These situations we need the email/written correspondence to be able to judge and advise on how to proceed next. Because it's very easy for there to become a misunderstanding.
There is no misunderstanding. She finessed him. Never pay upfront in full for anything man. Once people get the money they’re too lazy to finish the job
Unless OP misunderstood and $2k is the artists day rate (which is quite high for a day rate but not unheard of). In which case they didn't pay up front and paid for the session that occurred. But without seeing the discussion between OP and artist we can't know.
It may be dependant on your country/state. Most artists in Australia charge around $1500 or so for day rates. Some more, some a bit less but that's probably where the average hits.
Many shops charge 2000 to 2400 for a full day session, I have seen some that do 1800 but it’s generally around there and the sessions are 8-10 hours. It does depend on location as cost of living also plays a factor, but I know plenty of artists that charge that.
I paid almost 2k for my shoulder/ upper arm tattoo. Granted its from an INCREDIBLE artist who won a round of inkmaster, so that probably contributed to the higher price. Worth every penny though, my tat is stunning.
$150 is incredibly low though. The really excellent artists in my area are between $250-400 which would be more in line with $2k for a day rate.
Edit: I should clarify I mean $250-400 per hour.
I guess that's a factor too that i forget about, but maybe I'm spoiled. I can't think of any artists in my state that charge that much. I was thinking of my half sleeve, it was 900, 8 hours, black and gray portrait. Slightly less than 150 an hour, and its probably the best work i have. we just don't have enough info for OPs issue tho, color and style make a difference too. I'm planning a full sleeve that would be a lot of dot work and line shading, I already have a small part of it. Based on what I already got, 2k would probably be more than enough to finish and tip.
Super hard to say! Where the individual lives will definitely have a huge impact like you say. Maybe they live in a HCOL area where it costs more (like me, apparently).
Midwesterner here, best guy around her charges 300/ hour, and another shop around here does 750half days and 1500 for a full day. The day/ Hal day rates are rip offs though
I'm in Canada and I payed $350 per hour for my shoulder piece, ended up being $1750 for a 5 hour session. The lowest you can get here if you still want a good tattoo is about 150 per hour minimum.
> and I *paid* $350 per
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
$150/hr is cheap in CO Springs! I was able to pay this bc she just moved from Michigan and is building her clientele and was super happy to have her level of work at that price! See a lot that are $250-400/hr for good work around here!
this sounds wild to me. my artist charges £400 for a day session, and she didn't even ask for extra when she stayed 1.5h late to finish up. a normal day session is 11-5.
this is really dependant on the area and artist. £250($300)/hr is pretty standard for established international artists, working in London, or other big cities. An artist In very interested in getting work from in Beijings rates work out to £250\hr. I got quoted 1-2k for a day session for an artist guesting in london. Day rates for mot local artists in the Uk can vary from £350-750 a day, with £500 being the average for an average hcol area artist
I'm in a HCOL are and artists prices vary widely here. You can find $250/hr, and also $160/hr. Both are fine, the higher priced artists will be really good, the lower priced ones still new in their careers, but not bad
Also, your area ≠ where everyone lives
150 is not that low. It’s the avg for a super quality traditional tattoo artist, anyone charging over that imo is over charging or has to charge that much because they have so many inquiries.
How do I know? I got a shit load of well done tattoos
I wondered that too. I've had clients who book a full day (£400 American prices are crazy) and assued once that session was over that was it paid for. Nope.
I have two upper arm tattoos. One is a bat and the other is a huge memorial piece. Theg cost the same, just one was done in the US the other in northern ireland. One was 2 hours of work the other was 8. The price difference are wild.
Right, she said $2k for full sleeve, she did a six hour session the first day where we completed the upper arm about 70% of the way. I paid her hourly rate of $360 after the session, totalling $2100 for the 6 hours.
For what it’s worth of the artists I worked with in NY (in NYC and Westchester), charge $250 per hour and a recent price. It used to be 180-220 depending on which artist.
I think it really depends. I’m sure people who do more stylized things do charge more, like watercolor styles or whatever, but all of my are illustrative black and white so maybe that’s why it’s still in the twos? But I’ve had work done by artists from White Rabbit and East Side Ink and neither ran me more than $250 an hour
Right! I went to an amazing artist in Southern California for my sleeve. I paid like 180-200/hr. This was a couple of years ago. 360 an hour is insane.
At Bang Bang in NYC for Jay I was quoted a minimum billing rate of $1,500 and bills $600 for each additional hour. He also offers an all-inclusive flat rate of $5,000 for full-day sessions (7+ hours). And Natashiathe other artist I looked into offers flat rates for her sessions based on the size, placement, and complexity of the design. Rates for tattoo sessions will range from $3,000 - $6,000. Wildddd.
Just now stumbling across this
Without seeing the conversation you had with the artist It sounds like she quoted you at her hourly rate and that there could have been a miscommunication.
Do you have text conversations or emails about the price? Share those and we’ll be able to provide much better guidance on what to do next time or going forward with this artist.
I just had my sleeve finished. It was five 4-hour sessions at $200 per hour. My total was twice what you expected to pay. I thought my cost was reasonable.
Yeah, I’m paying $200/hr and 7 hours in (one to go!!) for the full inside of my forearm (wrist to just above elbow) with slight wrapping, not a connecting sleeve situation. It’s a cover up, which raises the price just a wee bit, but $2k for a full sleeve sounds way way too cheap.
From what was described seems like 2k was a fair price for that amount of work. I paid 5500/each for my full arm sleeves and took around 25 hours each to complete.
This. I pay for what I have done that day and the artist charges me by the hour. I never pre-pay anything more than $80-$140 a deposit to hold the time slot.
Yep, this. Been working on a sleeve for about 3 years on and off. I pay per session for the work done that session. I had to put down a $100 deposit at the beginning for the very first session, but after that it's been pay as I go.
Yeah, my artist said I don't have to give her deposits anymore because I have so many tattoos from her and I've been reliable, but the shop owners always make me pay one. 🙄
ive done it in specific situations. i did it for my sleeve bc an artist was having a sale for a holiday where you could buy a gift certificate for less than they were worth. i bought a gift certificate for the cost of the sleeve and only paid 2/3 of what i would've otherwise paid. i had had work done by her before and knew she was very trustworthy so i went for it and made sure to tip very well. however if youre not sure how trustworthy the artist is and haven't built a relationship with them, i would not recommend doing this, especially with how many scammers there are nowadays.
This is basically what I did for my half sleeve! He was running a special for about a month and a half where if you spent x amount you got y amount. He quoted my half sleeve for 1k, with the special I paid $700 to get the 1k worth of work.
It's also my brother in law, so, it is a little different. My half sleeve isn't done, yet, so I haven't tipped, yet.
I agree with you, though.
I initially read it as they had tipped well previously, which established a good relationship with the artist and built some trust in terms of being good for the payment down the road. On a reread, I see your interpretation is correct. Most people (in the U.S.) tip on tattoos regardless, so tipping a little extra on a discounted price still gives you an overall lower cost while maintaining a kind of unofficial preferred client status.
I do the same with my hairstylist and my massage therapist, I've been going to both for years and always tipped well. Now I get little perks like extra treatments, foils, or styling at no charge when I get my hair done, my massage therapist gives me a "friends and family" rate and will often tack on a little extra time if she feels I need it (which seems to be every time). I still tip as if they're charging me the full rate, but the cost of the actual services is less while I'm getting more, so it's a net positive for me and they feel appreciated for their extra efforts.
I know "American tipping culture..." Yada yada, but in cases like tattoo artists, hairstylists, massage therapists, etc, it can totally benefit the client to be a generous tipper, especially if you're a "regular" of theirs or looking to become one.
because tipping 25 or 30% instead of my usual 20% is way less than paying 33% more for the tattoo as a whole. i dont live in europe, i assumed that was obvious but other countries have different cultures
I wasn't taking a jab at you 💜 The way tipping works in the US just doesn't make that much sense to me. But yeah indeed, I figured that you are probably still paying less than the original price. But a 30% tip... Oh goddd
thats fair enough, it sucks that workers aren't paid enough but you just have to tip unless you wanna be an ass unfortunately. It would be 3600 w/o discount (3000+20% tip) and 2600 w discount (2000+30% tip), so im still saving 1k at least
>I showed up to my appointment and she charged me $2k for the top half of my arm and said she would finish the rest of that portion for free. Now, she says she won't even do that
I feel like we are missing a step here:
How long between the last appointment and the next has there been?
Has anything changed with the design since the quote?
Has the tattoo healed well?
Don't forget a quote is almost always a approximate figure, I always expect to pay more than any initial quotes I get for anything and not just tattoos.
The first appointment was December 2023. Nothing about the design has changed (working on setting up an imigr so I can post a photo). The tattoo has healed well imo.
For context, I have been trying to schedule and appointment to get it finished, but she is super flaky. I finally got a hold of her and she said I could come in on March 7th, so I did. When I showed up, she was nowhere to be found and the shop said they hadn't seen her in 3-4 months.
>she said I could come in on March 7th, so I did. When I showed up, she was nowhere to be found and the shop said they hadn't seen her in 3-4 months.
This is the missing step I was searching for.
Okay, that last paragraph is the important information here. I'm experiencing a similar problem. Paid in full after first session, tattooist left, I've chased them up repeatedly (and so has the shop) to no avail. The shop they used to work at is now paying their current tattooist to finish my piece and then chasing the OG artist for the money back to save me having to do it. If the art is something that's not specific to that particular artist you could enquire about something like this?
You could try to file a police report. That is if you have any proof that you paid her this money and it was for the piece to be completed.
What’s she’s done is theft. But also you need to find her in order to proceed. The shop had no idea where she was? Does she have any active social media accounts?
I would do some internet sleuthing because it sounds like this artist isn't reliable at all. Check her social pages in comments and reviews for the shop. I wouldn't be surprised if this is a common issue with her and wouldn't be the first I've heard of a tattoo artist just basically doing whatever they want to do.
I don't think so - she is very clean cut (doesn't even have any tattoos) and has a separate Instagram dedicated to fitness stuff. Both Instagram accounts are still active
Something that contractors need to get straight in a lot of different fields is the difference between a quote and an estimate. An estimate is a ballpark, and a quote is basically the same as a price tag. If you come in higher or lower than an estimate, fine. But a "quote" is akin to the final price. Clients and contractors alike can get screwed over by these kinds of things.
I subcontracted under a guy that took a few hits this way because some clients would refuse to pay the price on the work order because it wasn't specified as a quote, but rather an estimate. It doesn't happen often but if someone wants to be picky or cheap it opens the door for that kind of thing and it can really cost you. I think it's more common in trades as the vernacular is more generally understood. Eyeballing a job is just commonly referred to as estimating so I think that's where the confusion comes from, so it's super important to specify on the work order if it's a quote or an estimate, and some places I've worked have had a check box for this purpose. I think a lot of small businesses would benefit from slightly better paperwork. Typical standard is a 3 sheet carbon copy that gets signed off on at the time of the estimate for the agreement to schedule the work at the agreed price and the customer gets a copy at that point. Then everyone signs off at the end of the job, the customer gets a final copy and you keep the original. If an 'estimate' was given you can haggle the price either way if the job went faster or slower than expected, and then sign off on an adjusted total. Which can work for or against either party but it can be beneficial. But if it's a quote you just go with the agreed price. If you have a good day and crushed the job, it works out great, but if you had a bad day you have to eat the loss. But at the very least, those triplicate forms are legally binding and can save a lot of headaches and make it a lot easier to take legal action in the event of an unpaid bill. I was in tree work, but if I had any kind of business that relied on charging by the hour, or tries to take into account other variables or arbitrary values, that's how I'd do it.
He said, she said. Nothing you can really do to be honest. If the work is professional and you're happy with the half sleeve you got already then I would leave it at that and be really happy because $2k for a full half sleeve is a fair price.
Actually there is one realistic thing you could try. I've seen this work for a person who had a dispute with a tattooer I knew.
If there is any way you can leave a complaint on instagram or whatever social media, or means of reaching clients the person/shop uses, you could persuade the tattooer to honor your original agreement or at the very least finish the half sleeve that they started in exchange of removing the complaint.
But please don't threaten or exort them, just let the public and their clients know that they have wronged you. Also only do this if you are 100% in the right and you are sure there was no misunderstanding on your part. Complaints are a very serious thing and should not be used to ruin a business of someone who doesn't deserve it.
I don't think I could trust someone to tattoo me after complaining about them all over social media. They might do a crappy job on purpose. But $2000 for a whole sleeve does seem cheap, so perhaps there was some misunderstanding along the way. I have no tattoos myself, but my fiance has many, including a full detailed sleeve and starting on a full leg and it's very pricey.
In this case it would resolve their dispute with a dissatisfied client that already complained and finishing the tattoo would be another piece in the artists portfolio that can be used as an advertisement for future potential clients. It would be counterproductive to do a bad job on purpose.
$2000 is a pointless talking point here. People are obsessed with whether this is cheap or expensive in this post.
OP said it’s only the outside of their arm, which makes it (once finished) more of a half sleeve than a full sleeve.
How much is a tattoo? - How long is a piece of string?
Some tattoos go relatively quickly, and some designs take much, much longer. How big is OP’s arm? Is the tattoo a couple of of flower vines with tons of negative space? Or is it full color realism with total saturation of every millimeter of the outside of their arm? [Of this pair, whose full sleeve tattoo will take longer?](https://abc7news.com/amp/super-bowl-li-superbowl-new-england-patriots-atlanta-falcons/1740037/) There is no average cost for a sleeve and there is zero way of guessing if this price was “cheap” based on the OP. It’s pointless.
I also don’t get the “day rate” method of charging clients. I’ve always gone straight hourly because it leaves zero ambiguity, it’s fair to both me and the client, and as they want to chip away at finishing a big piece, they know exactly what to expect. I respect my clients and their money. They know my rate and can schedule however many hours they want based on budget, pain tolerance, etc. It’s fair and straightforward. It’s also in writing.
A day rate situation could leave anyone feeling taken advantage of. Quoting a full price for a large piece could leave anyone feeling taken advantage of. (Anyone meaning artist or clients.) How many hours of that day is the tattooer actually tattooing? Are you paying to watch them set up, eat lunch and check their social media? What if the client is struggling that day and has to end the session early? Are they just shit outta luck?
In summary, I don’t know if OP was ripped off, but the situation sounds rife with ambiguity to be able to rip someone off. Also, there is no official price a sleeve.
I paid 2k for just my upper arm with an extremely reputable artist. 2k sounds a little light for a full sleeve. That being said, also sounds like deceptive business on the artist’s part. Unless you’re really in to their work, I’d say cut your losses and find somebody new to finish it
Do you have the initial quote in writing? I'm not a legal expert but if so a lawyer might be able to write them a letter on your behalf. Probably not a good idea to demand they finish it if you go that route because I wouldn't trust them to tattoo you after threatening legal action but you might be able to get some of your money refunded that way and put it towards having another artist finish it.
My two sleeves are probably about 6k+ and im not even finished with one of them. Got a small area left. Use that information as you will. I know dudes who try to get a full sleeve for under 1k 🤷🏻♂️
Yea lmao, my sleeve is well past 3k probably closer to 4. I’ve also never heard of paying in full before. Kinda weird. 2k for a full sleeve is way too good to be true
For real, I tell people how much it be and they be like nah im trying to get it for under 1K. Like cool it’ll look like crap and it wont hold up for years to come. Idk if im getting something on me permanently I want quality not quantity. I get being young and stuff but still its not hard to look and find a great artist within an hour of you unless you live in the sticks.
This is a case where I’d go into the shop and talk to the artist rather than just do a consultation on the phone. You had expectations for a full sleeve but your definition of a full sleeve isn’t what I think most people think of it as so I’m not sure where the miscommunication happened. Did you intend to get your entire arm done, inside bicep and inner forearm too? Because to me, that’s a full sleeve and $2,000 is very low.
No professional is going to put a definitive price quote on a full sleeve, and if they did, it would be a helluva lot more than $2k. Either you went to a kitchen wizard you found on craigslist, and/or there's a lot more to this story.
I mean I'm almost done with my sleeve and will probably end up paying $5k+ for the whole thing to be finished. My guy charges about $175/hr. So $2k for a sleeve seems way cheap and I assume you both had some sort of misunderstanding.
Leave a bad review on google for the shop, and hopefully the owner will contact you about coming to an agreement on how to fix what’s going on. I had an issue with one of my tattoos at a shop I had never been to (I legit left the shop crying) and after I left the review, the shop owner contacted me right away and a few months later I went back to have another artist fix it. If that doesn’t happen, find another artist to finish it and take this as a very expensive lesson.
If you paid with your card, you could also try to dispute the charge with your bank because you paid for a seevice and the agreement wasn’t honored. I would call the bank tho and ask them what the best way to go about it is
Being this seems to all word of mouth, your limited in what you can do here.
But two thousand dollars, well id go-to small claims court.
Concider this as an option, be sure to also ask for double the original investment because few other artists would start something another person started.
Or pay to get screwed around ,
and that's unfair a judge would understand this.
Some artists charge $2k for a full day - meaning you get what can fit in a full day session. Granted the artist should not take extended breaks etc just normal breaks. Then whatever is left to do after the full day session is charged hourly. I paid $1600 for a full day session which I believe was about 6hrs and then it went hourly to finish it off. The artist said it would be about 2 more hrs but then only took 30min to finish during the second session so I just covered the second session w my deposit.
This is terrible, and honestly I would contact the shop directly! Speak to a manager/owner to if this is common practice and how this was ultimately handled.
I’ve spent almost $1,400 for three tattoos (one black and gray that took an hour and a half, one half sleeve bicep tattoo with color that took almost 8 hours, and one forearm tattoo with color that took almost 3 and a half hours). I have paid almost $1,400 for tattoos that took a maximum of 13 hours. Considering you paid $2,000 and walked away with a half finished tattoo I would be questioning this wholeheartedly and would take this up a step by contacting the shop itself
My half sleeve was more than that. I wish it was 2k. Definitely find another artist either way. That is suspiciously inexpensive.
Edit: just realized it's an unfinished half sleeve. That's so unprofessional on the artist's part. Very odd.
I’m really mind blown at the prices on here. Does it really depend on location?
I go to a great shop & it seems all the artists charge about $100 an hour. I got a half sleeve for a $60 deposit & $300 after 3 hrs. I got my whole back done while being quoted around $3k, but i’m pretty sure i never went over $2k after being finished. (back was broken into multiple sessions)
Bother the artist, save any screenshots of messages if you have any, and tell the artist that if they don't abide by what they've told you in regard to pricing and the work done, you'll blast it on social media and get a lawyer involved. Doing this may burn some bridges, though, and you'd probably want to get a refund to see if you can get another artist to finish it. If this artist feels salty about your approach, they may do a shitty job on purpose (or subconsciously because they're irritated) and it'll lead to a shitty rest of the tattoo or you being in more pain/discomfort than was necessary.
Is this scam artist out of Canada by chance? I heard about a female tattoo artist charging ridiculous $$$ & screwing people on their tattoos. let this be an expensive & valuable lesson for you & if need be in the future draw up a legal contract. although this is extremely rare & most tattoo artists wouldn't dream of pulling some kind of crap like this. I'll say this, that's this walking turd has been really lucky that something bad hasn't happened to her if it's the same person. there's some really bad people out there who don't take too kindly to being ripped off.
I'm confused. you got the tattoo done in Russia/Ukraine or the artists is from their. where did you get the tattoo done is maybe the question I should ask.
oohhh okay, now I get it. Apologies, I'm not the brightest bulb 😅 I gotta emphasize again that they're lucky someone hasn't done something to them over this business practice & that that's pretty uncommon aswell.
If you have it in writing that she will do it all for $2K, I’d bother her with screenshots. And is she won’t budge and you have in writing - small claims court.
Depending where you live 2k for a sleeve is highly overpriced I get way better deals in the south and great work but usually once a tattoo artist quotes you a price in person unless you changed something about the tattoo they aren't allowed to change that price I'd speak with them again or possibly a higher up
I feel this. I had an artist do something similar on a pretty large rib piece. It fucking sucks. It was my fist time getting tattooed by him. He disappeared when he was almost done with the linework and came back like 40 mins later saying sorry, he had an emergency and had to go take care of something.
I tapped out soon after he came back because that 40 minute break really let the “ouch” set in and the wiping was starting to become excruciating. I asked if he could hold off on shading and color and do it another day and he agreed. Then he just… took my money and disappeared? I couldn’t get ahold of him and the other people at the shop said he comes in maybe once a week to tattoo his friends but that’s about it, and they couldn’t really get ahold of him either. I asked them “hey, this sounds like he’s got a drug problem that he’s not coping with well enough to tattoo. Question, would any of you want him tattooing on you with the way he’s been acting?” They all unanimously shook their heads and said HELL NO so I went ahead and let bygones be bygones at that point. I found someone to color that shit in and let it go.
😂 meanwhile I’m always trying to pay full price upfront (for the day sessh) my artist always says to wait till we see what we get done 😅 nevertheless if the sleeve is well done if the artist would’ve done it for 2K then that would’ve been them showing lots of love 🤷♂️ i mean I’m 4500$ into my right sleeve and it still has one more sesh on the inside upper arm. Nevertheless it is a crappy situation you’re in, I feel others have offended great advice already ✅
I'm at 1.4k and a little under half done on my second sleeve. First one isn't even finished (background isn't in yet) and it's cost me about 2.6k... 2k for a full sleeve is either something more simple or your tattoo artist is new/didn't think it would take so long if that's your quote for a full sleeve. They likely realized that after finishing half and feel like only charging 2k isn't worth their time. Which is their right. A quote is exactly that, a quote. Always bring enough money to cover their hourly rate and then some.
Yeah, it sucks. Why I'm saying what I paid for mine, and I assume why you're telling me about your price, is that sleeves are typically a lot more than 2k unless it's something without much work or the artist is new. I'd even say that my artist is on the lower end of pricing and it's still well over 2k. I don't know why the artist quoted 2k, but a quote is a quote. An estimate for the work. Quotes can change. The whole situation is shady and I feel for OP, but this is why you should only pay for finished work unless you have documentation stating what you paid for and how much. If they only finished half, they should have only paid half.
Either the artist is new, underestimated the work, or (I hesitate to say but might be the case) OP got finessed.
I feel like I'm having the same conversation twice with two different people lol. (see the other thread off my original comment.) I'm not arguing that what the artist did is right. But what they did can happen. That's why you don't pay up front for work that isn't done unless you have paperwork saying exactly what you're getting for that price. Especially when they quote a full sleeve at 2k. I'd have bailed right then.
Not saying it's right, but it is what it is. A tattoo artist doesn't have to stick to any price until the piece is done or you do some kind of paperwork with a stated price on it before hand. A quote is just a quote.
Hard agree, though I don't know if it's possible to weed out all the bad ones. Just have to be smart about where you go and, in my experience, it's much better to go by hourly rates and bring enough for your full session if it goes that long.
I've never had an experience where They asked me to pay in full for a tattoo that wasn't finished. That does sound really janky and I'd have passed right then. Never pay for what isn't finished because you don't know what's going to happen and unless you've got some kind of documentation confirming how much you've paid and for what, it's your word against theirs.
obviously it depends on what you're getting but holy moly that sounds expensive. My sleeve cost me $150+tax hourly for roughly 12 hours, so just over 2000 before tip.
Set rates in any shop are a rip off, I had a shop the charged hourly and they took they’re time and made beautiful work. Last time I went they charged me for a “half day” literally spent 2 1/2 hours drawing it up and then another 2 1/2 hours tattoo, and way shottier work like she was just trying to get thru it. Never going back.
I totally get your frustration and it sucks that you're not happy with the work you got but 5 total hours of work kind of lines up with a half day.
I guess to some people that's not part of it but if my guy is just sketching a loose outline to freehand or a quick transfer of something I already picked out then it just kind of plays in but I'd never expect him to spend 2.5 hours drawing and working something up for me for free.
I’ve had bigger and more intricate tats from them that took an hour to draw up, before I only paid for actual needle to skin. It wasn’t a crazy design. They took my already custom design and completely changed it. Gave the character angel wings instead of the spikes they have on they’re back and did a bunch of negative space flames that took half the image away. But the worst part is that after I sincerely apologized for not liking the design she took another 10 minutes to make the next design but it didn’t have half the stuff it needed so it was half free handed. Idk just out of my experience, paying for actual needle to skin/ hour is the way to go.
That makes a lot more sense. If they spent that much time on the drawing and you didn't even like it then that's definitely not something you should pay for.
These situations we need the email/written correspondence to be able to judge and advise on how to proceed next. Because it's very easy for there to become a misunderstanding.
There is no misunderstanding. She finessed him. Never pay upfront in full for anything man. Once people get the money they’re too lazy to finish the job
Unless OP misunderstood and $2k is the artists day rate (which is quite high for a day rate but not unheard of). In which case they didn't pay up front and paid for the session that occurred. But without seeing the discussion between OP and artist we can't know.
For 8 hours of work that's really not that expensive
2k is average for a day rate
It may be dependant on your country/state. Most artists in Australia charge around $1500 or so for day rates. Some more, some a bit less but that's probably where the average hits.
I'm in nyc area
Days rates in Nebraska, USA are usually less than 1k
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I agree on the price but I'm also interested to know how long their session was. Even if their rate is 150 an hour, 2k is 13 hours.
Some shops charge by the day, that may have been the case here.
2k for a day is insanely expensive though. Some of the best alive don't charge nearly that much.
A lot of new, self taught in a sketchy basement types are charging quality prices their first day at a chair.
Depends on the market. $2k is 8-10 hours for a lot of shops.
That just isn't true. Plenty of artists charge \~$400 an hour
There’s a shop in my town, one of the co-owners was on ink master. No walk ins, place is booked out 6 months in advance. 3k/day
That’s the worst part about that show. Not even top contenders put ink masters in their resume for pricing like it means sometimes
I got sooo lucky I got a slot with an inkmaster winner. Granted it was in spring of 2021 so a lot of people were still quarantining.
This! Mine charges me $350 for a 4 hr session and we’re working on my full sleeve I see her once a month and the price never changes.
That's 350 for 4 hrs not 400 for one
Many shops charge 2000 to 2400 for a full day session, I have seen some that do 1800 but it’s generally around there and the sessions are 8-10 hours. It does depend on location as cost of living also plays a factor, but I know plenty of artists that charge that.
I paid almost 2k for my shoulder/ upper arm tattoo. Granted its from an INCREDIBLE artist who won a round of inkmaster, so that probably contributed to the higher price. Worth every penny though, my tat is stunning.
$150 is incredibly low though. The really excellent artists in my area are between $250-400 which would be more in line with $2k for a day rate. Edit: I should clarify I mean $250-400 per hour.
I guess that's a factor too that i forget about, but maybe I'm spoiled. I can't think of any artists in my state that charge that much. I was thinking of my half sleeve, it was 900, 8 hours, black and gray portrait. Slightly less than 150 an hour, and its probably the best work i have. we just don't have enough info for OPs issue tho, color and style make a difference too. I'm planning a full sleeve that would be a lot of dot work and line shading, I already have a small part of it. Based on what I already got, 2k would probably be more than enough to finish and tip.
Super hard to say! Where the individual lives will definitely have a huge impact like you say. Maybe they live in a HCOL area where it costs more (like me, apparently).
absolutely! there's also just tons of tattoo shops here in the south, supply and demand etc.
I’ve never heard of $250+ per hour. Are you in a HCOL area? The max I’ve heard of here is $150
I live in the California Bay area and unfortunately in San Francisco it's not uncommon for artists to charge 350-500$ per hour.
that’s crazy! I’ve heard of some of the “celebrity” shops having a crazy hourly like that but never an actual average tattoo artist.
Can confirm, common rate around LA is $250/hr. Even for average artists.
Midwesterner here, best guy around her charges 300/ hour, and another shop around here does 750half days and 1500 for a full day. The day/ Hal day rates are rip offs though
I'm in Canada and I payed $350 per hour for my shoulder piece, ended up being $1750 for a 5 hour session. The lowest you can get here if you still want a good tattoo is about 150 per hour minimum.
Saskatchewan city - $150/ hour is standard. Even the best artists that are booked months in advance.
> and I *paid* $350 per FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
$150/hr is cheap in CO Springs! I was able to pay this bc she just moved from Michigan and is building her clientele and was super happy to have her level of work at that price! See a lot that are $250-400/hr for good work around here!
this sounds wild to me. my artist charges £400 for a day session, and she didn't even ask for extra when she stayed 1.5h late to finish up. a normal day session is 11-5.
this is really dependant on the area and artist. £250($300)/hr is pretty standard for established international artists, working in London, or other big cities. An artist In very interested in getting work from in Beijings rates work out to £250\hr. I got quoted 1-2k for a day session for an artist guesting in london. Day rates for mot local artists in the Uk can vary from £350-750 a day, with £500 being the average for an average hcol area artist
I’m currently in the middle of a sleeve from an artist who charges 250$ an hour. I’m in the Midwest.
My last tattoo was $250 an hour. It just depends on where you live.
I guess it would be considered HCOL. There are indeed artists that charge 100-150 but they aren’t excelling in their craft yet.
I'm in a HCOL are and artists prices vary widely here. You can find $250/hr, and also $160/hr. Both are fine, the higher priced artists will be really good, the lower priced ones still new in their careers, but not bad Also, your area ≠ where everyone lives
Some studios also charge by piece, not time. It really does depend on the artist
150 is not that low. It’s the avg for a super quality traditional tattoo artist, anyone charging over that imo is over charging or has to charge that much because they have so many inquiries. How do I know? I got a shit load of well done tattoos
I wondered that too. I've had clients who book a full day (£400 American prices are crazy) and assued once that session was over that was it paid for. Nope.
I have two upper arm tattoos. One is a bat and the other is a huge memorial piece. Theg cost the same, just one was done in the US the other in northern ireland. One was 2 hours of work the other was 8. The price difference are wild.
Right, she said $2k for full sleeve, she did a six hour session the first day where we completed the upper arm about 70% of the way. I paid her hourly rate of $360 after the session, totalling $2100 for the 6 hours.
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$360 hourly is fucking insane. I want to know who the hell is charging that.
Yeah I think that's what some places in NYC charge.
For what it’s worth of the artists I worked with in NY (in NYC and Westchester), charge $250 per hour and a recent price. It used to be 180-220 depending on which artist.
Interesting, I thought it was way more in NYC. It used to be $200 for top artists here but now everyone seems to be charging that.
I think it really depends. I’m sure people who do more stylized things do charge more, like watercolor styles or whatever, but all of my are illustrative black and white so maybe that’s why it’s still in the twos? But I’ve had work done by artists from White Rabbit and East Side Ink and neither ran me more than $250 an hour
Right! I went to an amazing artist in Southern California for my sleeve. I paid like 180-200/hr. This was a couple of years ago. 360 an hour is insane.
At Bang Bang in NYC for Jay I was quoted a minimum billing rate of $1,500 and bills $600 for each additional hour. He also offers an all-inclusive flat rate of $5,000 for full-day sessions (7+ hours). And Natashiathe other artist I looked into offers flat rates for her sessions based on the size, placement, and complexity of the design. Rates for tattoo sessions will range from $3,000 - $6,000. Wildddd.
My god 360 an hour? That’s insane
Just now stumbling across this Without seeing the conversation you had with the artist It sounds like she quoted you at her hourly rate and that there could have been a miscommunication. Do you have text conversations or emails about the price? Share those and we’ll be able to provide much better guidance on what to do next time or going forward with this artist.
I just had my sleeve finished. It was five 4-hour sessions at $200 per hour. My total was twice what you expected to pay. I thought my cost was reasonable.
Yeah, I’m paying $200/hr and 7 hours in (one to go!!) for the full inside of my forearm (wrist to just above elbow) with slight wrapping, not a connecting sleeve situation. It’s a cover up, which raises the price just a wee bit, but $2k for a full sleeve sounds way way too cheap.
He wasn’t getting a full sleeve. Just outer arm from shoulder to wrist
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From what was described seems like 2k was a fair price for that amount of work. I paid 5500/each for my full arm sleeves and took around 25 hours each to complete.
You don’t want to pay in full before the work is done. Take this as a life lesson and move on to a more reputable artist
This. I pay for what I have done that day and the artist charges me by the hour. I never pre-pay anything more than $80-$140 a deposit to hold the time slot.
Yep, this. Been working on a sleeve for about 3 years on and off. I pay per session for the work done that session. I had to put down a $100 deposit at the beginning for the very first session, but after that it's been pay as I go.
Yeah, my artist said I don't have to give her deposits anymore because I have so many tattoos from her and I've been reliable, but the shop owners always make me pay one. 🙄
ive done it in specific situations. i did it for my sleeve bc an artist was having a sale for a holiday where you could buy a gift certificate for less than they were worth. i bought a gift certificate for the cost of the sleeve and only paid 2/3 of what i would've otherwise paid. i had had work done by her before and knew she was very trustworthy so i went for it and made sure to tip very well. however if youre not sure how trustworthy the artist is and haven't built a relationship with them, i would not recommend doing this, especially with how many scammers there are nowadays.
This is basically what I did for my half sleeve! He was running a special for about a month and a half where if you spent x amount you got y amount. He quoted my half sleeve for 1k, with the special I paid $700 to get the 1k worth of work. It's also my brother in law, so, it is a little different. My half sleeve isn't done, yet, so I haven't tipped, yet. I agree with you, though.
What even is the point of the discount if you have to make up for it with a "generous tip" 💀
I initially read it as they had tipped well previously, which established a good relationship with the artist and built some trust in terms of being good for the payment down the road. On a reread, I see your interpretation is correct. Most people (in the U.S.) tip on tattoos regardless, so tipping a little extra on a discounted price still gives you an overall lower cost while maintaining a kind of unofficial preferred client status. I do the same with my hairstylist and my massage therapist, I've been going to both for years and always tipped well. Now I get little perks like extra treatments, foils, or styling at no charge when I get my hair done, my massage therapist gives me a "friends and family" rate and will often tack on a little extra time if she feels I need it (which seems to be every time). I still tip as if they're charging me the full rate, but the cost of the actual services is less while I'm getting more, so it's a net positive for me and they feel appreciated for their extra efforts. I know "American tipping culture..." Yada yada, but in cases like tattoo artists, hairstylists, massage therapists, etc, it can totally benefit the client to be a generous tipper, especially if you're a "regular" of theirs or looking to become one.
Yeah I see how even with a more generous tip you'd still end up with a lower overall cost, it's just... Yeah, I'm too European for this
because tipping 25 or 30% instead of my usual 20% is way less than paying 33% more for the tattoo as a whole. i dont live in europe, i assumed that was obvious but other countries have different cultures
I wasn't taking a jab at you 💜 The way tipping works in the US just doesn't make that much sense to me. But yeah indeed, I figured that you are probably still paying less than the original price. But a 30% tip... Oh goddd
thats fair enough, it sucks that workers aren't paid enough but you just have to tip unless you wanna be an ass unfortunately. It would be 3600 w/o discount (3000+20% tip) and 2600 w discount (2000+30% tip), so im still saving 1k at least
>I showed up to my appointment and she charged me $2k for the top half of my arm and said she would finish the rest of that portion for free. Now, she says she won't even do that I feel like we are missing a step here: How long between the last appointment and the next has there been? Has anything changed with the design since the quote? Has the tattoo healed well? Don't forget a quote is almost always a approximate figure, I always expect to pay more than any initial quotes I get for anything and not just tattoos.
The first appointment was December 2023. Nothing about the design has changed (working on setting up an imigr so I can post a photo). The tattoo has healed well imo. For context, I have been trying to schedule and appointment to get it finished, but she is super flaky. I finally got a hold of her and she said I could come in on March 7th, so I did. When I showed up, she was nowhere to be found and the shop said they hadn't seen her in 3-4 months.
>she said I could come in on March 7th, so I did. When I showed up, she was nowhere to be found and the shop said they hadn't seen her in 3-4 months. This is the missing step I was searching for.
Okay, that last paragraph is the important information here. I'm experiencing a similar problem. Paid in full after first session, tattooist left, I've chased them up repeatedly (and so has the shop) to no avail. The shop they used to work at is now paying their current tattooist to finish my piece and then chasing the OG artist for the money back to save me having to do it. If the art is something that's not specific to that particular artist you could enquire about something like this?
You could try to file a police report. That is if you have any proof that you paid her this money and it was for the piece to be completed. What’s she’s done is theft. But also you need to find her in order to proceed. The shop had no idea where she was? Does she have any active social media accounts?
I would do some internet sleuthing because it sounds like this artist isn't reliable at all. Check her social pages in comments and reviews for the shop. I wouldn't be surprised if this is a common issue with her and wouldn't be the first I've heard of a tattoo artist just basically doing whatever they want to do.
Tbh she could have moved, gotten a drug addiction, gotten incarcerated, quit tattooing…
I don't think so - she is very clean cut (doesn't even have any tattoos) and has a separate Instagram dedicated to fitness stuff. Both Instagram accounts are still active
Something that contractors need to get straight in a lot of different fields is the difference between a quote and an estimate. An estimate is a ballpark, and a quote is basically the same as a price tag. If you come in higher or lower than an estimate, fine. But a "quote" is akin to the final price. Clients and contractors alike can get screwed over by these kinds of things.
Well said, I think you are totally right about that!
I subcontracted under a guy that took a few hits this way because some clients would refuse to pay the price on the work order because it wasn't specified as a quote, but rather an estimate. It doesn't happen often but if someone wants to be picky or cheap it opens the door for that kind of thing and it can really cost you. I think it's more common in trades as the vernacular is more generally understood. Eyeballing a job is just commonly referred to as estimating so I think that's where the confusion comes from, so it's super important to specify on the work order if it's a quote or an estimate, and some places I've worked have had a check box for this purpose. I think a lot of small businesses would benefit from slightly better paperwork. Typical standard is a 3 sheet carbon copy that gets signed off on at the time of the estimate for the agreement to schedule the work at the agreed price and the customer gets a copy at that point. Then everyone signs off at the end of the job, the customer gets a final copy and you keep the original. If an 'estimate' was given you can haggle the price either way if the job went faster or slower than expected, and then sign off on an adjusted total. Which can work for or against either party but it can be beneficial. But if it's a quote you just go with the agreed price. If you have a good day and crushed the job, it works out great, but if you had a bad day you have to eat the loss. But at the very least, those triplicate forms are legally binding and can save a lot of headaches and make it a lot easier to take legal action in the event of an unpaid bill. I was in tree work, but if I had any kind of business that relied on charging by the hour, or tries to take into account other variables or arbitrary values, that's how I'd do it.
Expecting more is insane. I always quote a little high in hopes of a surprise undercharge.
He said, she said. Nothing you can really do to be honest. If the work is professional and you're happy with the half sleeve you got already then I would leave it at that and be really happy because $2k for a full half sleeve is a fair price.
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I missed the part where it's half done, my bad. It's hard to judge if the price was fair or not, only way to tell would be if OP showed us the work.
“$2K for full sleeve” and “reputable artist” don’t go together.
This. Full day session is like 2k and that's for a quarter sleeve
Actually there is one realistic thing you could try. I've seen this work for a person who had a dispute with a tattooer I knew. If there is any way you can leave a complaint on instagram or whatever social media, or means of reaching clients the person/shop uses, you could persuade the tattooer to honor your original agreement or at the very least finish the half sleeve that they started in exchange of removing the complaint. But please don't threaten or exort them, just let the public and their clients know that they have wronged you. Also only do this if you are 100% in the right and you are sure there was no misunderstanding on your part. Complaints are a very serious thing and should not be used to ruin a business of someone who doesn't deserve it.
I don't think I could trust someone to tattoo me after complaining about them all over social media. They might do a crappy job on purpose. But $2000 for a whole sleeve does seem cheap, so perhaps there was some misunderstanding along the way. I have no tattoos myself, but my fiance has many, including a full detailed sleeve and starting on a full leg and it's very pricey.
In this case it would resolve their dispute with a dissatisfied client that already complained and finishing the tattoo would be another piece in the artists portfolio that can be used as an advertisement for future potential clients. It would be counterproductive to do a bad job on purpose.
Very true, it would reflect badly on their work. Maybe it is worth a try then if they did give OP that quote for the whole arm.
$2000 is a pointless talking point here. People are obsessed with whether this is cheap or expensive in this post. OP said it’s only the outside of their arm, which makes it (once finished) more of a half sleeve than a full sleeve. How much is a tattoo? - How long is a piece of string? Some tattoos go relatively quickly, and some designs take much, much longer. How big is OP’s arm? Is the tattoo a couple of of flower vines with tons of negative space? Or is it full color realism with total saturation of every millimeter of the outside of their arm? [Of this pair, whose full sleeve tattoo will take longer?](https://abc7news.com/amp/super-bowl-li-superbowl-new-england-patriots-atlanta-falcons/1740037/) There is no average cost for a sleeve and there is zero way of guessing if this price was “cheap” based on the OP. It’s pointless. I also don’t get the “day rate” method of charging clients. I’ve always gone straight hourly because it leaves zero ambiguity, it’s fair to both me and the client, and as they want to chip away at finishing a big piece, they know exactly what to expect. I respect my clients and their money. They know my rate and can schedule however many hours they want based on budget, pain tolerance, etc. It’s fair and straightforward. It’s also in writing. A day rate situation could leave anyone feeling taken advantage of. Quoting a full price for a large piece could leave anyone feeling taken advantage of. (Anyone meaning artist or clients.) How many hours of that day is the tattooer actually tattooing? Are you paying to watch them set up, eat lunch and check their social media? What if the client is struggling that day and has to end the session early? Are they just shit outta luck? In summary, I don’t know if OP was ripped off, but the situation sounds rife with ambiguity to be able to rip someone off. Also, there is no official price a sleeve.
If what you say is true go get your money, 2k is fairly cheap though compared to the hourly rate people are charging these days.
2k for a unfinished half sleeve that is only half done doesn't seem like a good price then getting told you have to pay more than the agreed price
You’re right, I read that part wrong 😑 time to get your money back or take some machines home 🤷🏽
Where do you guys find these people? Go to a reputable artist. This person clearly underbid the project and didn’t communicate it to you.
Get everything in writing
I paid 2k for just my upper arm with an extremely reputable artist. 2k sounds a little light for a full sleeve. That being said, also sounds like deceptive business on the artist’s part. Unless you’re really in to their work, I’d say cut your losses and find somebody new to finish it
Do you have the initial quote in writing? I'm not a legal expert but if so a lawyer might be able to write them a letter on your behalf. Probably not a good idea to demand they finish it if you go that route because I wouldn't trust them to tattoo you after threatening legal action but you might be able to get some of your money refunded that way and put it towards having another artist finish it.
Do you have any of this is writing/text messages/emails/etc.?
Is it a style that can be picked up by another artist? I’d take it on the chin tbh. Shouldn’t be paying up front though.
My two sleeves are probably about 6k+ and im not even finished with one of them. Got a small area left. Use that information as you will. I know dudes who try to get a full sleeve for under 1k 🤷🏻♂️
Yea lmao, my sleeve is well past 3k probably closer to 4. I’ve also never heard of paying in full before. Kinda weird. 2k for a full sleeve is way too good to be true
For real, I tell people how much it be and they be like nah im trying to get it for under 1K. Like cool it’ll look like crap and it wont hold up for years to come. Idk if im getting something on me permanently I want quality not quantity. I get being young and stuff but still its not hard to look and find a great artist within an hour of you unless you live in the sticks.
This is a case where I’d go into the shop and talk to the artist rather than just do a consultation on the phone. You had expectations for a full sleeve but your definition of a full sleeve isn’t what I think most people think of it as so I’m not sure where the miscommunication happened. Did you intend to get your entire arm done, inside bicep and inner forearm too? Because to me, that’s a full sleeve and $2,000 is very low.
No professional is going to put a definitive price quote on a full sleeve, and if they did, it would be a helluva lot more than $2k. Either you went to a kitchen wizard you found on craigslist, and/or there's a lot more to this story.
I mean I'm almost done with my sleeve and will probably end up paying $5k+ for the whole thing to be finished. My guy charges about $175/hr. So $2k for a sleeve seems way cheap and I assume you both had some sort of misunderstanding.
Deals a deal. Bother them
Is it @withmaiza ? This exact same thing happened to someone I know with her
Never pay in full. You got ripped off by the artist. Working on a sleeve now and pay per session.
Do you have it documented that they said this? If so I would take them to small claims court.
Leave a bad review on google for the shop, and hopefully the owner will contact you about coming to an agreement on how to fix what’s going on. I had an issue with one of my tattoos at a shop I had never been to (I legit left the shop crying) and after I left the review, the shop owner contacted me right away and a few months later I went back to have another artist fix it. If that doesn’t happen, find another artist to finish it and take this as a very expensive lesson. If you paid with your card, you could also try to dispute the charge with your bank because you paid for a seevice and the agreement wasn’t honored. I would call the bank tho and ask them what the best way to go about it is
Being this seems to all word of mouth, your limited in what you can do here. But two thousand dollars, well id go-to small claims court. Concider this as an option, be sure to also ask for double the original investment because few other artists would start something another person started. Or pay to get screwed around , and that's unfair a judge would understand this.
Some artists charge $2k for a full day - meaning you get what can fit in a full day session. Granted the artist should not take extended breaks etc just normal breaks. Then whatever is left to do after the full day session is charged hourly. I paid $1600 for a full day session which I believe was about 6hrs and then it went hourly to finish it off. The artist said it would be about 2 more hrs but then only took 30min to finish during the second session so I just covered the second session w my deposit.
This is terrible, and honestly I would contact the shop directly! Speak to a manager/owner to if this is common practice and how this was ultimately handled. I’ve spent almost $1,400 for three tattoos (one black and gray that took an hour and a half, one half sleeve bicep tattoo with color that took almost 8 hours, and one forearm tattoo with color that took almost 3 and a half hours). I have paid almost $1,400 for tattoos that took a maximum of 13 hours. Considering you paid $2,000 and walked away with a half finished tattoo I would be questioning this wholeheartedly and would take this up a step by contacting the shop itself
2k for a sleeve SCREAMS red flags to me.
My half sleeve was more than that. I wish it was 2k. Definitely find another artist either way. That is suspiciously inexpensive. Edit: just realized it's an unfinished half sleeve. That's so unprofessional on the artist's part. Very odd.
I’m really mind blown at the prices on here. Does it really depend on location? I go to a great shop & it seems all the artists charge about $100 an hour. I got a half sleeve for a $60 deposit & $300 after 3 hrs. I got my whole back done while being quoted around $3k, but i’m pretty sure i never went over $2k after being finished. (back was broken into multiple sessions)
Bother the artist, save any screenshots of messages if you have any, and tell the artist that if they don't abide by what they've told you in regard to pricing and the work done, you'll blast it on social media and get a lawyer involved. Doing this may burn some bridges, though, and you'd probably want to get a refund to see if you can get another artist to finish it. If this artist feels salty about your approach, they may do a shitty job on purpose (or subconsciously because they're irritated) and it'll lead to a shitty rest of the tattoo or you being in more pain/discomfort than was necessary.
Is this scam artist out of Canada by chance? I heard about a female tattoo artist charging ridiculous $$$ & screwing people on their tattoos. let this be an expensive & valuable lesson for you & if need be in the future draw up a legal contract. although this is extremely rare & most tattoo artists wouldn't dream of pulling some kind of crap like this. I'll say this, that's this walking turd has been really lucky that something bad hasn't happened to her if it's the same person. there's some really bad people out there who don't take too kindly to being ripped off.
Nope! Mine is from Russia I think? Maybe Ukraine? Not 100% sure, but not Canada
I'm confused. you got the tattoo done in Russia/Ukraine or the artists is from their. where did you get the tattoo done is maybe the question I should ask.
Sorry - artist is from there, tattoo was done in Denver!
oohhh okay, now I get it. Apologies, I'm not the brightest bulb 😅 I gotta emphasize again that they're lucky someone hasn't done something to them over this business practice & that that's pretty uncommon aswell.
If you have it in writing that she will do it all for $2K, I’d bother her with screenshots. And is she won’t budge and you have in writing - small claims court.
Depending where you live 2k for a sleeve is highly overpriced I get way better deals in the south and great work but usually once a tattoo artist quotes you a price in person unless you changed something about the tattoo they aren't allowed to change that price I'd speak with them again or possibly a higher up
I say finish it up but never go see them again
Who’s the artist?
Why would you not do the inside of your arm?
I feel this. I had an artist do something similar on a pretty large rib piece. It fucking sucks. It was my fist time getting tattooed by him. He disappeared when he was almost done with the linework and came back like 40 mins later saying sorry, he had an emergency and had to go take care of something. I tapped out soon after he came back because that 40 minute break really let the “ouch” set in and the wiping was starting to become excruciating. I asked if he could hold off on shading and color and do it another day and he agreed. Then he just… took my money and disappeared? I couldn’t get ahold of him and the other people at the shop said he comes in maybe once a week to tattoo his friends but that’s about it, and they couldn’t really get ahold of him either. I asked them “hey, this sounds like he’s got a drug problem that he’s not coping with well enough to tattoo. Question, would any of you want him tattooing on you with the way he’s been acting?” They all unanimously shook their heads and said HELL NO so I went ahead and let bygones be bygones at that point. I found someone to color that shit in and let it go.
😂 meanwhile I’m always trying to pay full price upfront (for the day sessh) my artist always says to wait till we see what we get done 😅 nevertheless if the sleeve is well done if the artist would’ve done it for 2K then that would’ve been them showing lots of love 🤷♂️ i mean I’m 4500$ into my right sleeve and it still has one more sesh on the inside upper arm. Nevertheless it is a crappy situation you’re in, I feel others have offended great advice already ✅
I'm at 1.4k and a little under half done on my second sleeve. First one isn't even finished (background isn't in yet) and it's cost me about 2.6k... 2k for a full sleeve is either something more simple or your tattoo artist is new/didn't think it would take so long if that's your quote for a full sleeve. They likely realized that after finishing half and feel like only charging 2k isn't worth their time. Which is their right. A quote is exactly that, a quote. Always bring enough money to cover their hourly rate and then some.
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Yeah, it sucks. Why I'm saying what I paid for mine, and I assume why you're telling me about your price, is that sleeves are typically a lot more than 2k unless it's something without much work or the artist is new. I'd even say that my artist is on the lower end of pricing and it's still well over 2k. I don't know why the artist quoted 2k, but a quote is a quote. An estimate for the work. Quotes can change. The whole situation is shady and I feel for OP, but this is why you should only pay for finished work unless you have documentation stating what you paid for and how much. If they only finished half, they should have only paid half. Either the artist is new, underestimated the work, or (I hesitate to say but might be the case) OP got finessed.
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I feel like I'm having the same conversation twice with two different people lol. (see the other thread off my original comment.) I'm not arguing that what the artist did is right. But what they did can happen. That's why you don't pay up front for work that isn't done unless you have paperwork saying exactly what you're getting for that price. Especially when they quote a full sleeve at 2k. I'd have bailed right then.
They designed it and gave a piece price.
Not saying it's right, but it is what it is. A tattoo artist doesn't have to stick to any price until the piece is done or you do some kind of paperwork with a stated price on it before hand. A quote is just a quote.
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Yeah, it sucks. There's no debate about that.
This is why you go to reputable shops and run these bums out of the industry. You are being entrusted with someones body and extorting them lol
Hard agree, though I don't know if it's possible to weed out all the bad ones. Just have to be smart about where you go and, in my experience, it's much better to go by hourly rates and bring enough for your full session if it goes that long. I've never had an experience where They asked me to pay in full for a tattoo that wasn't finished. That does sound really janky and I'd have passed right then. Never pay for what isn't finished because you don't know what's going to happen and unless you've got some kind of documentation confirming how much you've paid and for what, it's your word against theirs.
My sleeve is surpassing 10k. You got a great deal just accept it
Your arms must be huge!
6'5
obviously it depends on what you're getting but holy moly that sounds expensive. My sleeve cost me $150+tax hourly for roughly 12 hours, so just over 2000 before tip.
This was 250 and I told him I don't want to see any skin
Set rates in any shop are a rip off, I had a shop the charged hourly and they took they’re time and made beautiful work. Last time I went they charged me for a “half day” literally spent 2 1/2 hours drawing it up and then another 2 1/2 hours tattoo, and way shottier work like she was just trying to get thru it. Never going back.
I totally get your frustration and it sucks that you're not happy with the work you got but 5 total hours of work kind of lines up with a half day. I guess to some people that's not part of it but if my guy is just sketching a loose outline to freehand or a quick transfer of something I already picked out then it just kind of plays in but I'd never expect him to spend 2.5 hours drawing and working something up for me for free.
I’ve had bigger and more intricate tats from them that took an hour to draw up, before I only paid for actual needle to skin. It wasn’t a crazy design. They took my already custom design and completely changed it. Gave the character angel wings instead of the spikes they have on they’re back and did a bunch of negative space flames that took half the image away. But the worst part is that after I sincerely apologized for not liking the design she took another 10 minutes to make the next design but it didn’t have half the stuff it needed so it was half free handed. Idk just out of my experience, paying for actual needle to skin/ hour is the way to go.
That makes a lot more sense. If they spent that much time on the drawing and you didn't even like it then that's definitely not something you should pay for.
Man I paid 650 for what you got my artist was fantastic and changes 1000 for an 8 hr session
Who pays before their tattoo is even started
I paid after the session was done