Got into an argument about this with a friend a few years back, I don't have any tattoos and this concept floored me.
It's literally a set, defined, unmoving price point that they can choose. "But I want to pay them fairly"
Ok, part of being a working adult is valuing your time and work accurately, therefore you charge appropriately. If you charge 200$ for a tattoo, and 100$ for your time, just say it's 300$
Do not ask the person to pay 200$ in the hopes that they will tip you 100$.
My wife worked as a server for a long time and she is adamant about tipping servers, our housekeeper, or anyone else she deems has a "struggle" job. But our landscaper, mail person, plumber garage truck drivers, get the payment they asked for.
Yea but there is "The World Of Should" that you're talking about, and then there's "The World Of Is" that we all actually live in. Whatever people "should" do or say is irrelevant if it's not actually how human beings behave, which we behave irrationally quite often about many things.
If the expected rules of engagement with this tattoo tipping culture don't make sense to you, that's totally fine! But if you're interested in a certain outcome, then it really doesn't matter what makes sense, your best bet is to take the action that will truly give you the desired result.
I have a full sleeve that took maybe 8 sessions to complete. I had my artist make 24 full page sketches of original art based on inspiration I gave, we selected our favorite 9 and that's what turned into the stencils. What I wanted is for my artist to think, "Wow this person is generously tipping, so I'm gonna try my absolute hardest to make my best possible work ever, and really take great care to make this sleeve my best artwork yet." So I tipped $100/session.
I don't really care if I should or shouldn't have to do that, or if the artist's result should be identical regardless of tip. Based on how human beings work, if my goal was to get the most beautiful sleeve done which is gonna last my entire life, I'm gonna abide by the rules of engagement regardless of my personal take on them.
cant you just ask them what they expect as a tip and can they just give that quote instead? or would that be offensive or something? idk i have one small tattoo from a billion years ago so idk the culture
I had my artist make 24 full page sketches of original art based on inspiration I gave, we selected our favorite 9 and that's what turned into the stencils.
Alright dude, clearly OP and everyone else aren't talking about this exceptional princely treatment that you're describing, lmao. What you're describing sounds utterly above and beyond (correct me if I'm wrong). In your case, I think a tip was appropriate.
Hey it's not my world, not my rules. I don't make em nor am I saying I like em. I'm not lumping anyone into anything. My only point is that in order to achieve the best outcome for a situation that involves other human beings, one would do well to expect people to behave like human beings and act in alignment with that. Humans from different cultures will not behave the same, so adjusting accordingly would be a good idea.
I'm not sure what you thought I was trying to communicate with my comment, because yours really doesn't make sense in response.
This just goes back to the origin of tipping, before it just became you paying employees wages in lieu of the business. Since it's art that is rather permanent while yes you pay for a dragon on your arm for $200 there is a wide range of how well they actually do the job. So it would be customary to tip if they do a really good job, because you're happy to not have a mediocre tattoo on you forever. Same goes for tipping barbers and stylists, you don't have a goofy haircut for a few weeks.
I'll say I generally agree the expectation of a tip for a tattoo is silly. especially for quick tattoos that are something of a stock image or "flash." I feel it's silly to expect a tip.
But if the artist charges the same hourly for custom or stock I understand paying for the prep they put into it. Even if I feel that should be baked into the price.
However really good tattoo artists are often busy and may no be available. One of my past artists now only does work for previous customers because he can't fit in anyone in. So as a consumer that would like to be prioritized, tipping is a way to be kept top of mind. Which is probably where tip culture comes in and now why it's the norm.
In general I'd agree, but I will admit that right now there is an actually significant thing that makes a real difference in the situation. Tips are taxed differently now. Depending on just how much a person earns through tips, the money is either tax free, or otherwise significantly lower taxed income than regular pay. Still, I'd want to negotiate the total price after tip before services rendered dependant upon quality work being delivered and let them fudge the numbers however they want to make whatever percentage of the total be "tip" vs regular price. Definitely not in favor of the coy game of trying to guess an appropriate amount to tip to not leave the artist hating me.
There's a subjectivity to the quality of a tattoo and you can't know the exact outcome until the tattoo is finished. The tip reflects that final portion.
Think of it like how a job might have performance bonuses.
It kinda isn’t though. I mean smaller pieces sure.
But a set defined and allocated price point for a full back piece that you can only estimate the timing on or number of sessions isn’t easy. They do it. But in those cases wouldn’t you think if you sat for multiple hours possibly over multiple days that the amount of work you were getting would denote a tip to the person laboring over you?
People here seem so weirdly against this. But man tattos can take a long time and go wrong so frequently in the process. If someone is spending loads of time on your body is that not worth a few extra bucks?
But a set defined and allocated price point for a full back piece that you can only estimate the timing on or number of sessions isn’t easy.
You can handle a flat sum or negotiate like an adult: "Look, that tattoo is a lot of work. It expect that it takes x to y amount of hours for a z hourly rate. Could be a couple more because I want to do it well so I'm not going to rush it."
But in those cases wouldn’t you think if you sat for multiple hours possibly over multiple days that the amount of work you were getting would denote a tip to the person laboring over you?
Not really, I spent multiple days in a row for my boss in the lab and nobody is tipping my ass.
This is the same challenges that a ton of jobs face though. I don't tip my contractor despite them laboring over my house for days and things going wrong. An experienced tattoo artist should just take all that into account and set their prices accordingly.
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u/StretchLoud8844 8h ago
Got into an argument about this with a friend a few years back, I don't have any tattoos and this concept floored me.
It's literally a set, defined, unmoving price point that they can choose. "But I want to pay them fairly"
Ok, part of being a working adult is valuing your time and work accurately, therefore you charge appropriately. If you charge 200$ for a tattoo, and 100$ for your time, just say it's 300$
Do not ask the person to pay 200$ in the hopes that they will tip you 100$.