvar
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Wed Apr 01, 2009 7:31 am

http://www.everytattoo.com/tattooforum/search.php

there have been TONS of posts regarding tipping.
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EvilJay
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Wed Apr 01, 2009 8:54 am

Some artists work slower than others. Some artists hurt more than others. It's just the way they work. Some slower artists prices per/hr reflect it in their price. Some don't.

I wouldnt base much on a Cheezy TV show that finishes an entire backpiece in 30 minutes with commercials....
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buttwheat
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Wed Apr 01, 2009 8:57 am

Angertank wrote:If a person is going for a tattoo, has an idea of what they want and has a finite amount of money to spend on it, is it considered rude to say something like, "I want x type of design, and I have $600 to spend - is that enough"?

If that's not the way to bring it up, how would you ask?
When you are picking your artist don't go by price. But as you are talking about what you want ask them for a quote for the tattoo if it is a bigger piece must artist shouldn't have a problem giving you a quote.
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Gloom
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Wed Apr 01, 2009 12:37 pm

I would say a better way to approach it would be to make the consultation, show them the size and place you want it, and let them give you a quote.

Usually it will be the flat shop rate an hour and they'll tell you how many hours they think it'll take. As many people have said, the time it takes to do your particular tattoo varies on a lot of different factors and it would be pretty difficult to place a flat price on it for those reasons.
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Jase71
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Wed Apr 01, 2009 2:33 pm

EvilJay wrote: I wouldnt base much on a Cheezy TV show that finishes an entire backpiece in 30 minutes with commercials....
Exactly! Neither my missuz nor myself took any real point of reference, considering this shit you see on the TV doesn't even shed blood !

Towards the end of my latest, I bled like a motherfucker apparantly. Not cool for advertising dollar sponsorship
:lol:
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Jase71
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Wed Apr 01, 2009 2:39 pm

Um, although, EvilJay, I should make mention that my post wasn't about the time duration over the whole tatt, but more on how vibrant the artist was with his strokes (let's say in the coloring). How can I put this..... take a 1inch x 1inch area, and sweep a gun over that area in a circular motion. The RPM, if we measure the movement as such, was about 1/3 that of the movement you see in the shyte TV show.

I should really go and check out some people getting work done !?!
scape
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Wed Apr 01, 2009 2:58 pm

Gloom wrote:I would say a better way to approach it would be to make the consultation, show them the size and place you want it, and let them give you a quote.

Usually it will be the flat shop rate an hour and they'll tell you how many hours they think it'll take. As many people have said, the time it takes to do your particular tattoo varies on a lot of different factors and it would be pretty difficult to place a flat price on it for those reasons.
i concur.

And this is exactly what i did. Though, i never once asked how much the final price is going to end up. I was told how much a session costs and about how many it could take to finish my piece... i was told how much each session costs and how long each session was (4 hours). they said a 3/4 sleeve usually takes 4-8 sessions, so i expect the middle ground.

all taht being said, my arm will cost me around $1800 (holy shit, i hadn't done the simple math until now haha) but I'm getting it done at $300 a session and going to one session a month (every three weeks).

I think going into a place and expecting to only spend a certain amount, or only having a certain amount to spend is foolish. You're getting something permanently implanted into your flesh. Take the time and the money to get it done right.

And even if you only have $600 to spend now... two sessions for a larger piece that comes out to around that is going to be better than a rush job
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EvilJay
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Wed Apr 01, 2009 3:09 pm

Jase71 wrote:Um, although, EvilJay, I should make mention that my post wasn't about the time duration over the whole tatt, but more on how vibrant the artist was with his strokes (let's say in the coloring). How can I put this..... take a 1inch x 1inch area, and sweep a gun over that area in a circular motion. The RPM, if we measure the movement as such, was about 1/3 that of the movement you see in the shyte TV show.

I should really go and check out some people getting work done !?!
I know what you're saying, but you can speed up the film in alot of those scenes and make it appear dramatically faster. I dont know that they do this, but when they pass off the whole piece as being done in 30 minutes, I wouldnt doubt that they speed the film up.. Or maybe your artist is just slower..
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hgiles
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Wed Apr 01, 2009 3:34 pm

Image
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Jase71
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Wed Apr 01, 2009 3:40 pm

Quite likely. But I was very interested in he fact that while I was on the bench, there would have been 20 people that came in and got 'done' by the other artist, mostly with little shit. This wasn't even back-to-back clienteile, - in between there were probably about 40 time-wasters that would not return for a session... As for those that did, Some were screamers too, which was funny... this bird came in for a coin-sized work on her ass, and she needed numbing cream to get through it. Um, this was 30 minutes in. WTF ???!??!??!
Anyway, I hope she likes it.
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