For all you dopers involved in the skin ink world…
I am considering having a large back piece done which will take several sessions of work to complete. Maybe a silly question, but I absolutely don’t want to breach etiquitte with the guy doing the permanent art on my skin. Do I tip at the first session, last session, or spread it out and tip a little each time? I like the idea of giving him a large tip when the work is complete to show appreciation for the finished piece, but I don’t want him to think I’m chintzy the whole time.
I didn’t plan to, but then the guy said, “Man, you’re cool. It’s on the house!” So I took the $60 I was going to pay and just tipped him with it.
The next time, the guy (a different guy) said that he’d do our (two friends and me) tattoos for free… he then said he’d even pay us $20 each. The catch? We had to give him head. Uh, no thanks. I’ll pay the friggin’ $80. Yeah, homie didn’t get a friggin’ tip. Did great work, though.
I have never heard of tipping the tattoo artist. Mine were all done by friends. I just assume their price is the price. Screw tipping everybody for every damn thing.
And suddenly I’m reminded of the old joke, what did the leper say to the prostitute? “Keep the tip.”
I was actually going to say something similar but I was afraid it would turn out that tattooists made three bucks an hour and I’d be a total punk for suggesting keeping food out the mouths of their babies or something.
When I got my first one I didn’t tip at all. When I went for the second one I asked about tipping and they said most people do not. The third one they had a sign up that said no tipping. This was all at the same place, though spread out over five years or so. I guess you could give a bit of a tip at the end, but I wouldn’t worry much about it.
When I got my first one I didn’t tip at all. When I went for the second one I asked about tipping and they said most people do not. The third one they had a sign up that said no tipping. This was all at the same place, though spread out over five years or so. I guess you could give a bit of a tip at the end, but I wouldn’t worry much about it.
I didn’t tip for my first tattoo. Didn’t occur to me, and I don’t remember seeing any signs in the shop (11 years ago).
Didn’t tip for the second one, either. Also didn’t occur to me, and I don’t remember seeing any signs in the convention hall (7 years ago).
This last time, though, I tipped. $20 on a $120 tattoo. Before I picked the place I saw pictures of it online, and noticed a sign saying “feel free to tip your artist.” Something else I saw/heard/read/imagined also made me think that it was de rigeur to tip, so I made sure I had a $20 bill with me when I got the work done (a month ago).
<shrug>
If you decide to tip, I think that one tip when the piece is done would be fine. I can’t see anyone feeling slighted if you wait until the end. If you really want to be sure, though, you can check with the shop that will be doing your work: if you trust them to do the art, you can trust what they say about tips.
I tipped, because I got a fairly large custom piece that the guy drew out for me, and it needed some hard-core touching up because it scabbed poorly. Plus, when I blacked out a little bit (it didn’t hurt that much, I think it was an endorphin thing), the sweetheart gave me his red bull! BMEzine says it’s very optional to tip, at least in cash, but much appreciated. How about a tip at the very end, and then bring the guy a cup of coffee each session?
Tipping is bull ca ca. You go into the shop with the design you want. The artist looks over the piece, estimates how long it will take him to do and gives you a price. If he’s not making enough to eat then he needs to raise the price not expect a handout.
Huh, I always thought it was a standard kind of thing. I’ve usually tipped my piercers, but I figure they’re doing an intimate piece of work for me. I don’t tip everybody for every friggen’ thing, but the tattoo artist who’s going to be spending multiple hours creating a custom piece of art on my skin that I’ll be carrying around for the rest of my life? It didn’t seem unreasonable.
I guess all the articles that happen under a google search of “tattoo cost” that say “always tip!” are probably written by tattoo artists themselves .
I didn’t tip my tattoo artist, but it was a sole proprietorship. I figured he would charge what he thought was a fair rate without me having to second-guess him. I could see where the situation might be different if the artist is an employee of someone else, but it still wouldn’t have occurred to me.
I don’t remember if I tipped when I got my one and only tattoo, but I did tip the guy who touched it up a few years later. It looked better than it ever had, and I figure after they do something that’s going to stay there forever, why not a tip?
I also tip hair people generously if I like their work. Maybe this is a female thing?
I tipped 20%+ for both of my tattoos. I understood it as something you do, like tipping waitresses. Plus, I love, love, love my tattoos and both of the artists were awesome people. With a good artist, it’s art, and I support the arts, dagnabit.
As far as the OP goes, I would probably tip a little each time, keep 'im happy.
I tip hair people too, mostly because unless they own the joint they’re renting the chair. I suppose I’d be more inclined to tip a tattooist if the same thing applied. Anyone know what’s standard in the industry? Are tattooists direct employees of the shop or do they rent the space?
I just came back from my tattoo design session. It looks like it will be 1.5 hours of work or about $150.00. I saw no signs up that said tipping was needed or even asked for anywhere in the shop.
For any quality “personal” service (sit down eateries, hairdresser, manicurist etc) I usually tip 20%. Plus this is Vegas… everybody tips. So, no, I dont tip the people at the sandwich shop or the like (I hate those tip jars… different subject all together.)
I assume that a quality tattoo artist doing quality work shoud gat the same level of tip. He was totally cool with the design process absolutly no pressure. I took in a basic idea and showed him. I sat and told him what I wanted, how I wanted it to look, etc… while he was drawing, answering questions. When he was done, it was exactly what I wanted.
Since I guess that since there is no standard. I will assume a 20% tip would be reasonable and go from there.
I was under the impression that tipping was the rule, not the exception. I have a nice little tattoo and tipped $20 on a $70 tattoo, the guy was cool. I think it’s all about saying thanks for the personal attention. I mean, that’s how people evaluate the tip for a food server, “did they give us a personal level of attention?” I think tattoo being, for the most part, extrememly personal it just makes sense to give a little extra gratitude when that personal attention is given. Now, I wouldn’t tip if I was unhappy with the final result, and might even try to get the price reduced. That would be an extrmem case, fo em anyway, as I’m an admirer of body art so I would choose a artist carefully based on thier portfolio of past work. If the person was rude, drunk, inattentive, sloppy, or wouldn’t let me request my original artwork back, no tip for you! People need to shop for a tattoo artist very carefully, not just drunkenly stumble in and yell “give me the biggest skull you have!” I even gave a tip when they changed out my P.A. jewlery, because although it only took 2 minutes they still treated me with attention. YMMV.
I’ve gotten opinions that if the artist in question owns the shop, you shouldn’t worry about tipping, as presumably the price is set by them and the profits are theirs… but if the artist isn’t the owner then tipping is assumed. Opinions on this? I finally decided on an artist, she owns the shop, employs five other artists, and charges $175/hr. Maybe I’ll bring homemade cookies instead?
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