TIPPING YOUR ARTIST

I get a LOT of e-mails from this site every day and a good 30 % of them are from people concerned if they tipped their artist enough! I thought I'd give you guys your cahnce to address this issue even though there was a previous post on the subject... In my shop here in the Midwest we seldom get tips but it seems when I am working on either coast I am tipped on nearly every tattoo. Now we have a sign in our tattoo rooms..."Tipping is NOT required...the best tip you can give us is to tip off your friends where you got your tattoo!" Now what do YOU think?....TAz

Well I'm probably gonna get some shit for this but here it goes.I think the $100-200 an hour is quite enough to pay for a tattoo without having to tip.What's with all this tip crap anyway?Can't even get a cup of coffee without a tip cup in your face.I always thought tips where for servers and people making less than min wage,they count on your tips to make ends.I'm with Tazs' thinking that a referal can go a long way.

theres a sign where i work that says "tipping is not a place in china" i think a tip for a great artist is like saying thank you..you dont have to give them alot...its kinda like the thought that counts...

ooph. You know... If I could, I'd tip everyone that had the right attitude. I'm more likely to bake cookies or something for an artist, and refer them all over the place if they are a great person and do a great job.

asking for a tip is a total asshole thing to do, in any form. I love the sign idea you have taz. I dont tip waitresses when they are normal\average, im with steve buscemi in reseviour dogs on that one. If an artist is over the top he deserves it. Tipping is respect to anyone who does a great job, be it a waitress, mechanic, poodle groomer, and tattoo artist. It shouldnt be obligatory.

I tip. I tip almost everyone that provides me a service. Hair stylists, pizza delivery men, waiters and waitresses. These are people (except for the waitresses, I was one long enough to know that tips ARE your income) that don't generally need a tip, they're getting paid enough already. But that's just how I was raised, that's how you do it on the East Coast. To not tip someone like that is rude...very rude...actually it's a big insult. At least in Jersey, I haven't seen that that much in the Midwest. I try to tip 20% for people that I can afford to work in percentages. I couldn't tip my tattoo artist like that, because frankly I don't have much money and I really had to scrape to get as much money together as I did. But I still tipped him, basically I tipped him as much as I could afford. In New Jersey (North Jersey.. bee ;^) ) you tip, and you don't speak about how much you tip, or that you've left a tip for someone. It's not classy and somewhat rude as well. Basically you don't want anyone to get that "you're a whore and I'm paying you" feeling, heh.

Never more than 30 degrees. :-)

That is not to say that we turn down gifts such as home made cookies!!!...Hell no! Bring em on!!!

"In New Jersey (North Jersey.. bee ;^) ) you tip, and you don't speak about how much you tip, or that you've left a tip for someone. It's not classy and somewhat rude as well. Basically you don't want anyone to get that "you're a whore and I'm paying you" feeling, heh." I always thought this was a universal thing -- I tip with the payment. I don't give it separate, I don't say anything, in fact I get offended when they try to give me change. For example, if the total is $100 even, and I gave you $130 -- don't insult my intelligence and assume I didn't mean to tip you or tip you that much. I did tradework for my (giraffe) tattoo rather than paying with cash -- but I still left a hefty tip -- it wasn't discussed, it wasn't even acknowledged. We just carried on with normal conversation. That's how I personally would prefer it. Maybe it's a pride thing, who knows.

In general, with the exception of people like waitresses or waitors who live on tips, I think tipping is a personal choice. I know I was raised to tip for pretty much everything, but I tip larger when someone does a great job. Although tattoo artists might make a lot of money, at least some of them, what they're doing is art, and most artists get paid a whole hell of a lot more for their work...so in a way they're underpaid! Especially if the art is really good. If I'm happy with my tattoo and the experience, I plan on tipping as much as I can...which unfortunately might not be much...but such is life. Just my opinion. Dana

Yeah, tipping is very strange. It's sort of like no one wants to talk about it ever, once it's acknowledged it's ruined for both parties. There was a woman at the country club I worked at...worth millions literally (all of them were, which was why it was such a hell hole) that would always have sunday lunch with her husband. Then, whoever was waiting on them got tipped 10 bucks...but she would sort of hunt you down, and very awkwardly hand you the money. It always left a very ...particular taste in my mouth.

Well TAz, You already know where I'm at on this one................eeeeesh!! TCE

I'm not gonna lie, I really appreciate tips, whether its monetary or referral. As far as someone paying x amount of dollars for a tattoo and that should be enough, keep in mind, the artist doesn't get all of that, it gets spread out through various channels, between the shops cut and then the things you have to buy to do your job. Yeah, the rate is in the 3 digits per hour, but I only charge that for actual time in the chair, not the time i'm sterilizing equipment, coming in early or staying late to draw, making trips to suppliers to get the supplies needed to do the tattoo, maintaining a clean environment for the client to sit in, and all of the other things involved to make the clients visit a success. I also make sure I return the favor, I tip my tattoo artist, I tip wait staffs, bartenders, and anyone else that provides a service. Lets face it, performing a tattoo is a service, and if its performed well, and you feel like giving the artist an extra compensation for it, that's a very generous and much appreciated offer, but as mentioned and I agree with the most, Referrals are MOST appreciated.

D. How much was lunch? TCE

Uhm...I can tell you specifically what it was because they got the same thing every day, but, I don't want to draw country club people to this message board somehow. I mean that lunch they have, it's so specific everyone would know exactly who I was talking about. So I'll say, they both had high end entrees with some very specific instructions for each part of the dish. So, you had to pay supreme attention, because god help you if you got something wrong or forgot to memorize a member's specific way of doing things. And I shit you not, each single one of them (the 400+ membership) each had a specific thing you had to memorize about them. When I think hard enough, I can name the favorite drink of about 100 alcoholics at that place. So, there were specific instructions drinks, and what have you for them every Sunday. They should have tipped us at the very least a 20, for the severe whore-ship that was endured by anyone who waited on them. Actually now that I remember, it wasn't a ten dollar tip. It was five....I thought ten was too high. Oh sweet lord how I loved that job.

yeah, I don't know why people are so weird about tipping. To me it's just showing appreciation, nothing to be weird about. I think that's awful that those rich country club people couldn't even leave a decent tip! I mean waitresses live off tips! Come on, tipping at least 20% isn't going to break the bank! Dana

I once had a girlfriend who had two jobs...one as a waitress at a swank ritzy country club the other at a down home diner also as a waitress....she would come home from the country club with a few bucks in tips ( and she was a VERY good waitress...thats how I met her)and a headache from trying to please those old rich fucks...when she worked the diner she'd come home tired but with a poket full of 5s and 10s and once a HUNDRED!! plus a smile on her face!...Guess thats why a lot of em are rich...they are STINGY!!!!! Comparing tattooing to waitressing just isn't fair...waitresses normally make far below the minimum wage ...I do agree that if the service sucks ...so will the tip....I myself have a "TIP METER" its starts at 25% when I walk in the door and can go up or down according to the service I get....and if I get bad service not only does the tip go down my voice goes UP and I let em know about it but it has to be pretty bad for it to get to that point!

I'm with Taz bring on those cookies. but i'm kool with tips and i've had some strange tips. weed, and other drugs offered to me, i always get offered ass. i got a digital camera as a tip, i've had numerous customers take me out for lunch & drinks. i tattoo alot of people that work at resturants, so they always bring the shop food. i've gotten knives and stright razors. alot of $$ tips. i love refferal tips, but one of my favorite tips is when i do a kick ass job and the customer gives me a big hug.

a big hug huh?............i love referals, but saying thats like a tip is funny,those people are going to refer their freinds anyway if the work is good ....as far as cash i dont care what the percentage is ...but i hate it when some fucker gives a buck or two .....today i got a $100 tip on a $150 tattoo .........go figure

Ummmm Karma...can I borrow ten bucks?

When someone gives me a tip i usually just take it off the price ov the tattoo or painting.When they dont i feel like maybe t hey didnt apprecciate the effort i put in the work.Its like the what can i get for 50$ question along with the attitude compared to i really love your work but i cant afford it approach one is repect one is not.I am getting off the subject but its a hand and hand thing

yea, that tip left me just a little less in debt. can i borrow a cup of sugar?

I think it depends on how you view appreciation. You need to way up whether this tattoo artist would prefer more money or a hug or a thankyou or a referral. Personally i do all of the above as they do usually deserve all of it. They spend time and care on your body not many people have that skill, they should be appreciated in every way you can. I have once come across a very rude and abusive tattooist, who was tattooing my fiance, who once started the tattoo said that the price would be more. He was generally a mean man! (he did the aztecband as seen on Melissa and shauns tattoo's thread) He did not get a tip, or a thankyou, or a referral and definantley no hug.

I’m a little late giving my opinion on this one but I work as a bartender and the tips are considered part of my income, the bars I have worked at (on the east coast) most of us only get paid about 3.25 an hour. So the tips really are part of our income. And I always tip my tattoo artist. Molly