A must read for any tattooer or collector. Feel free to share this. How much would this cost? I love talking about tattoos and answering questions. I love discussing details, ideas, and techniques. One of my favorite parts of doing tattoos is hearing the stories and emotions that are the inspiration for the ink. It helps fuel my imagination and let me know how to further help everyone that comes to me. However I thought that one subject needs to be addressed. Each day I get probly ten to thirty people that contact me over the phone and social media about how much a tattoo may cost. I fear that im never much help in these situations so I decided to post on how we determine prices for tattoos. Each tattoo is priced depending on how long it will take. Tattoos that are more detailed or more realistic are more because they take much longer, not because it takes more skill. We do not charge by the color like many assume. With more time comes more cost of supplies. So yes a heavy color tattoo is more expensive because it takes much longer than say a black and grey tattoo of the same size. For example; alot of people assume that tribal black tattoos are cheaper due to only using one color. This is far from the truth. The average tribal takes many sessions. In order to get a tattoo as black as it can possibly get it takes a few applications. As any tattoos heal they will lighten and small lighter spots will show after healing that is impossible to see while tattooing. So each tribal will usually need a touch up after healing no matter what (I include this in the original price). Many high color tattoos are the same way. With tribal, to get the most saturation possible takes much more time and care than a tattoo of high detail such as a portrait. Because of this, tribal if fact is probly the most costly type of tattoo to get per square inch. Other factors that go into tattoo pricing is your skin type. There are seven different skin types and density on the average. Each person will carry about three of these types. Some areas are easier to work on and some are harder (more time consuming). Some tattoos cover many of these skin types. For example, a tattoo the wraps the upper arm will be one type on the underside, one type on the outside, and one type on the back. This slows down the process because each area will require a different speed and technique making it very difficult to apear seemless. Size (time) being the largest determining factor in tattoo pricing is very complex. If three people all want matching tattoos, all three the exact same design, shading, and color may likley all be different prices. At six foot three and three-hundred and twenty pounds, my upper arm tattoo will be much much bigger than say an arm tattoo on my apprentice Tabitha @ ninety pounds and five foot high. So even if u send me a picture of your tattoo with the exact inches in size that u want it, it is still impossible to exactly price without seeing you in person. Not acounting for everyones judgment of an inch is different. No one actually measures. Ive had people call in and price a three inch tattoo then upset when they show up and its higher cause their tattoo is really more like six inches. Many of the people I tattoo on tell me stories or complaints about previous artist or shops and the largest complaint I hear is that the tattoo was higher than priced originally. I wont be that guy. If I give someone a price then im going to stick to it. A few times ive made the mistake of pricing over the phone and the tattoo costing up to three times more than originally stated. Because I wont go back on a pricing I end up doing the ink at the original price and it doesnt even cover supplies let alone anything left for me as the artist. So to avoid this I simply dont price any other way than in person now. Cover up pricing is even more difficult. Each cover up has to be hand drawn. In the 18 years ive tattooed, I have never seen anyone bring in a picture and it work as a cover up. Not one time. With that in mind, each cover up provides its own challenges in pricing. To do a cover up the most effective way possible I have to take a picture of your tattoo and print it off at real size, then draw on the picture to see what I can turn it into. Cover ups will always be much bigger than the original tattoo but this can vary. To turn an old one into something specific may take a few extra inches or can tripple it in size, many cases even more. The best bet for a cover up is to come in with a written list, not pictures, of six to ten things u might like for a tattoo so I have options. Not every idea will work. Usually on a list of ten things only one of them will actually work so the more the better. So if your looking for a cover up come in armed with a list and an idea of a budget that u want to spend. No sense me spending a week drawing up an epic sleve when u want to spend $200 tops. Its much easier to start on the same page. So as much as I would love to price each tattoo on the fly, this simply isnt realistic. Each time we think about a tattoo, we should spend as much time thinking about a budget that fits each of us. The easiest way to get what your looking for and within a price is to stop in with an idea and a budget in mind. U never go shopping for anything without knowing what u want to spend. Why should tattoos be any different. Now if u send me a pic and a budget I can tell u if its in the right ballpark or not but thats about it without being infront of me. Just keep in mind; do u want a Corvette or a Chevette. Why are tattoos so expensive? Good tattoos arent cheap and cheap tattoos arent good.everyone wants a good deal but a tattoo is not where u want to go cheap. A cheap tattoo is a bad tattoo period. Anyone that does cheap tattoos will not take away money from themselves. So how do they do it cheaper when everyone else is so high priced? Simple, cheap supplies. Cheap inks means that the tattoo will last a fraction of the time and fade quickly. So u will be paying way more in the long run. Would u rather get it once or pay to have it redone several times in your life? Cheaper needles are another way people cut corners. Low quality needles mean less detail, faster fading and ten times more pain. You do the math. If I price a tattoo for $100 and your buddy will do it for $50, ill bet that he and I put the same anount in our pockets. So who stuffers? Dont be a sucker. You get what u pay for. Period. Most of what a tattoo cost goes into quality supplies. The average quality tattoo machine can cost up to $500-1000 each. Many tattoos take three or four machines all tuned differently to get the desired effects needed. Needles can cost between $5-$10 each. Here is a list of everything that a $100 average tattoo has to use and account for. Two tattoo machines atleast Up to 4 needles One tube per needle Vasoline used in tattooing Plastic caps for the pigment Plates for the pigments Pigments, usually atleast 6-8 colors Plastic cups for water Plastic bags for covering equipment Soap Water Paper and pencils for the art Materials for the stencil Stencil transfer liquid Electricity Plastic spray bottles Hours of sterilization for tools Paper towels A percentage to the shop Rent And a few other things im sure im forgetting Then last, a small portion for the artist pay People forget that this is our only job and we have to live off what we do. Just because we are charging $100 does not mean thats what we get. In fact unless your a famous tattooer charging hundreds per hour, we usually make less than minimum wage in pocket. Even famous tattooers arent rich. Usually we do it for the joy it brings us. Its a hard life and we get very little reward in return. Just remember, your not paying for the tattoo. Your paying for quality supplies and years of training and experience. So please just stop in for a price. Its ten times easier on both of us. Rich
Posted on: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 15:15:49 +0000
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