tattoos are too expensive

it doesn't make sense that someone with no education thinks they should make 25 $ an hour. I tattoo out of my house sometimes (which is better cause low overhead) and i never charge more than like 7-10 an hour. It's unethical to basically steal money from people. I learned to tattoo in an hour and anyone can do it. There's no reason anyone should pay over inflated prices for something so easy. all you have to do is trace the stencil. It's easier than construction work and i get paid 15 $ an hour for that. It's just really messed up that artists think they're so special they deserve to drive nice cars and do drugs all the time on someone else's dime. Tattoos are for self expression not just rich people. If you drop out of high school or don't go to college and are too lazy to do real work you shouldn't make more than minimum wage. Tattoo shops are just scams to get trendy rich kids to spend alot of money. It makes me so mad! Sometimes i'll hang out in front of shops in town and tell their costomers i'll tattoo them for a tenth of the quote they got and they are so relieved not to be scammed. I get them to use their cell phone cameras to get a picture of whatever they were going to get at the shop and i can take it right off their phones. Shops need to stop pretending like they offer something no one else can and lower their prices. Stop being riduculous. And if anyone is in the orlando florida area and wants super cheap tattoos post your e-mail and i'll be happy to set something up. I will even travel to you. I'm better than 50% of the clowns in shops and i have my own ultrasonic cleaner and am as clean as any of these shops too. Also i will accept 'trades'. Hit me up schooly T

Please tell me this is some sort of tomfoolery by someone? Please...

you think i'm wrong? are you one of those artists?

No, I'm not a tattoo artist.. I'm a tattooee.. but I would never let someone tattoo me from their own home, regardless.. I guess keeping my blood free from impurities is rather important to me..

GABE PLEASE delete this fools post before someone gets AIDS or Hep!!!!

Try hangin out in front of OUR shop talkin that trash and see what happens to ya! You are the reason so many laws now exist to keep untrained morons like you away from peoples skin.So ya have an ultrasonic, SO WHAT? Now you can polish your boyfriends cheap jewelry up all nice and shiny. Important question is do you have an autoclave? If so is it spore tested regularly? Do you have up to date training in BBP, cross contam and Biocontaminants, creating and maintaining sterile fields? Have you spent years and years perfecting your art skills? Oh sorry, I forgot you taught yourself how to tattoo in an hour! What a fuckin JOKE!!! I wonder how many people you have already infected with a disease they will live with for the rest of their life.

Is it really even possible for this guy to be this much of a jackass? I am completely stunned. I am even more shocked he was able to post anything on this board. I assumed you needed an I.Q. of at least 80 to be able to type.

I should know better than to respond but I'm bored. Besides the health and legal reasons already listed, your post shows an amazing amount of ignorance about tatttoos and their potential. Tattoos are a form of art and art is much more than just tracing a stencil. Many artist go to art school and take the time to learn how to make a tattoo really worthy of being in a museum. Just like anyone who learns a craft, whether in school or by practice, they deserve to be paid for it. I pay good money for art to hang on my wall, beautiful hand made furniture and I certainly don't mind paying for a beautiful piece of art that I carry with me forever.

Like I just told TIM (after I yelled at him for believing this was a real post) someone is having a great time pullin all of our chains!!

there is no doubt in my mind that this is just someone yankin peoples chains to get a rise....besides the fact that if anyone ever stood out in front of our shop and did that it probably wouldn`t be a pretty site!!

Taz, I have no doubt this is a troll and not very good at being one at that. However, there are a lot of young and impressionable people out there. The only way to battle stupidity is to replace the bad info with good. So that is what I did. Notice I did really address the troll directly, the poster is irrelevant.

diat, that is why I wont bother deleting this post... its worth people reading the answers and its actually quite impressive that people responded to the troll responsibly. thanks folks.

Diat I agree with ya kiddo!! I'm on your side ....just wanted people to know that this probably IS a hoax...you know those impressionable people you mentioned!

just another toll... Someone is laughing at our expenses.

Well, they're not laughing too much, this isnt much action for a troll to get off on I dont think...

nice message.... please everyone in the florida area, find this guy, and burn his shitty home tattoo parlor down... buy one get one free gimmicks, and "cheap" brain surgeries.... ATTENTION, FLORIDA HEALTH DEPT. PLEASE EMAIL THIS GUY AND GO SEE IF HE IS STERILIZING EQUIPMENT WITH AN ULTRASONIC. HAHAHAHA...MINIMUM WAGE TATTOO ARTIST...HAHAHAHA

This has to be a goof message...it's just too funny!! BUT if it is legit and someone is fool enough to take him at his word, then I have a big knife and took some biology, math, and chem classes in college...even though my major was not pre-med I can cut a mean steak and I've watched E.R. a few times!! So if you need surgery and don't have medical bennys...I can save you some dough and big medical bills, and if you croak I have a wood chipper and a fire place to finish any mistakes I make!!

After all the tragedy this month, I needed a good solid laugh. HAHAHA!!! wow. Artists don't deserve to get paid for their hard work, but ball players, rappers, and rock stars deserve THEIR millions, ay? Frankly, I don't know many super rich tattoo artists bro... even if they are able to command a couple hundred bux an hour.

Ok so after reading this, I just have to think...wow! I only have one tat, so by no means am I an expert, at all! But plz just the health issues aside are enough to make me think this poster is a complete idiot, as well as anyone that has let him tatoo them! I am a Public Health major, and I am just amazed that anyone would go to someone's house to get a tattoo! Also, I can trace, but my god, I wouldn't consider that being an artist! Please whoever post this, get a life, and a job!

no i am not a "troll" whatever that means ,i am for real here .....and everybody that replys negativly to my post is further proof that what im saying is true, you just dont want the poor public to realize this fact ,that you are overpaid and under educated. And rappers and ball players work very hard for thier money ,and give the public something in return, unlike the lot of you . And futher more i would stand in front of any one of your shops an do what i do with no hesitation ...you all wouldnt do a dam thing to me ,because you are all too lazy and fat from sitting on your asses all day long doing drugs and ripping off people for thier hard earned money! And i do clean everything i use with my ultrasonic before the next use.So what do you have to say about that?......nothing .thats right ! i do evreything that you all do but at a fraction of the cost ,i do it for the people!....as a matter of fact its you all that got me into it ,i wanted to give these folks a alternative to getting soaked for cash. I dont understand what the problem is,i do what i do and you all do what you do,plain and simple. If you dont like it you can always lower your prices so there wont be any reason for me to keep people from getting ripped off.If you all had more reasonable prices people wouldnt want me to do tattoos instead of you ,if im such a bad guy then why am i doing like ten to 15 tattoos out of my garage a week? i will tell you ,no wait i allready did! because im better ,cheaper ,and more friendly than all of you ,people like me! thanks for your time,scooly t

talk is cheap on open forums schooly T. Lets see your work tough guy, no one on this site is scared to post their tattoos.

This poor guy came in this morning. He had a "cheap" tattoo done in Deactur, IL. His arm was extremely swollen and infected. http://www.pureimaginationtattoos.com/images/bad.jpg Please refer to www.badtattoos.com to see more cheap work. Buyer beware.

YA keep bragin that ya have an ultrasonic...so what?...so ya get yer dirty needles nice and shiny....what kind of autoclave do ya have?...is it spore tested?...are ya licensed?...do ya pay taxes? Whattya mean ya didn't know that an ultrasonic doesn't sterilize anything? Ya did know that right? Got yer certification on bbps and cross contam?...answer up pal! How many people will lose their lives because YOU didn't know that an ultrasonic isn't a sterilizer?

WHATEVER I TOOK ALL OF THOSE CLASSES AND THEY SAID AN ULTRASONIC IS FINE FOR WHAT I DO .you think your all high and mighty ,but at my prices people dont care if they get a cold or something ,thats the worst thing that could happen. you act they could gat aids or somehing ,you need more education ,fake artist high school drop out. My frends all know about aids and they say that you cant get it from tattoos so im all good with that! Gt a life and quit bugging me about things that are out of my control,its not my fault if someone gets aids from not washing thier tattoo. or letting thier dog jump on them . Ad remember i will be out front of shop near you so look out for me to get the best prices and the safest work ,much better than your local "tattoo shop". hit me up ,schooly t

Man now come on Nobody told you that an ultrasonic sterilizes! Its just for cleaning before sterilizing, And yeah we WILL be looking for ya!! You have a nice day now ya hear? Like Gabe said...well ya know what he said!

Bwhahahahah! This topic was entaining with the first post. Then the little troll deftly waited until he got some good, vitriolic replies before making a second, sound troll post. But after this last one, nah now it is just silly and no longer entertaining. Sorry, you should have waited for some less scientific and fact based replys rather than reply to Taz with pure silliness. And I'm not sure why anyone would be proud of doing *only* 10 or 15 tattoos a week (unless they are big, complicated pieces).

im no "troll" i dont even know what that means .....taz is a joke anyhow. He dosent even support this site by having his own page on here!.lol ,Give a good reason for that... i dare you! you wont !you just use this site for your own means..to pretend you know somthing and you dont even shell out the money to gabe for a page! you fake ass site friend!~

This is the last time I will waste time on your silliness kid...No I don't have a page on here...neither do many of the other artists who post here...this is an open public forum and Gabe certainly doesn't require that you be a client of his to post...you aren't a client of his are you? The key word here is "public" my friend. The only thing fake on here is you...my god a scratcher who insists that he is safe because he owns an ultrasonic,,,it would be funny if it were not so sad...know ing that you probably pass out AIDS and HepC like candy in Kindrgarten.

sounds like another candy ass scratcher comfortable enough to brag about his work but too chciken shit scared to show it (what excuse will you use... lemme guess, you scared people will rip off your amazingly brilliant ideas or maybethe dog ate your camera)... Sorry man, I still think your 100% troll. Our education system is bad, but not that bad... I hope! hey, just out of curiosity who is your favorite artist?

I certainly dont require people post their tattoos on my site to post, but I have stated in the past and its relevant here, when artists dispense advice they do have a responsibility to show their portfolio. Again, talk is cheap, your art should speak for itself. lets see it.

taz is my favorite artist .but i cant see any of his work because he doesnt support you and this site gabe ,he posts alot on here and pretends that he cares about this site but does not buy a page on here to keep the site going? hmmmm? maybe your work is really not that good after all ,i think i will find a new favorite artist .

you heard gabe taz, talk is cheap lets see your work!

Dude, it logs IP adresses. How many ids are you going to post under. lol

Its pretty easy to find buddy! Just do some homework! By the way thanks for the entertainment!

After searching the entire internet front to back we have found only one picture of Taz's work. His own website www.paintedangel.com doens't have any of his stuff. His myspace has one tattoo (in progress) Assuming this is his first and only tattoo, it's not bad. However, he is a proffessional who obviously knows everything about tattooing and dispenses advice like candy to kindergarteners, and I don't know if (judging from this one picture) his work warrants his doing so. I think that with the level of quality that's out there today, he's kinda like a kindergartener himself- a big fake Paul Booth flavored kindergartener. But you can judge for yourselves at www.myspace.com/bullangel. It may be easier for him to learn something about tattooing if he worked with more tattoo artists (2) and less piercers (5!). I guess that's kinda judgemental of me. I certainly wouldn't want to overstep my boundries by letting my advice outshine my ability.

Nope...I am not a great artist and have never ever said I was but I have been in the biz a long while and have enjoyed a good run of sucess...theres lots more pics out there if ya just look! Whats more important ...MUCH more important is that I DO know a lot about the business of tattooing and I am happy to share that knowledge ...even to people like you!

Hello Mr.T, I would like to take a moment to offer my serivces to you with regards to proper forum trolling. I usually charge $25/hr ( like those over-priced tattoo artists) but in your case I will offer a discount, it is obvious you need the help.

Gabe! Stop giving out my nickname... I'm s'posed to be the "candyass" remember? LMAO. This guy can't be for real, but nothing would suprise me at this point.

You know, I don't think I would get tattooed by someone who charged less than $75-$100 an hour as a regular rate. I work hard every day of my life for what I have, why should my tattoos be any different? I worked my ass off for my tattoos, and I'm proud of them. I would never get tattooed in someone's home either.. I'm picky about staying alive for another 70-80 years.. Hell, my own artist has moved to different shops a couple of times, and even though I trust him, I've always made sure to check the licencing and everything about the new shops.. It just doesn't make sense to me not to. I can see why people would want cheap tattoos in an unsafe environment though. These're the people for whom tattoos are a fashion statement, a fashion accessory if you will. They want them for cheap, just like they want Prada and Gucci for cheap. That's why knockoffs do such big business. However, and I'll assume I'm speaking for everyone here who's like me.. Those of us whose tattoos actually mean something to us, will never pay less than what I would, and would never get tattooed in a home.. These artists have worked their ass off to become amazing at tattooing, and it's tattooers like you who give tattoo artists, and tattoo enthusiasts a bad name..

Hey Candyass Joe!! OOps I mean Kandyman Joe! Whats cookin my brother? Are ya makin sure to beat Nathan at least once a day? Good luck at the Dallas show man!

Don't make me get my new NERF gun after you Taz. Nathan has graduated from clip cord beatings to NERF DART pummelings. :P

LOL!!!! Pain is the universal instructor Joe!!! Nathan... DUCK!!!!

ummm, 25$ a hour????? fuck i wish! here our boys run around 100$ a hour and thats a great price!!! is this in America? even if it is its still cheep as hell! i could get a whole back piece for like 300$ holy shit!!!! thats insane! all money aside! i agree with all of you! this guy is a douche bag and should never have bought a machine on ebay! lol and a ultrasonic doesn't sterilize anything! you need a autoclave or a chemiclave! jeez, some people, maybe i should come to the states and get some ink if its that cheep thou! wow

*****Gt a life and quit bugging me about things that are out of my control,its not my fault if someone gets aids from not washing thier tattoo. or letting thier dog jump on them******* okay a few more points, whoever told you that you cannot get AIDS from a tattoo is a MORON!!! blood to blood contact??? duhhh.... *as drool falls out of your mouth* however you cannot get aids from a dog jumping on you. lol unless the dog previously jumped on a bloody person who did have aids then transfered it to you. you could however, get a nasty infection, but not aids, i can't even get my mind around the idea that a tattooist could be so f'ing stupid! wow. for the rest of you non morons, what are some god shops in our friendly neighbors to the south? i might take a trip to the US and get some ink, any suggestions?

Ms packman...there are sooo many great studios here! Just look at the shops on this site and take yer pick...just be PICKY DEAR!!

Lol's all around.

mspackman, what are you looking to get?

i don't know, i have a sleeve that still needs to be finished it's all old school, and i have a nice piece on my foot/leg. maybe a back piece, i'm very picky about the shop and artist, but not picky on what the tattoo is, i would rather see the artists style and get them to do a custom piece that they think would look good on me, i don't really pick my tattoos anymore, i used to and they never end up looking good, if i give the artist a idea and let them run with it then it always turns out amazing, so i'm not really looking for anything in specific, but i won't be traveling to the US for some crappy flash piece i'll tell ya that much! go big or go home!

i hear ya mspacman!! i'm the same way....choose the artist by his portfolio then go BIG! Size does matter

coolio. Ive been sending people who want to travel for tatgtoo vacation to Hell City Tattoo Festival because of the sheer number of talented artists in one place. There are other conventions around all the time that have loads of great artists. There are so many talented folks its silly! have you checked out the tattoos posted on this site daily? have fun!

You must have been bored like I am to post that topic and really think that someone would want a rookie to do their permanent tattoos. Get outta here. That's ridiculous. If I want something done right, Ima pay my money for their services.

OH MY GOD, i seriously hope this guy is just pullin our chains here, quote " yes i do sterilize everything with an ultrasonic before i use it again" WHAT THE FUCK BUDDY you know an ultrasonic is NOT STERILIZING ANYTHING its getting the ink and dry blood off it, a shaking motion doesnt mean its sterile if you knew anything about tattooing (but you learned in a hour so you obviously dont) you need an autoclave shit face, and spore tests (google it lol cuz you obviously dont know what an autoclave or sporetests are) and 10-15 a week out of your garage, your spreading diseases faster than a junkie prostitute

Oh dear god. Fricken scratcher. Many tattooers have years of education and not to mention the high cost of doing tattooers safely as not to infect your fellow man. In my opinion no tattoo should be less than $100.00 and hour. It last a life time you stupid hack. So you are proud you cheat people, the IRS and CDC and OSHA. Congrats!! I have spent 13 years protecting the public from idiots like you. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ps. Not sure if you piss me off more or the sheep that think a cheap tattoo is good and safe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you guys live in the states right? somebody please go down to the local gun store buy one and shoot this guy!!! fuck! meanwhile here is a link for you buddy!!!! http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/youare.php

everyone please check out that link! lmfao

Get better not cheaper. You make the tattooing world a farce, it's not about art with you, it's just a job you go to and make money at so you butcher people in your own house. Quit bitching about how good artists make money. Go get a job that doesn't have you ruining a history of something so amazing. The majority of tattoo artists (something you are not)are a hell of a lot more educated than you think. So quit tattooing cause your statement just made you the biggest piece of shit.