Hey friend!

Something that can be super confronting and confusing when getting tattooed, is the price. Pricing can be determined by a number of factors, which is why they can range quite a lot!

So lets run through some basics, that can help you understand pricing, your budget and how you’ll start your collection.

Why do artists need to charge so much?

Where is all the money going when a tattoo artist takes a payment?

Generally a tattoo artist, when working for a studio runs on a percentage cut or a rental booth rate. Percentage cut, means from the total price charged for a tattoo, a percentage is given to the shop to maintain what they provide. Percentage cuts can range from 30%-50%. Where as a rental booth rate, may be based on a daily charge, weekly charge or determined by the specific amount of days an artist works, this could range from $120 daily and more.

Provisions a studio can provide include, the space itself, cleanliness of the space, the bed/arm rests, some supplies (depending on the studio – stencil paper, sterilisation room/equipment, inks, needles, barrier plastics) and other resources. On top of that depending on location and legislation, a studio may have to hold a licence to operate, pay rent for the building, provide work insurance or pay other staff (reception, assistants, social media etc).

I am not Mr Worldwide, so PLEASE, this is just information relevant to the locations I’ve worked in.

For an artist there are benefits to both systems. If an artist is consistently busy weekly, paying a rental booth rate may work out cheaper than having a percentage taken from each tattoo done during their work week. But when work may be slow, or weeks are impacted by cancellations/no shows, the rental booth rate may mean they have to pay out of pocket when profit benchmarks aren’t met to cover the rate.

So lets do some real simple maths (because I really shouldn’t be doing maths), if an artist charges you $100 for a tattoo, and the shop cut is 40%, they earn $60, from the $100 you paid.

Your artists work as sole traders, they’re self employed so that means they are trading on their own in the studio space. In which they give part of their earnings, in exchange for the space/resources provided.

So, what may happen to that $60?

Where’s the $60 going?

As sole traders, this means artists are not employee of the studio, but self employed, so what does that mean?

This means, your artists don’t have payroll tax, or are a part of compulsory employee superannuation contributions. Generally they are responsible for any tax payable by their business, and providing their own super contributions.

What does this all mean? It can be pretty confusing, if you’ve never had to worry about it at with your job.

Basically, when you’re an employee of a business, part of your wage is deducted for tax by your employer. So at the end of a financial year, you lodge a tax return in which you could receive a tax refund or owe tax, based on your earnings, deductions or offsets. As an employee of a business, your employer must pay super guarantee at least everything 3 months, about 11% of an employee’s ordinary time earnings. Super, is paid to workers to provide for their retirement.

So, after that hopefully explanatory (it was probably still confusing) explanation, the simple formula is – self employed = pay the money yourself (tax + super)

From that $60, your artist may (should) put aside some money for tax time and into their super. The amount they put aside for both is up to their discretion, there’s no right or wrong amount, but generally there’s probably a guide (which I will not get into because this is not business advice, I’m just a gal lol).

So let’s say your artist, from that $60 decides to put at least $20 for tax, and $20 to their super.

That leaves $20.

Alright, the $20, where might that go?

So there’s $20, surely that just gets pocketed? Maybe not.

As we previously established, a studio may provide some supplies but not all. Generally, tattoo studios provide the basics, like razors, tongue depressors, Vaseline, barrier plastics, cups, cling film, paper towel, and if they’re super lucky maybe some basic needles and inks.

But some studios don’t provide ink and needles, and other products that might use during/for the tattoo (ie second skin, numbing spray etc). This means your artist purchases these supplies from their own earnings put aside.

Depending on the type and brand of needles, a box of 20 can range from $30-$60 (sometimes there are boxes of less that range in price too). Inks can range from $20-$60 (depending on the size/type/brand). Same goes for second skin, they can range from $20-$40 for a roll of varying sizes and lengths.

So let’s say, you received a super simple line work piece in black, they may have used one needle (at $30, that’s roughly $1.5 per needle), some black ink (let’s just guess about $1 worth, which sounds goofy and weird to calculate), and a but of second skin was provided for you (let’s also say $1 worth). That’s $3.50. Leaving us with $16.5 profit.

Enough for a meal (in this economy?? Maybe even not, big bummer).

Alrightyyy, after all those math problem scenario calculations that have haunted us since schooling, that’s a very very basic break down of basic expenses that contribute to your artist’s charging.

Why are they charging this? But somebody else charges this?

Let’s point out some more stuff that’ll determine pricing:

• Experience + skill: contribute to the quality of work they provide.
• Style: style of work can range, and the complexity of them ranges too (ie high effort = more time needed)
• Out of range: some styles/placements may not be preferential for your artist’s range, which they can charge more for, or not accept as a project they’ll take on.
• Specialty: some artists have a limited range they like to specialise in, this means they are more experienced/skilled with those styles which can determine their charging.
• Placement: hand in hand with style, certain placements can be more challenging to tattoo/stencil.

Some studios have a rough hourly rate, or minimum charge to cover at least all those costs we previous outlined. Hourly rates can vastly vary depending on the area, the reputation and the experience of the artist you go see. Hourly rates can also simply be determined by your artist, and not their studio.

Hourly rates can be a good way for an artist to at least charge on the bare minimum of time used, to make sure they are charging their worth. This can also be a good way for clients to budget for pieces ranging from small to large scale, it give you a determining factor that can help you budget and schedule out your visits. Also most of us have worked a job that pays hourly! So it can help every contextualise the amount charged.

But some artists charge by piece? What does that mean? This means, an artist will quote a piece at a set or range of prices for a piece. Sometimes this is preferential because the amount of time used is not always reflective of an artists ability. An experienced artists might tattoo very quickly, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have acquired skills or knowledge that shouldn’t be reflected in their increasing potential too.

So, somebody has quoted you this, and somebody has quoted that. How do you determine who to book in with?

I always tell clients to make this decision by looking that the artists they’re approaching.

• Do you consistently enjoy the work they provide?
• Do you think they are providing you with efficient service leading up the appointment? – (Communicating, booking you in, working with you on the design/with your references)
• Easy to contact?
• Helpful with any questions you had?
• Provide enough information about appointment (location, quote, length of appointment, dates available)

Cheaper is not always better, and it’s not bad if an artists quotes lower, as well. More expensive is not always better too, it doesn’t always equate to quality of the piece or service.

Some artist may also charge for drawing time, rates for custom pieces, more for certain days of the week (weekends). There’s nothing wrong with an artist who charge for these extra things, they’re just things of value an artist determines should also be paid for, and is part of the service.

At the end of the day, tattooing is a luxury service. They are an investment for yourself, so happy decision making! (I know you’re all indecisive, I hear it all the time 🫶🏼) Hopefully this provides a bit of extra info to help you make some decisions, and answer some questions!