Does It Always Comes Down to Price?

People’s first question when it comes to getting a tattoo is, “How much is it going to cost?”

This IS an important question because everyone has a budget but it isn’t the most important question to ask.

After all, a cheap price doesn’t mean you’re getting a great deal if you got poor quality work, an unclean shop, a bad attitude or an unprofessional experience.

If you like our artwork, that is what should matter the most. You will not know what our price is until you talk to us. Please give us a chance. Ask around. Look at our work.

We’re established and respected for a reason. We want to be your tattoo studio so check out our quality, cleanliness and customer service.

Our shop minimum is $60.
Our hourly rate for complex or large scale work is $150 per hour.

Sometimes we charge by the piece.

Sometimes we charge by the hour.

We will try to work within your budget.

We can not give accurate estimates by email or telephone ESPECIALLY if there is no design for us to view.

To eliminate confusion and give you the most ACCURATE price estimate we need to know:

1. EXACTLY what you want tattooed and how you want it to look.

It’s not helpful to ask a price on a “medium sized tattoo with average detail” any more than calling a restaurant asking the price of a medium sized lunch with average ingredients. Do you want color? All black? Grey shaded? Do want realistic work, new school, old school, illustrative, watercolor, ect? SEEING your design is the only way we can help you out.

2. EXACTLY how big (or small) you want it in inches tall and wide.
Get a ruler and measure what you want. Your idea of medium is different than any other person’s. Also please note, the more detail in your design the larger it must be tattooed. Even if you want the Mona Lisa on your big toe doesn’t mean it’s possible to tattoo it at that size and have it last through time.

3. EXACTLY where you want the tattoo.
Body placement effects the cost because it effects the time and difficulty required to do the work. A script name on the ribs will always cost more than on the calf because it is more difficult and time consuming to work on ribs, hips, stomachs, etc. Also certain placements effect how art must be drawn, so for example the art is differently drawn for the inside of the right ankle than the outside of the right ankle.

ONLY YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR SKIN IS WORTH TO YOU!

If you only care about getting the lowest price, we wish you luck with that. We think the real issue is that not all tattoo artists are created equal in terms of the quality of the art or the time they put into the piece. Given our studio does one cover up of poor work nearly every day you can imagine the number of unskilled people out there.
We want to give you a beautiful, professional tattoo but just like everyone else we have to cover our bills. A tattoo’s cost covers more than just the artist’s skill. It includes rent, utilities, credit card processing fees, insurance, receptionist costs, photo copies, needles, ink, bandages, ink caps, rinse cups, disinfectants, disposable barriers, stencils, razors, paper work, custodial cleaning, furniture, equipment and on and on and on.

If YOU wouldn’t be enthusiastic about taking a steep pay cut for what you do for a living, you’d have to wonder why anyone would even ask yet we have people regularly demand free products and services from us. You can imagine how you’d feel if your boss asked the same of you.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. We hope it helps explain the differences in pricing.
The Dark Horsemen