It's why I haven't gotten my tattoo touched up. I was quoted for $500+ for my tattoo touch up and a 25% tip on top of that, just can't afford it.
Edit for Clarification: Apologies on the confusion, my mistake for using the word touch up. My tattoo is 20+ years old, and was looking for quotes to get it redone (touch up), but not a coverup.
Because we contracted for a price and they are effectively lying. It's not like a restraunt where the price is set by the corporation and the server effectively doesn't get any of that money.
My artist, who has done all 14 of my tattoos, literally answers the question "how much would you like as a tip" with "just bring me some snacks, Id like that more".
A good tattoo artist doesn’t need a tip, what are we talking about?? They’ll just name their price. What does that even mean, “good enough for a tip”???? I’m paying you for the tattoo already
If I am quoted 500 for a tattoo then why is it expected to give them more money if I think the work is good enough? Is that not what they quoted me 500 for?
A good artist charges the price that they think is fair for their work, knows that tattoos are expensive and a luxury, and doesn't expect a tip.
Source: I have more inked skin than blank skin and have been to a lot of artists. All of them have said something to the effect of tips being appreciated but not expected, and that they set their prices to what they think is fair. And yes, this is mostly in the US. Other countries where I've gotten tattooed just didn't have a tipping culture and it didn't even come up.
They charge what they think their art is worth. If they thought it was worth 20% more than the quoted price then they should have made that the quoted price.
They do this for the same reason stores prices things at $3.99 instead of $4.00. Our stupid monkey brains see a smaller number and immediately ignore all the associated details that make it not a smaller number.
By calling the 25% a tip, they get to advertise their rates lower than they actually are. They draw in customers with what seems like a good deal, and then since people are already there they just pay it anyway.
and if 25% is service fee for tattooing, what is the 500+ then, material and rent only if yes, the the price should be for work, too they are not calculating it correctly
It's expected everywhere in the world if you want to continue getting tattooed.
Like... cool... don't tip. That's 100% your decision. It also means you'll have to find a new tattoo artist. And a new one after that. And a new one after that. And a new one after that.
I don’t think you know much about the world. I have multiple tattoos all from the same studio minus maybe two and I’ve never tipped nor is it an expectation
My entire body is tattooed and I've been tattooed in shops across Europe, North America, and Australia. The tipping culture is the same except when an artist explicitly states otherwise.
I LIVE in Europe, I’ve gotten tattoos in Asia as well I know multiple people with tattoos and artists idk what places you’re going to but it’s not a cultural expectation to tip artists. We pay for the service thank them and leave
It’s funny how Americans assume their culture should be standard and anyone who differs is just not as developed or nice as them. Our artists know not to take advantage of their customers but you do you
Because it makes way more sense. If I hire a plumber to fix my sink and he charges me 100 bucks I pay him 100 dollars. He doesn’t look at me expecting more. It is just simple communication.
A tip should be extra. It should never be expected. If it is expected than it should be listed as part of the price.
That’s just what you believe in your head, it’s not a requirement or law and it shouldn’t be expected as your compensation since that’s not what it’s for.
Tipping then doesn’t make their work any better. Theres a local artist here who has good reviews, I’ve used him a couple times and each time had my design already made and I just asked him for a price to do it. Paid him whatever he asked and tipped him well to. But his work was not worthy of even the base price I paid.
This shit isn’t like going out to eat. The artist sets the price. If they want 750 instead of 500 fucking say something. The tips in America are for paying the unpaid wage of a worker. Does the artist not get paid for the art already? What the fuck am I tipping for? The expected result? Am I supposed to reward someone extra for… doing the job I’ve already paid for?
No, its about a 7x5 inch tattoo on the back of my shoulder blade. I searched in our area and got three quotes and they were all about the same price. I just accepted my blue blob of a tattoo for now.
I think bc my tattoo is so old, I'm 47 now, but got my tattoo at 18, that touching it up would be the same as redoing it? So, that could be a misunderstanding on my part.
definitely sounds like a redo type deal if its a blob like you mentioned, touch ups are more if theres a couple spots color faded out or didnt take fully post healing
OK yeah, that changes things. I was picturing a standard touch up within a year or two of the tattoo being completed. A touch up on an older tattoo is more like a redo, yes, so it will cost more.
Explicitly asking for 25% tip on top of it is still fucking wild.
Is it a very difficult touch up or something? I don't know anything about tattoos, but I know the best place near me charges $250 an hour. Surely it doesn't take more than an hour for a touch up?
No, touchups are generally quick and easy as the name implies. Maybe some color has been lost over the years and you need it added back in, maybe some lines have faded or highlights disapeared.
But OP saying "blue blob of a tattoo" implies it's more than a touchup.
Yes, apologies on the confusion, my mistake for using the word touch up. My tattoo is 20+ years old, and was looking for quotes to get it redone, but not a coverup.
What area do you live in? I live in NYC and my artists usually offer at least the first touch up for free. I can't wrap my head around this being the norm anywhere.
They usually earn a commission, split with the shop. Also back in the day you just tip a $20 or 2. Everyone just wants more money, and people are willing to pay. So who's to blame?
It really depends on the shop. Some tattoo artists split their commissions. Other places have the artists pay a set amount per month for their station and supplies.
Shop around some more. Not all places are like that, i dont think my shop enforces a tip requirement and prices are reasonable to me at least. $500 for a touch up sounds like a lot but heavily depends on the work.
That's insane to me. I have more inked skin than blank skin and have for a while now. Touch ups within a year of the tattoo being completed have always been included unless you fucked up the healing (e.g. they can tell you pulled ink out while scratching). My usual artist will do touch ups for free on any of his tattoos as needed when I happen to be there anyway, but I've also been going to him for years at this point, so it's more like a maintaining a good business relationship with a stable client thing.
I've also never had an artist balk if I didn't tip. Most of them explicitly say that tips are appreciated, but not expected because they're aware that tattoos are already expensive. What other people are saying about artists expecting 25% or whatever just seems sketchy to me. Set your prices to what you want in that case rather than undercharging and expecting the client to make up for the rest.
A real artist isn’t going to grief you over a tip, they know people aren’t just made of money. Be glad there are artists petty and greedy enough to add that to their quote, so you can avoid them.
From a heavily tattoed person with work from many artists.
I’m happy with anything, and even nothing is fine. Though if you do choose to tip well, I will move the moon for you! Lol. Most people tip $20 on average.
This is bananas bonkers unprofessional and it makes me so madddd.
I’m a tattoo artist, and I turned myself inside out to buy the shop I opened with my mentor out of her portion when she moved out of state JUST so I could have peace from how badly so many artists are taking the dip in economy.
I live in a HCOL area, and when things started getting tight, knowing my clients are mostly young people, I started adjusting my pricing to what “worked for both of us”. And I’d cut a deal if someone is struggling and really could use that boost in autonomy. Because like… if I’m not working I’m not happy, and my clients aren’t happy, and in my version of a perfect world art and money wouldn’t ever mix. I WANT to finish cool tattoos. I’m a good artist; not phenomenal, but I worked hard to be good. And the kid ringing up your French fries can’t afford a $1200 tap. I digress. But I had a few aggro old heads tell me that I “don’t respect myself or the trade” (that dude matched me 2mo later), another told me they’re “displacing” that loss (tricking their fucking clients, be honest) by “changing their deposit to a non refundable drawing fee” or “including tip in quote” (what your gender nonspecific dude did). Your artist literally purposefully gave you the tip as a percentage quote instead of a solid number hoping you wouldn’t do the math or question it. Like so many artists chose to try to claw-in-to whoever they still had and squeeze them for more, instead of stretching out or trying new things.
My heart goes out to the great artists I know struggling. Getting to touch stability after a life of chaos is intoxicating lolol. Artists are disproportionately mentally ill; and I’m not saying all tattoo artists are (there’s at least one dude in my art collective who went through art school and is so so stable and lovely, I’m stealing his dad), but a good fuckin majority of us. The industry is also toxic as shit with a long history of shops taking full on 50% of anything an artist makes (standard in my area unless you have negotiating point). Theres still tons of tormenting apprentices, harassing women, throwing a “cool kid” attitude. I lost it last year on a dude who tried to blacklist a random girl from every shop he could… because she wouldn’t sleep with him… in the year of our lord, 2026. So in the face of like… the whole world changing around us? Why? Where? The audacity? I’m just flabbergasted that hypothetically a whole group of people with art as extra lense to digest the world through, are just digging in their heels instead of moving with it. Idk. I keep telling people we need a renaissance, but I need artists to rise above the petty stuff for that to happen.
Obviously I’m very frustrated, so I hope this made sense. Sorry for the rant. And before anyone says anything I don’t know your artist; I’m guessing at their tactic based on what other people tell me they’re doing. Also not every artist is doing these kinds of things. There’s a lot of discussion in tattoo artist spaces right now about how one good thing that could come from all of this, is the industry shaking off the people who were never in it for love of the craft. Copy paste walk in shops don’t need to be on every corner. There’s also a lot of artists I know who would be adjusting their workflow and life balance, like I am, but can not because they’re stuck in a shop that doesn’t care about them. I’ve started pulling people from my collective to do community work with me; like I figure when I’m not tattooing I could still use my art to help people. But a good half of them are mandatory sat in an empty shop trying to snag tourists to get $20 flash clients. So it’s not all on the artists either. It’s a big mess. Sorry again for the wall of text xD I’m going to stop now otherwise I’ll go on forever about classism in the industry or something. I hope everyone has a nice day :0 get a sweet treat.
Artists being political is why id pay double that to remove mine. When I let them tat me they seemed nice then they start screaming words of hatred all over the internet and I hate myself for ever funding them
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u/DiscoLibra 9h ago edited 6h ago
It's why I haven't gotten my tattoo touched up. I was quoted for $500+ for my tattoo touch up and a 25% tip on top of that, just can't afford it.
Edit for Clarification: Apologies on the confusion, my mistake for using the word touch up. My tattoo is 20+ years old, and was looking for quotes to get it redone (touch up), but not a coverup.