Do you tip a tattoo artist?

yes. maybe an extra $50 for one that cheap, 500+ I’d tip $100 or more

If the tattoo is made over the time of several sittings I would tip really great, especially after the first sitting.

Why? Is it my cheap dutch instinct to think that for an hourly rate of 150 bucks he makes enough as it is?

Yes, definitely tip him! My daughter is the process of getting her second tattoo… Because of the detail, she has seen him three times, the last time we were there for about 3 and a half or 4 hours. She gave him 500.00 and 200.00 for a tip.

of course not. pretty sure that 150 quid an hour already contains a healthy profit margin. completely unnecessary.

Trust me… tip the artist. If you have to go back for a touch-up, or the tattoo gets infected, another sitting, whatever the case may be… you’ll want to have tipped your artist, even if you go to the same parlor but see a different artist.

I go to the same guy for all of mine (14 so far), and because I tip him generally about 40%, I get really great prices. So if there’s some time where I’ve been running a bit short, and I don’t tip him wonderfully, he’s cool with it.

$150 an hour is perfectly reasonable for a tattoo, for those that think that amount is sufficient. Unless the artist owns the shop, he only keeps maybe 40% of what he charges, and lots of them have to purchase their own guns and inks to boot.

It’s a good idea. I think you always need to tip someone who does a personal service like that. I always tip my hairdresser or manicurist. I think it’s the same with a tattoo artist.

Always tips the artist! Just because you order a lot of food doesn’t mean you don’t tip the waiter! The artist earns that tip. If you think about what other artists make, the tattoo artist is earning way less than other people who sell their art work.

@poofandmook: Is $150 unreasonable? I pay $100 an hour at my place and we tip about 20 to 30 percent.

@KatawaGrey: Where I live, it’s reasonable. I live pretty close to New York City, where everything, including tattoos, are generally more expensive.

My daughter works at 23rd Street in Oklahoma. That is a tattoo and body piercing place. It is normal to tip the artist, and $50 sounds right for what is being done here.

I tipped mine 30%, and what he did was for ~$100. It’s not a very big tat, but he did a great job.

@KatawaGrey The waiter gets paid less than minimum wage, the tatoo artist gets paid $150 an hour. I would never contemplate tipping someone who I am already paying a substantial hourly rate. I’ve never had a tattoo and have no intention of getting one, but if the etiquette is to tip, I suppose you have to, but that is a stupid set up. When you pay someone directly for a service and pay them that well, what exactly is the point of a tip? I tip underpaid valets, pizza delivery guys, and waiters. I tip my barber who charges $11 for a haircut. I don’t tip someone who makes more in an hour than I do, and I certainly don’t tip anyone more than 20%. The hourly price may be worth it, but it should be sufficient. But don’t take this as advice, do what the experienced tattoo folks say.

@qussnarp: As I stated above, the artist does not necessarily make more an hour than you do. That’s what they have to charge, but that’s not what they get. And 40% of $150 seems like a lot, but when you figure in how many tattoos are actually given by that artist, spread over the course of their day, it’s usually not that much. Plus, like I also stated above, they have to buy their own inks and equipment; lots of places only provide gloves, cleaners, paper towels, etc. Needles, guns, inks, etc. are purchased by the artist.

Still, seems to me that if you are paying an artist by the hour, then that hourly rate should include the value of the artists work and not require a tip. But like I said, what do I know, I think its silly to spend that kind of money on a tattoo. I do think you want your tattoo artist to be worth that kind of money, just that I would never spend my money that way, so when a tip is added on I’m just kind of surprised.

Always Tip your artist!! For a 300 dollar tattoo i would tip about 100.

And usually a tattoo artist can charge 300 for a tattoo but really he will only see half cause the other half goes to the shop. SO TIP!!! They appreciate it!!

Of course. An artist might see 30–40% of that $150 an hour. A lot time, attention, and dedication go into tattooing, especially if it’s good.

that is still 45 to 60 quid an hour. some people would kill for that kind of salary.

@ragingloli: Lots of artists only do a couple hours of actual tattooing. Much of their day is wasted in the prep, drawing, consultation, none of which count toward the hour they’re getting paid for. On slow days, they could only make $40 or $50 a day. They DO NOT get paid nearly what they charge, period.

But they don’t work 8 hours a day. From concept, to design, to the actual inking and retouch takes a lot of time and effort. $60 bucks for all that work is nothing.

Lol, it’s been so long since I got a new tat I don’t even remember, but to follow along with the rest of the people. The artist doesn’t get “work” all the time. The few hours they spent on one person could have been all the work they’ve gotten in a 2 day period. I can almost guarantee that these artist aren’t only making money at the shop though. I’ve been friends with quite a few artists and they usually do side work since they own their own gear and usually charge much less, because they don’t have the over head of the shop.

i wouldn’t tip, but if they do a good job let them know that if you ever decide to get another you’ll be coming back to the same place.

I think that if the culture where you are says to tip, and you get a tattoo done and don’t tip, and yet warn the tattoo artists that you’ll be coming back, you’re setting yourself up for a disaster.

Part of what you’re paying for is not only the labor but the experience and skill. Tattoo artists need both talent and technique. Neither one of those is cheap to come by, and having them both in the same person is rare. People who would kill to be able to charge $150/hour, or even $50/hour, simply need to develop the skills and experience that people will pay handsomely for.

@cwilbur I spent seven years in college developing those skills, and I’ll be honest, while I don’t make anywhere near the hourly rate tattoo artists apparently make while tattooing and after subtracting overhead, my hours actually get billed by my employer at well over $150 per hour. I would never begrudge a tattoo artist the money they make, I certainly think that I want a highly skilled person if I got a tattoo. It’s just hard to take the notion of a 30–40% tip on top of such a high hourly rate. I suppose its the way its done, so I’ve really got nothing against it, but if I ever had gotten a tattoo I would not have thought to tip. Guess its good that I never did.

@JONESGH: If you didn’t tip, and you told them you’d be coming back, I can pretty much guarantee they wouldn’t want you to come back… and with something like a tattoo, I would want my artist happy that I’m there.

I have lots of tattoos, I’ve known my tatto artist for years and yet I tip every time, no matter whether he does it at a studio or at home…in return, he’s charged me ridiculously low rates…my back tattoo would ordinarily cost 5k but it cost me 2.5k instead…in your situation, for $150, I’d give at least $20 as tip

I don’t understand why some people are having such a big problem with tipping. Okay, first of all, do you really want the person who is sticking needles in you to be unhappy? They can make it extremely painful. The place I go to always puts A+D on the area before they tattoo because it makes the needles move easier. Without that, it would hurt a lot more than it does. They could go real slow and draw the session out. Or, they could go real fast and give you a shitty tattoo. As I said before, tattoo artists make a lot less money than other artists who sell their work on a regular basis. Tattooing someone is hard. The canvas moves and curves. The ink leaks back out. There’s blood, etc. If you aren’t willing to tip, then don’t get a tattoo.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir: My place does that too. My mother and have had six tattoos done there between us, one on each of us and four on friends, and our artist keeps charging us less and less. It’s awesome!

@KatawaGrey I just never realized a tip was expected for a tattoo. I have no problem compensating them well, but it seems silly to me for it not to be included in the price. If that’s the way it’s done though, so be it.

I always tip the artist. You never know when you might need a touch up later.

@poofandmook good point

My best friend is a tattoo artist and I tip her every time. THere are some days when only a 50 dollar name walks in the door all day. The artist sees half of that, 25 dollars. For a whole day. Tips are much appreciated. And the more you tip the better the deals you will get on bigger work.

I am a piercer and Tips help A LOT!!!

i tipped my artist by getting him really high after he was done. :P

I wanted to tip my tattoo artist but he wouldn’t accept it. I think if you get a real professional, they won’t let you tip them. To my knowledge, it’s actually against alot of shop rules or practices to accept tips from customers. And as for people who are saying that you should tip if you want to go back for touch-ups and stuff, don’t listen to that. If you go to a good shop, the touch-ups should be free of charge for life, no matter what. When you get a tattoo, it’s a representation of what the artist can do therefor, if it looks like crap once it’s healed, the artist should want to touch it up free of charge so you don’t go around showing freinds and family a messed-up tatt.

Hmm, let’s see. One tattooed person says no. The rest of us all say yes. Let’s see here. Which scenario is probably the norm to be trusted?

My son did end up tipping the artist. he got one of those tattoos that goes around his upper arm. It is fading but the artist told him it would and to come back and get it filled in more when that happens, free of charge.

When in the US… tip.

When in Holland… ~or in other civilized parts of the world ;-) please don’t bring the silly habit of tipping everyone for idiotic amounts of money.
I think the world would be a lot better off, without having to hand out tips to everyone.

@whitenoise: Yes, it’s so idiotic to help out the people who are doing thankless, difficult work for us. Personally, I think we should tip more. If it were socially acceptable to, I would tip the cleaning staff at my school.

Or we could just pay people a living wage.

@tinyfaery BRAVO !!!!!

@KatawaGrey
It is the obligation of an employer to pay a decent wage and make sure that his/her customers get treated right.

@whitenoise: So we shouldn’t help out the people who aren’t making a decent wage? “Sorry, but your employer should be paying you more. No extra money from me!”

@KatawaGrey

Nope… just that tipping is an American thing that I do not particularly appreciate.

I think it would be better if employers were to pay decent wages and would not leave it up to their customers to pick up their responsibility in paying their staff. I would rather choose a store that pays decent wages than visit one that doesn’t and tip their staff.

When the store is self-employed, than just put the service/tip/whatever in the pricing.

Just tip!