ASK BLACK WOLF | How Much Does A Tattoo Cost?

In this episode of Ask Black Wolf, Lexxa and Norma answer one of the most common questions we hear in the studio:

"How much does a tattoo cost?"

They break down the factors that influence tattoo pricing, including size, detail, placement, colour, artist experience and time. They also explain the difference between fixed-price quotes and hourly rates, why the same design can vary in price from one client to another, and what information helps artists provide the most accurate quote possible.

Whether you're planning your first tattoo or your next large-scale project, this episode offers an honest behind-the-scenes look at how tattoo pricing actually works and what you're really paying for when you invest in a quality tattoo.

If you've ever wondered why tattoo prices vary, this is the episode for you.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Some people think if it's a small tattoo, it equals quick. Can you fit me in for a tattoo today? It'll only take 20 minutes. Don't do that. You don't know that. We don't know that. We don't even know the design. I have seen a lot of small tattoos that are the most detailed little thing, and it takes an hour and a half to two hours. Yeah. Don't assume you're right when you say a small tattoo and that a small tattoo is going to be quick. Insanely detailed little tiny image. They take ages. It's crazy pants. Don't assume let the studio decide whether your small small tattoo will be quick or not. A lot more goes into it. You have may have been tattooed before. We still need to know what it is. Small tattoos don't equal quick all the time. Okay, we're back. It's Alex and Norma here doing one of our mini episodes again. So our mini episodes are questions that you guys send in. We get so many questions in our DMs that relate to so many different people. So we thought instead of just replying in the DMs, we'd make these mini episodes to dive in a bit deeper and answer them properly here with you. And because we are a collective studio, we're not just tattoos. So we're tattooing, laser, tattoo removal, barbering, body piercing, hair, art classes, tons of different stuff. So anything in our industry, if you have a question, send it through to us on our Instagram and we'll do our best to try and answer them and we'll bring in whoever we can to answer them best for you. Okay, so if you don't already know me, I'm Alex from Black Wolf and this is Norma. Hey Norma. Hi. And basically this segment is called Ask Black Wolf, and you basically just send in any of your questions that you have to do with our industry, and we'll do our best to deep dive and in a quick little mini episode, answer them as best as we can for you.

SPEAKER_01 1:46

Especially if it's a basic question or you know, you think it's stupid. They're normally the best ones. So send anything through. Definitely.

SPEAKER_00 1:53

Okay, so today's question is shout out to Zoe Wilson. She has said, What are prices like for tattoos? Is it based off how long it takes to do it or the artwork itself?

SPEAKER_01 2:06

This is a good question. We get this all the time, and it can be really confusing, especially if it's your first tattoo. Um, or even if you've had tattoos before, I think you know, quoting can be can be a bit all over the place, and you're not sort of necessarily sure what it is that an artist is quoting.

SPEAKER_00 2:21

So and it can go through different things. It can be the tattoo or the hourly, and they can change all the time every time you get tattooed from the same artist. So this is a good way to sort of answer that question as best as we can.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

Okay, so the simple answer is it's kind of a mix of both.

SPEAKER_00 2:36

Yeah, so let's start explaining the time-based pricing first. Yes. Okay, so time-based pricing is when a studio quotes you on the hourly, and I'm not speaking for all studios, but we are speaking for a large majority and also how we do things here. So a studio may quote you until you are 220 by the hour, and that usually doesn't clock in as hourly until it is the two-hour mark. So if you're getting a tattoo done and it goes over two hours, that's when they start to do it by the hour. So it's like 220 by the hour. Otherwise, if it falls short of the two hours, they usually do a generic quote. Like they will tell you an like a quoted price for anything under the two-hour mark because there is always a setup cost. So some people will come in and they know that the studio charges $2.20 by the hour, and then they come in and they get a tattoo for an hour and they think it's only flat $220, but it doesn't start hourly rate charging until the two-hour mark because the setup costs alone can be around the $180, $150 to $180 mark. So sometimes that's why they have a minimum charge. If someone came in and got five little tattoos that are all the size of a 20 cent piece, they think because they got it under an hour, because they are super quick tattoos to do, that they're only gonna pay $220. However, then they get to the counter and they may be a bit shocked that because they got those five little tattoos, it's gonna cost them $360. And the reason for it costing $360 might be because it's worth the artist's time. They've designed five little 20-cent tattoo pieces. Um, there's a lot more work that has gone into it. Just because it's taken that amount of time doesn't mean that's all it's worth, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

Yeah, I think a lot of people forget that um, especially for artists, when they're drawing up the stencils for you, they're doing that away from your appointment. So there's time that, you know, even though you're in with them, you're sitting with them for an hour, getting your stencil, getting the tattoo, doing your payment, you know, having a snack, whatever it is that you're doing in that time, there's still an entire amount of time before your tattoo where the artist is looking for reference photos, they're, you know, tracing them or they're designing something new. And that's a whole extra part of the appointment that is still using up the artist's time. And it's like that, particularly when you're getting multiple small tattoos, yeah, it it is a lot more effort that they're gonna they're gonna need to charge for.

SPEAKER_00 5:19

Yeah. So if you're doing like a studio might have a minimum charge and it might be the 150. Let's let's say it's $150 is their minimum charge. Because a lot of people ring up and say, What's your minimum charge? And it might be $150, and then they come in and they get three or four little things, thinking that's how much it's going to be. But you also have to not just ask what's your minimum charge, you have to ask, What's your minimum charge and what is your minimum charge for, if that makes sense. Because sometimes people will call us and they just their quick phone call is hi, just wondering what your minimum charge is. And we will say, what the minimum charge is, but then we say, Why, what is it that you're wanting to get done? And they might just go, Oh, I'm not sure at the moment, but I just wanted to check that. And then they'll end the phone call. And nine times out of 10, we can hang up that phone call and know that that person is assuming that our minimum charge, they're gonna come in and they know their tattoos are only gonna take 15-20 minutes to do, so they think they're gonna get the minimum charge. But that's not how it works because if you are coming in for a minimum charge tattoo, it could just be a small, like say someone's getting a small letter on their wrist and it is quite small. That'd probably suffice for a minimum charge. But then you've got to be realistic and realize if your small letter on your wrist is $150, and then someone else comes in and it takes, say, Lindsay, because she's a speed demon, um, she does five 20 cent piece tattoos, that might take her the same amount of time it could take someone else to do a small letter. That person's gotten five 20 cent piece tattoos that that artist has designed, drawn, everything. It's not the same value as an effort, if that makes sense, as that small one letter wrist tattoo. So I urge people to take that into consideration when they're judging a studio for how much they're charging. Understand how much work goes on behind it. Don't look at it as just how much time they're spending on it. Like Norma said, there's so much else going on. So it's not like if your neighbor gets their lawn mowed for half an hour and it's $40, and then he comes and mows your lawn and it takes him an hour, so it's $80. It's not the same because it's not just the artist sitting down and starting tattooing. That's not how it is. It that would probably be different if it was a continued tattoo and they're just you're just sitting down and all they're doing is continuing the colouring from your last session, but that's not what they're doing. If you're getting new little tattoos, they've got to design each one of those little tattoos so there's more effort going in, if that makes sense, behind the scenes. Yeah, absolutely. So if it goes off with our studio at the Blackwolf Collective, we charge the hourly rate once it hits the two-hour mark. Anything under the two-hour mark, the artists will usually give you a set price for the design. Yeah. Now the all the work that it entails. So always ask that sort of thing. It always sort of lead with what it is you want to get done and understand the effort that goes in and don't judge if a studio is saying that it's more than what you expect, because take a moment to try and think of why they're charging you that amount. Take a moment to think if you've gone to one studio and they've said it's gonna cost this, and it's gonna take this much, so it's gonna cost this, and then you go to another studio and they say it's gonna take this long and it's gonna cost you this. Every studio has different artists in there, uh, different skill levels. They might be apprentices, they might have been tattooing for 10 years, they might have a really strong following. There's so many different factors that go into it. So before you judge, stop to take a think about why it's costing that much for time.

SPEAKER_01 9:15

Especially if you do really like the artist and respect the artist, I think quoting as an artist is already nerve-wracking and and trying to know your worth as an artist, I think is hard enough as it is. And it's like I think when they've established themselves enough and they're giving you a quote, it's sort of like that's especially when they know they know their their skill level, they know that they're good at what they're doing and they know that they're gonna provide good work and a good service. Normally they're not gonna, they're not gonna overcharge just because they're who they are, they're going to genuinely charge for what they're worth. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

And when does time-based pricing come into play? So when, how we said, when it goes over the two-hour mark, it's usually a bigger tattoo. So the bigger tattoos are usually the hourly charges. Um, so it would be how long you sit for, how long you've made a booking for. There are some studios that do different things where your booking is the hourly charge and that's it. So if you tap out, they might still charge you for how long you've gone because you have booked a four-hour or a six-hour sitting with that artist. And if they are a busy artist with a very strong following, you've taken that time that they otherwise could have booked to somebody else. So there definitely are studios out there that charge you hourly charge no matter what, and that is your booking. It's a solid thing to ask your artist if it is something are you paying for the whole hourly of the booking or if the hourly of the time you're getting tattooed. Um, it also comes into play when you book out, say, a full day, you're how many hours you're going in. So basically it's the bigger tattoos are going to be your hourly charges. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:00

Um, okay, let's talk quoting for a second and sort of what to expect when you are asking for a quote and what you're actually getting. What you're actually getting quoted for. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Whether it's time or price. Yeah. I mean, time or peace. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Don't be afraid to message the shop and want to get a quote. Yes. Um, a lot of very more commonly than not, we will get people every day sending in photos of things that they like and we'll ask, how much is this gonna cost? Um, one thing that I really want to put out there and keep in mind when receiving a quote, sizing and the particular design that you send matters when you send it through. Because you will get a quote based on the reference photo that you've sent and based off the sizing that you have given. Um, we always say, like, you know, give or take this particular pricing because you might want to make changes to the design, you might want to resize it bigger once it's on you. And if you are gonna resize it bigger, it's probably gonna cost more because it will take more time. So I think just go in with an open mind of your of your when you're asking for a quote.

SPEAKER_00 12:05

When you are getting quoted, people, how you just said, it goes off the reference and the sizing you've set at the time. So if they've sent us all that sort of information, you've got to understand you're getting quoted on hypothetically, if you got exactly what you wanted, this is how long that design would probably take. So this is how long it would probably cost you. Yes. However, we often say, not all studios will say this to you, they might creep it up to you, but we usually say to all of our clients, this is the quote, depending on final decided upon size, placement, design. Because you could send, like Norman just said, you could send in this design, and we go and show it to an artist, and we quote it for you, and that artist quotes it. Then you come in and you might say, actually, I decided instead of it going on my shin, I want to put it on my thigh, and I want to um move that flower to here, or move it to my ribs, and all of those sort of things changes how long it's gonna take, the design, so they might need to make a couple of adjustments, and then at the end, someone might finish and the price might be more than what you were originally quoted for, and then that leads to the disappointment because they think they might say to us, No, I was quoted this much. However, you weren't quoted for a flat fee of that tattoo, you were quoted for how much it would probably take. So just remember that because if you've moved the placement, it might have to cost more. So again, just chat with your artist when you are making those changes. I was originally quoted this, is this how much it's still gonna be? And if you can't afford it, then you just say to the artist, I actually have a budget of this much. How do we move it to my thigh? But ensure that I still stay within this budget, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 13:56

Yes, communication is so important during it. I think that's the other thing is obviously you get so nervous about speaking up. And I think we spoke about it before um in the previous episode. Just be open and up front and you're allowed to discuss, don't be intimidated by it. The more, the more you you the more you open up and the more you communicate and the more you collaborate, the more fun the both of you are gonna have and and the less disappointed you'll be if you get up at the end of it and then go, oh my god, is that how much it's gonna cost me now?

SPEAKER_00 14:27

Yeah. And and artists might forget to bring it back up. Do you know what I mean? Like they've got clients every single day, and they don't forget on purpose or lack of anything. It's more just that you might be thinking, oh, they haven't told me that. Or they so make sure you ask those questions. They're not gonna be like, oh, if you ask it, they're not gonna find you annoying. They're gonna be like, oh, that's right. I have we not discussed that. So they might not realize you are sticking to a budget, they not might not realize the conversation you have had with the front of house or anything like that. So just communicate, like Norma said, as much communication is always better. And asking those questions when you do receive the quote, what am I being quoted for? Am I being quoted for time or an exact quote for this exact design? And nine times out of ten, whoever's talking to you will be able to tell you if it's for that exact design. Do you know what I mean? Or if it's for that. Because if it is just a letter behind the ear, it will be that flat fee. Like it would just be that. It doesn't matter about the time again, because it's gonna take less than two hours. Yeah. So just ask those questions. They're just little reminders to help you, whatever studio you are inquiring at, ask those questions so you're not blindsided at the end. Yes. We'll talk set pricing and sort of when that comes into play. Again, how I just said little tattoos behind the ear or something like that. That is just if you know it's just gonna be one letter, that is a set price, they will just tell you. Another time set pricing comes in is on like flash weekends. And if you don't know what a flash weekend is, that's when a studio holds an event. We do them quite often. You can find them on our website, where we smother the windows with designs the artists have already done, and you pick, you line up and you pick a design, and it stays that size, that design, exactly that. So they usually have a little price on there, and that way you know there's no hidden costs or anything. You're gonna walk in, you're gonna put it on, and that's it. Again, if a design is off a flash rack, um, we have one at the front of our studio. So if you ever are, so if you ever are in, you can have a flick through our flash rack and all of the designs are in there.

SPEAKER_01 16:43

And we actually now have a bunch of our flash um bookable on our website as well. So you can actually go onto the website, have a little browse, and you can also just book them directly on there as well now.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

You can have a look at the artist and go through their flash designs that they've uploaded. Again, no hidden charges unless it's you change the sizing, really. Then most of them say you could go into one artist, it'll say this is the price for it at 15 centimeters wide. So you know when you book it, it's gonna take this amount of time, and that's exactly how much it is. Most of the time you will find set pricing on tattoos that the artist has already designed because they're on a flush sheet and they are designs that they really want to tattoo and they're their personal designs. So it's not something that a client has asked for, it's something they've come up with and they've put it out there. So they sometimes put a set price on those and they might pop them on their Instagram and say, these designs are available for X amount of dollars, and then you know that you're coming in and you're only paying that. So that's a good easy way to grab them. Um, apprentices, apprentices, when they're starting out, they do set pricing because they need clients to practice on. Yeah. So you can find set pricing on those. Another thing is you could set price it with your artist again by telling them your budget. So if you tell them your budget, you say this is what I'm want to spend, here's all my reference. What can you do for this price? And you work it out with the artist to have a set price for that design. And they know, they know that's the boundary. It's always a good idea, again, communication. It's always a good idea to have that chat with your artist so that they already know what they can work with. If you tell them your budget, they don't have to spend heaps long on a design and then uh show it to you, and then you say, Oh, I love it. It's exactly what I wanted. How much do you reckon that's gonna cost me? They're gonna say a full day, and you're gonna say, actually, I don't want to spend that much. Do you know what I mean? So don't make them put the effort in that they don't need to put in, if that makes sense. Yeah, if you know your budget, just put it out there. Yeah, start from the beginning with the budget. Okay, let's do a little bit of education on breaking misconceptions. Yes. Yes. Oh goodness. Things that one-liners that we say all the time, and a lot of tattoo artists in the industry will say all the time, and explain what they kind of mean. So some people think if it's a small tattoo, it equals quick. No, no. A lot of people will do the whole, oh, it's only little, it's not gonna take that long. Can you fit me in for a tattoo today? It it'll only take 20 minutes. Don't do that. Don't call us. Don't call any studio and say, can you fit me in? Honestly, it'll only take 20 minutes. You don't know that. Like, you don't know that. We don't know that. Even from that phone call, we don't even know that because we don't even know the design that is your small tattoo. Yeah. And Gerald, Merald, and Terold may all have a different view on what a small tattoo is. Yes. Yeah. A small tattoo.

SPEAKER_01 19:49

I have seen a lot of small tattoos that are the most detailed little thing ever. You think about any tattoo that like Gabe or Lindsay have done that are just itty bitty tiny, but they're the most detailed, realistic little image. And it takes an hour and a half to two hours.

SPEAKER_00 20:05

Yeah. Um, yeah. And then you've got Ollie, who's always tattooing back pieces, and you can be like, oh, what have you got on today? And he's like, just a small one. And then his is an A5 piece of paper. Do you know what I mean? So don't assume you're right when you say a small tattoo, and that a small tattoo is going to be quick. Just like Norma just said, you've got artists like Gabe and Lindsay and Elsa who will do these very small, like, oh my god, Gabe's tattoos. He's micro-realism. They will be like five centimetres by five centimetres, but like she said, they will take him an hour and a half because it's a very insanely detailed little tiny image. And they take ages. Take ages. It's crazy pants. And then you've got a tattoo that could be five centimetres by five centimetres, and it could be some people will do it, it's just a square outline. Or it's a square outline with coloured in. And then if it's coloured in, that takes more time because you've got to pack the colour. So don't assume you know, let us decide, let the studio decide whether your small small tattoo will be quick or not, because a lot more goes into it. Or you might think that if there's an opening, your tattoo might fit in there, and because you know you have may have been tattooed before, and you know how long your other tattoos have taken. So we might say we've got an hour time slot today, and you call up and you're like, Oh, my tattoo will definitely fit in there. We still need to know what it is, because again, like we were saying before, there's a lot of process in the back end, so you might have something that we could just print off and it is just traceable, or something like that, or it is something the artist has to design. And if that appointment is in 20 minutes, or that artist is back to back, they won't have enough time to get it ready to do your hour time slot. Small tattoos don't equal quick. All the time. Some do, not all the time.

SPEAKER_01 22:02

Yes. And same sort of thing on that. Another misconception. Big tattoos means they're going to be expensive. That's not necessarily true at all either. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:12

Um, big tattoos can vary and different artists can vary. So I think sometimes going off pricing isn't the best way to do it. This is something that is going to be on your body for the rest of your life. So if you seriously love it, yes, work within your budget. But don't if it's something you seriously, seriously want, don't let it hold you back. Yeah, and don't just cheap out and go to someone with a cheaper quote. Because if you've done all your research like we told you to do, and you know that artist is the right artist, and then they quote you, don't be like, ugh, nah, never mind. Because if they're the right artist and they're gonna nail the tattoo that is going to be on you for the rest of your life, maybe you just need to save up a little longer. Maybe you just need to wait a little longer. Maybe I'm not gonna encourage afterpay, but we take after pay and zip pay.

SPEAKER_01 23:08

But it's always an option.

SPEAKER_00 23:11

But yes, like big tattoos, they vary. So don't just put yourself off of big tattoos are too expensive or big tattoos are expensive. Again, it just depends on what goes into the design, depends on how fast the tattooist is. Um yeah. There's a lot of different things, so just save up and get what you want. Yeah, exactly. One thing that isn't always a misconception, this one kind of does sometimes fall true, is that saying good tattoos aren't cheap and cheap tattoos aren't good. It's kind of true. Like we're not saying that it's it's too expensive and out of your budget, but usually, like how I just said, if you've done your research, if the person you know you've done the research, they're really good studio, they've got good feedback, they've had good referrals, and their quote to you sounds very expensive, and then you get quoted from another tattoo studio nearly half the price, that doesn't mean go get it. Because if it's a good tattoo, it ain't cheap. And cheap tattoos aren't good. So don't go off, don't go off the budget. That's what I'm trying to say. So again, I'm not speaking for every studio that you'll ever experience, but if you do come into the Black Wolf Collective, we will always be as thorough as possible with you so that there is no surprises at the end. We'll try and explain as much to you as possible. We want the questions, you know. We want you to ask the questions so that you're not missing out on any info that you need, and we don't forget to give you any info that you might need.

SPEAKER_01 24:47

And we just want to make sure that you're comfortable with everything. We know it's not good to get surprises at the end and be like, oh god, that's not what I was expecting at all. Yeah, we we want to be very transparent and we want you to enjoy your experience. Absolutely from beginning to since even before the beginning of your tattoo, right until the very end. So um, yeah, just and so that you can be excited to come back and get more.

SPEAKER_00 25:10

Yeah. Yeah. So we have put together a little price guide for you. So if you want that, we'll put that in the show notes. And if you want a copy of it, you can just DM us the keyword price guide, and we can just flick that straight over to you just so you can get a better understanding of things. But otherwise, you can even just jump on our website, go through Tattoo Inquiry form, and we've made it pretty simple. There's just little simple questions to prompt you through so we can give you the best quote possible, the closest quote. We've even asked for you to upload some reference images. So, whatever you can fill out on there, then when we get your quote through and we have that conversation, we've got as much information as we can get off you as possible, and then easily be transparent and have a good chat about it to get you going. Phoenix Tardo.

SPEAKER_01 25:53

And otherwise, if you're not tech savvy, just come and store and have a chat. We're always ready to ready to talk you through it and give you some advice. So um, yeah. That's it.

SPEAKER_00 26:03

That's a wrap. So, like we said, we're gonna continue with these segments. If you have any other questions, shoot them through to us on our Instagram and we'll be picking the questions to do for each episode so we can dive in a bit deeper and answer them. And we're a collective, don't forget, so you don't have to just ask tattoo questions. They can be tattoo removal, piercing, hair, barber, art, art, whatever it is, anything in our industry, if we can't answer it, we'll get somebody else in the room and they can do it for you. But yeah, thanks for watching. Thanks, guys.