What should I expect to pay for an ear piercing?

I believe a lot of places do it for free, but you must pay for the earrings which should only cost between $10 and $20 for studs.

@erichw1504 Did you read the details? She doesn’t want it done for free in a store; she wants to go to a reputable professional.

I would expect to have to pay the piercer’s minimum, usually around 40–50 dollars. They might throw in the studs for free however. It really depends on your market.

@bobbinhood Where does she mention that she doesn’t want it done for free?

Expect about $20—$30 per piercing. Yeah, or as @gemiwing said, $40—$50 total. Some places do give free jewelry (hoops or studs only) with the piercing and some make you buy them separately. Make sure to buy some antibacterial soap and clean them regularly for at least two weeks.

@erichw1504 She says, “The idea of having my piercing done by some 18 year old girl at the mall with a gun that probably hasn’t been sterilised after the last 47 customers isn’t very appealing to me. What should I expect to pay to have a reputable piercer do a simple earlobe piercing?” (emphasis mine). Are you trying to say that there are free places with professional piercers? If so, I apologize. I have only heard of stores doing that, and she specifically said that she doesn’t want to go to one of those stores for her peircing.

Yeah, there are stores (like Claire’s, for example), that sell “starter earrings”, and offer the piercing “free” with the purchase. That’s what I got when I was a kid, and the girl screwed up and I ended up with four holes instead of two. I’m not going through that again. If anyone’s going to be adding holes to my head, I want them to be trained, reputable, and professional.

@erichw1504… she is right, 10 to 20 bucks.

@erichw1504 yeah she is rite there are place that are free. All you have to buy is the earring. But some place are like $10–20

I got my piercings done at a very professional place called Lucky’s Tattoo and Piercing, and their ear piercing prices are listed as $25 plus the price of jewelery. Various places will have prices around there, some a bit less expensive, but I did not mind paying extra for my piercings because the service was fantastic. Since you’ve already had a bad experience with cheapo piercing places, you should find it easy to understand the advantage of having professionally trained staff using sterilized needles (not guns) to do piercings in clean, sterile environments. I got my first body piercing at Lucky’s and, although I was nervous before getting it, the people there made me feel very comfortable and relaxed.

Depending on your area, I would try to find the best place for piercing around and go there to ask the staff themselves. Most likely they’ll be able to give you some great information and make you more sure of what you want to do for a piercing.

Oh, and for starter earrings, always get either sterling silver or 14k gold. Some people with very sensitive skin have allergic reactions to silver; expect to pay $10–15 for a good starter stud that won’t irritate your skin. Also, make sure your piercer provides you with antiseptic (or a recommendation for where to get a good one). Last thing you want is an infection! My piercer at Lucky’s also provided a packet of sea salt that I used on my piercings to speed healing.

It depends, like if you get your cartalage oeirced it should be around $15 because it usually shouldnt hurt around that area. If you get your earlobe peirced, it should be $15—$30 because it also depends on what kind of earring you get. another thing is, iff you didnt see the person peircing your ear clean the gun, then it should be $5, because you can get a major ear infection if its sterralized.