A question about pricing ethics...

Ok, let's see if I can describe what I'm actually thinking... Most artists will base their prices on time taken for tattoo work. Also, it seems that the industry standard, at least around here, is about a hundred dollars an hour. Now, here's my dilemna. You can figure a bunch of different ways what constitutes a hundred dollar tattoo. Fold a dollar bill in half, everytime it covers, that's a hundred. The grid system of inch by inch for every ten being one hundred. But, what if you just happen to be a very fast artist? So, say that the artist next to you would take six hours to finish a tattoo and it only would take you four, should there be that much of a discrepancy between prices? I know it doesn't make that much difference on the little tattoos, but on the bigger ones, we are starting to have issues. We each price our work seperately, so when someone sneaks around and asks one of us for a price and they get $800.00 then they come ask the other and they get $550.00 it's hard to explain away. And no, he is by no means a "slow" artist. So, if I price higher, they (it hasn't happened yet) could ask, "hey, I just paid $400 for two and a half hours worth of work. You said you were only a hundred an hour." I appreciate any input I could get. Thanks.

Each artist is an idividual if they are slow or fast and lets just say that is an hour of work from that artist just because someone is fast only means that the customers is getting more coverage for the money but they still dont have the art of the slower artist.What i am getting at is that it should be something that the customer should decide depending on what they would like the end result to be.Work from the artist of your choice comes with all kinds of ups and down no matter who you choose.When i did my apprenticship Jack rudy was working at the shop at the time he put alot of time into his work there was other artist that were alot faster but if i had had them do my tattoo i would not have a tattoo from jack.I might of had a bigger tattoo and it might be great also but it would not have been from him.Its all up to the customer.

This is the exact reason that we stopped pricing by the hour years ago and went to a straight price....we gecide exactly what the price of a tattoo is going to be then thats the price PERIOD!!...if it takes a little longer ( or even a LOT longer!) the customer STILL only pays the agreed upon price....the artist can take his time without worrying about the client bitching because its taking so long and the client knows in advance exactly what he/she is going to pay...works great for us...much less confusion and since some of our artists are way faster than others we never here..."well that guys tattoo is bigger than mine why did his get done so much faster and cheaper?....And ya gotta watch out for those fuckers who get a price then go to another person in the shop trying to get a cheaper price...or they come back in a day or two when someone else is working and try to see if they can get it cheaper!...T

at my shop we all comminucate we've had people get a price from one of us and sneak over and have another price it. but before we do a tattoo we always check to see if anyone else priced it.

Its amazing how in the same city tatto prices for the same piece of art can vary....first place i went wanted $380.00 dollars and for a tattoo that i got 2 years ago at $180.00 wanted over $300.00 for it. Went to another parlour to get a price and for the first piece of art quoted me $250.00... so how do they work out hte pricing on what is going to be charged..The two places are only 2 streets away from each other.

thats not uncommon. there are alot of shops that try to cut throat other shops prices. then there are shops that do shitty work and know it. so, some times you get what you pay for. but some shops do shitty work and over charge for it. thats why we encourage people to view our portfolios before getting work done. but i've done some big peices for a low price, because i was boared and it was something custom that i was excited to do.

Way too many variables...we're talking about art & artists and throwing in a free market economy...there is no place for 'ethics' in all of that...pure supply & demand, whatever maximum the artist can charge for his/her work and still keep as busy as he/she wishes...ethics...'snicker'...

Most of the places we go use flat-rates. They don't charge hourly. That being said, most often, you "get what you pay for". If someone is charging a higher price, it's often because they are aware of the quality of their work, and their work is in higher demand... higher demand = higher price. Now, stay with me for a minute. I design all my tattoos. If I go to one shop and they price me at $550, and another shop prices me at $850, of course I'm checking their folio's and their sketching of my design. Then, I choose who to do it based on who I think could better handle my artwork on a specific part of my body, keeping it as close to my original concept as possible. I do NOT base the decision of who will tattoo me on price. I'm choosing to put PERMANENT art on my body. I want the best I can get, regardless of price.

Red ...I think that post pretty much said it all...I have only recently started seeing you on this forum...let me be the first to welcome you pal!!....TAz

Thanks much, Taz! Glad to be here!

I appreciate all the input, guys, but we didn't quite hit the mark I was looking for. Yes, we pretty much standardize our pricing. I knew I was going to have trouble explaining this. OK...here's the scenario. Let's pick on Taz. I come into your shop, Taz, and being around the block a time or two, I do all the right things. Blah, blah, look at portfolio, blah blah, look at sterilization area...I just like your work. I ask you..."How much do you charge hourly." You answer? Either "All are prices are preset." Or, maybe, "$150.00 per hour." Or whatever. If you tell me all your prices are set for each piece, I'm going to ask you what you base your price on. Which, you will probably say by time, intricacy, etc. So, we are still at an hourly price. Anyway, you set me a price of like fifteen hundred dollars. That's fifteen hours worth of work. You get done in ten hours. Then, here's where my question comes in, what do you say when you're asked, "what about the other five hours?" Do you just say, "I'm a very fast artist." "It didn't take as long as I had imagined." This is more what I was asking. Sorry, I'm know I'm still being kind of round about...I really don't mean to. I was just curious if this had happened to anyone and what they did. Thanks, Jimmy

Nope never happened here...we set the price and the client knows that no matter how long it takes or fast the artist,thats what the price is period...now if a customer wants to break it down and figure out what the hourly rate would be , which would be impossible, they would simply be wasting their time....T

As a customer I really like the flat pricing, I want to know going into it what it will cost me. Not so I can shop around, but to make sure I can afford it! Blacktri

That makes sense to me as a customer as well... I've always been charged a flat rate... and if it takes them less time, then I'm not complaining I've been charged "more per hour"

For my first tattoo, I looked at several shops and the artists' portfolios.I found one I liked... then I asked about price... he quoted me a flat price of $120. I had $150 to spend so I said ok and got the tat. I liked the work and the artist was curtious and patient with me. So I gave him the other $30 as a tip. If had had quoted me more than I had. I either woulda came back later with more cash or looked at more studios. If he quoted me hourly I been leery about getting screwed... I think hourly rates just mess things up. When you comission a painting it's a flat price... why should this be any different. Afterall we are talking art and not business right?

Hourly, inchXinch or whatever should be kept behind the scenes.... Whatever method an artist choice to set his flat rate is his business. His business is art, but a customer's business is getting a piece of art not a chunk of your time. Confusion should be kept to a minimum to avoid problems. IMHO... I've never been quoted by the hour and wouldn't go to a shop that does... unless I'm there for a specific artist and a specific piece... then the price isn't hard set, but I would ask and approximate time and expect double to make sure I could afford it.

I don't believe in hourly pricing either. But I have suspicion that some studios use this method to encourage customers to remain seated for as long as possible during the tattoo instead of wanting to take too much breaks in between. 've seen people waste an artists time by asking for breaks too often. In my opinion when you take too long a break all the adrenalin is gone and it pains even MORE!!! The Weasel