Tipping?

billythew

Hi what would be the convention around tipping tattoo artists? Maybe there are no hard and fast rules, but is it generally expected or how does it work?

Diceicle

To the best of my knowledge there are no rules as regards percentage etc.
There was a thread a while ago regarding people tipping and here's one of my own contributions which sums up my current attitude to tipping in the tattoo industry:
"
I was just thinking about this topic a little more and I got to thinking that while I do tip, I dont think it should be an automatic courtesy afforded to the artist by the customer. If you tip everybody, everytime, all you end up doing is rewarding mediocrity along with the genuine people who make the extra effort and who deserve it.
For instance, if I were to go to a tattoo artist with a design, he/she takes the design, stencils it, and tattoos it on without incident or issue, I dont necessarily think thats deserving of tipping. The artist did the job as requested.
However if the artist makes the effort to advise on colour, placement, maybe suggesting other elements to include for a more rounded or better tattoo, then I think that is worthy of tipping.
Sounds fair to me. "

Here's a link to the thread its on:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055515039

Star Lord

With me it's been a combination of if I thought the artist deserved the tip, and if I could afford it at the time

billythew

Sounds good. Thanks for your opinions and the link.

bob5666

if he or she deserves it