Is this American? I ask because in England I've never heard of giving extra money to a tattoo artist after agreeing on how much money I'm going to give them. Why wouldn't they just give the total cost upfront?
I have several tattoos, and the last one i had was the most expensive and took the longest. chatting with the artist he said he doesnt give a shit if his customers tip. its nice when they do, but he charges what he wants for the work, if he wanted more, he would charge more.
the whole "youre supposed to tip" stuff is bullshit. but tipping is stupid as fuck in the US.
In most cases where tipping is involved owners aren’t tipped out. It’s actually illegal in my state. Tattoo artists are their own thing though. Some rent chairs and others own the chairs. It’s a lot like the barber industry.
For tattoos specifically if you don’t tip it can be taken as you are unsatisfied with their work. The extra money is obviously the #1 reason artists like to be tipped but #2 is that it’s an affirmation that they didn’t do a shit job.
My first time travelling to America I learned this immediately. We had to take the airport shuttle bus from the terminal to some other area if the airport. My suitcase was in the storage in the side of the bus. A guy pulled it out and handed it to me and then held his hand out. I didn't notice until he said 'excuse me! Tip expected'
I was confused and ignored him and didn't process the interaction until later as I was jetlagged.
Shit we got places now where if you go up to a counter, say 1 soda, they hand you a bottle of soda, and then swipe your card the machine will ask you if you want to leave a tip lmao.
Theres a self serv fro-yo place near me that has employees whos sole job is to clean and refill the candy buffet... no cash, you just make your thing, put it on the scale and tap your card. They dont even have to speak to you the entire time... fucking machine asks if you want to tip 25% 30% or 35%
I've also been told most places don't include taxes on price tags. No wonder everyone's going crazy there. No one knows what they're supposed to pay for anything. Must be getting ripped off constantly.
oh man, I had a handyman from Facebook get pissy for not tipping. he came over, I asked how much, he told me, I said fine, he did the work, I gave him the money, he was not happy. struck me as so strange. did you want 20 bucks more? just say 20 bucks more, it’s your price!
America is going towards a culture of tipping everyone. I guess it's not that bad to tip blue collar workers that are on a payroll. For contractors I would say it's a bit stupid.
I’ll tip them if they were really nice and did a good job.
I had a guy come out and fix the wax ring for the toilet same day. While other places I called were saying 150, he asked for $70. I gave him an extra $20 because he communicated everything he was doing, was very polite, and fairly fast.
I feel like that’s different though because most of those places have an owner that pays the people hourly and aren’t getting the full profit of the job they’re doing.
A tattoo artist has limited overhead costs and is already charging a fuck ton of money for good work. Only way I’d ever tip an artist is if the price for the tattoo was cheap and/or the work was really good.
One rule of thumb in the US is to tip someone who has to pay some of their earnings to the actual business owner. It is common for tattoo artists and hair stylists to "rent a chair" at a salon. The owner pays rent, utilities, salary of a receptionist, and possibly some supplies. The tattooist or stylist pays a monthly fee to set up shop in the salon. They may also have to to pay a percentage of their income. In this case, tipping is often expected.
Of course this has bled into always tipping your hair stylist or tattoo artist, even if they own the salon or are straight-up employees.
Frankly, those are trades that deserve a bit of tip room.
They're visiting your house, dealing with your stuff - lots of room between "just a guy that might fix something" - and a truly respectful professional - and someone who might go overboard and answer off topic questions or resolve issues "off the paperwork".
My only problem with tattoo artists is that they generally set their own prices - if they are underpaid, it's 100% on them.
Trade folks are generally better paid than a server, for example - but there's a huge range there between an aspiring teen working at Sears for near minimum, and self employed contractors and such... and an even wider range on the outcome of their services.
Tipping is not expected to an owner. If the tattoo artist owns or rents the space then not tip should be expected if they are an employee of the shop then a tip is nice. Same for hair stylist.
I’m not defending the US ripping culture at all, but maybe add BF some context. “Professionals” do not usually fall into top category. The idea is that there is (theoretically) a code or objective standard of the work that all should be adhering to. There should be very little variance between one qualified and professional electrician and another. The end result should be pretty similar with little creativity or individualism involved. It’s a skilled trade, not an art. They’re also not expected to provide good “customer service”. They’re expected to be factual and professional, not adding value to the service by the interpersonal dynamics. Sometimes that’s not true but that’s the idea.
People like hair dressers, barbers, tattoo artist, masseuses, servers, valets, etc do fall into tip category because there is an element of artistry or individual execution. There is not an objective code of what it means to be a good server or to serve a table “correctly”. Each massage client is different. The subjective experience of the person being served is the only metric of success (beyond basic safety and reasonableness).
There is a spectrum at play where a tattoo artist may fall closer to electrician as a skilled trade than they do a server and you see a correlation in the pay structure. Something like a tattoo service that has significant elements of both would have a flat fee predetermined for the execution of the trade and skill aspects. But to the extent the experience is subjectively superior to that base level due to an exceptional delivery of that trade to the person.
What the fuck? Tipping is for low wage service employees. You don’t tip for custom work, you get a quote for what work costs and you pay it. This is insane.
Legitimately, the vast majority of them are proprietors of their own businesses. They aren't paid sub minimum wage - they set their prices.
Not saying you can't - tip whoever you want. It's pretty weird to tip the person that sets the prices though, unless you just feel like they are under charging you.
People like to pretend it’s as a simple as “you tip anytime a service is rendered” but we can’t agree as a society what constitutes a service + other socioeconomic reasons, it would just be easier to pay everyone a standard wage
Its an american thing, im good friends with my artist and always pay exactly what she asked, if its a long session i may drop by with some coca cola or buy her lunch if we stop to eat, but i wouldnt tip, shes her own boss she can ask for more lmao
I will say I did tip my tattoo artist in Germany (am American), but it was a 2-day project that she managed to get me an extra day for so I could go bigger with the piece, and she also gave me some dope shop merch in exchange. :) Shoutout to Daniela at Thorns and Spines!
It is interesting. I'm in the US and have many tattoos, and my artist doesn't accept tips. He charges a fair price that we agree on in advance, and then he politely declines a tip when I politely offer one. It feels odd all around since I'm so accustomed to tipping on nearly everything, but for whatever reason he just doesn't like accepting tips.
Tipping, in general, is an American thing. (Though in recent years, celebrities are trying to popularizing tipping in the UK. Don’t feel pressured if you don’t have extra to spare)
I made a similar comment. To me tipping culture is so bizarre, either charge the full amount or just don't. Why is there some secret hidden charge on top? Is it for tax avoidance purposes? In which case how are small time vendors who dodge taxes any different to the off-shore accounters
Even as an American thing it's kind of an odd situation. Unlike servers who work at a restaurant that sets their wage, tattoo artists typically set their own prices per job. So that's no reason to not set your price to be what you expect to get out of the job in total.
Legit just gonna ask my tattooist her opinion on this. I've known her long enough that we can be honest with each other and I'm fairly certain that the 10 sessions I've had with her since she was an apprentice (now owns her own store and tours the world) have been priced accordingly. She does quote me the apprentice rate because I've been there since more or less day one and she's always been my tattooist. And I've never got the vibe she expects a tip or is disappointed she didn't get one. In fact quite the opposite, she's excited to plan the next session.
Last time i tipped for a tattoo they lowered the upfront cost of the tattoo. I paid $350, tipped $30 and paid in cash and he took $30 off the $350. If i feel like a tattoo artist goes abobe and beyond my expectations i try to tip SOMETHING, i won't go all out and do 20% like a restaurant but I try to hand over a little something in appreciation
I wouldn’t say that tipping is mandatory for tattoos in the U.S., but I’d say that tattoos are one of the things tipping exists for in the purest form. Like — a tip is supposed to be extra money given if you think they did a good job, right?
Well. My artist does a bang-up job. So she always gets tipped.
If you’re in the U.S., unless the artist sucks, even a small tip is warranted. IMO.
It is indeed part of American culture. Tipping in general happens for a lot of creatives. If I had to guess it's partially because they often undervalue their own work and it became a common thing. But for another aspect if they're apprenticing under someone I'm guessing the shop owner they apprentice with sets the price and gets the lion's share but the tip is 100% theirs. All just speculation though.
I live in America and have around 11 tattoos, I've never tipped. Mainly because every time I asked "do you take tips?" And they say "no, its included in the price of the tattoo." It really depends on the artist because some of my friends were expected to tip.
Seems like a US tip culture thing. I'm Swedish and at the restaurant I work at (McDonalds) I make 90 dollars an hour. I also get 10 months paid vacation per year and 5 years of paternity leave whenever I feel the need to have a child (which I would never do of course because of climate change, etc:) Also I get 100 paid sick days a year and healthcare here is completely free. So there's really no need for tips here. Basically, I think the tipping system in the US (and the whole country in general) should be burned down to the ground, it's vile ashes scattered to the wind.
I don’t know about Sweden, but I’m in eastern europe. There is no limit to sick days. I call my gp, tell them I’m sick, if necessary, she asks me to come in to see if I need any medicines or tests, and then sends in the sick day amount that I need. My workplace is not asked for their approval or disapproval. They are informed through the system that I’ll be sick and staying home.
I only know that if you’re sick for more than a 6
months, you need to check in with the disability comission so they can approve.
They have to pay the shop commission but I would assume not on tips. They probably charge an agreed upon amount per hour with the shop, get to keep a percentage of that + the tip you give them. I have no idea what that percentage is but let’s say they owe the shop, idk, 50% of what they charge, the tip kinda makes up the difference. I hate tipping culture but I also think an artist should be paid for their work and if I get a $1000 tattoo and know they’re only gonna get 50% of that, I’ll throw em extra cuz i think their work is worth that much even if the shop won’t pay them. The unfortunate reality is, we’re all stuck in this shit show that is capitalism. I can’t punish the worker for it.
Yeah they are sitting the price individually for the work. What's next, renovating my front room, guy comes in, prices it up, and then when he is finished gets a tip?
Tipping culture is an American thing for sure, but the only place it's universally applicable is seevice industry where the minimum wage is actually lower than minimum wage for other work.
Federal minimum wage for tipped servers is like $2.13/hour.
It is, that's why those people who post "I don't tip anywhere!" are just assholes. They system requires people to tip for them to make a living.
Thankfully, I don't think anywhere actually pays federal minimum, and the tipping culture is strong enough it works out, sometimes spectacularly well. I worked with someone who took a pay cut to start working a "real job." She worked at a higher end restaurant. She was... young, attractive, large where it counted, friendly, and had a high tolerence for bullshit. She was bringing home between 65k and 75k a year.
In WA, I've never known someone who gets tattoos not tell me what cash they're pulling for a tattoo tip.
It's expected you tip a couple hundred dollars minimum for anything. From Bellingham to Tacoma I've literally never heard of anyone not pulling $200 cash for a tip on a $500 small cat arm tattoo. I've heard of it probably 40 times.
I dont understand it. Tattoos already cost a lot in the US. It's like tipping on top of a $20 cheap burger. Why?
They expect a tip which is often a sizable expectation. They have clients that bring them rare pokemon cards or add 50% tip. It’s wild especially when the prices are so high for good work here
Every tattoo I’ve had from my guy he’s quoted me something it’ll take X hours, we’ve sat through the session and then he goes “to be fair I did chat a lot let’s round down and call it X” and it’s easily 10-15% lower than the quote lol.
He’s a good bloke but he moved further away from me so now it’s like an hour to get there
I will say in some cases, if you can develop a good rep with your artist, which can be done in one trip, you can bypass the whole tipping thing. Some of these people sit in a studio all day with silent customers. If you can chat with them through an hours long appointment, that’s the tip.
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u/Ok_Chance_1648 7h ago
Is this American? I ask because in England I've never heard of giving extra money to a tattoo artist after agreeing on how much money I'm going to give them. Why wouldn't they just give the total cost upfront?