tipping your tattoo artist!? help.

for a little star behind my ear that took 5 minutes i tipped about $10. for the uv on my ear and lip i tipped about $15, let them keep the ink and hooked them up with a supplier.

$40/hr unless I'm in a bad mood.
Everybody expects a tip these days. I even feel obligated to throw a quarter or two into the tip jar at the cafe.
But this is coming from the kind of person who tips like crazy. We got plastered at Moxies one afternoon and had the waiter run outside and ask us why we left enough to pay the bill twice.

What are you, French?

I understand what you mean. I don't really understand tipping for anything anyway, but I'll admit I go along with it.

My problem, is that when you pay for something, its not like you're paying for parts/expenses and the tip is labour. Whether its auto repair, food, or hair cuts, the price on the bill includes both costs and labour. In the case of servers, they get paid a lesser minimum wage, but even then that min. wage is usually only a $1 or so below 'normal' min. wage, and its not often I hear of a server making an average of less than $1/hour in tips (so in the end with tips they end up making around $9-$10/hour or more easily). For example, here in Ontario I think the difference is actually around $0.85 or something, which means that for a 6 hour shift, if a server takes in more than $5.10 in tips then they're making more than the 'normal' min. wage.

In other words, it seems like when we tip, we're tipping for better service, which isn't the way it should work. When you pay the "price on the tag" so to speak, you're supposed to be getting good service to begin with. Otherwise, why do we not tip everything in the service industry? Why do we not tip the grocery clerk, the cashier, or the drive-through clerk? I've seen those people get yelled at, have coffee thrown at them, been threatened, verbally-assulated, and more, but they don't get tips. I seriously doubt a barber or tatoo artist puts up with a fraction of the shit that many people in the service industry do, and barbers and tatoo artists are probably making a lot more than the $6-7/hour that those others are making.

I shouldn't get a better tatoo next time, or spit-free food, or a better hair cut because I tip or don't tip. It should be good regardless - thats what I'm paying for in the first place. If we do tip though, we really should tip more things then we do, because its just too inconsistent.

Flame away

[Edited on Oct 09, 2005 by evolution]

I tip what I can, always.
Some artists actually get embarassed if you tip 'em, so I remember them and give them something else.
I've given brownies, money, a stuffed penguin.
Just depends.

If you feel weird about giving them money, give them something you know they like. A CD by a certain artist, a movie, some fried chicken (done that, too!) etc.

They don't make millions of dollars, especially if they're not the owner of the shop where they work. Be nice, people.

"Will trade fried chicken for tattoos."

Yes, always tip a tattoo artist. I'm a piercer so of course I'm biased.
But it is a must!

I didn't even know you were supposed to tip them until I saw a sign getting my last tat that said 'TIP YOU BASTARDS'. Where does that $250 go that I give him in the first place? I tipped him cuz he rocks but still....

Will you pierce me Miss Coffin?

I tip on the last visit, the amount of the tip depends on the amount of time it took to complete the piece.

I'm not the tattoo getting sort, but if I ever did and I could afford it I think I'd likely tip abut 35%, plus a nice gift of some sort. That said, If I ever got at tattoo I'd have to pick an artist I knew damned near personally. My thinking is that it's the sort of thing you only do a few times in your life, and it is very very permanent, so it kind of jumps past conventional tipping standards.

Why am I thinking of Reservoir Dogs.....?

actually, server minimum wage can be as low as $1.90 per hour here in the US. and generally, the server is taxed on 8%-13% of their total sales by the IRS as assumed sales. it may not be ideal, but the reason you tip is to make sure the server doesn't starve to death. in other countries where they don't tip, the food costs more, and the employers pay a reasonable wage. however, here in the US, the system has evolved so that employers try to pay as little as possible. once the money is withheld for taxes, many servers don't even get a paycheck because their hourly is so little, and they are being taxed no matter what. I know that at one of my serving jobs, the biggest paycheck I've ever gotten was only $38. and if someone orders takeout, I have to pay taxes on that, even though they are unlikely to tip.

also, your analogy between a mechanic and a barber is not entirely appropriate. a hairdresser is required to pay for their space in a salon, then they pay for all of the products they use (shampoo, dye, sanitizer, foil, etc.), plus they have to pay for all of their own tools and pay for maintenance for those tools. a mechanic might bring his own basic tools to work, but the big expensive stuff is provided by the shop (things like a jack, the tools to attatch/detatch lugs, stuff to mount tires, etc). the auto shop also keeps oil, transmission fluid, paper liners for the interiors of cars, etc. on hand, and doesn't ask the mechanic to pay for the disposables he uses.

an auto shop often charges $85/hour for labor, so it's not as though they're dinging your pay in order to be economical like a restaurant does. if you want to start paying in restaurants in proportion to the amount of time it takes me to take care of your table, fine. but be forewarned that your spaghetti dinner with salad and dessert is going to cost you $170

so, for hookers, thirty to forty tips of the knife is good?

I guess it depends on the area. I double-checked, and here in Ontario its a 95¢ difference. That said, if you're in a position where the server is relying on the customer's tips to not starve to death, I'd consider 'moving up' to a typical minimum wage job where paycheques at least stay above $38. I know someone has to work the lesser jobs, but for people to call customers "cheap", "inconsiderate" or worse simply because they're not tipping enough when its really the business that is the crook is just inconsiderate in itself.

I guess thats like anything. My barber uses 2 pairs of scissors, and a shaver with 2 attachments, and takes 10 minutes, sometimes less. However in my $14, plus $2 tip, I can only assume I'm helping to pay for equipment that is never needed for me (like flatening irons, hair dryers, foils). Just like with a mechanic theres a standard labour cost that goes to pay for equipment that might never have been used in anyway to help repair my car.

Its not fair, but then few things rarely are. So I just have to go with it. Like I said though, despite my disagreement with tipping, I still go along with it. I give in to sociological pressures in this case.

I don't see how it would be that much though. If I were to stopwatch how long a server actually spends serving specifically me during an average hour, I would be amazed if it exceeded 5 minutes. For example, last night my server took about 20 seconds taking drink orders. I can't imagine it took more than a couple minutes to fill a couple glasses of water and iced tea and brink it to the table. Ordering took about a minute, and I don't imagine it took more than a few minutes to bring the food. As usual (or at least more often then not) no offer was made to refil drinks, but we had to wait for her to walk by and get her attention to ask for a refill. Even allowing for some other things - so lets say 10-15 minutes per 2-3 customer table per hour - if my pasta and desert really costs $170/hour then you must be serving customers in a way I have never seen before.

Anyway, I haven't yet got my tattoo (I'm in the group because I'm working on my design, and I'm really interested), but from what I've seen when I've seen tattoos being done, and on the slew of shows on now, although the artist is devoting that time to you, I would expect the price you pay for the tatoo to include money to pay for the inks and equipment, in addition to his time. To tip on top of that for a great job seems a little off. its like rewarding somoene for doing what they're supposed to be doing. I would tip however if someone went above and beyond, like if they ended up pulling of some art that completely blew me away and the price just didn't seem worthy.

I guess, its also like encores at a concert. The encore at a concert is rarely anything special, its usually just the big single and another song. But if a band plays those 2 songs as part of the 'regular' show and then calls it a night, people get mad that there was no encore. But if they cut the show 2 songs short, then come back out and play the encore, people love it - even though its the same number of songs. Make sense?

[Edited on Oct 11, 2005 by evolution]

My artist used to give me such discounts that I would tip him huge, but I would say 15% isn't bad. If the work is really good, I don't care what the cost is and I'd definitely kick in something extra.

$20

I've always done about $20+.....
It really all depends on if you love the tattoo..
If you love it and it's with you forever, don't you really want to thank the person who gave it to you.

i usually go for the 20+ tip as well. just seems like you should pay them a little extra if you know they are giving you a fair price and this is probably their only job. or maybe thats just the way it seems around here.

I have 3 tattoos and I've never tipped,
Never even thought about it.

My bf and I got tattoos for Valentine's Day (not each other's names, we're not that crazy) and our tattooist, Jesse, was awesome. I passed out in the middle of the tat, took a while to recover, and I was really picky about the whole damned situation. He put up with me, so we paid I think $30 for $100 worth of tattoos between the two of us. He definitely went above and beyond the call of any tattooist, hence his tip.

I think if they give what's expected, they should only expect their normal pay.

If they go above and beyond, then I think you should show your appreciation for their extra service (that wasn't required as part of their original job description).

[Edited on Oct 13, 2005 by Airdrie]

You passed out!!
And he kept going?

Depends on your relationship with your artist and their situation. If they work in a shop they don't own, the shop owner gets a piece of the cost of your tattoo. If it's someone you don't know or are new to, cash is king. If it's someone you are friendly with, again cash works but sometimes a cool gift is good too. I gave my artist a copy of Mark Ryden's "Blood" art book because he really like him.

These kind of gestures work in your favor. My most recent piece was over six hours, done at a convention instead of the shop and he cut me a wicked break on the price.

EXACTLY !!!!!!!!! For any industry

If you tip me.