Numbers, please!

Column by Dirk-Boris Rödel

It's almost a taboo subject in tattooing: paying!

In principle, it is actually clear; you receive a good or service and you pay for it. Just like in a restaurant, department store, movie theater ...

With tattoos, however, this sometimes seems a little unclear; what are you actually paying for? For the image in the skin? For the time spent? For the creativity and the art?

I don't think even tattoo artists can always answer this clearly. Some have certain hourly rates; this is the easiest for the customer to understand, but where do the working hours required to prepare the appointment, i.e. designing the motif, customer consultation, etc., appear in this system?

How do you add expenses for hygiene materials, inks, needles or even studio rent to the final price for a customer? There are no standards, every tattoo artist has to decide for themselves, and some find it quite difficult, after all, hardly any tattoo artist has studied business administration or accounting.

But if the tattoo artist has arrived at "his" system of pricing, whatever that looks like, then there are always two possibilities for the customer; either the product (the tattoo) and the price match; then nothing stands in the way of the tattoo session. Or the price is too high, in which case the customer says in a friendly manner: "Unfortunately, that's over my budget at the moment and I'm afraid I can't afford it at the moment, thank you for your efforts!"

The customer does NOT start haggling or begging if it's cheaper and the customer does NOT say "But the tattoo artist in the studio around the corner would do it for half the price!" or anything like that. That kind of thing is disrespectful.

If you think the price is too high, say thank you and say goodbye - that's it, anything more than that is not necessary. Haggling over the price means that you think the tattoo is not worth what the tattoo artist is asking for it - ok, but if that's the case and it's not worth it to you, why do you want it at all?

If you want to make yourself really unpopular with the tattoo artist, then ask him for a "friendship price" because you work out at the same fitness club, because you know his sister-in-law's best friend, because you once exchanged two sentences with him at a party or because you let him in front of you in the checkout line at Aldi and are therefore actually best buddies.

It should be said that, yes, of course tattoo artists also have good friends; and these friends would never in a million years think of asking their friend for special conditions, because they know exactly what he has to cope with financially in terms of store rent and expenses for materials and equipment, or how much he has to pay if so and so many customers don't show up for their appointment, etc. etc.

It is important to such friends to support their buddy, the tattoo artist, not to take advantage of him. If anything, they would round up the price he quotes them.

Which brings us to the next topic: Do you actually tip when getting a tattoo? I have to say: I have no idea. I've done it sometimes, sometimes not - in any case, I don't think any tattoo artist would object, but I don't think it's expected to be obligatory either. If you are particularly happy with the tattoo session, if the result exceeds your expectations or if you felt particularly comfortable and safe during the appointment - why not? After all, the tattoo artist doesn't live on money alone, and if you round up a price, the tattoo artist will certainly not only be happy about the few extra euros, but will also see the tip as a nice recognition of his work, time and creativity, which he will certainly be particularly pleased about - because this is a currency that is particularly valued by artistic and creative people!

Text: Dirk-Boris Rödel | Graphic: Jonas Bachmann