Silkroad Online Forums

I know a couple of members here have had their skin inked at some point..so for those of you who have any knowledge on this, please hear me out:

I scheduled my first tattoo to be done in March. It's going to be 2 sessions and roughly 3 hours each. The rate of the artist is $200/hour. Normally in a restaurant or any service that "requires" tips, I tend to shell out 30% on average depending on the work and price. However, unlike a regular haircut where I an freely tip 50% of the cost without breaking the bank, 30% of $1,200 is pretty big. So my question is, how much did you guys tip the artist who did your tattoo?

I was thinking a flat $100 tip per session would be prudent but I don't know.. I am planning on getting more work done later anyway and my girlfriend is planning to get hers done by the same artist (maybe) so a decent tip might go a long way.

For those of you who are curious on the what-and-where:

30% tip at restaurants? :O
I only tip 10% and I round down, and I'm Chinese.

Minimum gratuity is 15-20% (in NY, at least). You cheap bastard. =p

Oh..and also, is this a normal tattoo rate? I knew it would be expensive but damn. Good thing I didn't go for a full sleeve yet. Although the artist is pretty good. Some of her work is posted on the site, some on FB.

Tip...? D:

If someone charges me for something than I just pay them what they are asking. If they wanted another 10% then they should just charge it in the first place. I truly don't understand the concept of mandatory tipping.

wtf tipping 100 bucks, over there tattoo artist charge around 100 buck an hour.

i gave nothing to minesince she already enjoyed my half naked body as she tattooed me.

Why are you going to places that charge by the hour? Every tattoo artist I've gone to charges a flat price for the piece and that's it. I usually tip ~$20-$40 for a $100-$140 piece

Because I want something that has very good quality. In this case, I'm not just paying for the tattoo, I'm paying for the confidence in the artist and her skill -- not the work alone.

@Blindfire:
I read that article and I still find myself a lost. Don't get me wrong, $100 is a lot but I do feel that it is worth it. I'm just curious how much you guys tip your artists and what the cost of the tattoo is.

@Twil:
It's basic etiquette. If I tip my waiter/waitresses, I certain won't think twice about tipping my tattoo artist.

@Vegeta:
Lol.

A guy at my work has over 75,000$ worth of tattoo's on his body. His best friend is a tattoo artist so he payed around 25,000$. He is one heck of an amazing tattoo artist. He normally charges 125$ for an hour.




Thats some of the work he has on his body

FUCKING LOL.

If you're not going to tip, don't go out to eat/order pizza.

The fact you are trying to figure a tip by percentage and not by what you think it's worth, kinda sets it off. I don't base my tip in a restaurant off of how much the meal was, I base it off how well the service was. I don't have to look at the bill and pull out a calculator to know what a great waitress is worth to me.

Same theory can be applied to tattoo artist, if you think their work is worth more to you than how much they charged(which you seem to already be paying a premium, so not sure why you're even thinking tip) then you should reach into your wallet, and without any calculation, be able to pull out what you think it's worth.

I have two friends that do tattoos (I don't have tattoos)and they love just knowing the person is happy with their art, and a simple smile and a compliment on their work is all they need for a tip.

Over here in Australia tipping is quite a rare thing, even in the hospitality industry. I mean, if I have a small amount of change after I buy something I will tell them to just keep it. But in general most people don't tip, myself included. I don't really get it the fundamentals behind it either, especially when people do it out of habit. I could understand someone tipping if they provided exceptional, above standard service. But for an average product and an average service? I really don't think they deserve any extra money. Your already buying upwards of $40 for a single meal, it's not like they are giving the product away.

I've tipped a few times, quite generously, only when I've had an experience like no other. I tipped $25 for a 'dinner-for-2' meal a friend and I got in Sydney at a little Chinese restaurant just because the effort they went through to provide a good meal to us was unbelievable.

Never will I wake up and think to myself "Oh I wonder what % I should tip to someone even though I am yet to know what quality of service they are going to provide to me". I just don't think it makes any sense at all.

I can't remember if it was in China or Hong Kong, but you were actually not supposed to tip, tipping suggests that you're looking down on them or something.
Also, both in China/Hong Kong, it's rude to finish all your food because it mean's you're still hungry/not satisfied.

Then my familly must have been mean ass mofo's when we went to beijing lol

But what if I am still hungry? Most of the time after I eat a meal I want more D:

lol wtf. I own a cafe and the only thing i expect is people to be happy with the service. If i see a clean plate then it generally means they enjoyed the meal. Ive had customers who said they had an amazing time but didnt tip, and thats ok too. Some people tip, some people dont. People who are angry at customers for not tipping can go fck themselves.

When I see left over food I think its a waste lol.

Never heard of tipping for a tattoo but then again I don't have any atm either.

I'd get some flowers on my arm tho ;d. Thought it was kinda nice ever since playin SR3.

I only tip based on the service i receive. If the waiters are friendly and reasonable i'll leave a tip. If they don't offer anything "extra" immaterial, i'm not tipping.

Then again, i'm a student- students can get away with not tipping

I tip based on how hot the waitress is and how much she flirts. If she gets my dick hard she gets the tip

At 200 bucks an hour they can suck a body part of mine if they really want a tip.

the nly place i tips are at the club, if you tip the bitch good the bitch will comeback fast to serve you a beer.

That's because most waiters don't get paid much in their hourly wage and the only reason they put up with the customer service BS is to get good tips. I work as a nurse and it's considered illegal (in some instances) and unethical for us to accept monetary tips even though we saved your life or repaired your ulcerated leg. Know why I put up with people's BS? The hospital pays well.

Well here in Americanland, Waiters/Pizza Delivery drivers make like $4/hr. Which is $3.25 less than minimum wage. So if we don't' get tipped. We die.

And while I'd prefer not needing to be tipped, it would require me getting paid $10/12 an hour, which would cause the store to have to raise prices on everything, and yeah.

I hand shake the guy in the bus tour when a few seconds after I realized I had to tip him. HAHA.

Minimum wage in americaland is $7.25?

o_O its like 10$ i think over here

Varies from state to state. Illinois is around 8.50, $9 in Washington, and New Jersey is around 7.50.

A lot of restaurants pay their employees off-the-books so it's below minimum wage in a lot of cases or close to minimum. I'm talking about Chinese take-out places or Thai food spots -- those usually pay below minimum. Places like T.G.I.Fridays and Dallas BBQ pays above minimum wage but close to it so they still depend a lot on tips to make a good living.

By the way, I think I got my tipping figured out. $100 per session and a little extra gift at the end. It's fitting: