Tattoo Tipping Etiquette: How Much Should You Give Your Artist?

What is a good Tip for tattoo artist

Table of Contents

Do you know giving the tip to a tattoo artist is as important as giving tip to a nail artist, bellhop, and valet? Yes, it’s that necessary to offer a tip to the tattoo artist. If it’s that important to give a tip then how much you should give, do you have any idea?

I’ll tell you the right amount, when, and how to offer the tip to the tattoo artist. Keep reading to the end!

Why do we do tattoos?

Why do we do tattoos, no one can’t say exactly why we want them. As there are many reasons why tattoos get done on our bodies. Most people do tattoos on their bodies for aesthetic purposes and more, such as:

  • To create distance from society
  • By getting inspired by any mythical power
  • To demonstrate a strong psyche to the world
  • To illustrate affection for a specific person
  • To continue the tradition ahead

To create distance from the society

To create distance from society refers that people of time do tattoos to make the distance from the society. Statistics showed that in the US, most of the youth who are between 18-25 old, get tattoos on their bodies. One of the reasons to make tattoos is to create distance from society. At that age youth usually tend to dislike the discipline of society. They want to rebel against all the norm that goes against their freedom.

Inspired by any mythical power

Another reason for getting a tattoo is an aspirational cause. It means we heard methodological tales a lot; mythical heroes and their achievements and all this aspire in our daily activities as well. To get inspiration, especially in a difficult time, we draw their images as a tattoo on any parts of our bodies.

Demonstrate a strong psyche to the world

It shows that youth do tattoos on their bodies to demonstrate their strong mind power to the world. During adulthood, youth becomes rebellious and wants to present themselves as strong youth to the world and thus they make tattoos on their bodies. As there are many societies where visible tattoos are being punished. At the same time, when tattoos are being drawn on the bodies it huts a lot but when youth get it they feel a sense of braveness in themselves.

That is a matter of courage and that’s why it’s believed that people especially youth do tattoos on their bodies to demonstrate a strong psyche to the world.

To illustrate affection for a specific person

I am certain you come across any person who put any close person’s name all his body and once you asked whose name you tattooed, he might say, my ex-boyfriend or girlfriend. What does it imply? It means that often tattoo is made on the base of previous affairs’ names on your body to showcase the unconditional love for her/him.

To feel attached to their previous partners, youth do tattoos with their names on their bodies. So that he/she can always remember what happened in their past life.

To continue the tradition ahead

Getting a tattoo on the body can be a continuum of the tradition as well. It means there are tribes where getting tattoos on the bodies are a tradition that their forefather followed. Thus the next generation is doing so the same. Such as in Italy, China, Japan, and the US have ancient tribes where the successor follows their ancestor’s path by following their norm and culture of having tattoos on any part of the body. It means the current generation takes the tradition ahead by practicing it ahead.

Things that Affect the pricing of tattoos?

It is the most wanted question for the tattoo lover. That’s how much tattoos cost.

So the answer to the question is, it depends on a few factors. There are a large number of places within one country where tattoos are being done and thus the pricing varies according to the pros and cons of that selected places. Let me tell you the factors that influenced the pricing of the tattoos-

  • Location of the tattoos salon.
  • Experiences of the tattoo artists.
  • Size of the tattoos.
  • Design of the tattoos.
  • Color of the tattoos.
  • Location of the tattoos.

Location of the tattoos salon

The location of the tattoo salon is one of the important factors that impacted the pricing of the tattoos. Such as if you are getting tattoos in cities like New York, LA, etc.; these city tattoos will cost you more than what the minor cities charge you for the tattoos. Since the pricing of the tattoos changes with the location of cities. Such as in large cities the operating cost of a salon is much higher than operating a salon in a ruler area. That’s why the cost of tattoos increases with the location of the salon.

Experiences of the tattoo artists

One more thing to take into account while pricing for the tattoos is the experiences of the tattoo artists. It means a lot when you get the tattoos done by the hand of an experienced artist. As you will be getting excellent tattoos from experienced artists; there is a saying “experienced makes a man perfect”, the more experienced you are, the more polished work will occur. Thus the pricing gets high when you do your tattoos from an experienced artist.

Size of the tattoos

Do you know your desired size of the tattoos may charge you thousand dollars to hundred dollars? Yes, it’s certain as with the increase in the size of the tattoo, the price ups and down. In other words, large-size tattoos generally will cost you much more than small-size tattoo’s cost. While doing large-size tattoos takes much more time than doing small-size tattoos. Moreover, tattoo artists need to spend much more time on it than doing small-size tattoos.

Design of the tattoos

The design of the tattoos is another thing that affects the price of the tattoos. If you want to have a tattoo of a name or any alphabet, these can be done easily within a short time but if you want to have a dragon or any animal or any other creature on your body, these usually take much more time to illustrate. Hence the price of the tattoos highly depends on the pricing of tattoos. The more complex design you want, the more money you have to.

Color of the tattoos

Tattoos are generally done in black color but many of us want to make them colorful. Hence the tattoos are usually black and gray, when you want colorful tattoos, in this case, it takes much more costly than getting a black tattoo. People want to have red, blue, green, and more colors on their tattoos. There is a saying that is said, “good tattoos aren’t cheap and cheap tattoos aren’t good.”

Location of the tattoos

The location of the tattoos may cause you a low to a much higher price. In other words, in which part of the body, do you want to do the tattoos cause of the price? People usually do the tattoos-

  • On the half sleeve: People tend to love half-sleeve tattoos more than getting any other part of the body. The half-sleeve tattoos refer to the tattoos that will cover the arms of the hand completely on both sides of the hand.
  • On the full sleeve: Another popular type of tattoo is the full sleeve tattoo where the tattoo will cover both parts of the hand from shoulder to wrist.
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What Are Some Good Reasons To Tip?

There are some good reasons that you need to actually consider while tipping a tattoo artist. When you find any of them in your tattoo service, do not hesitate to tip your tattoo artist:

When Your Tattoo Design Is Customized

A tattoo artist has to show a lot of creativity while doing a tattoo. When you go for something out of the conventional way and customize your tattoo, this requires a lot of skill as well. A customized design requires sketching the tattoo out, adjusting the size of it, and choosing the color scheme. Some of these processes can take hours as well. So when you go for any customized tattoo, just do not hesitate to tip your tattoo artist accordingly.

When Your Tattoo Requires Several Sessions

If your tattoo is of a bigger size or very complex to complete that can require several sessions, you should tip your tattoo artist well because this process is using up most of your artist’s time.

If Your Artist Uses Their Own Supplies

When you see that your artist has to purchase and use new supplies on their own for your tattoos – for example, the ink machine, the ink itself, drawing paper etc., they should be tipped well as nobody is going to reimburse them for any of these supplies.

When It Comes to Appreciation, Artists Like It!

A tip is a pretty straightforward way for an artist to be told, “I like your work.” As this thing tends to give the feeling of appreciation to your artist, this can be considered a pretty good reason to tip. Not only that, tipping your artist well can also help establish a bond between you and your artist, which is pretty much vital when you decide to come back in the future for another tattoo!

How Much do Tattoos Cost?

We have discussed the things that affect the price of tattoos. Now let’s have a look at how much it costs in general:

On average tattoos will cost you hourly $150-500 in the USA. The price gets upwards and downwards as well and the factors are discussed above. Then the price will be:

Types of TattoosPricing
Half sleeves (hourly)$500- $2000
Full-sleeves (hourly)$1500-$6000
Shoulder tattoos$150- $500
Hip tattoos$500-$2000

The above-mentioned pricing is not fixed pricing rather it has been discussed to have an average idea about the pricing of the tattoos.

We got an overview of the pricing of the tattoos. And after knowing the pricing issues the things that you need to take into consideration are the tipping matters that every US citizen needs to practice rigorously.

Now let’s discuss the tipping reasons and amount for tattoo artists.

Does, a tattoo artist deserve a tip from a customer?

Yes, they do so. Tattoo is one kind of service and those who provide this kind of service, definitely deserve a tip from the customer. The service providers spend their strength and time providing the best service to their customers and that’s why being a customer you should praise them by offering them the tip. If it’s so then how much you should pay?

The survey on tipping the tattoo artist asserts that 20-25% of the total bill should be the tipping amount for the tattoo artist. It gets high under a few factors tipping may increase-

  • when you get excellent service
  • At the festival session
  • When you get extra service
  • If you are thrilled by the courtesy of the tattoos artists
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Excellent service:

As said before tipping may increase under a few factors and one of the reasons would be excellent service. When we get the best services, we feel happy since we spend a lot of money on getting the tattoos done. Hence when you notice the outcome of tattoos is flawless, you should offer extra money to the artics as a tip to showcase their gratitude for their hard work. Since the actual amount is to tip 20 to 25% of the total bill and when you have to pay extra, you better pay 10-15% more than usual.

At the festival session

During the festival session price of local commodities gets high and many additional expenses appear as well. Thus whenever you get the best services from your tattoo artists, you should give an extra amount as a tip to the tattoo artist and during the festival session pay more. This would be a festival gift for him or her.

Get extra service

The tattoo artist can get more from the customer by offering them extra services. In other words, once someone asks for a half-sleeve, the tattoo artist can do so along with free coloring. Since they provided free coloring services, the customer can offer the tattoo artist an extra amount to appreciate his kindness.

The courtesy of the tattoo artist’s

Tipping highly depends on the courtesy of the tattoo artist. If you treat well by the tattoo artist, you feel better and get impressed by the work. On the other hand, when you treat badly by the tattoo artist, you feel a sense of anger and do not want to appreciate them for their services. But to appreciate the good work and well behavior of the tattoo artist, you can offer them a tip, such as extra money beyond the actual service cost.

Give the tip before or after getting the service?

When you should offer a tip, entirely depends on you. You can offer a tip before or after getting the services. Customers tend to offer a tip after getting the services. As there are a few things to consider while giving the tip. That’s why it is always better to give a tip after getting the services. What are the things to consider while giving the tip, as discussed above; these are:

  • courtesy of the tattoos artists
  • Quality of the services
  • The amount that is being paid to get the services was it reasonable or not

What we have discussed above is entitled to provide you with ideas while giving tipping to the tattoo artist.

As said before, when and how you should offer the tip to the tattoo artist, is up to you. If you want, you can give it before or after getting the services. The tip is not mandatory to pay to the services provider. It depends on your psyche. The customer offers a tip to an artist to showcase the general courtesy and to appreciate their gratitude towards the artist’s hard work.

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How much to tip to the tattoo artist?

We have mentioned the tipping amount that the customer usually gives to the tattoo artist which is the 20-25% of the total. In addition, the tipping amount may increase under a few factors that we have discussed extensively. To have a broad idea of the tipping amount, we will share a chart with you and from there you can get an ample idea of how much to pay based on the number of services:

$ Tipping CostTipping Amount (20-25%)
$1000$200-250
$2000$400-500
$3000$600-750
$4000$800-1000
$5000$1000-1250
$6000$1200-1500
$7000$1400-1750

We have shared this chart with you so that you can perceive how much you should pay as a tip to the tattoo artist. Then again whatever amount you feel appropriate, you can offer to the tattoo artist.

Is 10% an ok tip for tattoo artist?

Tipping 10% is considered a standard tip in many service industries, including tattooing. However, it is worth noting that tattooing is a highly skilled and personal service, and many customers choose to tip more than 10% to reflect the level of skill and care that goes into creating a tattoo.

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How much to tip tattoo artist for $500 dollar?

The amount of gratuity for a tattoo that costs $500 can vary based on preferences and the quality of the tattoo artist’s work. Generally speaking, you should tip between 15% and 20% of the total cost of the tattoo, or $75 to $100 for a tattoo that costs $500.

However, some clients may want to tip more or less based on how pleased they are with the tattoo’s quality and the service they received. If the artist takes on a challenging or intricate design or if it took them a long time to complete the work, it is customary to tip a little more.

How much do you tip for a $200 tattoo?

Depending on preferences and the level of care received from the tattoo artist, the tip for a $200 tattoo may differ. Generally speaking, you should leave a tip that is between 15 and 20% of the entire cost of the tattoo, or $30 to $40 for a $200 tattoo. However, some clients may want to tip more or less based on how pleased they are with the tattoo’s quality and the service they received. If the artist takes on a challenging or intricate design or if it took them a long time to complete the work, it is customary to tip a little more.

How much to tip tattoo artist per hour?

The amount to tip a tattoo artist per hour varies depending on the individual and their level of skill and experience. It is common to tip anywhere from $20 to $50 per hour of work, but some customers may choose to tip more for exceptional service or a particularly challenging or detailed tattoo.

It is recommended to consult the artist or the studio for their suggestion.

Gifts Instead of Money for the Tattoos Artist:

As said before, tipping is not compulsory for tattoos artist. You can offer gifts instead money as a tip. What kind of gifts this can be? Let us tell you:

  • The gift cards
  • Movie tickets
  • Customize mugs
  • Tattoos kits
  • Tattoo ink sets
  • Shirts and aprons for the tattoo artists

Avoid tipping to the tattoo:

Giving tips to the tattoo artist is important and at the same time, it’s become insignificant sometimes as well. There are many flaws we encounter while visiting the tattoo salon that makes us think, about whether we should offer a tip to the tattoo artist or not. Let us tell you when you should not offer a tip to tattoo artists:

  • If the tattoo artist misbehaves with you
  • If the service was not up to the mark
  • If the salon charges you an extra service charge
  • When you did not get the desired tattoos from the artist

Is it bad to not tip your tattoo artist?

Tipping a tattoo artist is a method to express gratitude for the artist’s talent, diligence, and time in producing a one-of-a-kind and significant work of art for you. Although leaving a gratuity is not compulsory, it is regarded as customary in the tattoo industry as a way to appreciate the work of the artist.

Not tipping at all or leaving a meager tip might be seen as unappreciative or impolite. Having said that, there are several scenarios in which a client may have a good excuse for not leaving a gratuity. For instance, if the client is dissatisfied with the product or the level of service received from the artist, they may decide not to tip.

In Conclusion:

In the end, we can say that tipping is always a tradition in the US and thus you should continue this norm by performing it ahead. You can offer a tip to the tattoo artist to appreciate and showcase gratitude towards their work. In some cases, you should avoid tipping the tattoo artist, such as if the tattoo artist’s behavior was bad, the salon tells you to charge you extra services charge; all of these things you encounter while getting the tattoo, you can avoid giving the tip to the tattoo artist.

Mohammad Rubel

Mohammad Rubel

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