tipping your tattoo artist!? help.

okay, so i'm FINALLY getting my first tattoo on monday...followed by TURBONEGRO...but i'm a bit curious as to how much to tip...the tattoo is going to cost 200, what would a reccomended tip be? thanks.
j.

http://suicidegirls.com/groups/Tattoo/

Yeah, because going to a crowded place after getting a tattoo is pretty much what you wanna do.

30 bucks would be a good start, unless you really like the work done, then up to 50.

i usually do 10 to 15 an hour but that's just me

Why should you tip the tattoo artist? Didn't you just pay him to do the tattoo? I don't understand... That is like tipping a hooker in vagas. I know people do tip tattoo artist and tip vagas hookers, but It's pointless to me.

Yeah i hate tipping, i would rather things just cost more.

Prepare to be righteously flamed, man.

Jesus fucking christ man, course you tip a tattoo artist and/or piercer. It's just the common courtesy thing to do, i mean, alright tattoos are the cheapest thing but think of it for them. They have to buy the inks, needles, equipment, electricity ect ect ect there's a huge list nevermind paying for the proper incineration of the needles ect then they have to sit for what can be HOURS tattooing your body. In short, like i said, its courtesy and basically a "thank you" too.

In saying all that I tip my tattooist with 30 sterling, which is about 60dollars...then again, he does mine for free

Well yeah, it's kinda hard to tip the hooker after you've stabbed her thirty or forty times, right? I hear ya, guy!

i usually do $20 per session, more as a gesture than anything else. i also tip with t-shirts and burned cds, but then again i'm good friends with my artist

i tipped with a budha statue before.

i work on people shitty cars where ive bought my own tools gotten dirty lost tools and so on and the customers dont tip me. shouldnt i be tipped following this logic?

hmmm when my artist works out of his own house......and charges 120$ per hour, even with all of his business costs..that are a tax write off, i still tip.

I dont want too and i dont think i should. But because of other people, ill feel bad if i dont.

hmm but i feel bad if i do.

WTF

In any situation where there are tips involved, the tip is always optional. You tip your waiter or waitress if they do a good job/didn't spit in your food. However nobody makes you give them a tip. So if your tattoo artist does a good job, tip him/her. I think the reason mechanics don't get tips is because they are almost all shady, greedy bastards. Every time I have left an auto repair shop I have felt robbed. Thus no tip!

yes you should specialy if its done before its expected to be done. but the world is fucked up. and people have come to expect things. at the majority of places the guy who actuly does the work doesnt talk to you so its hard to know who to tip.

i tip my tattoo artist on average $40-60 on average, but he hooks me up big time

Hell yes. When I was working at shops/dealerships before opening my own place, customers tipped me if they knew that I was busting my ass and looking out for their interests with warranty work.

Even now, if I stay open late to handle someone's emergency, a tip is appreciated. I don't get tipped like, say, a waitress... but then again, I'm not making $2.25/hr base, either.

I tip anywhere from 10- 15 dollars.. not a millionare ya know, but if I ever got a big ass piece I would tip more.

I stitch my artist up free of charge when he gets cut up... thats not to often, but I also am his medic so I guess its more of an exchange of services, I don't charge for mine, but he cuts me a deal on his so go figure it all comes out in the wash.

The bad thing is he's in Japan and I'm not, and I now want to get some more work done, the guy I was using before I serviced his bikes for him free of charge at the bike shop. Now I don't really have either hook up, but the barter system works well for most people when you have something that they want, or need.

Sling some ink in me direction!

Tip whatever you can afford to give, and makes you feel comfortable.

I guess you don't tip waitpersons too. That's shitty.
With waiters, they get paid for being a waiter, but the tip you give them pays for everything else they do for you. It works the same way with tattooers.
The money you pay for a tattoo is just that, for the tattoo, and they usually only get half of that amount. They don't get paid for drawing, stenciling, set up, and dealing with jack-assed customers.
Also, some of them have families and kids they need to take care of. Tattooing doesn't always pay the bills.
Of course tipping isn't mandatory, but it's a courtesy. People who aren't courteous to other people suck.


And it's Vegas.

I usually go for 20% of the bill. If it is much more in depth then I figure hourly.

Mine was $250 but I had 3 sessions, first was $125 just for the outlines and I tipped $10. $10 the 2nd time for $80 then when he actually finished it for $50 I tipped him $35. He did a super job.