When to start charging?

Tinaturn3r · 29 Aug 2021

I’m in the US. I posted previously I started tattooing in 2018 but stopped for numerous reasons. I started up again recently this year and have been tattooing since June. All the tattoos I’ve done are free. (I will post some of my work so I can get ideas and advice for this) I’ve done numerous tattoos i assume I take on skill a bit faster due to prior knowledge and prior tattooing I’m also an artist and I paint. For the past 3 months I’ve been tattooing so many people for free they come back to me but I feel like they’re taking advantage of me and trying to get a nice sized free tattoo out of me. I’ve had people get a half sleeve or almost a sleeve, a giant thigh piece and walk out without even thinking to tip me knowing I’m doing it for free. I’ve had this ongoing problem of paying for everything myself and people taking advantage. So I decided to charge on large pieces that people came to me for but charge extremely cheap and people are still trying to take advantage. I’m going by if I was in an apprenticeship at a shop it would take 6-12 months before I should charge so I had no intention of charging any time soon at all bc I still feel like I want to better myself and skill. Please take a look at some tattoos I’ve done. You can critique I’m completely open to it, and please try to give me advice on this situation. I wouldn’t charge nearly as much at all but at the rate I’m going when should I start to charge?

MirandM · 29 Aug 2021

You should ALWAYS charge at least the costs of all the material you use. Ink, needles, sanitary and after care stuff, all of it.
Apart from that I would definitely put a price per hour on your work, how much? That's up to you. You can gradually raise that price according to the quality of your work.

I once had a family member that did portraits in oil painting for free, 60x80 cm ones at unbelievable style and quality. He had a huge amount of people asking him to do their children etc etc, until... he started charging for them. Only then he got to work for those people who really appreciated his work and as such were actually giving him credit for it by paying.

soulstare22 · 29 Aug 2021

I would not charge for the 2,3,and 5th tattoos, the quality still needs work. The 1st and last one are good enough to charge for, the sternum one has too bad linework actually and I would not charge for that either. Even then there are still some small things that could be improved on with the 1st and last one. The last one the arrow is not perfectly symmetrically, yah im totally nitpicking and the first one the fill on the script could be more consistent.

try and take better photos as well, there is too much glare and some of the photos aren't even centered.

Yea the simple fill and script ones are the simplest to do, and def some of the most tedious work, so I would charge for those. From what I've seen the quality is passable, but could still improve. The more complex designs that require shading and drawing ability you still need to improve.

The lion is pretty bad, can you draw the more complex designs out on paper? If you can not draw it on paper or tattoo it on fakeskin, you certainly can not tattoo it on an actual person.

I would not do designs with the complexity as the lion or dove if it would end up tattooed as that quality. I would work on drawing it out on paper or tattoo practice skin before trying it.

Tinaturn3r · 29 Aug 2021

soulstare22 said:
I would not charge for the 2,3,and 5th tattoos, the quality still needs work. The 1st and last one are good enough to charge for, the sternum one has too bad linework actually and I would not charge for that either. Even then there are still some small things that could be improved on with the 1st and last one. The last one the arrow is not perfectly symmetrically, yah im totally nitpicking and the first one the fill on the script could be more consistent.

try and take better photos as well, there is too much glare and some of the photos aren't even centered.

Yea the simple fill and script ones are the simplest to do, and def some of the most tedious work, so I would charge for those. From what I've seen the quality is passable, but could still improve. The more complex designs that require shading and drawing ability you still need to improve.

The lion is pretty bad, can you draw the more complex designs out on paper? If you can not draw it on paper or tattoo it on fakeskin, you certainly can not tattoo it on an actual person.

I would not do designs with the complexity as the lion or dove if it would end up tattooed as that quality. I would work on drawing it out on paper or tattoo practice skin before trying it.

Thanks lol I guess I won’t charge. I got a lot of opinions of people who said the lion wasn’t bad but I must not know much, I don’t want to toot my own horn but when it comes to my actual art I’m an amazing artist and everything that I did like the lion and the dove I could draw and paint like the back of my hand. Tattooing though, that takes time and skill and it’s not the same as on paper or practice skin. I’ve worked on practice skin for a while but it’s not the same at all as real skin for me. I’m working on everything really and I know I’m not perfect, people like the tattoos and they come to me and keep coming but do I really deserve nothing for it? The sternum I actually really liked I didn’t see much wrong except for one spot but I can’t see from a professional’s standpoint so maybe it’s not good at all. So you’d recommend that I shouldn’t charge at all any time soon?

Tinaturn3r · 29 Aug 2021

MirandM said:
You should ALWAYS charge at least the costs of all the material you use. Ink, needles, sanitary and after care stuff, all of it.
Apart from that I would definitely put a price per hour on your work, how much? That's up to you. You can gradually raise that price according to the quality of your work.

I once had a family member that did portraits in oil painting for free, 60x80 cm ones at unbelievable style and quality. He had a huge amount of people asking him to do their children etc etc, until... he started charging for them. Only then he got to work for those people who really appreciated his work and as such were actually giving him credit for it by paying.

Thank you for this I do appreciate it I’m figuring out how I can do costs I’ll probably start out super cheap

MirandM · 30 Aug 2021

Tinaturn3r said:
Thank you for this I do appreciate it I’m figuring out how I can do costs I’ll probably start out super cheap

With the exception of family and good friends (even those two are debatable), you should always charge at least your costs.
Calculating costs is not easy, the only real way of doing it right is keeping record of the items you use during a tattoo.
How many drops of ink you use in your cup (or use the volume of your cup as a measure).

For example, let's say you used four cups of 3ml each on the eagle. That means 12ml. total for the tattoo
If you ink bottle is say 30ml and it costs you 15$ then your ink cost for the eagle would be (12/30) * 15 = 6$

You apply the same technique to all other material involved.
Needles: 5$ (the real cost of all needles used as you need to dispose of them after each client)
Paper to cover the seat/armrest: 1$
Gloves: 1$
A+D cream: 3$ (this includes what you give to your client for after care at home)
Cotton swipes: 2$
Green soap: 1$
Cleaning material: 2$
Electricity: 4$

This is of course an example, so your total costs would be 6+5+1+1+3+2+1+2+4= 25$
That would be what YOU pay for doing the tattoo. Independent of the quality of the tattoo.
Now how do you calculate a correct price?
Easy:
Total price = Material cost + Hours * Quality factor.
Your material cost: 25$
Time spent to do the tattoo: 5 hours?
Quality factor: this is where you actually value your own work. If it's great then it should be high, if it's so-so then lower.
Let's say: factor 20 for excellent work and factor 2 for mediocre work. Let's say the eagle is just above mediocre, factor 4.

Your total price would be: 25 + 5 * 4 = 45$

As I said, this is an example of how to do this, you should change all the values according to your own ones.
Another thing not taken into account is rent as this depends on where you do your work, it should also be added.
On a more commercial level you can also calculate amortization of the equipment (machines) you use so that over time you can replace your machines without breaking the bank.

If you keep record of this on all the work you do, you'll be able to make an estimate upfront after about 10 different tattoo's.
It's a statistical way of setting a reasonable price to your work.

MalligaMallan · 30 Aug 2021

First I tattooed myself.

Felt good, so I started tattooing other people for free. Did about 4 tattoos for free (and kept on tattooing myself). I divided the free tattoos into several sessions deliberately though, to maximize the opportunity to learn and not just stress myself through a session.

Then it just felt "natural" to start charging a little. I kept 2 people that I tattooed for free, who were willing to let me experiment and make mistakes. (I still have those two as free of charge victims

Very useful!).

People told me I was too cheap, so I raised a little at a time. After about 1,5 years I charged according to what could be expected, considering I was tattooing from home.

MirandM · 30 Aug 2021

MalligaMallan said:
First I tattooed myself.
...

That's free of course

MalligaMallan said:
...
I kept 2 people that I tattooed for free, who were willing to let me experiment and make mistakes. (I still have those two as free of charge victims Very useful!).

Those are not to be charged, obviously.

MalligaMallan · 30 Aug 2021

MirandM said:
That's free of course

KyleBl4ck · 30 Aug 2021

You can start charging when you've done enough tattoos to know there are no "dots" in your linework.
At the moment - There are dots in your linework and your tapers aren't solid.

Gotta work on linework still, but as is you can probably charge friends and family. I wouldn't go actively promoting yourself just yet.

DKJ · 31 Aug 2021

Seeing where you're at, i would charge 15/20$ for the cost of the tattoo (Like Miranda said), not the hours spent.

Peace,

DKJ

Tinaturn3r · 31 Aug 2021

KyleBl4ck said:
You can start charging when you've done enough tattoos to know there are no "dots" in your linework.
At the moment - There are dots in your linework and your tapers aren't solid.

Gotta work on linework still, but as is you can probably charge friends and family. I wouldn't go actively promoting yourself just yet.

Thankyou I appreciate this, my main goal is to work on my lines and perfect them and work with the needles better quality matters more than price. It’s just a lot out of pocket for all my stuff

Tinaturn3r · 31 Aug 2021

DKJ said:
Seeing where you're at, i would charge 15/20$ for the cost of the tattoo (Like Miranda said), not the hours spent.

Peace,

DKJ

Thankyou for this, I’m thinking is I just charge a $20 deposit and it could go towards the equipment but not for the actual tattoo yet

Tinaturn3r · 31 Aug 2021

MirandM said:
With the exception of family and good friends (even those two are debatable), you should always charge at least your costs.
Calculating costs is not easy, the only real way of doing it right is keeping record of the items you use during a tattoo.
How many drops of ink you use in your cup (or use the volume of your cup as a measure).

For example, let's say you used four cups of 3ml each on the eagle. That means 12ml. total for the tattoo
If you ink bottle is say 30ml and it costs you 15$ then your ink cost for the eagle would be (12/30) * 15 = 6$

You apply the same technique to all other material involved.
Needles: 5$ (the real cost of all needles used as you need to dispose of them after each client)
Paper to cover the seat/armrest: 1$
Gloves: 1$
A+D cream: 3$ (this includes what you give to your client for after care at home)
Cotton swipes: 2$
Green soap: 1$
Cleaning material: 2$
Electricity: 4$

This is of course an example, so your total costs would be 6+5+1+1+3+2+1+2+4= 25$
That would be what YOU pay for doing the tattoo. Independent of the quality of the tattoo.
Now how do you calculate a correct price?
Easy:
Total price = Material cost + Hours * Quality factor.
Your material cost: 25$
Time spent to do the tattoo: 5 hours?
Quality factor: this is where you actually value your own work. If it's great then it should be high, if it's so-so then lower.
Let's say: factor 20 for excellent work and factor 2 for mediocre work. Let's say the eagle is just above mediocre, factor 4.

Your total price would be: 25 + 5 * 4 = 45$

As I said, this is an example of how to do this, you should change all the values according to your own ones.
Another thing not taken into account is rent as this depends on where you do your work, it should also be added.
On a more commercial level you can also calculate amortization of the equipment (machines) you use so that over time you can replace your machines without breaking the bank.

If you keep record of this on all the work you do, you'll be able to make an estimate upfront after about 10 different tattoo's.
It's a statistical way of setting a reasonable price to your work.

Thankyou for this I read everything and this would help the most for me to at least be able to continue getting my equipment. I won’t start tattooing for the actual tattoo yet until my quality gets better

DKJ · 1 Sep 2021

Tinaturn3r said:
Thankyou for this, I’m thinking is I just charge a $20 deposit and it could go towards the equipment but not for the actual tattoo yet

I've just did a 450 Eur tattoo, as a beginner, but spent over 30 hours on it, me being very slow and the tattoo being of A3 size.
Also i'm desiging a back tattoo right now, even bigger A3+, which i sold for 500 Eur. I will tattoo it for long sessions too and will do my best.
So charging is also linked to your self confidence (knowing where you are on your experience),
size of the tattoo, and who you charge it to (family, friends, clients...).

Peace,

DKJ

Big Pete · 8 Sep 2021

When I first started, I tattooed myself and family....family I did for free. When I considered myself good enough I started tattooing other people and always charged for it, slowly increasing my hourly rate as I improved, Only problem I have had is doing a small tattoo and charging $50, then they come back later wanting a much bigger tattoo and only expecting to be charged the same.
Some people also don't realise that the cost of a tattoo also includes drawing and preperation time, a few clients have queried the cost of their tattoo, they say "It only took 2 hours to tattoo it" to which I answer "you haven't included the time it took me to draw it up and set up and preperation time" Always keep in mind all the factors of creating a tattoo before you give a quote.

When to start charging?

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